AFL Beat – 2018 Round 12 Part One

Part One?!? Yes, part one.  This is because it’s the Queen’s Birthday this weekend and Melbourne v Collingwood won’t start until 10:20 PM Pacific on Sunday night and I have to open up a site for a contractor at 6:30 AM Monday morning and there’s no way in hell I’m finishing the AFL Beat in time.

So, today you get the bulk of the highlights and game recaps while tomorrow you will get the standings, the Balls Graph, and the Footy Tipping Contest results.

Make sense?  Ok, let’s begin!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Round 12

The Round started late on Thursday night/early on Friday morning with Richmond visiting Port Adelaide WITHOUT Dusty Martin.  Yes, he was a late exit during the week as the club decided to rest him and he went to New Zealand to visit his exiled father.  The question was not whether this would affect the Tigers, but how much.  It turns out it affected them a lot.

Although the Tigers started off the game well, the Power turned in a tremendous second quarter scoring seven goals and essentially deciding the game. The final margin was 14, but it was a well-earned Power win.  Highlights:

I was eagerly awaiting and somewhat dreading the Geelong-North clash on proper Friday night.  I knew it was going to be tough and indeed, the game was close throughout with Geelong holding onto a steadily-built lead until the third quarter when the Roos got it to within 18 points.  In fact, at one point early in the fourth, the Roos were within 10, but a late rally by the Cats made the final margin a strong

Highlights:

The GWS Giants got a much-needed win last week and needed another one to continue the momentum and get themselves back in the finals conversation.  The Gold Coast Suns were the perfect opponent.  I really hope BFC got a chance to see this one in between airport trips.  The 108 point final margin constitutes the largest winning margin in GWS history. Here are the highlights:

In the Friday nightcap, the Sydney Swans made short work of the woeful St. Kilda Saints who, like the Suns, might as well start making vacation plans.  It wasn’t as bad as the GWS-Gold Coast margin, but it wasn’t good either.  The final score was 126-55 and here are the highlights:

North American Saturday night brought only two games with the first having the Essendon Bombers visiting the Brisbane Lions.  The Lions continued their streak of playing well yet losing by double digits.  I’m not sure how sustainable that is… Here are the highlights:

In the second and last game,  the Fremantle Dockers hosted the Adelaide Crows at the new Optus Stadium which has,  in a short time,  become as much of a home field advantage as the old stadium.

So,  then,  if I told you that the Dockers rode that home support to an upset victory over the Crows, would you be surprised? It’s true! Here are the highlights:

***

The remaining match in the Round pits the Melbourne Demons against the Collingwood Magpies.  Depending on the result of the match, the ladder positions WILL be affected,  so I can’t even give you a preliminary look at the ladder or the Footy Tipping Contest standings.

I will,  however,  leave you with a reminder that the byes continue next week, so the whole situation is pretty fluid anyways.

I will see you tomorrow with the Queen’s Birthday game highlights and the updated standings.

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ballsofsteelandfury
Balls somehow lost his bio and didn't realize it. He's now scrambling to write something clever and failing. He likes butts, boobs, most things that start with the letter B, and writing in the Second Person. Geelong, Toluca, Barcelona, and Steelers, in that order.
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Wakezilla

How the hell is it already round 12? Shit that was fast.

This Lions losing streak reminds me of the Ice Liouns’ 6 or 7 game losing streak about 10 years ago. They were clearly the dominant team, but not on the scoreboard. It got so bad, Alain Vigneault broke out in laughing hysterics near the end of the streak because the team had played really well and lost.

BrettFavresColonoscopy

The GWS-Gold Coast game was such a no doubter I didn’t even watch the fourth quarter. Is this what it feels like to be a Pats fan when they play the Browns, but without the racism and inability to speak proper English?

theeWeeBabySeamus

I haven’t seen a toothless Richmond based team go down like that since 1865.

Also this…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02D2T3wGCYg

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Woo Hoo Essendon! Sounds like they beat the AFL’s equivalent of the Detroit Lions.

King Hippo

YAY! Carlton ain’t lose!!