Round 21 stuff

Carlton vs Geelong funny feeling might be an upset here though
Sydney vs St.Kilda
Gold Coast vs Port Adelaide
Essendon vs West Coast
Adelaide vs Richmond
Collingwood vs Brisbane
North Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs
Melbourne vs GWS
Fremantle vs Hawthorn

From 'The Guardian Australia'


Get set for success…ion plans

Geelong coach Chris Scott this week signed a two-year extension to his existing contract, taking his tenure to the end of 2017, so it’s worth pondering the rapidly altered coaching landscape in 2014 and the winners and losers of some high-profile succession plans. Scott’s opposite number on Friday night will be Mick Malthouse, whose much-publicised replacement at Collingwood, Nathan Buckley, is now copping it from all angles and discovering that life in the hot seat is not quite as much fun as it looked from the co-pilot’s chair.

In contrast to Collingwood’s frustrating and uncertain path since the final stages of the Malthouse reign, things couldn’t be going any smoother for Scott and the Cats. Central to the success of the latter has been taking the solid foundation left by Mark Thompson. With the help of his recruiters Scott has injected highly effective youngsters, regenerating the side as seasoned players are slowly phased out. Remarkably, the club’s trajectory continues upwards. That’s an awkward segue for the Blues, who despite the occasional off-field win – like successfully (for now) gambling on the body of re-signed youngster Troy Menzel – have lacked the depth of young talent for Malthouse to recast the playing list in his own image.

At least last week there was some unintentional levity when serial suspendee Mitch Robinson responded to criticism of his latest off-field incident by claiming, “I’ll be putting things in place where I can be home at a reasonable hour.” A taxi would be the first, you’d assume. Chris Judd will now stay on for one more season at Carlton but his presence papers over some serious cracks. The Blues have strung together three wins in the last five weeks but they’re unlikely to challenge Geelong this time around. Can Malthouse cajole them into anything much better in 2015?
Port are fading, the Suns are hanging on

With Gary Ablett out of the frame for the final stages of the year, what a tease this season has been for the slowly-building support base of the Gold Coast Suns. This week they’re a legitimate chance of knocking off the fading Power at home, but an away game against Essendon and another toughassignment against West Coast will also pose their own difficulties. The big disappointment last week in the Suns’ loss to Carlton was that their lowly opponents were hungrier, tackled harder and won the contested ball. That doesn’t bode well for any remaining finals hopes within Guy McKenna’s squad.

Port Adelaide can hardly take this game lightly, nor should any team with just two wins in the last couple of months. Having played around with the AFL ladder predictor, I’ve actually talked myself into Port finishing as low as eighth place with an early finals exit. Should we have needed the confirmation, Ken Hinkley said this week that his side are not elite. Port haven’t lost to the Suns since early 2011 and will also probably welcome back speedster Matt White on Saturday, but whether either side displays the kind of desperation we’ve been hoping for in recent weeks remains to be seen.
Bills Bills Bills

Having sat next to a few lawyers this week and noted their reaction to football reporters relaying information about court proceedings, I feel confident in saying that my opinions on this week’s Essendon hearing are not even the least expert. This came as a genuine surprise given that I’d previously thought “due diligence” was a reference to getting your column in on time.

But I digress. After three days, Essendon, James Hird and Asada have all had their say. Essendon claimed that Asada’s joint investigation with the AFL was “directly repugnant” and made a “mockery” of anti-doping laws, Asada tried to argue that Essendon knew the investigation was a joint one from the beginning while Justice John Middleton openly wondered what was wrong with the league doing everything it could to limit doping violations.

So what began as the AFL media’s OJ Simpson moment (yes, this story needs yet another exaggerated metaphor) is now just grist for the barristers’ mill and this week was yet another to be buried under a mountain of paperwork and legal bills. Many more of the same look likely and you can’t help but feel that there’ll be at least 40 candles on Dustin Fletcher’s birthday cake before they sort this thing out.

Of equal concern to Bombers fans now is their side’s clash with the sneakily-resurgent West Coast at Etihad Stadium. Mark Thompson was fuming with his side’s inability to bury Richmond last week and their eighth position is precarious, with four sides sharing the same number of wins as the Bombers, and both Richmond and the Eagles one adrift. Neutrals and fans of late-season ladder chaos should be cheering heartily for the Coasters.
The finals log jam

One of the most wonderful times on the football calendar is about to arrive: mourning fan montage season. With competition for September spots so tight, there’ll be a few teary-eyed fans in the coming weeks. Adelaide supporters might be feeling the creeping sense of horror that their side could lose at home to fast-finishing Richmond. Note to Richmond statisticians and whoever is managing Damien Hardwick’s next coaching contract: “mini-finals” don’t count as actual finals.

The only way is up for Collingwood after their disastrous showing against West Coast last week and their opponents Brisbane were also embarrassed in a three-figure loss to Adelaide. What a strange game this was to fixture at the MCG at 7:40pm on a Saturday night. The Lions haven’t beaten the Pies at the venue since 2007, when they could still call upon the likes of Black, Lappin, Power and Brown. Tom Rockliff is now running rampant but even if he does so again, the Pies should be too strong.

On Sunday at Etihad it won’t exactly be a cakewalk for North (when is it ever?) against the Bulldogs. What the Doggies wouldn’t give for a key position player as prolific as their infamous alumnus Fred Cook, enshrined this week in an eye-popping new biography. Reports suggest that the Dogs will chase GWS young gun Jonathon Patton hard and his team-mate Jeremy Cameron might also come onto the market. At the very least, both would surely have less eventful social lives than Fabulous Fred.
The best and worst of the rest and your quote of the week

With no disrespect to the retiring Lewis Roberts-Thomson, an admirable contributor to Sydney’s golden era of the past decade, the biggest news out of the harbor city this week is that having failed to force his way into the senior side, 2012 Norm Smith medalist Ryan O’Keefe has arranged for himself and his wife to take part in a sponsored sex marathon to keep the 33-year-old in shape for a call-up. Should you feel the need to “follow their journey”, head here.

O’Keefe’s Swans face St Kilda at home and it might be an ego-bruising voyage for the likely wooden spooners. At the risk of damning their encounter with faint praise, Melbourne and GWS are the most evenly matched of the weekend’s undercards in a game that will only really decide which of them takes pick two or three in the next national draft. Hawthorn should have too much firepower for a slightly battered Fremantle side but the latter at least have some home ground advantage.

Speaking of the Hawks and Dockers, Ross Lyon is in a quite combative mood at the moment and it appears he’ll stop at nothing to get the points this weekend. “We’d like to get a scalp,” said Lyon this week. Having suggested that his side were going to “get into a footy war,” Lyon added “we’d like to scalp the Hawthorn football club.” Ouch. Ryan Crowley, you know what to do.

Gone

Cats
Swans
Port
Essendon
Crows
Collingwood
Roos
Melbourne
Hawks

Close game Carlton up by 3 points at 3qtr time.

Geelong won by 6 points

Close game, good game, Carlton down to 19 players probably helped Geelong though.

Sydney beat St.Kilda by 80ish. Franklin got 9.
Port beat Gold Coast by 9 points
Essendon beat West Coast by 3 points. Essendon kicked 7 of the last 8 goals.

Richmond looking good early in the 3rd qtr. Up by 16 points on a wet deck.

wtf

Richmond beat Adelaide by 10 points. Must have beat the 6 day break and 24 degree 'heat' Sando   
Brisbane beat Collingwood by 67 points

re Collingwood - Pendlebury a late withdrawal, Armstrong had to play VFL then AFL and Reid subbed off in first 4 minutes and Beams injured in first half also.

maybe it was to cold

Adelaide needs a bloody good shake up starting from the top down.

Sando needs to find a better job than trying to coach football.

If Adelaide keep the same they will remain the same.

North Melbourne beat Western Bulldogs by 50 points
GWS beat Melbourne by more than the above

Great game in the West.

Half time:

Hawthorn 10.9
Fremantle 10.3

Fremantle won by about 3 goals.

Pavlich got 5