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"BALL UP!" - Val's 2023 Aussie Rules Footy Tipping *Open to Everyone*
The final round of the 2023 AFL season has arrived, with 10 teams still in the hunt for the top eight.One could be eliminated tonight, with Essendon - only a near-impossible mathematical chance - needing to beat Collingwood to stay alive.
The Magpies can clinch the minor premiership with a win, which would be their first since 2011 and their record-setting 20th in VFL/AFL history.
How Round 24 will play out chronologically
Friday night
Long-time ladder leaders Collingwood can finally lock up the minor premiership which they’ve had one hand on for weeks with a win over the Bombers, but would be likely to drop out of top spot with a loss. For Essendon, they’re mathematically alive, but only in the sense that if they win by 100-plus and GWS loses by 100-plus, they can still make it. So they’re realistically done.
Saturday twilight
After two dead rubbers earlier in the day, Brisbane can lock up a top-two spot with a win over the Saints - and even pinch the minor premiership if the Magpies had lost the night before. St Kilda is already locked into September but a win would guarantee them a home elimination final, while a loss could see them drop as low as eighth.
Saturday night
After two shock upsets in a fortnight, the Western Bulldogs’ season is officially on the line at the Cattery, needing to beat Geelong in Geelong for the first time in 20 years to even have a shot at September. Win and they’ll become Carlton fans, in a bit of a funny reversal from last year.
Sunday early
Depending on Brisbane’s result, Port Adelaide could still earn a home qualifying final with a win over Richmond to open Super Sunday. If the Lions lose, second is possible; if the Lions win, they’re just playing to decide whether they finish 3rd or 4th.
Sunday afternoon
Potentially some stakes here, and potentially very little. Melbourne will already know whether they’re playing for anything coming into their Round 24 game; if Brisbane and Port Adelaide win as expected, they’re finishing fourth no matter what. If one or both of them lost, the Demons can still rise as high as second, though that seems unlikely. Sydney wouldn’t mind if the game was a dead rubber for the Dees, because if Brisbane beats St Kilda, then the Swans are playing for a home elimination final. A loss will force them into an MCG elimination final.
Sunday night
The AFL will be hoping this game has some stakes - because there’s a real chance it doesn’t. Carlton could already be locked into fifth, and otherwise would be playing to finish fifth, while GWS could be locked into the finals if the Bulldogs had lost to Geelong the night prior. If the Dogs win, then the Giants have to win to qualify for September.
Tonight's result:Essendon Bombers (Val) v Collingwood Magpies (on hiatus)
0.2.2 (Q1) 8.1.49
2.4.16 (Q2) 12.2.74
2.10.22 (Q3) 14.3.87
3.13.31 (Q4) 16.5.101
What a bloodbath! I couldn't even watch it. Thank heavens for the World Athletics Championships in Budapest where we were able to watch some of the decathlon events (with introduction by my crush of the 1980s, Daley Thompson) and the men's javelin. Anyway, Essendon can now go away and lick their wounds and Collingwood sew up the minor premiership. Phillip succeeds again in picking the closest margin and earns another $7 for Canteen.
I often follow the scored on LiveLaddershttps://www.liveladders.com/AFL/no-ga...
Here's what they have the ladder looking at as of tonight:
1. Collingwood
Won @ Ess
Prediction: Qual Final vs Melb / P.A. / B.L.
2. Brisbane
Saturday vs St.K
Prediction: Qual Final vs P.A. / Melb or @ P.A. / Coll / Melb
3. Port Adelaide
Sunday vs Rich
Prediction: Qual Final @ B.L. / Coll / Melb
4. Melbourne
Sunday @ Syd
Prediction: Qual Final @ Coll / B.L. / P.A.
5. Carlton
Sunday vs GWS
Prediction: Elim Final vs GWS / Syd / W.B. / St.K
6. St Kilda
Saturday @ B.L.
Prediction: Elim Final vs Syd / GWS or @ Syd / Carl / GWS
7. Sydney
Sunday vs Melb
Prediction: Elim Final vs St.K / GWS or @ St.K / Carl
8. GWS Giants
Sunday @ Carl
Prediction: Elim @ Carl / St.K / Syd or razing Geelong
9. W Bulldogs
Saturday @ Geel
Prediction: Elim Final @ Carl or hellfire
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
10. Essendon
Lost vs Coll
Prediction: Dear AFL, no Bye next year pls
11. Geelong
Saturday vs W.B.
Prediction: googling "What do most people do in September?"
12. Richmond
Sunday @ P.A.
Prediction: appointing a coach … surely
13. Adelaide
Saturday @ WCE
Prediction: preparing for 2024 Grand Final
14. Fremantle
Saturday @ Haw
Prediction: still celebrating the Derby win (against the Eagles, also Perth-based)
15. Gold Coast
Saturday @ N.M.
Prediction: surf's up @ Kirra
16. Hawthorn
Saturday vs Freo
Prediction: spending pick 3 while over-rating themselves
17. WC Eagles
Prediction: Saturday vs Adel
Prediction: season highlights Tues 10:00 - 10:07
18. North Melb
Saturday vs G.C.
Prediction: just taking all the young talent, whatevs
Yesterday's results:Hawthorn Hawks (available) v Fremantle Dockers (available)
2.0.12 (Q1) 3.4.22
4.1.25 (Q2) 8.6.54
7.4.46 (Q3) 11.8.74
8.8.56 (Q4) 14.9.93
North Melbourne Kangaroos (Steve) v Gold Coast Suns (Suzy)
2.3.15 (Q1) 4.2.26
7.6.48 (Q2) 8.6.54
13.7.85 (Q3) 10.9.69
20.12.132 (Q4) 14.13.97
Brisbane Lions (David) v St Kilda Saints (Tim)
2.8.20 (Q1) 3.1.19
4.11.35 (Q2) 3.3.21
7.11.53 (Q3) 7.5.47
9.18.72 (Q4) 9.6.60
Geelong Cats (available) v Western Bulldogs (Blastro)
2.5.17 (Q1) 3.1.19
7.11.53 (Q2) 6.2.38
10.13.73 (Q3) 10.5.65
11.13.79 (Q4) 16.8.104
West Coast Eagles (Sussex) v Adelaide Crows (Dean)
3.1.19 (Q1) 4.5.29
8.3.51 (Q2) 5.10.40
12.4.76 (Q3) 11.17.83
12.6.78 (Q4) 17.21.123
There's a few (many) teams need to work on their goal kicking skills. It was hard work watching Brisbane yesterday. And last night, Geelong looked as though they were out there having fun with not a thought to the score or shaping the final eight.
Meanwhile, over on the Premier League, David must be a very happy man!
Val wrote: " then the Giants have to win to qualify for September.".....that Giants mindset was unfortunate for those of us (me!😉 ) who needed a Blues win
EEEEEYYYYYYEEEEESSSS!!! Go Giants!!! :)
Today's results:Port Adelaide Power v Richmond Tigers (Philip)
4.3.27 (Q1) 3.4.22
6.7.43 (Q2) 5.11.41
8.13.61 (Q3) 7.13.55
13.16.94 (Q4) 8.15.63
Sydney Swans (Anita) v Melbourne Demons (on hiatus)
2.5.17 (Q1) 3.2.20
3.8.26 (Q2) 5.4.34
7.12.54 (Q3) 7.8.50
7.14.56 (Q4) 11.11.77
Carlton Blues (available) v GWS Giants (Duke)
4.3.27 (Q1) 3.2.20
7.5.47 (Q2) 8.4.52
9.5.59 (Q3) 13.7.85
11.7.73 (Q4) 16.9.105
I'm sure Tim would think the Swans/Dees game was the most important game of the round but at least both teams were destined to play finals. The Swans needed the win to secure a home game but it wasn't to be. They will now have to travel to Melbourne to play Carlton after the latter suffered a loss today. At least the SCG was packed with a sold-out crowd to farewell Buddy Franklin (not playing) who is retiring after a stellar career at both hawthorn and Sydney. When he signed that 9 year deal with the Swans everyone said it was madness, but not only did he play 11 seasons with them, he was a star with every appearance.
Of course, THE most important game was the late-starting Carlton/Giants game. I haven't been in touch with Daughter No. 2 and her husband who would have been watching in agony as their beloved Bulldogs missed out. However, I am delighted to see the Giants get their chance to shine and I think I'd rather be in their shoes playing the Saints than in Sydney's who now come up against Carlton in Melbourne.
Our tipsters' ladder is as follows:Round 24 (first number is correct number of wins - you want this to be high; number in brackets is the cumulative margin which is used to separate punters on the same amount of points - you want this to be low)
Philip on 6 (30)
Anita on 6 (46)
Sj Brooke (Steve) on 6 (46)
Duke on 5 (58)
Val on 5 (32)
Suzy on 5 (77)
SussexWelsh on 4 (34)
David on 4 (36)
Tim on 4 (47)
Blastro on 3 (87)
Dean on 3 (87)
Charity donations are:
Steve (Backpack Bed For Homeless) - A$7.00 - Highest score (Roos - 132)
Philip (Canteen) - A$7.00 (closest margin)
Philip (Canteen) - A$12.00 (weekly winner)
CUMULATIVE LADDER:
Val on 138 (655)
Sj Brooke (Steve) on 137 (729)
Philip on 132 (586)
Duke on 132 (739)
SussexWelsh on 132 (795)
David on 131 (685)
Tim on 128 (726)
Anita on 112 (731)
Dean on 93 (1009)
Suzy on 69 (710)
Blastro on 64 (1223)
Well done Philip on doing the double and Steve for finally seeing his Roos come good.
That's the end of the home and away games and there are some prizes to hand out:1st place: It's me (and about time too, I've been way off in recent years) - $35.00 goes to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
2nd place: Steve (who'd been playing cat and mouse with me all year) - $25.00 goes to Backpack Bed For Homeless
3rd: It's a three-way tie - $15.00 goes to each of the following - Phillip (Canteen); Sussex (Save The Bilby Fund) and Duke (Centre For Eye Research Australia)
Blastro takes out the wooden spoon with $10.00 going to Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation
The Coleman Medal (highest goal scorer over the season) was also announced - Charlie Curnow of Carlton won it for the second year in a row. As Carlton aren't aligned with any of this year's tipsters, that $15.00 will go into the general kitty to be re-distributed at the end of the season.
I hope some, maybe all, of you are willing to stay around for September as there's still some money to be earned. There's another 4 weeks of finals footy and prizes will also be handed out to the club who provides this year's Rising Star (first year player) and the Brownlow Medallist (best and fairest).
There's a week's rest now before the finals kick off on September 7 and the scheduling won't be announced until tomorrow. I'll be back then to detail the first week's fixture. Till then, congrats to all the winners to date.
We now get a week's rest before the finals. Punters whose teams are still alive are David, Tim, Anita and Duke. But remember, all punters are still in the competition to pick winners and earn some cash for their charities. There are no prizes for closest margin or highest score, just $15.00 for the tipster who predicts the most wins with the lowest cumulative margins.
Val wrote: "Our tipsters' ladder is as follows:Round 24 (first number is correct number of wins - you want this to be high; number in brackets is the cumulative margin which is used to separate punters on th..."
Yahaay! Go Roos go! At long last!
Congrats Val on your title win, and was great fun playing cat and mouse :)
Fourth quarter blues still haunts the Swans. Just cannot last a whole match and they will be blown away by Carlton but at least made finals. The only positive is that I get to go to our final as it is now in Melbourne rather than Sydney.Huge congratulations to you Val, a very worthy winner and thank you so much for running such an extraordinary competition. I have really enjoyed being a part of this competition and although I only personally know Sussex I feel I know all you other lovely people who show such passion for our mad Aussie game.
My attention will shortly be on the Rugby World Cup as my wife and I are travelling to France for a tour taking in 2 quarters in Marseille, then both semis and the final in Paris and lots of France in between. I doubt I will have to worry about my team winning because neither England or Australia will be anywhere near winning this. Instead we can relax and enjoy some huge games with the best nations battling it out.
I still think France will be hard to beat but up until Friday I thought the Kiwis looked awesome until the South Africans took them apart. We will be watching the pool matches at silly times down here and arrive in France on October 9th in Nice. France now odds on to beat the Kiwis in the opener in 2 weeks with the New Zealanders missing a Barrett brother due to suspension.
Congratulations Val, well played!
Val wrote: "Meanwhile, over on the Premier League, David must be a very happy man!"Happy and surprised
Mad Monday is the first day after the home and away season ends and finds all teams who have missed the final 8 participating in dress-ups and other antics. Geelong always get right into the spirit of it and there were some inspired outfits again this year:https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/team...
Congrats to Steve who wins another $15.00 for Backpack Bed for Homeless with Harry Sheezel of North Melbourne winning the Rising Star award for best first year player. North are starting to look rather good!
Right, it's Finals time for any tipsters who want to forge on to the end.Qualifying and Elimination Finals:
(Qualifying: loser gets a second chance)
(Elimination: loser is out of the Finals)
This time I'd like you to choose the winning team AND the margin for ALL FOUR GAMES. Scoring will be one point for every winner picked and a sliding table based on the margins predicted for each game. There will (hopefully) be one winning punter after all games have been played. $15.00 to your charity is up for grabs.
Thursday September 7
First Qualifying Final (1st hosts 4th):
Collingwood Magpies (on hiatus) vs Melbourne Demons (on hiatus)
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Friday September 8
First Elimination Final (5th hosts 8th):
Carlton Blues (available) vs Sydney Swans (Anita) in Melbourne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday September 9
Second Elimination Final (6th hosts 7th):
St Kilda Saints (Tim) vs GWS Giants (Duke)
Second Qualifying Final (2nd hosts 3rd):
Brisbane Lions (David) v Port Adelaide Power (available) in Brisbane
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If punters could lodge their tips by midnight WEDNESDAY September 6 (your time) it would be a great help, although I can accept them up until 10.15am THURSDAY (your time) if absolutely necessary.
Magpies by 10SWANS by 10
giants by 10
lions by 10
Enjoy France Tim and the rugby.
Thanks Anita really looking forward to it now as it has been planned over last 2 years. Odd to think the tournament starts Friday and it is still 4 weeks before we go. Very long running tournament if you were to stay for the duration. Great timing for us as get to see the end of the AFL before leaving. We arrive back here later the same day as the Melbourne Cup and in reality this day marks the countdown to Christmas here believe it or not. Decorations start going up from this day forward.My tips for finals:
Pies by 11
Swans by 5
Giants by 15
Lions by 18
Going to the Swans final against the Blues Friday night and for all of you thinking it is Spring here (it is) and we must be getting warmer the predicted maximum temperature is about 11 with it going down to around 8 degrees for the match with heavy rain forecast during the day. Lovely. We spent last weekend in Brisbane where it was up to 25 and not a cloud.
Val wrote: "Congrats to Steve who wins another $15.00 for Backpack Bed for Homeless with Harry Sheezel of North Melbourne winning the Rising Star award for best first year player. North are starting to look ra..."Awwww fantastic stuff Val and well played Harry! ✌️
Melbourne Demons +1
Carlton Blues +20
GWS Giants +15
Brisbane Lions +20
Have a great evening Tim.Come on y'swans.
Week 1:Demons - 6
Blues - 15
GWS - 12
Lions - 15
Collingwood x 15Carlton x 15
GWS x 15
Brisbane x 25
Magpies by 9Blues by 14
Giants by 10
Lions by 21
Suzy's tips:Dees x 7
Swans x 7
Saints x 7
Port x 7
Mine:Dees x 8
Blues x 10
Giants x 18
Lions x 9
Tim's not wrong. After a reasonably warmish week (it's currently 16 degrees at 6.30pm but thunder about), tomorrow will see us back in the depths of winter with the forecast of 8 - 12 degrees and "Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Damaging winds possible in the morning and afternoon. Possible small hail." And that's before dropping to an overnight low of 5 degrees. Rather him than me at the G tomorrow night. I believe tonight's game is sold out and they expect a crowd of around 96,000. Let's hope it's a game for the ages. Good luck everyone!
Tonight's result:Collingwood Magpies (on hiatus) v Melbourne Demons (on hiatus)
4.2.26 (Q1) 1.0.6
5.3.33 (Q2) 2.4.16
9.4.58 (Q3) 4.9.33
9.6.60 (Q4) 7.11.53
A pretty lack-lustre game, made more difficult because of the damp conditions. The Pies have great depth with only Nick Daicos currently injured. The Dees are still missing Harrison Petty as well as losing Jake Melksham in Round 24 and then Angus Brayshaw in the early minutes of this game. Their structure really fell apart despite Max Gawn playing a terrific game. Following his weeks out with injury, Clayton Oliver has struggled to regain his form and most of the players were below their best tonight. Collingwood now get the week off and Melbourne have to lick their wounds and see who awaits them in the next round.
One thing about Finals footy, you can always be sure of seeing some great new ads on the telly. This one shown last night was a cracker and oh so true of country footy.https://campaignbrief.com/telstra-hig...
Can't find it on Youtube but the above site had the full one before it gets cut down for an ongoing run on TV.
And it's not far from the truth, see this old ad from South Australia using real footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjob6...
Tonight's results:Carlton Blues (available) v Sydney Swans (Anita)
3.2.20 (Q1) 1.5.11
7.5.47 (Q2) 2.6.18
10.6.66 (Q3) 7.9.51
11.8.74 (Q4) 9.14.68
Disappointing for Tim and Anita but the Swans lost it in the first half when they just couldn't score. Many of their star players didn't live up to their best and Carlton had their measure all over the field.
Today's result:St Kilda Saints (Tim) v GWS Giants (Duke)
2.3.15 (Q1) 5.3.33
6.6.42 (Q2) 10.5.65
9.8.62 (Q3) 13.9.87
11.11.77 (Q4) 15.11.101
The Giants always looked in control even though Toby Greene had a quiet day. The other Green (Tom) was in top form as was the other Toby (Bedford).
Tonight's result:Brisbane Lions (David) v Port Adelaide Power (available)
3.3.21 (Q1) 1.4.10
8.4.52 (Q2) 5.6.36
16.5.101 (Q3) 9.9.63
19.9.123 (Q4) 11.9.75
A decisive win on their home ground. Port got to within a few points and then Brisbane would kick away again. They now get a week's rest and Port can look forward to their own home game next week against the Giants.
Sussex is the winner of Week 1 of the Finals so he wins $15.00 for The Save The Bilby Fund. Well done - coming good at the right end of the season!This is how we all finished:
Sussex - 4 games - 45 margin (2+8+14+21)
Philip - 4 - 59 margin (8+9+9+33)
David - 4 - 63 margin (2+9+19+33)
Tim - 3 - 54 margin (4+11+9+30)
Steve - 3 - 59 margin (8+14+9+28)
Val - 3 - 64 margin (15+4+6+39)
Duke - 3 - 67 margin (13+9+12+33)
Anita - 3 - 71 margin (3+16+14+38)
Suzy - 0 - 113 margin (14+13+31+55)
I'll be back with next week's fixture once all the days/times/grounds have been finalised.
AFL 2023 FINALS FIXTURE - WEEK 2Winners and margin please!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday September 15
First Semi Final: Melbourne Demons v Carlton Blues (in Melbourne)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday September 16
Second Semi Final: Port Power v GWS Giants (in Adelaide)
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If punters could lodge their tips by midnight THURSDAY September 14 (your time) it would be a great help, although I can accept them up until 10.45am FRIDAY (your time) if absolutely necessary.
Hi Val agree with first half performance from Swans which was diabolical. Even though we ended up within 6 points never felt that we would get over the line. This weeks picks
Melbourne by 15
Giants by 8
Just think GWS are on a roll and Port going backwards but will probably regret my choice.
Excellent adverts by the way
I can't decide over the Port v GWS game......as it wasn't that many weeks ago that Port convincingly beat the Giants at Adelaide. Mind you, GWS were a bit out of sorts that day.
I agree. Port v GWS difficult to predict but I think Toby Greene who had a relatively quiet game last weekend is due a big one this weekend. He loves finals and being the underdog.Although GWS are naturally the Swans cross town rivals I think it is great they moved upwards relatively quickly after their first 3 years when they were being smashed every week. It would be great for the game to have 2 top sides in Sydney just to remind all Melburnians there are other teams around. Adelaide teams have struggled a little and the Perth teams have been dreadful. The Lions in Brisbane flatter to deceive but hopefully they will make the Grand Final this season although they of course like the Swans have their origin in Melbourne.
Blues - 5GWS - 5
First Semi Final: Melbourne Demons #15~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Second Semi Final: Port Power #15
Pies x 38
Hawks
Suns
Lions
Cats
Crows
Port
Swans
Giants
Here we are at the last round and it's amazing how exciting it will be (I'll post the permutations below). I'm predicting the Bombers will throw in the towel tonight. And I'm really hoping the Giants make the 8 - they play an exciting brand of football under captain Toby Greene. Good luck everyone!