The Finals. How Good?

OK lets get this out the way early. I don't see a big problem with Lloydy's hit on Sewell. That is to say, I don't think it is that much worse than Buddy's hit on Druggo last week. Now before you all tear up, the ball was there, the player was there, Lloydy has the brain of a pea, and is slightly softer. Four weeks? Hmm... OK OK I admit it... I want him to get off cos he is further past his use by date than condoms in a 60yo virgins wallet. PLAY LLOYDY GODDAMNIT! PLAY!

*sighs*

So what else happened? Well the Eagles bid a fond adieu to some of their players as they beat a completely useless Richmond. And to think I tipped em to make the 8. What a bunch of losers. Quite surprised that Nathan Brown is being given a redundancy - maybe he should go to the Bombers? They are always in the market for recycled players. Or Freo.

The Eagles? Well I tipped em for bottom but they seemed to come good near the end. Which is more than can be said than for their inbred Purple-wearing cousins. The Dockers got beaten by the Cats (of course) and won only 6 games for the season. The amazing thing is that if they won 3 more they could have been duking it out for a spot in the finals. Unbelievable.

Their victors - the Cats - did nothing to suggest that they are back on track. Beating the Dockers on yer own home ground by anything less than 10 goals is not a major victory, lets be honest. I've said it a lotta times but the Cats are struggling. Equally non-emphatic was the Sinners win over the all conquering Dees. I suppose we can give both the Sinners and Cats some space though -they have been guaranteed 1st and 2nd since about round 3 and the season is long. But still...

Back to the battle for 8th. The Hawks and Bombers falling over themselves to miss out on September action. The last time a team won less than half their games to make the finals was about 1942 when the Bears fell into the finals somehow. Of course it has all been written already - two teams with no chance of doing anything serious duking it out. The game was in the balance and Lloydy proved his manhood by taking out Sewell and the Bombers ran away with it. And oh my, how the Hawks cried. What a bunch of soft-ons. It is all good and fine for C Brown etc to dish it out. "Unsociable footy" I believe they called it. But dish it back and oooh no... it's all too hard... tears. Downhill skiers my friends.

The Crows smashed the Blues. T Wallace has claimed the Blues midfield is crap. And when you compare it to the POWERHOUSE that he put together at the Mighty Tigers you can see where he is coming from. Judd, Murphy, Gibbs and Hadley have nothing on ...errr... uhm... who IS in the Tigers midfield? Oh that's right - they had Cousins. In 5 years Wallace did precisely diddly-squat when he had carte blanche over the entire footy department. There is not one midfielder at the Tigers that I would swap a Crows player (or a Blues player) for so i think Mr Wallace should SHUT UP. But instead he will join that list of crap coaches than now pass comment on everyone else - yes Grant Thomas I am talking about you. Ego? You? Surely not.

Anyway, the Crows smashed the Blues midfield who were very ordinary and could only go one way. I wish the Blues played the Crows every week - I would be able to retire from work and live off the profits of over zealous Blues supporters who then go down to the TAB and put money AGAINST their team knowing they will lose. Yes FALCON I am looking at YOU.

Could Round 22 have come any sooner for the Paps and Roos? Two Rubbish Teams. The Paps were over rated by most all year - top 4 by many. Yeah right. Top 4 of the bottom 8 maybe. And the Roos finally lived down to everyones expectations. It only took 4 years but finally... If a team plays a round 22 match and loses at home but nobody shows up to see 2 'stars' play their final game, did it really happen? HEY PAV WHERE IS MY MONEY???!!!!

On Saturday night I made my way out to see Mickey O, Leo B and JC make their final bows for the Swans. Not a bad game. As is the Swans want, they kept it close, fell miles behind, made a comeback, nearly won, and lost. Season 2009 is over. The Lions go on to a home final against the worst midfield in the comp.

And finally the battle for 3rd n 4th. The Pies n Doggies. I tipped the Pies but they never really looked like winning. The Dogs won by the required 24 points and into 3rd they trip. Bluddy Pies - the only time I want them to win (by 11 goals) and they go and lose on me. Rubbish team.

The Ladder
So. I have updated the oztips ladder with your Bonus Picks for the Wooden Spooner - correct +3, wrong half -2 - and if your GF pick was in the wrong half you also got -2. I have sent out an email with what i thought were the correct values. BANKEES PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR SOME REASON THE BANK EMAIL IS STUPID! Open my email and hit reply, and all the details will show properly. The ladder is taking a little time to auto-update, but when it does, if anything is not as it should be, drop me a line. Remember this year we are including the Grand Final so keep on tipping...

The Finals
And now to the Business End. 8 teams bugger off please. The other 7 (+1) can continue on... starting with the Crows and Bombers on Friday night. Yes I know. All money is on the Crows. That is when I start feeling nervous. Sure, the Bombers are without Paddy Ryder and some dude same Lonergan, but that is balanced out by bringing someone in to replace Lloydy. With Lloydy you know you can leave some crap nobody on him (we would have recruited LRT for the occasion) and there is no danger of ... well... pretty much anything. But with someone else.... ANYone else... well who knows? Nup, I'm not taking this lightly. I'm starting a BRING BACK LLOYDY campaign. The least biased commentator on the planet - Jimmy Hird - has already signed up and we are up and running!

The Pies n Sinners... hooly dooly. What an absolute ripper this will be! I'm gonna have to tip the Sinners but if yer a Pies supporter you better be tipping yer team - there are no excuses for a lack of loyalty here.

The Cats n Dogs... hooly dooly. What an absolute ripper this will be! I'm gonna have to tip the Dogs but if yer a Cats supporter... hang on... there ARE no Cats supporters and there ARE no Dogs supporters. Tough gig this one. Form says the Dogs but dare you tip against the Cats?

Final(ly), the depleted Lions host the worst midfield in the comp bar none. Vossy is so confident that Juddy & Co are crap, that he is resting Black and playing Rich on then bench for the entire game. The Blues have a good record in the Sunshine State and I am gonna tip the Blues my friends... I think. Cos you know what they say! no Bradshaw, Black, Merritt, Adcock, Drummond, Luenberger. No Lions.