This week…

 

This is what it looks like to have fans at stadiums in the age of COVID-19.

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Every game that the AFL played this weekend was played in empty stadiums.  Except for one.

The Showdown, the annual Adelaide Derby between the Port Adelaide Power and the Adelaide Crows had a couple of thousand club members attending at Adelaide Oval as a sort of experiment to see how Footy/sport could look like under social distancing rules.  You can see the results in the pictures above.

It’s a little weird, but I also think it’s kinda cool.  Too many times sporting events are ruined by the assholes around you.  Being able to be a nice distance away from the idiots must have been a fun experience!

Let’s get to the games, shall we?  Here are the results and highlights from Round Two:

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Collingwood Magpies 36 v Richmond Tigers 36 – at the MCG

Yes, a tie.  Donovan McNabb would be proud.  Here are the frantic last two minutes:

and here are the full game highlights:

Friday, June 12, 2020

Geelong Cats 108 v Hawthorn Hawks 47 – at GMHBA Stadium

Oh, this was a delightful game to watch for me.  The Cats played really well:

Brisbane Lions 81 v Fremantle Dockers 69 at the Gabba

This one turned out to be quite close and exciting at the end.  Here are the thrilling last two minutes:

and here are the full-game highlights:

Carlton Blues 53 v Melbourne Demons 54 at Marvel Stadium

Ok, I went to sleep with Melbourne up over 40 in the second quarter! Imagine my surprise when I saw the final score on Saturday morning! That was a heck of a comeback!  Here are the frantic last two minutes:

and here are the full-game highlights:

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Port Adelaide Power 110 v Adelaide Crows 35 at Adelaide Oval

Wow, Port Adelaide embarrased the crap out of the Crows!  Crows fans must have been wondering why they braved the COVID to watch their team lose so badly…

Gold Coast Suns 90 v West Coast Eagles 46 at Metricon Stadium

This was the pleasant surprise of the Round.  I would have NEVER guessed that Gold Coast would beat West Coast and by this much.  Good job to the Sunnies!

GWS Giants 60 v North Melbourne Kangaroos 80 at Giants Stadium

This was a super tough contest throughout with the Roos pulling through late with a great fourth quarter performance!

Sydney Swans 73 v Essendon Bombers 79 at the SCG

This was another close game that came down to the last two minutes:

Sunday, June 14, 2020

St. Kilda Saints 88 v Western Bulldogs 49 at Marvel Stadium

It was a pleasure to see the Saints playing so well.  On the other end, the Doggies are in trouble.

***

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

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Port Adelaide Power	2	0	0	8	290.6
2	North Melbourne Kangaroos	2	0	0	8	119.3
3	Essendon Bombers	2	0	0	8	109.2
4	Collingwood Magpies	1	0	1	6	174.3
5	Richmond Tigers	1	0	1	6	120.5
6	St. Kilda Saints	1	1	0	4	135.2
7	Geelong Cats	1	1	0	4	119.1
8	GWS Giants	1	1	0	4	107.8
9	Sydney Swans	1	1	0	4	98.0
10	Gold Coast Suns	1	1	0	4	97.5
11	Brisbane Lions	1	1	0	4	89.9
12	West Coast Eagles	1	1	0	4	87.9
13	Hawthorn Hawks	1	1	0	4	80.6
14	Melbourne Demons	1	1	0	4	80.2
15	Fremantle Dockers	0	2	0	0	87.5
16	Carlton Blues	0	2	0	0	84.3
17	Adelaide Crows	0	2	0	0	57.6
18	Western Bulldogs	0	2	0	0	47.7

 

Here is the Balls Graph^TM:

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AFL-Ladder-2020R2.pdf”]

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we are after Round Two:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Dolph Ucker	6	16	14	18
2	BFC	6	12	12	25
3	Litre_cola	5	8	11	13
4	SonOfSpam	5	13	11	17
5	BC Dick	4	0	10	3
6	BALLS	4	6	10	7
7	Game Time Decision	5	12	10	18
8	Reverend Mayhem	5	0	10	24
9	Yeah Right	5	25	10	27
10		5	20	10	46
11	WhyEaglesWhy	6	8	9	32
12	Sunrisesunrise	6	14	9	38
13	Maestro	4	9	7	33
14	Sharkbait	3	50	6	74

 

We have just barely started, so it’s the perfect time for new folks to join in!  The link to join the Tipping Pool is below:

https://mobile.footytips.com.au/competitions/?competitionId=401652

You should be able to join the competition without a password.  All you have to do is create an account with ESPN Australia.  Please note that it will be different than your North American ESPN account!

As you can see, the new folks are right there in the competition with two of the newbies posting the top score for the week! Well done, lads!

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

For your advanced Tipping reference, here is the schedule for the next few rounds (All times Pacific):

Round Three

Thursday, June 18, 2020

2:40 AM – Richmond Tigers v Hawthorn Hawks- at the MCG

Friday, June 19, 2020

2:50 AM – Western Bulldogs v GWS Giants – at Marvel Stadium

8:45 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium

11:35 PM – Collingwood Magpies v St. Kilda Saints at the MCG

Saturday, June 20, 2020

2:40 AM – Geelong Cats v Carlton Blues at GMHBA Stadium

2:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v West Coast Eagles at the Gabba

8:05 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Adelaide Crows at Metricon Stadium

10:35 PM – Essendon Bombers v Melbourne Demons at the MCG

Sunday, June 14, 2020

1:05 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Port Adelaide Power at Metricon Stadium

***

Round Four

Thursday, June 25, 2020

2:40 AM – Sydney Swans v Western Bulldogs at the SCG

Friday, June 26, 2020

2:50 AM – GWS Giants v Collingwood Magpies at Giants Stadium

8:45 PM – Port Adelaide Power v West Coast Eagles at Metricon Stadium

11:35 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Richmond Tigers at Marvel Stadium

Saturday, June 27, 2020

2:40 AM – Essendon Bombers v Carlton Blues at the MCG

2:40 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Fremantle Dockers at Metricon Stadium

8:05 PM – Brisbane Lions v Adelaide Crows at the Gabba

10:35 PM – Melbourne Demons v Geelong Cats at the MCG

Sunday, June 28, 2020

1:05 AM – Hawthorn Hawks v North Melbourne Demons at Marvel Stadium

***

Round Five

Thursday, July 2, 2020

2:40 AM – West Coast Eagles v Richmond Tigers at Metricon Stadium

Friday, July 3, 2020

2:50 AM – Collingwood Magpies v Essendon Bombers at the MCG

8:45 PM – Carlton Blues v St. Kilda Saints at the MCG

11:35 PM – Geelong Cats v Gold Coast Suns at GMHBA Stadium

Saturday, July 4, 2020

2:40 AM – Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium

2:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide Power at the Gabba

8:05 PM – Adelaide Crows v Fremantle Dockers at Metricon Stadium

10:35 PM – Sydney Swans v Melbourne Demons at the SCG

Sunday, July 5, 2020

1:05 AM – GWS Giants v Hawthorn Hawks at Giants Stadium

***

It’s the end of Round Two after a two-month layoff, so it’s difficult to draw any conclusions.  However, we can say some things.  I present you the inaugural edition of 

Balls’ Sechs

1- Essendon and North Melbourne traveled on the day of their games to Sydney for their matches and that did not affect their performance.  They both won on the road in impressive fashion.

2- The two Queensland teams, Bribane and Gold Coast, may benefit greatly from the South Australian and Western Australian teams being relocated to Queensland.  In particular, Gold Coast may finally be showing signs on being a decent team.

3- Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs need to turn things around very quickly.  Neither team looked good over the weekend and, considering their Round 1 losses, are staring at being winless for the foreseeable future.

4- Aussie Rules players knelt before games as a show of support for minority rights.  No one said anything bad about it.  Imagine that.

5- Richmond and Collingwood are the class of the league so far.

6- Port Adelaide is still a question mark.  Yes, they’re undefeated, but they’ve beaten Adelaide and the Gold Coast Suns. It will be interesting how they do against tougher competition. 

***

That’s all for this week.  

As discussed last week, Fox Sports has the rights to the AFL in the United States while TSN has the rights in Canada and the AFL is pressuring them to have more games available on the FS1, FS2, and TSN networks. Now is the perfect chance for you to see what all the fun is about! 

Not only that,  but ESPN has jumped back into the AFL pool! They’ll be broadcasting one game per week live on an ESPN network and streaming another live on ESPN3.

Here is your Round 3 live broadcast schedule with North American broadcast partner:

Round Three

Thursday, June 18, 2020

2:40 AM – Richmond Tigers v Hawthorn Hawks- at the MCG (TSN3)

Friday, June 19, 2020

2:50 AM – Western Bulldogs v GWS Giants – at Marvel Stadium (TSN4)

8:45 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium (FS2)

11:35 PM – Collingwood Magpies v St. Kilda Saints at the MCG (FS1) (TSN4)

Saturday, June 20, 2020

2:40 AM – Geelong Cats v Carlton Blues at GMHBA Stadium

2:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v West Coast Eagles at the Gabba (TSN4)

8:05 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Adelaide Crows at Metricon Stadium (FS1)

10:35 PM – Essendon Bombers v Melbourne Demons at the MCG (TSN4)

Sunday, June 14, 2020

1:05 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Port Adelaide Power at Metricon Stadium (FS1)

See you next week!