This week…

We are in the middle of a shitload of games in a row:

and IT’S SEXY AFL FRIDAY!!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Like last week, we don’t really have much time to reflect upon the Round That Was because there is another Round starting tonight! The one new thing is that the AFL revealed the schedule for Round 13, which will be the Doug Nicholls Round!  As you will remember from previous years, this is the Round where the AFL teams wear special guernseys celebrating and recognizing Aboriginal and Torres Strait culture.

Here are the results and highlights from Round Ten:

Monday, August 3, 2020

Port Adelaide Power 55 v Western Bulldogs 42 at Adelaide Oval

Port keeps winning and our very own WhyEaglesWhy was at this game!

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Richmond Tigers 82 v Brisbane Lions 41 at Metricon Stadium

Brisbane couldn’t hold off the defending champs.  A repeat may still be in the cards.

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Geelong Cats 90 v North Melbourne Kangaroos 57 at The Gabba

The Cats rotated a lot of players and they still won handily and could have won by more.

Adelaide Crows 37 v Melbourne Demons 88 at Adelaide Oval

It looks like the Crows are not going to win a game this year.  That fourth quarter was awful.

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Collingwood Magpies 50 v Sydney Swans 41 at The Gabba

The Pies won to keep pace with the leaders, but they suffered more injuries.

Gold Coast Suns 74 v St. Kilda Saints 78 at Metricon Stadium

This game was an absolute thriller.  It came down to the final two minutes:

Here are the full-game highlights:

Friday, August 7, 2020

Essendon Bombers 55 v GWS Giants 59 at Metricon Stadium

It was a gritty win in the wet.  That means two things. 

Round Ten Byes:  Carlton Blues, Hawthorn Hawks, Fremantle Dockers, West Coast Eagles

***

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

Here is the Balls Graph^TM:

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AFL-Ladder-2020R10.pdf”]

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we are after Round Ten:

There were a couple of slight moves with Litre_cola pipping Dolph Ucker for 3rd place based on margin and WhyEaglesWhy and BC Dick changing positions. Congratulations to Litre-cola for getting a perfect 7 out of 7!  That’s our first perfect Round of the year!

With the new compressed schedule, it will be more important than ever to enter in the tips in advance.  Like now because the first game of Round Eleven starts in a few hours.  As always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

I’ve been providing, for your advanced Tipping reference, the schedule for the next few rounds (All times Pacific). Here then are the game schedules for Round Eleven to Twelve: 

Round Eleven

Friday, August 7, 2020

11:35 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Richmond Tigers at Adelaide Oval

Saturday, August 8, 2020

2:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v Western Bulldogs at The Gabba

10:35 PM – West Coast Eagles v Carlton Blues at Optus Stadium

Sunday, August 9, 2020

1:10 AM – Melbourne Demons v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Adelaide Oval (new venue, switch of home teams)

Monday, August 10, 2020

1:10 AM – St. Kilda Saints v Geelong Cats at The Gabba (switch of home teams)

3:40 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Hawthorn Hawks at Optus Stadium

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

1:35 AM – Adelaide Crows v Collingwood Magpies at Adelaide Oval (new time)

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

2:10 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Essendon Bombers at Metricon Stadium

Byes:  GWS Giants, Sydney Swans

Round Twelve

Thursday, August 13, 2020

3:10 AM – Sydney Swans v GWS Giants at Optus Stadium

Friday, August 14, 2020

2:50 AM – Geelong Cats v Port Adelaide Power at Metricon Stadium (new venue)

9:35 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Brisbane Lions at Metricon Stadium (new venue)

Saturday, August 15, 2020

12:10 AM – Melbourne Demons v Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba

3:10 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Carlton Blues at Optus Stadium

8:05 PM – Western Bulldogs v Adelaide Crows at Metricon Stadium

10:35 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Essendon Bombers at The Gabba

Sunday, August 16, 2020

1:10 AM – West Coast Eagles v Hawthorn Hawks at Optus Stadium

Monday, August 17, 2020

2:10 AM – Richmond Tigers v Gold Coast Suns at The Gabba

Round Thirteen

Friday, August 21, 2020

2:50 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Carlton Blues at TIO Stadium (Northern Territory)

8:45 PM – Western Bulldogs v Melbourne Demons at Metricon Stadium 

11:35 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Hawthorn Hawks at Adelaide Oval

Saturday, August 22, 2020

2:40 AM – Essendon Bombers v Richmond Tigers at TIO Stadium (Northern Territory)

3:10 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Sydney Swans at Optus Stadium

8:05 PM – Adelaide Crows v Geelong Cats at Adelaide Oval

10:35 PM –  Brisbane Lions v St. Kilda Saints at The Gabba

Sunday, August 23, 2020

1:10 AM – West Coast Eagles v GWS Giants at Optus Stadium

Monday, August 17, 2020

2:10 AM – Collingwood Magpies v North Melbourne Kangaroos at The Gabba

The postponed Essendon-Melbourne game will be made up after Round 12, but there is no schedule out yet.  

***

Without further ado, it’s

Balls’ Sechs

1- I am REALLY looking forward to WhyEaglesWhy’s Boots On The Ground at the Port Adelaide-Western game.  It must be amazing being one of very few people IN THE ENTIRE WORLD that could see a live sporting event right now.

2- The Richmond Tigers, like the West Coast Eagles, are back and they’re scary.  Those two are my top two teams in the competition right now, no matter what the ladder says. 

3- The Cats have been doing a masterful job of rotating players and giving new guys opportunities during this compressed schedule.  The young guys are responding too.  This bodes well for the future. 

4- The Adelaide Crows are so bad even the announcers are rooting for them to do something good.  They were good for three quarters against the Demons but that last quarter was just horrendous.  People will be fired after this dreadful season mercifully comes to an end.

5- I don’t think Litre_cola, in his wildest dreams, thought that the Saints would be in 2nd.  He is sure they will fall, and they probably will, but man what a run they’re on!  That game against Gold Coast was something…

6- Next week’s games start right away with a titanic clash tonight between Port Adelaide and the Richmond Tigers.  Luckily, it starts before midnight on the West Coast.  If you can’t sleep, this game should be on your TV tuned to Fox Sports 1 or TSN1.

***

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.

You can find the latest broadcast information on the Australian Football Association of North America website here.

Here is your Round 11 live broadcast schedule with North American broadcast partner:

Round Eleven

Friday, August 7, 2020

11:35 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Richmond Tigers at Adelaide Oval (FS1, TSN1)

Saturday, August 8, 2020

2:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v Western Bulldogs at The Gabba (ESPN3, TSN1)

10:35 PM – West Coast Eagles v Carlton Blues at Optus Stadium (ESPN2, TSN1)

Sunday, August 9, 2020

1:10 AM – Melbourne Demons v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Adelaide Oval (FS1)

Monday, August 10, 2020

1:10 AM – St. Kilda Saints v Geelong Cats at The Gabba (FS1)

3:40 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Hawthorn Hawks at Optus Stadium

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

1:35 AM – Adelaide Crows v Collingwood Magpies at Adelaide Oval (FS1)

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

2:10 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Essendon Bombers at Metricon Stadium (FS1, TSN2)

Byes:  GWS Giants, Sydney Swans

The new AFL schedule will also change the publishing times of the AFL Beat.  AFL Beat Round 11 will publish on Wednesday, August 12, 2020.  Finally, AFL Beat Round 12 will publish at the normal day/time on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.

See you next time!