Round 7 promises to be another great weekend, featuring the biggest and best rivalry in AFL on Friday night, a couple of old foes meeting on Sunday afternoon, and the western derby to finish off the round.
Who will win in the ultimate rivalry?
Carlton and Collingwood. When it comes to home-and-away matches, none are bigger than this. Footy’s grandest colosseum will be full to bursting with fans eager to be a part of 150 years of tradition and hatred.
Mick Malthouse and Dale Thomas’ moves to Carlton only makes this game saucier. I reckon the Pies will win, but who knows in footy.
Will Essendon arrest their gigantic slump?
The Bombers are in real trouble. After a terrific first quarter in the Anzac Day clash, Essendon ended up being massacred by Collingwood. The Bombers have played well in the first few rounds, but haven’t got a decent win-loss record.
The Bombers come up against the Bulldogs, who also let a lead slip, even though it was against Adelaide, who aren’t the same calibre as the Premiership-contending Pies.
Will Essendon put their season back on track before the bye, or will Western Bulldogs pull off an unlikely win?
The tippers nightmare: West Coast or Fremantle?
Both of the western teams suffered shocking defeats last week: the Eagles couldn’t hold a final term buffer against the Blues, and the Dockers suffered a shock home loss to the rebounding Roos.
Both teams have gone into a slump, so will West Coast come back to Patersons and show who is the best in the west, or will the Dockers use their experience at home last week to get another win? Something tells me the Dockers will win.
Tips
Carlton v Collingwood: Collingwood by 34 points
Hawthorn v St. Kilda: Hawthorn by 75 points
GWS v Port Adelaide: Port Adelaide by 91 points
Adelaide v Melbourne: Adelaide by 39 points
Brisbane v Sydney: Sydney by 28 points
Essendon v Bulldogs: Essendon by 11 points
North Melbourne v Gold Coast: North Melbourne by 22 points
Geelong v Richmond: Geelong by 58 points
West Coast v Fremantle: Fremantle by 6 points
Aransan
Guest
Macca, always wait until the last quarter. From the beginning of the second quarter against Essendon to the end of the third quarter against Carlton, Collingwood scored 22.23 to their opponents 5.15 Perhaps more credit is due to Collingwood and they have some very good young players. Many teams could learn from Collingwood's recruiting.
Macca
Guest
Andy - do ou know where I can get a good deal on a TV
Barneythecrab
Guest
Yeah that's true. Mmm maybe we can lend them Jacobs, would love to see that upset
Cat
Roar Guru
If Mumford was back they would have a better chance to pull off an unlikely upset, just don't see it happening tho.
Barneythecrab
Guest
Possible upset of GWS over Port. Coming off the Geelong win they may experience what Geelong could have from te hawks win. And port are reported to have a bug moving through their players.
Franko
Guest
Wow, that is dedication guys!!!! Cameron was doubtful with an eardrum but has been named to play, though that must be uncomfortable in those conditions. Boyd got dropped. Should be an old-fashioned slog, looking forward to it. I rekon there will be more to the Port-Crows reserve games in Clare (2hrs north of Adelaide) and possibly as many to the Glenelg-Norwood game tonight, though the bays are struggling and conditions are chilly in Adelaide also. Hopefully the Manuka surface is somewhat improved from when the Dogs were in town, it was a beach then.
andyincanberra
Guest
I'll be there too. Will splurge on undercover tickets this time though.
TomC
Roar Guru
Well, I'll be there. But you're totally right, Franko. Particularly this early in winter your average Canberran would prefer to spend Saturday afternoon bunkered up at home with the central heating on. And not only is most of the ground exposed, most of the GA areas don't even have seating: you sit on the grass. The crowd will be very low. Might be in the range of 5-6000.
macca
Guest
Did I say they were hopeless? And the point is hardly relelvant, just because the bombers belted the blues doesn't mean they didn't get belted for 3 quarters last week, which is what the author said. And you may have belted the blues but the ladder show Essendon and Carlton both have 2 wins, neither are going to impact finals too much.
Franko
Guest
Yes the forecast for Canberra on Saturday: Min 3 Max 11 - Rain and some wind, chance of thunderstorms Can't expect too many to turn out in the capital, large parts of Manuka are un-protected from the elements also.
macca
Guest
The problem with the bombers is scoring, against the Hawks the kicked 6 goals in 1 quarter and 6 in the other 3 (with just 3 goals in the first half, against Freo the kick 4 goals in the last quarter and just 5 for the other 3, against St Kilda they kicked 5 goals in the ifrst quarter and just 4 for the other 3 and against the Pies they kicked 5 goals in the first quarter and just 4 for the other 3. So in 12 quarters they kicked just 23 goals.
Aransan
Guest
That will be a massacre then.
Aansan
Guest
Macca, what would you call Essendon's win over Carlton by 81 points in round 3 then? If Essendon are hopeless, how do you see Carlton? Do you still want to sack your coach?
TomC
Roar Guru
The Western derby definitely looks like the most interesting contest this week. Fremantle are the safe bet, particularly with a few handy ins, but they haven't really inspired a lot of confidence lately. On the GWS v Port game, while I'm sure Port will win handily, I don't think we'll see the sort of blowout they produced against the Lions. Conditions won't allow it, for one thing. I reckon Essendon are closer to being a real top eight threat than people think, they just need to get back some rhythym and confidence in their gameplan, which fell apart last week. That said, a loss to the Dogs will really hurt their chances. A must win game.
andyincanberra
Guest
LOL, we've all been there at some point. Being a Collingwood supporter, I've had a lot of long winters.
Axle an the guru
Guest
I hope Daisy has a blinder and cuts Collingwood to ribbons. Carlton by 23 points
macca
Guest
COme on Andy let me have some joy - I don't have payTV so this year I have seen the blues shoot themselves against the Tigers, get belted by Essendon and play just terribly to lose against Melbourne - with the players we have out all I am hoping for tonight is a good game of football where I don't feel like smashing the TV.
andyincanberra
Guest
I agree with Macca on this one. While the final margin was only 23 points, it was a 10 goal turn-around. and Macca, in the most good-natured way possible, and I'm sure the sentiment is reciprocated, but I hope you have a rotten night tonight.
macca
Guest
Franko - I am not concerned about that side of things - The blues rank 3rd in the league for contested possession while Collingwood rank 11th, the blues average 63.1 tackles compared with the Pies 65.5 (although the blues past 2 weeks have been well up on that), the blues also rank number 1 in the league for contested marks with Collingwood 6th, the blues rank 3rd for clearances with COllingwood 15th, the blues rank 2nd for stoppages with Collingwood 14th and the blues rank second (behind Hawthorn) on 1%ers with collingwood 8th. It isn't the tough stuff that will hurt the blues it is the outside stuff and that is why Curnow is such a loss, he could have gone to a Beams or Pendlebury and Carrazzo would probably have taken Swan and the mid-field would of been closer to break even (with the blues still missing Judd, Bell and Yarran) but now we are a little short. And which blues players are you referring to as mentally weak?
Franko
Guest
The biggest problem I see for you guys tonight macca, is getting bullied, Collingwood simply have too many thugs / scraggers for Carlton. I can see the likes of Macaffer, Ball, Maxwell worrying some of the mentally weaker Carlton players out of it, especially when missing Judd., which will free up the silkier outside Pies. Carltons best chance IMO, show some strong-arm early, go after Marley Williams & Harry O and stand up to Macaffer, Maxwell etc.