Round 18: the other games. You just keep me hanging on.

[dejavoodoo44]

It's remarkable what a Thursday win can do to the perception of the rest of the round. After writing off our finals chances after last Thursday's loss to Richmond, I'm now back to looking at the rest of the round through the prism of how they might effect our finals chances. I mean, currently we're only a game and percentage out of the eight, and that's only likely to creep out to six points by the end of the round. So, surely that's not insurmountable?

Having said that, it's highly unlikely that we'll be able to catch either of tonight's combatants: Brisbane and Melbourne. So, maybe it'd be nice if Brisbane could break their current MCG hoodoo. I mean, if we can't be premiers this year, then I really don't want yet another Victorian side to win the flag, and at the moment, Brisbane and Port are the only non-Victorian sides in the eight.

The first Saturday game is Collingwood hosting Fremantle. Although hosting isn't really the right word for a Collingwood home game, is it? Perhaps it's more like, well yeah, you could come inside if you like, but you might be disturbed by the strange things that occur and the feral nature of the inhabitants. Anyway, I'm hoping that Collingwood crush Fremantle's spirit, prior to us flying over to Perth next week.

Then I suppose I want to see Gold Coast beat St Kilda, as a St Kilda loss will see them very catchable, while I'm not sure if Gold Coast quite have the consistency to make a realistic finals challenge.

Then it would be nice if Port killed off the recent burst of Carlton optimism. I mean, long may they remain a laughing stock.

I suppose I'd prefer a Geelong win over Essendon, as Essendon appear much more likely to fall in a heap.

Then it's Adelaide v GWS. I suspect that a draw might be a good result here, but I can't quite get my aging mind around the permutations.

On Sunday, it would be handy if North beat Hawthorn, to further consolidate our draft picks tied to Hawthorn. Who knows, it may even inspire North to overtake Hawthorn on the ladder.

Then finally it's West Coast hosting Richmond. The betting on the match is $6.70 to $1.11. Which is the closest a West Coast game has been for ages. Which suggests that at least a few optimists think that they can spring an upset. I think it would be very entertaining if they did.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Back to looking at this through a selfish lens too. I’m in a tipping comp and need to close a bit of ground on the leaders, so am tipping a couple of upsets now each week, as they just go the faves. The Suns and Norf are my two this week, which also help us.

[Sandridge]

I'm still basking in the afterglow of the win last night and am just happy to relax and watch other teams go at it.

But....

Prefer the Dees to prevail over Brisbane.
Would like Freo beat the Pies but can't see it happening.
Would love to see the Suns beat St.Kilda.
Would REALLY love to see Power beat Carlton.
Ambivalent about Cats/Bombers, Crows/Giants and Norf/Dirty Nappies.
Don't mind if Richmond continues the Eagles season from hell.

[dejavoodoo44]

That Daniher bounce was cruel. Ball looked like it was curving in nicely for a goal, but then did an around 150° turn to not even score.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Every time I watch Zac Bailey bust open a game, I think …. Or actually, I cry.

[stevoswan]

Gee Brisbane are effing useless.....I tipped them to break their MCG hoodoo and they looked safe half way through the last quarter then shat themselves and lost by a point. Effing useless!

[Maltopia]

Every time I watch Zac Bailey bust open a game, I think …. Or actually, I cry.

Yeah we could have had Bailey instead of Matt Ling. Or Ed Richards, Jack Higgins or Brandon Starcevich all have played around 100 games. A bit further back at pick 21, Oscar Allen would be an upgrade on McClean and possibly Almartey

But West Coast also blew pick 13 ahead of us on Jarrod Brander.

[neilfws]

Exciting fun game for the neutral observer, and great effort by the Demons, but I think Brisbane might feel that they coughed that one up. You'd back most teams with a near 5-goal lead in Q4.

I thought the post-game interview with Melksham was interesting. He was obviously pumped but trying to stay composed for the media, so his thoughts on the game came spilling out in little bursts which were quite insightful: talking about game plan, training for scenarios, how 8 minutes is plenty of time for scoring and so on. It was more interesting than the usual "4 quarter effort, got it done, proud of boys" etc.

[barry]

Brisbane will take a lot out of that game. Did more than enough to win, just didn't get the 4 points. It won't matter as they are stuck in 3rd.

[Blood Fever]

Maybe you're right but they also choked big time.

[barry]

Maybe you're right but they also choked big time.

I think players and coaches are philosophical about less than 1 goal win or losses. It just luck, and could go either way.
Especially when it does impact ladder position.

[Blood Fever]

True if it's nip and tuck all night but Lions were in almost total command of the game.