First up. No changes to the rules or $. Thats the advantage of living in a stable economy. You can leave yer Russian Revolution at home, just log in to www.footytips.com.au and bingo was his name-o. If you have any probs drop me a line. You should also sign up for the STREAK competition. The Top 3 longest streaks at the end of the year will get some $ back. Do I need to tell you the rules for that one...? It's EASY money. Just don't get greedy.
So I need...
- $30 entry (round 5)
- 2 x Grand Finalists & 1 x Wooden Spooner (end round 1)
Tipping goes through the finals, and you get a bonus point for getting a full round correct. The point difference will be the deciding factor in the event of any tie, and it will probably be a top ten.
For payment, send me an email (porterl@rba.gov.au) - you can zap the money or cash me up. And if I still owe you for last year... why didn't you email me??!!! I can pay you the difference asap.
Any questions...
Back to the footy.
How fast has this season come up? A combination of the Ashes Glory with the Saffa Submission. Clarkey's boys did the poontang thang on all comers and wasn't it glorious to see! I still have to question the timing of Smith's retirement... was it on the back of a Hansie style Indian Summer Payoff for putting the Aussies in to bat for the first test? Fair enough when they put yer kid in hospital as a warning shot over the bow of the ship but still... Dodgey bastards those Saffas. We'll take it though. As did he.
So we get into the season proper. The celebration lap for Mr Demetriou if you will. And we get a chance to reflect back on pre-season form. Except that there is even less to go on this year than in previous years. You try picking a supercoach team when yer living in Sydney! Absolute debacle. One thing for sure though is this year will be tighter than the last few. The middle spread will be bigger than a retired union players arse. So lets pencil in the ladder before we look at the first roud...
The Tops.
Yes... it's hard to go past the Dockers, Hawks n Swans to be in the top 4. It's ALWAYS hard to leave out the Grand Finalists even though history shows that ain't always the case. So on that basis lets leave the Hawks n Dockers in there. While the Hawks lose Buddy, they don't have a bad cuppla backups, and the Dockers will be better this year, especially if Sandilands can stay fit - which apparently he is. And the Swans with Big Buddy and Tippers up front look formidable. Can they find room for them both? F*ck yes. While there is talk of them losing a few mid-tier players, that will only be a problem in a cuppla years time. Right now the Premiership window is well n truly open. Jack (x2?) is looking the goods. Goodes is looking the retirement. Tippers may spend some time in the ruck to help the Canadian. Down back can they cover for Mattner? We'll see.
The Middles.
The middle is big this year. Lets see.. OBVIOUSLY the Crows, but consider the Cats, the drug cheats, the Blues, the Roos, dare I say the Tigers, the Eagles, and the Paps... the Suns will improve and threaten the 8... That's 9 teams battling for 5 spots. Yep... it's gonna be fun around the middle.
The Not Quites.
People are talking up the Doggies on the back of some 'exciting wins' near the end of the season. There's always a team that does that. Who cares. They are always shit the next year. Back in yer kennel. And Pies fans... it's rebuild time. Not saying they won't win a few... they've still got penders, swan, beams etc but they've lost some players and the ruck is looking thin.
The Never Was.
Despite Melbourne's coaching and player recruiting efforts over Summer I'm still a little concerned. Admittedly the intra-club trial with Grenville Dietrich was abandonded but I'm putting them down as a work in progress.
Add to that list St Kilda. Dzzzzzzt. Lions. Dzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. And GWS. Dzzzzzzzt. Don't shoot the messenger.
Round 1.1
So Round 1 is split into 2 parts. Whinge Alert. WTF? Just seems... STUPID. Lets get this show on the road already. It's like splitting the Hobbit into 3 movies. STUPID!
The season opener is the Pies v the Dockers. I thought the season opener was always Carlton beating the Tigers. No? No. Who would have thought the Dockers would be in the season opener? Isn't that supposed to be some kind of... honour? If if was over West this would be a no-brainer but it isn't so it's a 50/50. When in doubt go the home game. But the Pies suck so I'll go the Dockers - after all, they will be playing the Crows in the Grand Final.
Next up is the Giants hosting the Swans. The Giants will win a few games this year. This won't be one of them. Swans in a canter. The Suns then host the Tigers. This is an 8 point game that happens to be played in round 1. Should be a cracker of a game. Rumour has it that Jake King is bringing up some mates to check out the night life. The Suns will be too good and get their season off to a cracking start.
Finally the Blues n Paps play and the Blues should start favorites. Surely. I must be getting soft in my old age though cos I'd love to see the Paps win.
So there you have it... get your tips in folks. Good luck...
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