Australian Rules Football - AFL Pre Season Discussion

[Beejayville]

NAB Cup Fixture for Pre Season Cup

WEEK ONE – February 23-25
Match No.	Match	Venue	Date	Day	Local Time	AEST)
1	Port Adelaide v Adelaide	AAMI Stadium	23 February	Friday (N)	19:10	19:40
2	Kangaroos v Collingwood	Carrara	23 February	Friday (N)	19:40	20:40
3	Western Bulldogs v Sydney	Manuka Oval	24 February	Saturday	15:40	15:40
4	Carlton v Essendon	Telstra Dome	24 February	Saturday (N)	18:10	18:10
5	St Kilda v Brisbane Lions	Cazaly Stadium	24 February	Saturday (N)	19:40	20:40
6	Geelong v Richmond	Skilled Stadium	25 February	Sunday	15:40	15:40
7	Melbourne v Hawthorn	Telstra Dome	25 February	Sunday (N)	18:10	18:10
8	Fremantle v West Coast	Subiaco	25 February	Sunday (N)	18:40	21:40
WEEK TWO – March 2-4
Match No.	Match	Venue	Date	Day	Local Time	AEST)
9	#5 v #3 (Stk/Bri v WBD/Syd)	TBA	2 March	Friday (N)	TBA	TBA
10	#7 v #4 (Haw/Mel v Car/Ess)	Aurora Stadium	3 March	Saturday (N)	18:10	18:10
11	#6 v #1 (Ric/Gee v Port/Ade)	TIO Stadium	3 March	Saturday (N)	19:10	20:40
12	#2 v #8 (Kan/Col v Fre/WCE)	Telstra Dome	4 March	Sunday	15:40	15:40
WEEK THREE – March 9-10
Match No.	Match	Venue	Date	Day	Local Time	AEST)
13	Winners of Matches 9 & 11	TBA	9 March	Friday (N)	TBA	TBA
14	Winners of Matches 10 & 12	TBA	10 March	Saturday (N)	TBA	TBA
GRAND FINAL – March 17
Match No.	Match	Venue	Date	Day	Local Time	AEST)
15	Winners of Matches 13 & 14	TBA	17 March	Saturday (N)	TBA	TBA

[Ashtee]

Richmond and Geelong look to have tough draw while the two Adelaide teams have an armchair ride, as they should get a home semi.

Might be timely a thread of it's own Beejay given how soon the NAB Cup is?

[Citizen Kane]

I may have been a bit too much lately but I like the look of the Bombers to improve dramatically this season. Real top 8 potential IMO. Odds of 40 to win the comp may present a layoff opportunity later in the season.

1pt Bombers @ 40.00 (NZTab)
3pts Bombers top 8 @ 2.65 (Centrebet)

Cheers
CK

[Ashtee]

I've noticed a lot of people tipping Essendon to do well and thus far they all seem to have one thing in common.

One question for you Citizen, if I may. Who do you follow?

[Beejayville]

Originally Posted by Ashtee

Richmond and Geelong look to have tough draw while the two Adelaide teams have an armchair ride, as they should get a home semi.

Might be timely a thread of it's own Beejay given how soon the NAB Cup is?

AFL Pre-Season Cup - (Feb 23 - Mar 17)

[ads25]

Essendon will go well this year, that im pretty confident on. I wouldnt say they had a bad season last year, sure they finished 15th but they lost 9 games under 20 points and alot of those were because they couldnt finish off the game in the final quarter. They played well at times and with the inclusion of Matthew Lloyd back in the forward line (an extra 3-5 goals a game) and the motivation of knowing its James Hirds final year of AFL, they really will be worth a shot to make the Top 8 this year. No way will they have two poor years in a row, just wont happen.

[Crouch Potato]

Coleman Medal markets are now up on TAB. Nothing really stood out for me, but my AFL knowledge is somewhat limited.

[Citizen Kane]

Originally Posted by Ashtee

I've noticed a lot of people tipping Essendon to do well and thus far they all seem to have one thing in common.

One question for you Citizen, if I may. Who do you follow?

Um.....Pies


No touche you got it in one.

[Ashtee]

, just that I don't want anyone talking me out of taking the 11.00 Essendon to come last.

[koi_saisei]

I'm liking Kangaroos to do very well in the Cup and Sydney to do poorly. Havn't found any markets on the NAB though

[Ashtee]

NAB CUP
Competitor	Best of Bookies
W. Bulldogs	6.9	Betfair
Geelong	7	Norm Short
Fremantle	8	Norm Short
Adelaide	9	Norm Short
Port Adelaide	9	Norm Short
Melbourne	10	Norm Short
Hawthorn	12	Norm Short
West Coast	12.9	Betfair
Essendon	14	Norm Short
St. Kilda	14.3	Betfair
Kangaroos	14.8	Betfair
Richmond	17	Norm Short
Carlton	20	Betfair
Collingwood	25	Norm Short
Brisbane	35	Norm Short
Sydney	41	Norm Short
	131%

Sydney identified that not adjusting quickly enough to last years rule modifications had something to do with their poor early form. They intend playing the senior players early this time, to what degree we may have to wait and see. I'm not prepared to rate them too highly myself but I do think the 41.00 is slightly over the odds at this point in time.

[Ashtee]

Actually, our last two posts should be in the NAB Cup thread Koi.

[koi_saisei]

Mmm, so they should.. whoops. Interesting news on Sydney.

Early thoughts on premiership for me is Fremantle. I think, and this is a gut feeling , that Tarrant will adjust well in Freemantle and they will have considerable firepower now up forward to work in hand with their midfield pace.

[Beejayville]

Gotta fancy Essendon's chances of climbing the ladder with matthew Lloyd back playing...He tends to kick around 70-100 goals a year and that will improves Essendon's scoring portential to allow them to win more games...Combine that with the natural improvement of other players and Mal Michael and Dustin Fletcher in defence, and Scott Lucas and James Hird assisting Lloyd, and the Bombers have plenty of scope to climb up the ladder.

The Sydney Swans always start the season off slow, just as Port Power used to when they were winning most games every year...Swans midfield is going to be picking up even more of the ball with Peter Everitt playing in the ruck...No reason why it can't be Sydney and West Coast Grand Final again as both sides have not lost anyone valuable.


Fremantle are the natural improvers this year as their belief stemming from last year combined with the inclusion of Tarrant and Soloman into an already impressive side, will take some stopping. Matthew Pavlich is almost unstoppable at centre half forward and to have the luxury of a Chris Tarrant and his marking power alongside, will make Freo hard to matchup on, and you also have Jeff Farmer(although he is a nutjob) down there making a nuisance as well.

[Beejayville]

Originally Posted by Citizen Kane

Um.....Pies


No touche you got it in one.

Nice to see another Collingwood supporter at PL Citizen

The more of us we can get in here then the more classy it will be

[Ashtee]

Originally Posted by Beejayville

Nice to see another Collingwood supporter at PL Citizen

The more of us we can get in here then the more classy it will be

Actually Beejay, he's declared himself an Essendon fan. Too even jokingly declare oneself a Collingwood supporter is clearly way too embarrassing.

[Beejayville]

Originally Posted by Ashtee

Actually Beejay, he's declared himself an Essendon fan. Too even jokingly declare oneself a Collingwood supporter is clearly way too embarrassing.

I wouldn't be yelling out I barracked for Essendon too loud, they couldn't even win the wooden sppon when they had the chance, and missed out the best draft pick we have seen for years in Bryce Gibbs

The poor bastard is now playing for Carlton, that is going to enhance his resume.

[Citizen Kane]

Had a nightmare once that I was a Pies supporter. Does that count ?

[Beejayville]

Originally Posted by Citizen Kane

Had a nightmare once that I was a Pies supporter. Does that count ?

Only if you woke up hot and sweaty, cos then it wasn't a nightmare

[Crouch Potato]

How much effort do you think the new rule about hands in the back will have on the game? I'd have thought that the process of working the defender under the ball would be quite natural and instinctive and hard to adjust to in an effective manner. If the umpires enforce the law in a draconian manner to what extent might it affect scoring?