AFL Preview 2012 Round 2

AFL Preview 2012

Round 2 – Easter Weekend

Not a good start to the tipping last week dear tipsters, I am sure many of you did better than me but every week is another adventure. Good luck!

Brisbane V Carlton at the Gabba Thursday night

The Lions certainly looked the goods against the Demons last week but then again so did the Blues against the Tigers. I learned my lesson last week picking against Carlton so I won’t do it 2 games in a row but it might be a lot closer than the Blues would like with a home town crowd at the Gabba worth at least 2 goals. There will be some interesting match ups with Rich and Black and Judd and Carrazzo then Leuenberger and Kreuzer. But overall you would think Carlton has enough guns up forward and across the ground to win the game.

Carlton by 12

Essendon V Port Adelaide at Etihad Saturday

This game sees two first round winners meeting and neither team won convincingly last week – less than a goal in both matches! Port has improved but enough to beat the Bombers? I don’t think so. Another close game can be expected. Essendon will be expected to dominate the clearances with Hille and Ryder but it will be up to the smalls to then make the ruck advantage worthwhile. Looks like the Bombers will get a good start to the season and be 2 from 2 after this game.

Essendon by 11

Sydney V Fremantle at the SCG Saturday

Two evenly matched teams and again both teams won last week so unless it’s a draw, a distinct possibility, then one of the sides will be showing 1 from 2. The home ground advantage is worth a couple of goals for the Swans but is that enough against a Freo team carrying some confidence after beating Geelong? Freo have lost Ballantyne after replays showed he was a little rough at times but he certainly is a forward with attitude. Goodes balanced out with Pavlich but overall Freo looks a little stronger.

Fremantle by 18

West Coast Eagles V Melbourne at Patterson Stadium Saturday

Even assuming the emotion of last week was too much for the Demons to handle there’s no way you can pick them to beat West Coast at home. Melbourne may lose by a similar margin this week. The Dees have a new game plan which seems to be kick it long into the forward line but they then need strong marks taken there or first rate crumbing forwards. The Melbourne backline is suspect and against West Coast that’s fatal.

West Coast by 44

Collingwood V Richmond at the MCG Saturday night

Some of the missing players from the Collingwood line-up may return this week although I still think the Pies would beat the Tigers even with a team unchanged from last week. These two teams are still in a different class in the AFL. Pendlebury and Swan and Cloke and O’Brien and Shaw and Thomas and Jolly,well you get the drift. Collingwood won’t allow themselves to be down 2 losses. Richmond will have to look at the weaker teams to lodge victories.

Collingwood by 33

Adelaide V Western Bulldogs at AAMI Stadium Saturday night

A poor performance last week by the Bulldogs won’t stand them in good stead for this game against the Crows in Adelaide. The Crows didn’t have a lot of opposition last week so they might not win this game by 10 goals…then again they might. Walker and Tippett will be a huge headache for the Bulldog backs and Scott Thompson seems to get better with age. Cooney still not back to his best and there is a lot being left to do for Cross, Boyd and Giansiracusa.

Adelaide by 39

North Melbourne V GWS at Blundstone Arena on Sunday

This is North Melbourne’s new Tassie home ground and it will be a nice intro for them to the people of Hobart because they meet the Giants. North was unlucky last week and that would be enough incentive for them to beat a better team than GWS this week. I’m afraid it’s another big loss for the Giants. I wonder if I can get this game streamed just to look at the ground?

North Melbourne by 60

St Kilda V Gold Coast at Etihad Sunday afternoon

The Saints got rolled by Port last week who almost won the wooden spoon last year. They certainly won’t allow the actual wooden spooners to knock them off this week but maybe the margin won’t flatter them either. Pointless trying to find any reason to pick Gold Coast so we won’t.

St Kilda by 29

Geelong V Hawthorn at the MCG Monday

This is a big Easter Monday game for sure and the Cats will be wanting to get back on track after a narrow loss to Freo last week. The Hawks, of course, playing the other grand finalists in consecutive games of the fixture will want to make a statement again. Should be close. The game will showcase a couple of guys who are freaky forwards – Buddy and Stevie. Might be some nice highlights from this game.

Hawthorn by 8