And then there were six



Tuesday 11 September 2012

And then there were six

The Scott brothers bow out in the first week of finals footy and the twins can now start preparing for 2013.

I wonder how much a bet would have paid at the start of the season that Brad would last longer than Scott? The reigning champs Geelong were stunned by Freo on Saturday in what I thought was the only upset! Here’s my early predictions for Week 2 of the AFL:

Semi 1 - Crows vs Dockers (Friday night AAMI stadium)
 
Can anyone stop the extremely well coached Freo? Adelaide gets a second bite at home with a ‘no tomorrow’ scenario. Put simply anything but a win would leave the nastiest of tastes in the mouths of this organisation after such a great home and away campaign.

To bow out in straight sets is not much fun but unfortunately for the Crows this is what’s gonna happen. They seemed to have been worked out somewhat and have perhaps already played their best footy.

Some scoreboard pressure early on from the Dockers will be the game plan and the pressure of this will make the Crows crack.

Adelaide is the only team to defeat Fremantle in the past 10 weeks - Freo lost by 28 points in round 20 - but I’m tipping the great Matty Pavlich and his mates are gonna continue this fairy tale for at least one more week.

It won’t be over until the last kick of the day (probably by Pavlich). Dockers by 1.

Semi 2 - Pies vs Eagles (Saturday night MCG).

Form would suggest the Westerners will get this one but I think Collingwood will find something special to stave off elimination.

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They were beaten by a very good Hawthorn outfit on the weekend but at times looked just as classy. A loss would mean a goodbye to Travis Cloke as he heads to Carlton and Bucks' first year in charge would seem to have been sketchy at best.

I also doubt they’ll come back to Port Douglas next mid-season if they lose as they’ll probably do Arizona altitude training instead (seemed to work better in the past).

West Coast has regained some form and are certainly not scared of the MCG or hostile crowds. This will be a nail biter and the engine rooms of both clubs will need to win the war. Jolly vs Cox and Nic Nat as well as Kerr vs Swan are key matchups and quite mouth-watering.

Port Douglas Pies also with the last kick of the day, by 3!

Well done to Wally and the Magoos on the weekend – two more wins to go boys!