2008 Premiership Round 5

hanton12

Friday 18 April
St Kilda v Essendon @ Telstra Dome 7.40PM (10.40AM GMT) Setanta Sports 2 10.30AM


Saturday 19 April
Geelong v Sydney @ Skilled Stadium 2.10PM (5.10AM GMT) Setanta Sports 2 5.00AM
Adelaide v Fremantle @ AAMI Stadium 2.40PM (6.10AM GMT)
Brisbane v Hawthorn @ Gabba 7.10PM (10.10AM GMT)
Collingwood v North Melbourne @ MCG 7.10PM (10.10AM GMT)

Sunday 20 April
Melbourne v Carlton @ MCG 1.10PM (4.10AM GMT) Setanta Sports 2 4.00AM
Western Bulldogs v Richmond @ Telstra Dome 2.10PM (5.10AM GMT)
West Coast v Port Adleaide @ Subiaco 2.40PM (7.40AM GMT)

Audio on afl.com.au through the live gamecentre links on the right hand side of the homepage.

Weekend highlights on Setanta Sports 2, Monday 21st at 6PM and TG4 at 11.05pm on Wednesday night

Eurosport 2 show a game at half 7 on a monday evening too, not sure if they have it any other days, but have seen this a couple of times in last 2 weeks.


My picks for the weekend
St Kilda v Essendon: Saints
Geelong v Sydney: Cats
Adelaide v Fremantle : Crows
Brisbane v Hawthorn : Lions
Collingwood v North Melbourne : Pies
Carlton v Melbourne : Blues
Bulldogs v Richmond : Dogs
West Coast v Port Adelaide : Eagles

Again, some easy ones, and some tougher ones, altho the easy one last week (Pies/Blues) was the big upset. Saints should do enough, but Essendon are showing some ability to make a good run. Cats should do Sydney, be a big test tho. Crows should handle the dockers who are looking absolute muck, and seem to have player dissent and fans turning from what I hear. I think the Lions can do the Hawks. Hawthorn are going really well, but Lions have ground out a couple of good wins already. Pies should get back on track again, altho in fariness to the roos, they are also showing some good form. Will go for the Bles in the wooden spoon clash, and the bulldogs should easily dispatch Richmond, in spite of their good win on the west coast last week. And I just hope to feck that the eagles get a win against the power!

One Cold Hand

Go Hawks! Yeah!

Xavi6

Just one variation on Hanton's for me -

St Kilda v Essendon: Saints
Geelong v Sydney: Cats
Adelaide v Fremantle : Crows
Brisbane v Hawthorn : Lions
Collingwood v North Melbourne : Roos
Carlton v Melbourne : Blues
Bulldogs v Richmond : Dogs
West Coast v Port Adelaide : Eagles

Hawks first defeat on the cards me thinks, just for you One Cold Hand!

Eagles/Port is a tough one to call as I think we could get overrun in the midfield and we lack a goal kicker (except the raw McKinley) but the heart says a win!

big b

Another busy weekend in front of the telly!

Not clued up enough yet to have a go at predicting all the games, but curious if you guys think:

a). Any chance Swans had disappeared with Barry Hall's madness.

b). They had no chance even with him playing.

c) (the minority view?) Swans will still win without him!

hanton12

big b wrote: »

Another busy weekend in front of the telly!

Not clued up enough yet to have a go at predicting all the games, but curious if you guys think:

a). Any chance Swans had disappeared with Barry Hall's madness.

b). They had no chance even with him playing.

c) (the minority view?) Swans will still win without him!

personally, dont think Halls loss will really affect Sydney that much. what will affect them moreso is the media focus on them as a result of his actions. as a player, I dont think his presence against the Cats will be hugely missed, as geelong are a running team and dont go in for the physical game that Hall commands. I think they have a chance, I really see this as Geelongs toughest game so far as they are siilar in that they both like to run with the ball. But I think Geelong are looking really good, and the one problem they had coming into the year was the loss of Nathan Ablett, but IMO, Hawkins looks a far better player.

Skittlebrau

Xavi6 wrote: »

St Kilda v Essendon: Saints
Geelong v Sydney: Cats
Adelaide v Fremantle : Crows
Brisbane v Hawthorn : Hawks
Collingwood v North Melbourne : Pies
Carlton v Melbourne : Blues
Bulldogs v Richmond : Dogs
West Coast v Port Adelaide : Port

I reckon the Pies will bounce back from that shocker last week. North haven't impressed me this season yet.

Eagles v Power is a tough one to call. I tipped Port last week and they fell apart but I think they're due at this stage.

redspider

This round throws up a few interesting match-ups which may direct how the season turns out for several clubs:

Geelong v Sydney: this will be a close one, and if it is, it will show that Sydney should be able to maintain a title challenge. I suspect Geelong to win it but you never know.

Collingwood v North Melbourne : if this is close, it will mark that Collingwood wont win anything this season

Carlton v Melbourne : if Carlton can win this one, it may mean they can maintain a mid-table finish, which would be an improvement for them. If not, it looks like they are doomed to another lowly finish.

West Coast v Port Adelaide : if WCE cant win this one, they are doomed!

Xavi6

Crows 42 - 17 Fockers at the half

Pretty poor game. Crows should be much further in front.

Skittlebrau

redspider wrote: »

Collingwood v North Melbourne : if this is close, it will mark that Collingwood wont win anything this season

North aren't that bad. They did finish third last year after all.

Pies were never going to win anything this season, not with Geelong and Hawthorn around.

Xavi6

So wins today for the Crows, the Cats, the Hawks and my big tip for the week, the Roos.

Crows/Freo game was so woeful I fell asleep in the third. Woke up in time for what was a cracker between North and the Pies. The Roos were 21 points down midway through the final term but kicked the last 7 goals to win. Some effort.

Franklin kicked 8 for the Hawks. Jonathan Brown got nothing, but Colm Begley did get on the scoresheet.

Xavi6

First draw of the season between the Bulldogs and the Tigers, 130-130.

Eagles lose again despite McKinley impressing and kicking five goals while the Blues beat the Demons easily.

One Cold Hand

Xavi6 wrote: »

Hawks first defeat on the cards me thinks, just for you One Cold Hand!

Ha!! Serves you right!

In fairness to me tho' I've stuck with them through thick and thin, through the good and the bad, and now they're coming good!

Xavi6

Quick! Hurry or you'll miss it!

One Cold Hand

Xavi6 wrote: »

Quick! Hurry or you'll miss it!

Miss what? The Eagles season? Oh wait it's too late for that!!


Oh is that a bandwagon? I see what you did there....very clever...

redspider

2008 Round 5 Scoreboard

St Kilda 123 Essendon 87
Geelong 114 Sydney 72
Adelaide 88 Fremantle 71
Brisbane 118 Hawthorn 130
Collingwood 105 North Melbourne 112
Melbourne 68 Carlton 101
Western Bulldogs 130 Richmond 130
West Coast 104 Port Adelaide 128

The ladder is now:

1 Geelong 20 5 5 0 0 156.20
2 Hawthorn 20 5 5 0 0 145.37
3 Western Bulldogs 18 5 4 0 1 132.94
4 Sydney 12 5 3 2 0 128.69
5 Adelaide 12 5 3 2 0 111.63
6 North Melbourne 12 5 3 2 0 105.06
7 St Kilda 12 5 3 2 0 99.59
8 Richmond 10 5 2 2 1 101.69

9 Collingwood 8 5 2 3 0 107.88
10 Brisbane 8 5 2 3 0 95.47
11 Carlton 8 5 2 3 0 94.44
12 Essendon 8 5 2 3 0 84.39
13 Port Adelaide 4 5 1 4 0 85.99
14 Fremantle 4 5 1 4 0 79.27
15 West Coast 4 5 1 4 0 69.87
16 Melbourne 0 5 0 5 0 52.67

redspider

Good wins for St Kilda, Geelong and Hawthorn.
Carlton won again, but only against Melbourne who are this years whipping boys, so I wouldnt read too much into that.
North Melbourne just got past Collingwood.
And the Bulldogs arguably dropped points with their draw against Richmond.
WCE continue in their slump.

Skittlebrau wrote: »

North aren't that bad. They did finish third last year after all. Pies were never going to win anything this season, not with Geelong and Hawthorn around.

I agree, North arent bad at all, but the point I was making, and I think we are in agreement pehaps, is that if Collingwood were to go any better than last season, they needed to start putting some wins together, especially after losing to Carlton. So a win against North was a must in my opinion. They didnt do that so for me they look like they will be a mid-table team this season, albeit contenders for a top-8 finish. They ran North close so its not a disaster for them. Yes, of course Hawks and Geelong are the two top teams and have started the season with gusto so far and both look likely contenders.

Redspider

big b

Suppose I'm merely stating the obvious here, but since it's so quiet anyway....

Geelong looked very, very impressive on Saturday. Even when the Swans came back at them a bit in the 2nd Q, they just moved up & gear & more or less brushed them aside.
Well worth getting up early for!

hanton12

yeah Geelong looked good alright in the first and last 1/4's. Ablett was unreal, the pace of him through the middle avoiding tackles. They are so unselfish in fornt of goal, that sometimes it can be their undoing. Sydney did well to come back in it, but there was some very dubious umpiring.

Eagles were ****e again. Looking like it'll be a long long season. Bulldogs did well to come back from 18 points down with a couple of minutes left. Couldnt believe Didaks miss for the pies with time just about up. So unusual for him to miss with an open goal. Could be a turning point for them in a bad way. Crows did well to beat Freo after their good comeback. Lions/Hawks game looked good too, must put Buddy Frankiln on my fantasy team, some of his kicks were unreal. Carlton got their win, Melbourne probably in line for the wooden spoon this year. And a nice win for the Saints Friday after dropping the G-Train.

redspider

big b wrote: »

Geelong looked very, very impressive on Saturday. Even when the Swans came back at them a bit in the 2nd Q, they just moved up & gear & more or less brushed them aside.

Yeah, they are very strong. Still, its a long way from now to the end of the season, and they will face tougher and more closely fought matches. Sydney also seem to do well in the play-offs. But Geelong will be there or thereabouts given their current form.

Redspider