General Footy Tipping and Discussion Thread

[Aaron]

I'm angry with all of the comments about North Melbourne STILL. Yeah okay the first few games were not as 'tough' but I think we need to put it into perspective:

1. We always lose to Gold Coast up at Metricon Stadium. This year we defeated them on their home turf. Gold Coast are becoming a good side, slowly.
2. We defeated Adelaide. Sure it was only Round 1, but a win is a win against a quality opponent.
3. Western Bulldogs are a quality side and I think a low scoring event represents the pressure that was applied from both sides.

You know, North Melbourne could win the premiership this year and the critics would still be saying 'not a top 4 side'. Come on. Only team that is 6-0. We can only play who the AFL sets us up with as defined in the fixture.

JI2015, I'd like to get your thoughts on what you thought about the deliberate out of bounds at the final end of the game, since you were actually there at the game. That was a terrible decision and I was shouting at the TV for a good couple of minutes (lol).

[JI2015]

Umpiring decisions impact both teams and I usually do not take them too seriously.

In the case of McDonald's decision, he made no attempt to keep the ball in play until it was clearly out. You could almost predict that the ball was going to be out of play by watching him run directly at it. However, I can agree with the fact that there was little time to dispose of the ball but a real attempt should be shown, and I think this will form the basis of the umpire review of that decision.

The North Melbourne supporters at the game were extremely vocal about this one particular decision even though it did not amount to much.

With the type of play shown by both teams yesterday, both the Bulldogs and North are not up for a grand final at the moment. And North Melbourne have minimal excuses as they are the most experienced team in the competition. To get a better indication of where they sit, they need to play the likes of Hawthorn, Sydney and West Coast and I think this is why they are not trusted yet.

[Aaron]

Ouch. Nice work GWS.

[pi]

Was hoping for some cheap easy tips this round... not to be

[Aaron]

Ladder

1: N/Melbourne - 6-0-0 - 124.91%
2: Geelong - 5-1-0 - 174.74%
3: Sydney - 5-1-0 - 143.97%
4: W/Bulldogs - 4-2-0 - 155.81%
5: GWS - 4-2-0 - 140.76%
6: W/Coast - 4-2-0 - 130.41%
7: Adelaide - 4-2-0 - 121.99%
8: Hawthorn - 4-2-0 - 91.80%
-------------------------------------
9: Melbourne - 3-3-0 - 102.20%
10: G/Coast - 3-3-0 - 94.96%
11: P/Adelaide - 3-3-0 - 89.71%
12: St.Kilda - 2-4-0 - 88.48%
13: Collingwood - 2-4-0 - 78.65%
14: Carlton - 2-4-0 - 73.48%
15: Richmond - 1-5-0 - 74.61%
16: Brisbane - 1-5-0 - 70.79%
17: Essendon - 1-5-0 - 61.95%
18: Fremantle - 0-6-0 - 69.13%

Thoughts? I really like how competitive and unpredictable this season is at the moment. It's great.

[JI2015]

Tipped the Hawks by 46 points which turned out to be the actual margin, so not a bad effort at all!!!

Also, it doesn't look like Nathan Buckley has long left, they shouldn't be losing to Carlton. A tale of two poor teams with one underperforming more than the other.

Looking forward to some close games coming up tonight and tomorrow.

[Aaron]

That North v Saints game had me jumping up and down. I'm glad we won but seriously if we want to be known as "#1" we have to play better than that... it was atrocious by both teams (perhaps this signified another week of good pressure, or just stupid mistakes from both?).

I really do love the bitterness from the Saints supporters though. That free kick given to Goldstein was clearly a correct decision - the other guy puts his arm out to block him from attempting to get in the contest. I love how Mason Wood used the countdown clock too in the final 20 seconds of the game. Seriously, if it was any other player in the same situation from ANY team, they would do the EXACT same thing.

Maybe instead of blaming umpires for every match that goes wrong, perhaps x team should do more during the majority of the four quarters to get ahead. I would also use this criticism if it was my team (but luckily haven't been placed in a losing position, yet).

It doesn't even matter if North manages to beat Sydney, Geelong, Hawks etc, we'll still be labelled as "lucky" or "not premiership contenders". Really can't win regardless! 

[pi]

North can pretend they're #1, but we all really know there are 19 teams in this comp and the Umps are #1 right now

Also some close tipping in the AN group, can't seem to get past Rod!

[Aaron]

North can pretend they're #1, but we all really know there are 19 teams in this comp and the Umps are #1 right now

*sigh*

[Aaron]

Ladder - Round 8

1: N/Melbourne - 8-0-0 - 123.03%
2: Geelong - 7-1-0 - 166.67%
3: GWS - 6-2-0 - 149.59%
4: Sydney - 6-2-0 - 145.94%
5: W/Bulldogs - 6-2-0 - 144.76%
6: Hawthorn - 6-2-0 - 104.77%
7: West Coast - 5-3-0 - 132.50%
8: Adelaide - 4-4-0 - 110.57%
------------------------------------
9: Melbourne - 4-4-0 - 106.81%
10: P/Adelaide - 4-4-0 - 101.57%
11: Carlton - 4-4-0 - 82.50%
12: Collingwood - 3-5-0 - 90.89%
13: Gold Coast - 3-5-0 - 78.54%
14: St.Kilda - 2-6-0 - 78.30%
15: Richmond - 2-6-0 - 76.30%
16: Brisbane - 1-7-0 - 63.43%
17: Essendon - 1-7-0 - 60.00%
18: Fremantle - 0-8-0 - 69.87%

[pi]

Since when do Richmond, Carlton, and Collingwood all win -_- Some great close games this round though, also some great floggings hahaha. How crap is Gold Coast LOL

[Aaron]

Since when do Richmond, Carlton, and Collingwood all win -_- Some great close games this round though, also some great floggings hahaha. How crap is Gold Coast LOL

I think Gold Coast is the team that's dived down the ladder the fastest out of the entire competition. They were up with us at like #2 or #3 and now look where they are.

I find it quite funny how both the Scott brothers are at #1 and #2 as coaches for their respective clubs.

[Rod]

This round for tipping is probably the most difficult thus far, I reckon I'll lose my ranking after this round.

[Aaron]

My tips for Round 9:

Hawks
Cats
Crows
Eagles
Roos
Tigers
Demons
GWS
Saints

[Rod]

Really tempted to put the pies in for a win. I just have a little feeling that they might - upset win. Although I have the cats down at the moment. Freo v Rich will be a tough was as well, although Richmond have the momentum I don't think they can play like how they did last week - if they play like they did pre-Sydney match Freo could get their first win at their home ground.