This round is the final of the three bye rounds. I'd probably prefer just one bye round for everybody, to get the bye over with, but I'm sure that there are good arguments either way. However, I couldn't be bothered making any of them.
The round opens with the currently fourth placed Carlton playing the ninth placed Richmond*. The thing I find most interesting is the different perceptions of the two outfits. One the one hand, Richmond have won three premierships in the last five seasons. Conversely, Carlton haven't played finals since 2013, haven't played a grand final since 1999 and their last premiership was in 1995. But I suspect that I'm not the only one, who more strongly begrudges Carlton's current period of success and therefore, hopes that it rapidly comes to an end.
The Friday night game is St Kilda v Essendon. You'd think that after Essendon put in quite an insipid effort for their 150th birthday celebrations last week, then they'll probably dish up more of the same, against the highly rated Saints. But I don't know, I'm getting the whiff of an upset in this one. Or maybe that's just a whiff of cleaning and building products from the renovations going on across the street?
The first Saturday game is our trip to Adelaide to take on Port, which I'm feeling pretty confident about. Although Port did beat us after the bye last season. Not sure if we've improved all that much, but I think Port have definitely gone backwards.
After that game, the suffering should continue for West Coast when they host Geelong.
Next up, a few of us will probably be in the strange position of barracking for GWS, when they take on the Western Bulldogs. This should be a quality game, with GWS desperate to keep their faint chance of making the eight alive, while the Bulldogs will be keen not to slip further into irrelevance. Though it might be a game where my allegiance keeps on swapping. Toby commits a random act of violence or smirks at the camera, then I'm jumping off the Giants bandwagon; then Weightman stages for a free, and it's back to, go Giants. I start thinking of all the high GWS draft picks and it's back to the Bulldogs. I notice the free kick count and it's back to the Giants.
Another team desperate to keep their very faint hopes alive is Adelaide, who host Gold Coast in the only Sunday game, But even though the Suns aren't known for putting together winning streaks, I think this Suns outfit is a fair bit more durable than previous versions, so hopefully they'll finish of the Crows.
*I didn't make the obvious Richmond statement, so I expect no one else too. I mean, surely we're more creative than that?
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Originally Posted by Mark26
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