This week,

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Round 20 Recaps and Highlights

The field for finals is almost set. However, there are battles for positioning galore and four teams are still trying to lock up that last spot in the Eight. Let’s get right to it.

The first game had two teams in a Must Win scenario to keep their slim finals hopes alive. In essence, this was an early Elimination Final.

The North Melbourne Kangaroos made news this week when they took the interim label off of coach Rhyce Shaw and gave him a three-year deal

While the Hawks started the game well, the Roos slowly took over starting in the second quarter. They overcame the Hawks’ healthy lead and built one of their own that the Hawks couldn’t chase down. Here are the full game highlights:

The proper Friday Night game had the red-hot Essendon Bombers taking on the inconsistent Port Adelaide Power in Marvel Stadium. It must be really frustrating to be a Port fan because of how they can play really well one week and totally shitty the next.

This was apparently the week for the Power to play well as they completely dominated the Bombers from the start. The real question is whether they can do this for the rest of the year. If they do, they will be tough to beat in finals.

Here are the full-game highlights:

Later, the GWS Giants hosted another edition of the Sydney Derby. Like most derbies, it was expected to be a tough match even though GWS is firmly in the Eight and Sydney is already thinking about next year.

As expected, it was a very close and well-fought game that came down to the last two minutes:

Here are the full-game highlights:

Even later on Friday night, my Geelong Cats were in Perth to take on the Fremantle Dockers, who desperately needed a win to stay alive for finals.

The Dockers ended up playing probably their best game of the season in controlling the Cats’ midfield and holding their forward line down. It was a well-deserved win that keeps the Dockers in the finals conversation. Like the Power, however, they need to repeat this type of performance the rest of the year.

Here are the highlights:

The first of the two late late Friday night games had the Melbourne Demons “hosting” the Richmond Tigers at the MCG in a game that was over as soon as it started.

Now, that’s not exactly fair. The Demons did score some early goals and took an early lead. However, that was quickly erased by the Tigers before the first quarter finished.

The rest of the game was not as competitive and the Tigers romped to a healthy win. If you’re the betting type, a relatively safe bet would be to take the Tigers to win the Premiership this year. They are playing well and they won’t leave the MCG the rest of the year.

Here are the full-game highlights:

The last game of the night had the St. Kilda Saints traveling to Adelaide to take on the Crows and give themselves a better chance at finals. All they needed to do was win on the road and they would be right there.

Alas, it was an opportunity not taken as the Crows were able to handle the Saints with relative ease. As it is, the Saints’ season is over and the only suspense is whether they will finish 10th as Litre predicted.

Here are the full-game highlights:

The first North American Saturday Night game was Collingwood’s opportunity to build percentage as the lowly Gold Coast Suns were coming to the MCG.

The game was a mirror of Gold Coast’s season as some early success led to a complete destruction. The Pies now have a real shot at a Double Chance.

Here are the full-game highlights:

The second of the Saturday night games had the resurgent Carlton Blues hosting the West Coast Eagles at Marvel Stadium. The Blues have won some games lately, but they haven’t exactly beaten heavyweights. This was a big test.

Unfortunately for Blues fans, Carlton is not all the way back as facing the #2 team at home was too tall a task for them. They did play well, but the game showed that they still have a ways to go before they are truly back to the level the fans and club expect.

Here are the full-game highlights:

The last game of the Round had the Brisbane Lions looking to accomplish two things at once: Tie Geelong and West Coast on wins and put a dent in the Doggies’ finals aspirations.

The Lions are another team that will be difficult to beat come finals time. They were able to take care of business against a disappointing Bulldogs team that could not challenge the Lions until Brisbane’s captain, Dayne Zorko, went down with a hamstring injury.

Luckily for the Lions and Zorko, Brisbane hosts Gold Coast next week, so even if he misses a game, it should not affect them too much. The Lions have won 7 in a row and are looking very good.

Here are the full-game highlights:

Let’s take a look at the ladder, shall we?

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Geelong Cats	14	5	0	56	130.5
2	West Coast Eagles	14	5	0	56	117.3
3	Brisbane Lions	14	5	0	56	116.5
4	Richmond Tigers	13	6	0	52	111.3
5	GWS Giants	12	7	0	48	121.5
6	Collingwood Magpies	12	7	0	48	113.2
7	Essendon Bombers	11	8	0	44	100.1
8	Adelaide Crows	10	9	0	40	108.7
9	Port Adelaide Power	9	10	0	36	106.1
10	Western Bulldogs	9	10	0	36	95.82
11	Fremantle Dockers	9	10	0	36	95.79
12	Hawthorn Hawks	8	11	0	32	98.4
13	North Melbourne Kangaroos	8	11	0	32	97.2
14	St. Kilda Saints	8	11	0	32	84.5
15	Sydney Swans	6	13	0	24	94.1
16	Carlton Blues	6	13	0	24	87.2
17	Melbourne Demons	5	14	0	20	79.9
18	Gold Coast Suns	3	16	0	12	64.8

Here is the Balls Graph:

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/AFL-Ladder-2019R20.pdf”]

The list of contenders for the last finals spot has been effectively whittled down to positions 8 through 11.

It’s pretty likely that Adelaide will lose next week, so we could potentially have a four-way tie for that eighth spot.

I still think that the top seven teams are all locked in for finals. However, the battles for the Double Chance will get even more intense in these last three weeks.

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we are after Round Twenty:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Litre_cola	6	24	115	503
2	BFC	7	14	112	570
3	Son Of Spam	7	11	110	514
4	BALLS	6	40	104	608
5	BC Dick	7	41	103	665
6	Dolph Ucker	6	5	99	499
7	Why Eagles Why	5	31	97	520
8	Yeah Right	6	44	95	746
9	Game Time Decision	5	44	93	587
10		7	16	91	679
11	Sharkbait	6	122	90	961
12	Blax	3	22	76	500

Well done to everyone this week as the scores ranged from 5 to 7! Only Blax scored lower but that’s just because he forgot to put the footy tips in.

Remember that we go all the way through to the Grand Final, so there is still time to catch the leader and the person in front of you in the standings!

DONT FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

AFL Round 21

Here is the schedule for this week (all times Pacific):

Friday, August 9, 2019

2:50 AM (Late Thursday Night!) – GWS Giants v Hawthorn Hawks at UNSW Canberra Stadium

The Hawks lost last week, so their finals hopes are pretty much shot. Watch them win this week.

8:45 PM – Melbourne Demons v Collingwood Magpies at the MCG

The Demons are going to be cannon-fodder for the Pies, who are now back to winning form.

9:10 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Sydney Swans at Adelaide Oval

Port needs to continue winning in order to have any shot at finals. However, as I’ve said all season, the Swans play better on the road.

11:35 PM – Brisbane Lions v Gold Coast Suns at The Gabba

The Lions can pick up some valuable percentage points in this one to overtake the Eagles for a Top Two spot.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

2:25 AM – Essendon Bombers v Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium

The Doggies must win this one against the Bombers to give themselves any chance of finals.

2:25 AM – Geelong Cats v North Melbourne Kangaroos

This is a danger game for the Cats. After last week’s loss, they need to win, but the Roos are still mathematically alive and playing their best.

8:10 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Fremantle Dockers at Marvel Stadium

Both teams had a chance to keep their seasons alive last week and only Fremantle responded. They must win this one too.

10:20 PM – Richmond Tigers v Carlton Blues at the MCG

The Tigers are rolling and should easily take care of the Blues at home.

11:40 PM – West Coast Eagles v Adelaide Crows at Optus Stadium

This game shapes up as a Crows loss that should allow the other contenders to catch the Crows for the last spot in the Eight.

***

That’s all for this week! See you next week!

(91/69)