By David Wiseman
May 4th 2009 @ 7:44am
Cream rises to the top in round six of the AFL
Michael Gardiner from St Kilda and Ben Hudson from Western Bulldogs contest the ruck during the AFL Round 06 match between the Western Bulldogs and the St Kilda Saints at the Docklands Stadium. Slattery Images
St Kilda and Geelong have opened up a two game lead over the rest of the competition and look as though they will lap the rest of the field. The ladder is book-ended by these two on one side and Richmond and Melbourne on the other.
You can throw a blanket over the other 12 teams. These 12 teams have been consistently inconsistent thus far so there is no way to know who else will join the Cats and Saints in the Top 4.
Could it be Carlton?
Carlton are playing well and were very unlucky to have lost to Hawthorn. Its other two losses to Sydney and Essendon were both winnable games. So isn’t that part of the problem?? That they are losing games they shouldn’t be as opposed to simply being competitive in all matches? They have to start winning ugly as opposed to losing entertaining matches.
Reversal of Fortune
Collingwood and Essendon went in opposite directions following Anzac Day. Collingwood was too good for the Kangaroos while the Bombers were simply outclassed by the Lions. It shows why you can place too much currency in a single game. There is no knowing what affect it will have in subsequent weeks.
Eagles Grounded
At 2-4 you couldn’t say that the Eagles are out of it, but you could say they definitely aren’t the same Eagles team of 3-4 years ago. Are they now paying the price for winning the 2006 flag? Was it a win at all costs and these are the costs? Only once have the Eagles missed the finals in successive years and Ken Judge was shown the door as a result of it. Could John Worsfold be on his way just three years after leading them to a premiership?
The Clash
Is it right that North Melbourne have to wear a clash jumper against Collingwood when it’s their home game? In most sports around the world, the home side has the right to wear its first choice jumper.
Year in, year out, this is an issue which continually rears its head and refuses to go away. If it going to keep reoccurring until it is properly dealt with, the answer should be a long-term solution that all stakeholders are happy with.
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Redb said | May 4th 2009 @ 9:10am | Report comment
is this one of the best AFL seasons for awhile? Seems to be the case with most games from Round 6 the icing on the cake.
Carlton V Hawthorn was a classic! neding in tregedy fo the Blues what a shame
Tthe derby a good ol’ fightback and St Kilda are the real deal – what about their intensity. Probably takes the Saints 2-3 days to recover from white line fever, fierce tackling and relentless pressure – premiership stuff. I’m officially onboard after last night’s game.
Redb
Brian said | May 4th 2009 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Based on players/form/histroy I say there are 6 teams left to fight for 2 spots on GF day – Geelong, Hawthorn, St Kilda, Carlton, Port Adelaide & Bulldogs.
As for the jumper clash. ather than play Argentina Collingwood should be made to wear an away strip – simple as that
robd said | May 4th 2009 @ 11:05am | Report comment
as for Carlton, I prefer to look on the bright side. the games we’ve lost have all been winnable. look at our percentage. of all the teams on 3-3, you could argue we are the only team who hasn’t been convincingly beaten. we could easily be 6-0 so I’m not too fussed. Why? Because the Carlton of old used to get blown out every few weeks, a sign that we weren’t competitive. But so far this season we are proving to be an extremely competitive side.
/end rant
Pippinu said | May 4th 2009 @ 11:15am | Report comment
Of course Collingwood should always be allowed to wear their traditional strip whenever they make the grand final – to see them lose in anything else just wouldn’t be the same.
Pippinu said | May 4th 2009 @ 11:53am | Report comment
Carlton is easily as competitive as any other time this decade, of course, that’s not saying a hell of a lot.
Robert B said | May 4th 2009 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
The home team should always wear their preferred strip. It makes a mockery of the competition how Collingwood get away with this, well when you favoured draws for certain teams what can you expect…………
David Wiseman said | May 4th 2009 @ 5:15pm | Report comment
RedB – Just remember they started the 2004 season 10-0…
Brian – Fair enough but I can’t look past the Saints and Cats. You are right about the Pies and the clash – unfortunately doesn’t appear to be that simple
Robd – You are competitive but at the end of the day a loss is a loss.
Pippinu I – Lol! Very cute
Pippinu II – This is true
Robert B – This is also true.
Redb said | May 5th 2009 @ 7:53am | Report comment
DW,
To clarify, I was talking about the quality of football games and even competition to date rather than a particular team’s success.
Redb
Michael C said | May 5th 2009 @ 9:18pm | Report comment
StKilda – - no good. They still haven’t beaten anyone above them…….
hazey.the.bear said | May 6th 2009 @ 7:59am | Report comment
LOL MC – I see what ya did there…
I can’t understand why it is so difficult for Collingwood to create an away jumper…I remember once on the footy show when Eddie was whinging about the jumper issue, and he made up one using all the colours of the other clubs as a joke to make a point (At least I’m assuming that’s what he was doing…). Either way, Eddie, you’re an idiot. Make one either mostly white or mostly black – It’s not rocket science!!!
Besides, didn’t they once have a mostly white jumper with a magpie design and the black stripes only going half way down or something? Or am I just imagining how easy it would be to create one that didn’t interfere with Collingwood’s supposedly sacrosanct beliefs?