Round 11 of the AFL 2014 season was one full of blowouts, from Sydney to Collingwood to Essendon.
The Collingwood versus St Kilda match had a Pies win written all over it after the first quarter, but Geelong versus Sydney and Essendon versus Richmond were expected to be close games.
I’ll review the round and see how my tipping went.
Did Sydney continue their good form?
Yes. The Swans produced a stunning win that has given a huge warning to the rest of the competition, after they completely demolished a Geelong side that had plenty of triple-premiership stars.
Sydney started off strongly by getting out to a healthy lead before putting on the afterburners and completely ruining the Cats’ hopes. Harry Taylor couldn’t hold Kurt Tippett, Lance Franklin and Adam Goodes without the help of Tom Lonergan. He battled manfully, only to see Tippett kick five goals and Franklin four, while Goodes chipped in with three.
Yet the underestimated side to the Swans is their midfield and defence, unacknowledged for their brilliant run and transition out of their defensive 50. It is important to know that Sydney isn’t just good because of their forward line.
The Swans can go all the way this year, but they will face a stern challenge to maintain their purple patch. Geelong will need to battle and I think that they will be in the top eight and secure a home elimination final.
Did the Pies build up their wins?
Yes. They now sit in the top four after a game which saw them not play anywhere near their best, yet still trounce St Kilda.
The Magpies started off unconvincingly after Steele Sidebottom’s dangerous hit to Maverick Weller, before hitting back with a flurry of late goals to grab a four-goal quarter-time lead. They then flexed their muscles at the start of the second quarter before the Saints clung onto the game with two late goals.
But the Pies produced by a brilliant last quarter, which turned a 39-point lead at the last change to an 86-point win.
The Pies have a hard task next week, as Melbourne proved yet again they are no easybeats by nearly beating ladder-leaders Port, but I think that the Pies will get over the line on the Queen’s Birthday.
St Kilda have to rebuild by challenging Port Adelaide. It’s a huge task, but if they can give it a red hot crack and perform well then their season may slowly start to look up.
Who won out of the two unpredictables?
Essendon. After Richmond’s mammoth win over Greater Western Sydney they completely failed and fell to an inconsistent team.
The Bombers proved their worth by running away and winning the game after Dustin Fletcher’s awesome start. A Tigers challenge in the second quarter made the game look interesting before the Bombers repelled and pushed the margin back out to win by a true 50 points.
Essendon came out of nowhere and turned their form around to produce a great effort, while Richmond changed their form to get shown up on their biggest stage. Essendon go on to play GWS, which should be a win for them, while Richmond look to snatch a win out of nowhere against the Roos.
Tipping:
I tipped six from nine. The games I got wrong were Brisbane versus Carlton, Gold Coast versus Adelaide and West Coast versus North Melbourne.
Sidenote: I was off by one point for the margin of the Bulldogs versus Fremantle game.
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