13th - Melbourne

Oops.  At the time of writing there seems to be a bit going on with a certain Liam Jurrah!  Sound a bit ominous... That aside, the Dees win a few, but the emphasis is on that word - "few".  New coach and a few new assistant coaches with N Craig coming in.  A lotta conjecture over J Watts - should he play forward, should he play back, is he any good, is he completely over rated and going to be slightly worse than koshitsme?

As with most teams the Dees do have a couple of young players coming on (not Watts), but I don't see them improving beyond any other teams.

14th - Paps

The Paps are on the way UP in 2012.  That's saying not much cos 2011 was beyond bad for them.  Even I was getting embarrassed for them.  The Paps only seem to grow testies when they line up against the Crows - it's time to move beyond that you buncha ladies - there are 16 other teams in the comp, not just the Crows.

The removal of Ole Man Cornes and Diana Brogan will help things.  The addition of Brad Ebert will be a major plus in the midfield, and Butcher looks a likely lad, but until they finally decide to get a full time coach to take over from Matty Primus you can keep writing off the seasons.

15th - Brisbane

Much like big JB, the Lions are gonna be in a world of pain this year.  2011 saw them gain a bit of respect with some solid losses, but they were losses, and I can't see where the improvement is gonna come from.  With Mitch Clarke gone and Browny on his last cheekbone, they will be marginally better than the Tigers and Suns, but not by much.  It's gonna be a long season north of the border.

16th - The Suns

The Suns will definitely get a few more runs on the board this year with the development of their juniors, Ablett continuing to rack up the SuperCoach points, Bock using his wife-beating skills in the forward lines, Zac Smith growing another 6 inches taller, and Brennan learning to use two hands.

Unfortunately they still have Josh '8 years ago I was trade bait' Fraser on their list.  Only percentage will keep them above the Tiggers but thats good enough.  Roll on 2013 for the Sunnies.

17th - Tiggers

The Tiggers will be slightly more powerful than this lil teddy bear.  But not much.  I tried to find some wins for them and beyond the Giants, Suns and the standard win over the Bombers, I'm struggling.  In past years you could pencil them in for some early wins just to allow us all the pleasure of seeing their supporters get their hopes up and then crushed like a Roo on the Hay Plains.  But this year they won't even get those.

18th - GWS

The hardest part of the 2012 Season will NOT be picking who is going to finish bottom.  The Giants will struggle to win a game.  Where the Suns had some VERY good established players - Ablett, Bock, Brennan - and still finished at the bottom, the Giants have.... Scully, Davis and Palmer... oh and errr... Cornes... Brogan... McDonald...

While I would love to find the Giants a win this year, I can't.  Pretty Simple.  If the odds on a GWS win get less than $15 all year check the weather forecast and see if they're playing the Bombers.

Tough Gig!

How hard is it working out the top 8 this year?  While the top position is a lock-in, working out who will play off against the Crows to be just another trivia question is a tough gig.  To that end I have gone through the entire season taking into account the likely weather patterns, injuries resulting from Horseboy's SuperCoach selections, mid-season banter on whether Goddard et al move to GWS, and the general lack of ticker that embody the spirit of teams such as the Dees, Tiggers n Bombouts.  So over the next couple of weeks I will divulge the tips that will bring you The Ultimate Success in this years tipping comp...

Bring It On!

Horseboys Heroes Victims 2 & 3

J Brown & J Grimes... good work to the Horseboy!

Tipping Comp Details...

Yes, it is here.  So lets set up the ground rules eh?  Things haven't changed too much but with a new website host, there are some inevitable alterations... so here goes. 

• New Tipping Host - tis http://www.footytips.com.au/comps/HorseboysAFL12 - password = 'lovecrows'.
• You need to join up to the standard 'Tipping' and the 'Streak' competitions
• Entry is $30 payable before Round 4. Email me for details if you want to zap me the money (lukejporter@gmail.com).
• Yes we include all games up to but not including the Grand Final.
• 1 point for a win, 0 for a loss, 1 bonus point for getting full points for the round
• I have NO IDEA what you get for a draw.  Have been trying to see but nothing is clear... 
• Bonus Points for selecting the 2 Grand Finalists and Wooden Spooner (3 points each). If they finish in the opposite side of the ladder then you lose 2 points each.
• The side competition is a little different this year - it is the 'Streak' comp on the tipping site.  You choose as many "winners" per week as you like, and as soon as one misses out, your score resets. Whoever has had the longest streak at the end of the comp, wins the $ (which will be determined when I know the numbers in the comp).

So what I need from you is...

• Join the comp (footytips.com.au)
• Send me your TWO GRAND FINALISTS and ONE WOODEN SPOONER before Round 1
• Send me your $30 before Round 4

Thats it.  Any questions can be directed straight to me.

Lesson.

Do not click on something assuming you can easily undo it... oops...

Horseboy Claims Victims

Good to see season 2012 continues inline with previous years for Horseboys Heroes - my SuperCoach team.  First off the rank was Le Cras. He spent approximately 3 days in my team before succumbing to a potentially season ending injury.  I do accept payment if you have particular rancour with any individual player on an opposition list...

GWS Headstart

GWS shifting the goalposts...?

2012 The Season: Not Far Away Now

Indeed.  So I thought I better get some framework up and running.

• New Tipping Host is http://www.footytips.com.au/comps/HorseboysAFL12 - password =  'lovecrows'. 
• Join up to the standard 'Tipping' and the 'Streak' competitions.
• Entry is $30 payable before Round 4.  Email me for details if you want to zap me the money (lukejporter@gmail.com).
• Yes we include all games up to but not including the Grand Final. 
• 1 point for a win, 0 for a loss, (?) for tipping a draw correctly.
• Bonus Points for selecting the 2 Grand Finalists and Wooden Spooner (3 points each).  If they finish in the opposite side of the ladder then you lose 2 points each.
• SIDECOMPETITION is the 'Streak' comp on the tipping site - I think you choose as many winners per week as you like, but as soon as one misses out, yer out of the comp. $prize jackpots by $10 a week and the last person (with the highest score) in gets the $, then we start again.  Note that I am not 100% sure on how the website works on this... apologies up front!

That's about it... for now... :) The more the merrier.

Supercoach Time

As per usual Mr Iles has set up a Supercoach Comp - The Hansen League.  Feel free to get on board - this year they have 18 spots per comp.  

Supercoach is here: http://supercoach.heraldsun.com.au/
And the comp number is: 755231

The Countdown

Less than 50 days to go until the first game of the season ladyboys! 

There is a new website hosting the worlds best tipping comp...

http://www.footytips.com.au/comps/HorseboysAFL12

The password is lovecrows.  Entry is $30 - not much is different than last year cept the side comp has a slightly different element.  Get on board, feel free to have others join.  The more the merried.

Uncanny...

NAB Cup First Round

It's here... smell it?  Oops... no... not that... that is the results of some mighty garlic and rosemary snags I had Saturday night.  Smell THIS!  Its the first round of the NAB Cup starting Feb 17.   Same kinda thing as last year - which I seem to be a minority in liking - in that it is 3 shortened games per night.

Can't say it is starting with the best games of all time but it IS pre-season.

Don't forget to sign up for the tipping comp y'all!  Details in the post below.

2012 NAB Cup match order
February 17, Etihad Stadium from 6.45pm:Richmond v North Melbourne, North Melbourne v Hawthorn, Richmond v Hawthorn

February 18, Blacktown from 7.15pm:
GWS v Western Bulldogs, Western Bulldogs v Collingwood, Collingwood v GWS

February 19, Patersons Stadium from 7.45pm: West Coast v Essendon, Fremantle v Essendon, West Coast v Fremantle

February 24, Etihad Stadium from 6.40pm:St Kilda v Sydney Swans, Geelong v Sydney Swans, St Kilda v Geelong

February 25, Metricon Stadium from 7.10pm:
Gold Coast v Melbourne, Brisbane Lions v Melbourne, Gold Coast v Brisbane Lions

February 26, AAMI Stadium from 3.40pm: Port Adelaide v Carlton, Adelaide v Carlton, Port Adelaide v Adelaide