AFL Round 2 2003

[CyberKev]

7 from 8 was a pretty handy start to the season (bugger the Magpies!)...

Carlton vs Collingwood (50 pts) -- MCG

Carlton were truly dismal last week and some would say I'm being very conservative with the margin here, but one would hope that the sight of the black & white jumper will arouse some sort of pride in the embattled navy Blues. Collingwood is the biggest certainty of the round, without doubt.

Essendon (10 pts) vs Melbourne -- MCG

Melbourne were given a huge scare by a depleted Hawthorn last week, but were good enough to ride it out. They generally play well against the Bombers, who became the first of many sides to be outclassed by Brisbane at the Gabba for 2003. I'm tempted to pick the Demons who should easily win the midfield, but Melbourne struggles for offensive options (outside of Neitz) and has a very weak defense which could prove telling against the capable Bomber attack.

St Kilda vs Adelaide (30 pts) -- Telstra Dome

St Kilda is capable of giving the Crows a stern test in Melbourne and they usually play quite well against the Adelaide outfit. Adelaide are overflowing with what the Saints desperately lack, however, and that's hard-headed experience. It will be interesting to see how the talented Saint youngsters fare against such quality opposition.

Fremantle (42 pts) vs Sydney -- Subiaco

Time for a bit of a reality check for the Harbor siders who will find Freo at home a much tougher proposition than Carlton (anywhere). The Dockers grow a few feet on home soil and will be eager to atone for last week's touch-up from Adelaide. The return of classy key forward Longmuir will only help the cause and the Freo side should win comfortably.

Port Adelaide vs Brisbane (36 pts) -- AAMI Stadium

I thought I'd be picking the Power a few weeks ago, but the side is struggling for confidence (overall) and fitness (for key players). The team has a recent history of playing well against the Lions, but will find the opposition in too hot a form to handle this weekend.

Hawthorn (12 pts) vs West Coast -- York Park

The first of Hawthorn's "home" games in Tasmania for 2003. The Hawks were touched-up by Port here last year, but otherwise have a perfect record at the ground. West Coast were fab last week, but were notorious for subpar displays away from Perth last year. The Hawks have problems with their (lack of) forward set-up, but even allowing for the tall forwards missing, should still be able to crawl over the line.

Geelong vs Kangaroos (15 pts) -- Skilled Stadium

Its getting bloody hard to keep track of the chameleonesque name of Geelong's home ground, and it may prove equally difficult to stay abreast of the team's form this season. The Cats lack a sound base of experience with which to guide their core group of talented youngsters and may find the Roos too tough to crack here. It could really go either way, but the Roos impress me as being steadier at the moment.

Richmond (20 pts) vs Western Bulldogs -- Telstra Dome

A brave pick in some ways, given how the team's performed last week. Richmond clearly had the tougher assignment though and I suspect that the Hounds will struggle to recover from the loss of Grant for the year. The Tigers will be hoping for a big showing from Richo and will be wary of allowing Western free runs through the middle. The Tigers desperately need this and will be just good enough to get it.

Issue of the Week

Hawk ruckman, Peter Everitt, became the latest victim of the AFL's war on (umpire) touching this week. At least his suspension was consistent with others handed down over the offence, but one wonders if the AFL isn't being just a touch precious over this. It is interesting that the umpire involved did not have a problem with the incident, but the ruling body decided to nail Spider anyway. I think it is true that there is always going to be accidental contact between players and umpires given the pace of the modern game and it would be preferable to see action taken only in the more serious cases.

CyberKev

 

[imported_eels fan...]

Collingwood
Essendon
Adelaide
Sydney
Port
West Coast
Kanga's
Dogs

The tribunal has made a mess of this week. Spider should have been given a slap on the wrist & let it be shown that the whistle blowers should be given respect but also will give some back. I've read that in a couple of articles & have to agree wholeheartedly. If they want this "whistles across the world" thing to take off then start from NOW. How do they expect people to suddenly start respecting ref's more when players are getting suspended because one is to bloody slow to move?
On top of that was the complete balls-up of two fighting (for lack of a better word) charges. The first had the player in question saying he didnt hit the guy... & the guy he supposedly hit saying he didnt hit him & he gets a week.
The second has footage of a headlock, punches thrown & blood spilt but gets off.

Weird.

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

How did Cousins get off? I mean, it was a fair shot, it made the AFL judicary look pathetic IMO.

Did anyone else not see a problem with the punishment? Eh, i thought it was odd

Collingwood by 68
Essendon by 23
Adelaide by 50
Fremantle by 60
Brisbane by 15
West Coast by 8
Geelong by 10
Richmond by 28

Cheers,
Moffo

 

[Ms.Storm]

Hi Kev,
Agree with all your predictions, except the Dees, who will win by 8 points

Have a great day, and catch you next round!

 

[CyberKev]

Ms Storm

Always a delight hearing from you and I hope you're enjoying the Storm's better than anticipated opening to the year. There's no doubt that the Demons are capable of winning this one and I certainly wouldn't be too upset to be proven wrong in this instance.

Eels Fan & MFC

On the umpires... I fully agree that they shouldn't ne deliberately manhandled during a game, but in over a quarter of a century of watching VFL/AFL games I could easily count instances of this offence on one hand. I think nailing blokes for accidentally connecting with an umpire in the frenetic heat of battle is over the top. If an umpire gets collected and has a problem with it, let him report it, otherwise lets get away from the unproductive folly of wrapping umpires in cotton wool. In line with this, I'd like to reiterate my call for umpires to undergo post-match press conferences. Players, coaches, club & AFL officials are all called upon to publicly explain their actions and I don't see why umpires should be exempt from this. If I was an umpire I reckon I'd like to have the chance to explain my reasoning behind a controversial decision. By hiding these guys away all we're doing is promoting anger, frustration and ignorance. We need to humanise these blokes as they're not automatons and we could benefit from getting a deeperinsight into how they operate.

On Cousins... I probably would have given him a week, but the bigger issue involved here is the ongoing attempts of players to collude with one another at the tribunal. Player evidence isn't worth a sausage these days and the players have noone to blame but themselves. On painfully odd occasions a player will take umbrage to being kinghit 50 metres behind the play and will let his displeasure be known. Alas, such players are slammed by their peers and mercilessly mocked by the public. I really don't see the point in asking players to give evidence anymore as you'd be lucky to get the truth from them 5% of the time. I also don't see why players like Hardwick shouldn't get a week off if they have the gall to admit that they took a swan dive on the paddock to try and get an opponent in the shit. The whole players 'code' is a joke.

CyberKev

 

[CyberKev]

Well just the one main surprise to come out of this week's games, with St Kilda surviving a late Crow surge to fall-in unexpectedly by 8 points. A week can indeed be a very long time in football, with the Crows going from high rollers to destitute vagrants, and 'King' Carey looking more like a pauper having been towelled by Fraser Gehrig.

Port would be feeling a lot better about themselves having pushed Brisbane to the limit at home and one suspects that the Power are painfully close to opening their account for the season. It is likely that this break through will open the floodgates on a considerable Port winning spree, but the team still has plenty of hard work ahead of it.

The good people of Tasmania were treated to an early contender for match of the season with Hawthorn leading for most of the day before sneaking across the line by a mere two points. At one stage Hawthorn led by four goals before West Coast eased back into the match, but for much of the game there was never anything more than a single figure margin in it. For awhile it seemed that the Eagles tenacity (coupled with a devotion to flooding their defence) would win the day, but somehow the makeshift Hawk forward structure found a way to outscore their opponents (just). Apparently the game was tight enough to put hawthorn coach Peter Schwab into hospital with heart problems, and bloody hell can I ever relate... Happy with the four points, but a nice comfortable margin wouldn't go astray.

Are the Pies all they're cracked up to be? I don't think so, but they keep finding a way to win. They were suitably unimpressive against embattled Carlton on Friday night and would have to be concerned about only outscoring the Blues by 16 points (and just 1 scoring shot). Carlton has been getting touched-up by anyone and everyone whenever it has taken to the field in recent times, but they were still capable of giving Collingwood one hell of a scare.

Not much to talk about from the other games, with the Kangaroos playing another solid game against the hapless Cats and Freo disposing of Sydney with a minimum of fuss. Essendon had to fight hard early before easing away from Melbourne and Richmond proved that the season will surely be a long one for a dogged Hounds line-up, absorbing 3 quarters of full-on pressure before breaking clear in the final term.

CyberKev