Saturday, July 23, 2016

Eddie Betts

Two matches last week... Geelong gets the job done against Fremantle, and Adelaide wins their eighth straight by defeating a stubborn Collingwood side. The Pies have not listed Mason Cox for the last couple of weeks after he played for the big club for 10 consecutive games and kicked 15 goals. However I think the Pies have gotten some people back from injuries (such as Travis Cloke) so decisions have to be made as to who plays and who sits.

As near as I can tell, Cox plays on the VFL side which I think is similar to playing on the developmental team, or like AAA baseball. Getting a chance to play and get experience, but not at the senior level. It makes sense, given his neophyte footy status. In scrolling through his Twitter feed it seems as though he feels wanted and appreciated at Collingwood, so I don't think there's much to read into this.

When the broadcast crew talks about a team looking to finish in the top two of the eight postseason sides, it means the one they're talking about is pretty solid. This is how they talked about the Adelaide Crows during the match with Collingwood.

All eight playoff teams play in the first week but those in the top two get to play that first game at home (1 v 4 and 2 v 3), with a possible bye week to follow if they win. Top four teams cannot be eliminated the first week, win or lose. Finishing fifth or sixth means a home playoff game initially but having to play the next week regardless, after a long and grinding season. So for the Crows to be in this position is remarkable. This is the team whose players last season had to mourn the loss of their coach Phil Walsh, allegedly at the hands of his own son.

Which brings us to Eddie Betts who is a key member of the Crows forward line. He's 5'8" so speed is his weapon, and he uses it often. He's another one of the players the broadcast crew seems to fall in love with, although it sure seems justified, since Betts can really run and really play. He kicks straight, too. He's in the third year of a four-year contract since coming over from Carlton. It's really hard to see the Crows not keeping him for the long term given the fact that he's only 29 and that they could be heading toward a special season.

In the week to come... North Melbourne/Collingwood and the Crows look to make it nine in a row vs. Geelong.

Play on!


Thursday, July 14, 2016

Western Bulldogs

So two weeks ago I saw the Western Bulldogs kick a goal in the closing seconds to defeat Sydney. It was a great game that had some violent mood swings and several lead changes.

The Dogs have had some rough patches over the last couple of decades, including poor play on the field as well as financial troubles and low membership totals off it. They've only won one premiership, in 1954.

But these days they've put a solid team on the field and even made the playoffs last season. I watched them play Hawthorn in round 3 and they gave the Hawks all they wanted before coming up short. To add insult to injury (or injury to insult), the Dogs lost captain Robert Murphy to a knee injury at the very end of the game. They were seen as premiership contenders beforehand, and I thought they would regress a little because of it. However they're playing well and are in the thick of the chase, trailing Hawthorn by one game as we head into week 17.

AFL ladder after round 16. Hawthorn has already played Sydney as we go to press.
No spoilers here.
Bulldogs captain Murphy is planning to return for his 17th season at the club following knee surgery and rehab. I think he sees something special right now and wants to be part of it. He probably deserves the chance to see it through, given that he's been there for the bad times, though there was talk that he should retire. It's interesting to me how there is such open talk on whether a player should do this (Matthew Pavlich at Fremantle is hearing it too), even during the season. I don't think we see this in the states-- we'd likely view it as quitting on your team.

In returning from vacation I watched Sydney beat up on Geelong and I got to see the GWS (Greater Western Sydney) Giants play Collingwood. The Magpies picked up their third straight win after beating GWS by 32 points. The Giants played well in the first quarter, scoring 44 points, but it took them almost the whole rest of the game to score that many again.

On tap for this week: Geelong/Fremantle and Collingwood at Adelaide.

Play on!

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Holiday

This week is causing me to be more creative, as I'm visiting family in Texas this week.

Typically I spend the weekend and first part of the week watching the footy and sharing my thoughts later on in the week. But the wife and I flew out on Independence Day (no traffic and no lines at the airport!), so I didn't get a chance to watch the matches in their entirety.

What I wound up doing was checking out the first part of the game, a little through the middle, and then the last five minutes or so. The score bug is in the corner of the screen, so I could stop at a place where it looked good.

I recorded three games in round 14 two weeks ago (playing a little catch up here)-- I was a little bummed that I recorded only the last quarter and a half of Adelaide/North Melbourne, which the Crows won by 33 points. I got over it pretty quickly, since I still got St. Kilda/Geelong and Hawthorn/Gold Coast.

St. Kilda vs. the Geelong Cats was likely the best match of round 14, with the Saints getting a big first-half lead and then having to rally from nine down late to win by three points. Their rally got help because of Geelong's substitution patterns, as two of the guys the Cats really needed out there were waiting to re-enter after taking one last breather. However St. K kept the pressure on and Geelong couldn't get their studs back in. The Saints move to 6-7 after the big win.

I expected the Hawthorn and Gold Coast game to be a bit of a blowout, as the Hawks seemingly are rounding into premiership form, but GC made them work in a 26-point Hawthorn win. This was a home match for the Hawks, played in Launceston, Tasmania. I like the wide camera shots during the games that are played there, as they really show off the countryside in the distance. Hawthorn also wore guernseys with brown and pink vertical stripes instead of their standard brown and gold, to help raise breast cancer awareness.

The Hawks moved to the top of the AFL ladder with the win. It was also fun to see the Suns' Gary Ablett back and playing well after spending most of the last two seasons battling shoulder trouble.

A few other things...

Fremantle's winning streak stopped at three in Round 14 after a beating from a Collingwood side that really needed a win, and Richmond got well against a struggling Brisbane Lions side.

Now the trick has been to stay out of the Twitterverse, as the games I've recorded have already been played, and I saw the AFL feed on my timeline, so I have to shut my eyes or distract myself as I scroll further down as round 16's results come across. There's a two-hour time difference from when I'm at home, so I'm being extra careful.

Round 15's report is still to come.