by Nick Gibson

It’s only five more sleeps before the first official AFL game is played at Cazaly’s and wouldn’t it be a huge shame if Gary Ablett doesn’t play!

His wonky knee has been cleared of serious damage but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Gold Coast coaches wrap him up in cotton wool this week and protect their biggest investment.

Ablett has still been a ball magnet since moving from Geelong this season despite not having the same amount of class around him. If you divide his salary into games played it would be nice to see him in his office on Saturday and pocket his fee of $91,000.

Wow, that’s some seriously nice coin for kicking a footy around a park!

I don’t think anyone at Collingwood gets quite that much but they are much closer to something that Ablett may never see again –premierships! How in this day and age does a side have a ‘record breaking’ win?

I thought the draft was supposed to even up the competition and disperse the talent appropriately. Someone forgot to tell the hot Pies however as they dismantled North Melbourne to the tune of 117 points.

This now poses the serious question of ‘can anyone beat them’?

The scariest part is North Melbourne are a good well coached side and are in contention to play finals this year – it wasn’t like they did it to the Gold Coast!

Collingwood haven’t just raised the bar, they’ve put themselves in a whole new league! The only positives that can come of this is that Mick Malthouse walks at seasons end (hopefully straight into the Gabba) and Nathan Buckley sucks as a head coach!

Their playing group is still young and very deep and they could string 3 or 4 flags together quite easily. This would be disastrous for anyone who hates Collingwood which is pretty much everyone who doesn’t barrack for them.

Maybe we should have a ‘smash a Collingwood supporter’ day. Just the thought of that makes me smile...

This weeks winners

Darren Lockyer; His record and the way he holds himself speaks for itself!
Collingwood; Credit where credit is due!
St Kilda & Western Bulldogs; making their run!
Essendon; 2 very good wins in a row!
West Coast; Definitely the years big improvers!
Queensland Reds; Great win!

This weeks losers 

North Melbourne; The result says it all.
NSW; Maybe they can win one with Lockyer retired.
Brisbane; Bottom 4 and unlikely to improve for quite a few years.
Crusaders; Che Che Bro!