Round 12.5

by Booney Thu Jun 18, 2015 12:57 pm

Kicks off tonight, Thursday night under lights with Adelaide v Hawthorn.

Promises to be a ripping contest this one, the question on the lips of all Adelaide fans, no, nothing to do with Patrick and his autograph, it’s about ball usage and again, nothing to do with gaining Patricks signature.

Can Adelaide get enough of the ball to break even with the Hawks and while they have it can they use it well enough to create score board pressure? The answer to part 1, for mine, is yes. They can get enough of the ball with Danger, Douglas, Sloane, Thompson etc feeding off big Sauce Jacobs. The second part of the question is really anyones guess. Walker, Jenkins and Betts sure would like some decent delivery to make the most of the entries Adelaide creates.

At the other end of the ground the young Adelaide back line that has held up well and shows promise faces its biggest challenge for some weeks, the Hawks forward line and midfield delivery. Gunston * he’d be handy at Adelaide ), Breust, Roili and the Uglymug pose any teams defence a challenge. At the other end the likes of Gibson, Frawley and Lake sure up the big men department for the Hawks that has suffered in recent times with injuries to all of the above mentioned.

Big crowd, big stage, big game. The Hawks haven’t strung two wins back to back often this season and Adelaide are coming off the break. Adelaide have been slow starters all year, can they fix that tonight? It might just be the difference. Cracking game ahead, Hawks by 9 points.

Friday night and the Tigers get a chance to prove themselves, or, is it the Weagles that get a chance to prove themselves against quality opposition? The Tigger train is full steam ahead at the moment with all hands on deck shovelling coal into the furnace to keep the wheels turning while the Eagles are soaring to heights nobody thought they had in them.

The money has the Tiggers $1.75 to $2.10. I suggest keep the hard earned folding stuff in the sky rocket for this one as tipping this with any confidence is fraught with danger. Like pushing too hard on a gassy one the day after you’ve had a spicy Pad Thai. Go gently, be careful.

The Tigers are running in numbers and giving their forwards plenty of opportunity and Jumping Jack is playing up the ground more giving the blokes around him less of a chance to get in his way and cop a spray. Modern footy, when played in it’s best form is great to watch and the Tigers are doing just that at the moment. The Eagles are a little more “traditional” in their structure with key big men in the forward half with Kennedy and Darling roaming around Sinclair and Nic Nat. All of a sudden Le Cras gets a little less attention and he’ll get you every time, he’s all class.

I can’t pick this one with anything other than the home side advantage and that’s all. Richmond in a ripper by 8 points.

Urrgghhh. Carlton and Port. Cripes. What should happen is different to what will happen and actually anything might happen. Us Port folk are not sure what to think. We’re holding out for the worm to turn, we’re thinking it should have happened weeks ago, it hasn’t, will it be this week?

Forget the bullshit being thrown out by some “Carlton have nothing to lose”, bollocks. Anyone who crosses the white line has plenty to lose and it’s not just that match. Carlton have been hit hard with champion Chris Judd having played his last game and dud import Daisy Thomas going in to have his busted wing clipped. One is a loss, the other is a waste of coin.....but, Carlton have shown they are prepared to run and play direct to Kruezer, a handy mid season inclusion. With Murphy getting plenty of it, Simpson capable, Curnow and Cripps coming on and Casboult and Kruezer to aim at they’ve got something going forward. Touhy and Buckley offer something in defence while Bell looks to be a ring a ding dead set half back flanker. ( Not wanker )

Port, where do I start? They simply must front up on Saturday at the G ( Nanna Boon is on the train tomorrow to go watch, I hope she’s not left with a cold cuppa tea as her highlight of the weekend ) and it’s time to put some heat and a few blokes. Lobbe needs to have an impact at ground level this week, he’s been competing in the air but offering little to nothing around the ground ( 52 hitouts last week, 5 touches ) and with Ryder set to return after the bye the big Ginger needs a big game against journeyman Cameron Wood, who, is about as hard as Kevin Rudd in a one-on-one with Gillard. Schulz needs to keep his positioning and offer a target for the mids who look up to see Wingard and 4 defenders in recent weeks. Sarge needs to nail a few this weekend. In the mids Hartlett needs to knuckle down and make the most of his ample frame and skills by impacting upon the contest.

Urrgghh. Port by 21 points. Please.

GWS have been hit hard, real hard with injury and it’s take out two of their bigger bodied experienced heads. Mummy has been unravelled by a nasty ankle and Phil Davis, who seems to like extended midseason breask, is in the mandatory moon boot and Patfull and Coniglio add to the losses that will truly test the Giants depth.

They host a North side who rolled the Eagles and then battled it out against the Swannies, that’s pretty good form and I don’t think any of us saw that coming 3 weeks ago. Goldstein will be licking his lips at the prospect of no Mumford and the likes of Harvey ( how’s he going for a 47 year old? ) and Cunnington, Ziebell, Swallow, Wright, Higgins et al makes for one of the deeper midfields in the game. Would be very frustrating supporting the Roos ( says the Port supporter! ), they really look to have all the ingredients to be at the top, perhaps just a little bit lacking in depth.

Higgins and Nahas roam around under the big Dish’s ( Petrie ) feet and reap the rewards from how big Drewy competes in the air. Waite is a fool, I mean foil and Big Ben Brown adds to opposition head aches when you need to man 3 key forwards up.

I would have said the Giants with a full line up, you can’t with the outs they have had this week. Or, can you? I can’t. Kangas by 15 points.

The little bubble the Dogs had blown in the first few rounds has burst with them winning just one of their last 5, while the Lions haven’t had a win since they beat Port a month ago. As such, this one doesn’t really promise to have much in it for the neutral fan.

Looks like a tough road trip for the Lions who have really found it hard to consistently hit the scoreboard. These two sides are 16th and 18th for total possessions,12th and 18th for goals for, 17th and 13th for hitouts with only one stat looking like there is anything in it, the Lions are last for tackles laid and the Dogs are 6th. Looks like the heat around the ball will go in the favour of the Dogs and from that the Lions will struggle to get it forward enough to make any sort of score build up.

I think this is the second most one-sided of the weekend, I think the Doggies will get back into some form with a solid win here, by 40 points.

Melbourne did what only Melbourne can do last week, they snatched defeat right out of the hands of victory. “GET BACK!!!” Roos’ shouted down the phone “GET BACK!!!”.. “We thought there was 3-4 minutes left” said Bernie. So what went wrong? Surely the coaches box knew how long was left, Roos looked like he did. Surely the runner had a chance to call out under a minute, surely one of the older Melbourne heads had the nouse to just fold back and block up some space. They say winning is a habit, no doubt losing is too.

In Adelaide Geelong used the Blicavs / Stanley tandem to great effect over Port and usual back half suspects Boris Enright ( 300th this week ) and Taylor held the back half together. Caddy, Motlop, Kersten and Guthrie all hit the score board making it less predictable than just booting it to Hawkins all the time. Caddy really is standing up as the next best behind the old stagers and he’s ably assisted by Murdoch and Lang slowly building with some game time under their belts.

This one does not look promising for Dees fans, I’m not sure I’d head down the highway for the last Sunday afternoon timeslot. Stay home, cook a roast and check in from time to time on what the damage is. My best guess is the roadt will be far more palatable than watching this one. Geelong by 56 points.

TTFWIW.