A round of stirring upsets and brilliant victories has just been wrapped up, as the three-week bye has only one week left.
Round 9 had only six games in it, with Adelaide upsetting Collingwood, Sydney smashing Essendon, Melbourne edging past Richmond, North Melbourne accounting for Brisbane, Fremantle outplaying Geelong and Gold Coast killing St. Kilda.
During the week many incidents will be discussed, with the most controversial topics being Nick Malceski cleaning up an umpire and Daniel Hannebery’s bump on Michael Hurley.
As one more week of the bye is left, the ladder has been changing dramatically and will finally settle soon. Enjoy my review of Round 9 and watch out for my preview of Round 10 next week.
Did Buddy continue his great record against Essendon?
Yes. He received the same amount of opportunities as he did against Hawthorn, but he was a sharp shooter as he resurrected his poor kicking to help his Swans to dominate the Bombers.
Franklin’s form with Kurt Tippett is frightening for opposition teams, as the two high-priced forwards worked in tandem in scary ways. The Bombers just couldn’t stop Sydney’s dominant midfield from repetitively sending the ball in to Tippett, Buddy, Adam Goodes and Sam Reid.
The four men have shown that they are the best forward line this year in just two games, as the Swans have kicked over one hundred points.
The main reason why they are dominating so much though, is because of the engine room that wins clearances and contested ball. The midfield for the Swans in Hannebery, Kieren Jack, Jarrad McVeigh and Josh Kennedy have successfully set up many goals by dominating the middle of the ground against Hawthorn and Essendon, who have two very good midfields.
If the Swans play like they have against Hawthorn and the Bombers then they may just win another premiership.
Did Melbourne claim another victory?
Yes. Yours truly tipped the win, as the Dees made the inaccurate Tigers pay after half time to storm home, with Jack Watts finally proving himself with two last quarter clutch goals.
The Demons look like a pretty decent side this year. Their ability to play well defensively has held them in good stead as they rebound into their forward line well, with Chris Dawes and James Frawley being two good, tall targets. The likes of Christian Salem and Jay Kennedy-Harris are being brilliant goal sneaks. Nathan Jones never stops giving, as he tirelessly leads the midfield.
If the Demons can keep on defending well then they just might grab a couple more sneaky victories. Don’t underestimate the Demons.
Tipping:
I tipped 4/6, with the matches I got wrong being Adelaide versus Collingwood and Fremantle versus Geelong.
Sidenote:
I was seven points off for the margin of the Essendon versus Sydney game and two off for the Melbourne versus Richmond game.
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