Australian Football Association of North America

AFL Preview Rd 15

Well tipsters a slightly better effort last week but the upsets continue and of course close games can go either way. The top 4 is settling down but there is one heck of a fight going on for positions 5 to the bottom. The Ben Cousins story, after a short break, has hit the headlines again and the media gang that made themselves available to do the interview at training Wednesday night was unbelievable. It’s a wonder a few scuffles didn’t break out amongst them to get best microphone position and it would have been great to see the AFL fine them for wrestling. Ben was at his best with throw away lines about decaf he was drinking and he pointed out that there were more reporters at the interview than turned up to his 21st!! But it was all so boring I had to take some No-Doz to stay awake!

There has been plenty of football news every day and the births of the Gold Coast team and the West Sydney team are getting a bit of coverage. Not being in the west anymore sees West Coast and Fremantle coverage limited to 2 or 3 column lines here in footy country so the pressure that is being brought to bear on Whoosha is a bit of an unknown. A wooden spoon for West Coast might see his demise.

This week we have a few games amongst the rubble placed below 4th position so that will put a bit of pressure on tipping competition leaders. Hard to play safe when form is so up and down with these teams. Good luck.

Port Adelaide V Collingwood at AAMI Friday Night

Last week the Pies won by 83 points against West Coast.They won’t win this one by the same margin but it will still be a relatively easy victory for Collingwood considering the form of Port. The Power has lost its last 7 games and tonight should make 8. They have a few outs injured and the Pies look like still having captain Maxwell out with a calf injury. In a rare venture away from the MCG Collingwood will maintain their away win record.
Collingwood by 49

Geelong V Hawthorn at the MCG Saturday

Had this game been played 6 weeks ago the result would have been easy to pick. Hawthorn have strung together 7 consecutive wins after a disastrous start to the season. Mitchell is a big loss for Hawthorn and even though the Cats lost Moonie and Johnson the captain Ling will return. The hard pick for the tipsters is due to the fact that we have a team playing a littlebelow themselves in the Cats while conversely Hawthorn is on a roll. A few important outs for the Hawks swings the tip towards the Cats and let’s face it– Hawthorn have to eventually lose.
Geelong by 26

West Coast V Adelaide at Subiaco Saturday
The Eagles are due to come out fighting which would make a nice change. Unfortunately they come up against the Crows who are back on track with form that should make a lot of teams start worrying. The injury list for both teams is enormous and for West Coast it holds their better players! Not sure what sort of pressure the West Coast players are under but they really need to lift and show supporters that there is hope after 2010. Adelaide seems to have turned the corner but their record at Subiaco does not read well. Could be the upset game of the round and for tipsters looking at scratching an extra point it should be considered a possibility.
West Coast by 11

Brisbane Lions V St Kilda at the Gabba Saturday
With a weekend of difficult matches it’s nice to get an easy one. There is not a lot to write about this game. Brisbane is going through a pit in form and the Saints just keep moving along winning games. Nothing will change this week.
St Kilda by 38

Richmond V Fremantle at Etihad Saturday
This will be a big test for the Dockers to overcome the psychological loss of Barlow last week from the badly broken leg he suffered.On top of that the Tigers are on a roll and will have lots of positive endorphins helping them hopefully win the game against Freo, unless, of course,the No Doz and Temazapam have extinguished them on game day. Cousins has been omitted even though he made it clear he shouldn’t be. Freo just have to stop Reiwoldt kicking a bagful.
Fremantle by 29

Sydney V North Melbourne at the SCG Sunday
Let’s face it, North always come back from a bad game the week after with a win. Ignore that statistic at your peril. Both teams have 7wins so a win by either team is important to their finals chances. Tipsters will see this as a dangerously hard one to pick as these teams sit in that twilight zone. Good enough to make the 8 but not good enough to beat teams above them and win any finals. Harvey had a bad one for North last week so we should not expect two bad games in a row from him. Goodes for the Swans was also well held and don’t expect a poor game from him this week. On form this should be a draw but if not expect a close one. Coin toss to make a selection in this game is acceptable.
North by 16

Melbourne V Essendon at the MCG Sunday
This is an extremely difficult game from which to pick a winner. Perhaps the Demons can manufacture another draw. Both teams were pretty ordinary last week though it seems Essendon was the worst. Some reporting scuttlebutt about the way Knights coaches the Bombers and there’s nothing like an 84 point loss to see a few knives come out while at Melbourne it’s all about Jim Stynes, a few wins this season and the re-signing of some of their better players for another 2 years. Positives and negatives tipsters. Can Melbourne win another match this year? Coin toss allowed again. Yep.
Melbourne by 7

Carlton V Western Bulldogs at Etihad Sunday
The Blues finally cracked a win last week but it took them a half to shrug off the Lions. A slow start against the Bulldogs will lose them the game and you can bet the Bullies come out biting after last week’s unexpected, close loss to Hawthorn. If the Bulldogs can hold Betts that will help their cause because he is Carlton’s most dangerous forward. Not a lot on offer after Eddie and you would think that the Bulldog midfielders can hold their own with the Carlton trio of Judd, Murphy and Gibbs. Where’s that coin again?
Western Bulldogs by 21