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by John Loffler

PREVIEW ROUND 17

(Last week 5 from 8 total 77 from 128 =60.2%)

If you’re a bit like me and coming about nowhere in the tipping, or you’re up in the top 10 in the tipping competition but still 8 points behind, you would have welcomed all the stuff going on about the AFL coaches at the moment. This is a total distraction from supporting your team or concentrating on your tipping and is Soccer Federation or Rugby League plot, or even worse an AFP (Australian Federal Police) inspired plan initiated by the committees of non-performing teams such as Richmond and Carlton to get the supporters’ eyes off the ball, so to speak! Let’s face it, if you’re out there supporting your team come hell or high water (and if you’re in England you can cop a bit of hellish high water at the moment) and your team is getting pummelled by a zillion points every week you need to target your negative attention on particular players and not worry about who is going to coach this rabble the following season don’t you think?

And what a game of chess we have when we start pondering placement of the main pieces on the board so that they line up in an acceptable position. My mate Azza came up with the following scenario: Wallace sacked at Richmond, replaced by Sheedy, Connolly to Melbourne, Pagan to Fremantle, and Wallace to Essendon. Harvey and Voss will compete for the Carlton job while Daniher will move to the media as a special comments man and after Voss misses out he understudies Pagan at Freo. Hmmmm. A few things have happened already since he submitted that scenario. Here’s how I think it will pan out:

Pagan’s gone from Carlton, not surprising news,

Ratten’s now caretaker but who will coach the Blues?

Well it doesn’t matter who they get, such a bloody hopeless team

Even I would like to see them rise, a nightmare not a dream!

Can they recruit Mick Malthouse, the thought of it just tickles

But my money’s on a roughie, bring back Big John Nicholls!

Freo needs to toughen up and I don’t mean tribunal hearings

Punching guys, retaliating, nah, they lost their bearings.

Pulling mirrors off a car, giving bouncers the big punch

Hasn’t helped Jeff Farmer except to eat a drinkless lunch!

Mr nice guy Connolly? Freo committee gave him the toss

You wanna get Dorks back on line? Then hire Michael Voss!

Melbourne are a rabble, no leadership no class.

No money, no supporters, as a team they are a farce,

Seems Pagan liked to coach the Blues an appointment straight from hell

So give him Demons, its inhabitants, he should do bloody well!!

And what about the Bombers? Would their supporters get real merry

If they overlooked the likes of Harvey and hand the job to Terry?

No premierships to Daniher with Demons, what a shame

Hope he goes to Essendon and the result’s the bloody same!!

That’s a bit of poetic licence I know but hey, this is a game of passion. Back to the tipping. Should have got 7 last week but took a punt on a couple of roughies. Unfortunately they were a bit too rough and cost me a point on the leaders just when you need some inspirational selections to get you back a point on those smug bas##rds sitting on top of the tipping ladder!! Again this week there are some games that are going to give you a headache but with a bit of luck the result will fall your way. Let’s go and good luck!!


Western Bulldogs V West Coast at Telstra Dome Friday Night

Here’s a game between two teams who performed oppositely last week as the Eagles won a significant victory against the Swans at Subiaco while the Doggies copped a beating from the Cats in a display that opposes the forces of nature. West Coast are getting some very valuable players back in readiness for their premiership defence and the Bulldogs are just not showing the same energy they had at this stage last season. If I had to make a selection 3 weeks ago I would have been almost forced to pick the Doggies but this week I will have to stick with the premiers.

West Coast by 21


Carlton V St Kilda at Telstra Dome Saturday

The Saints have shown some finals form over the past few weeks with only the one loss since their trip to Subiaco when they beat the Eagles, a turning point I reckon in their quest for a final eight position on the ladder. Koschitzke is a serious loss for the Saints but hey, they’re playing Carlton and although we are being very daring going against the trend of teams winning for their new coaches as of late it won’t happen this time for the Blues.

St Kilda by 39


Fremantle V Geelong at Subiaco Saturday

I made the mistake of picking the Bulldogs to cause the inevitable upset that Geelong will eventually face some time in the remainder of the season and I am tempted to do the same here. Freo are good enough to beat the Cats but with wet weather forecast and the inevitable let down that Freo like to experience after a good win I will have to go the percentage on this game and stick with the top team in the comp at the moment. I will kick myself if the Dorks get up, or, like some people, when things go wrong just kick the cat to make you feel better!!

Geelong by 18


Collingwood V Brisbane Lions at MCG Saturday night

I know! I know! Brown kicked 10 goals last week, the Lions centreline had 3000 disposals and they won by over 100 points! Good grief man! Look at who they played! Yep, Carlton. Collingwood are going along just fine and even playing well enough for Robert Walls to say they will finish in the top 4. Brown will be minded by Presti and the Magpie blanket will put a slow down on some of the Brisbane playmakers. The goal for Collingwood is to snuff out the Brisbane race for the finals and hence stop an injustice.

Collingwood by 33


Sydney Swans V Richmond at SCG Saturday Night

Aahhh!! The Terry Wallace 5 year plan. In year three win the wooden spoon, gain a few priority draft picks and reset the 5 year plan. The Tigers have been doing that sort of planning for about 35 years now and you know what? It’s working just fine if you like consistency. As soon as they plan on winning a premiership the existing plan might be thrown out….might! Ridiculous.

Sydney by 100


Hawthorn V Kangaroos at Aurora Stadium Tasmania Sunday

The game of the round is being played in Tassie which might make us tipsters favour the Hawks as they do have a good record there. There’s no talk of Clarkson losing his coaching job at the Hawks anymore (success does that!) and funnily enough you would think that the Kangaroo players will need to play well enough to make sure they hang on to Laidley who would really make a good acquisition for the Dockers. Who would have thought at the start of the year that Hawthorn and the Kangaroos are playing the 17th game of the season for the honour of outright second position on the ladder? Well, I thought about it but I neglected to mention it in my write ups….yeah right! Hope the Tassie weather holds up as this should be a real tight game played with wild abandon and no thought of injury or let up. I have no idea who might win but it’s a case of go with the home team. Okay.

Hawthorn by 1


Essendon V Adelaide at Telstra Dome Sunday

Don’t you hate it when you had this game sussed and then Sheedy gets the bad news? By the way, the local papers couldn’t use the term “sacked” enough. It was used on the TV news lead ins, the papers and the radio. The man was not sacked. His contract ran out and believe me there is a vast difference. Mind you, it would have been nice for Sheedy if he had the final say in how it was all going to be done but the machinations of AFL clubs is still a mystery to many. I guess it was important that they got the news out there that Essendon would have a vacancy before guys like Harvey, Thompson, McKenna, Connolly and Daniher committed to some other team when they would have loved to have coached the Bombers in the first instance. All I can say to Essendon supporters is that I sincerely hope that your new coach is Sumich!! Anyway, tipping this game is now a nightmare because Essendon players do funny things like win when it’s unexpected or find an extra leg when they need to celebrate some player milestone so the possibility that they can beat the Crows is a strong one. However, I won’t be fooled. Then again…..

Adelaide by 11, nope Essendon by 11


Port Adelaide V Melbourne at AAMI Stadium Sunday

It is with a great degree of difficulty that I make the following decision.

Port Adelaide by 66

Article last changed on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 3:33 PM EDT


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