Round 13 Wrap

I hope you're not relying on me for your footy tips! My form is worse than West Coast's! I only got three right on the weekend and have dropped to 10th in the comp at work!
Of course, there were a number of upsets in round 13 which accounts for some of my poor tipping, eg. North coming off three losses and a dismal display against Freo to beat the high flying Hawks, Essendon letting all the air out of the big Blue balloon, and Richmond stringing two wins together for the first time since 2006, away from home over Port Adelaide.
In other games I was just sucked in by the perennially diabolical Dockers and St Kilda's apparent lack of talent/committment and Adelaide's supposed resurgence.
The fickle nature of football teams and the unpredictability of this season brought me undone.

But, it doesn't matter because I'm still basking in the warm fuzzy feeling from Geelong's mammoth victory on Saturday night.

A Few thoughts on round 13:

Adam Goodes pushed his luck just a little too far and so his amazing run of consecutive games is to come to an end before he overtakes Jim Stynes. What was he thinking, hitting a bloke in the head for the second time in three weeks?
Barry Hall is back and Sydney are looming as a contender. The contrast in fortunes between West Coast and Sydney is remarkable. Everyone expected the Eagles to remain a powerhouse and the Swans to fall away, but exactly the reverse has happened.
There's no doubt that the loss of Judd and Cousins has made the difference but it is still amazing to see them so far apart on the ladder.

Hawthorn can be beaten, their diamond zone defense has been penetrated for the second time in three weeks and they've slipped to third. Lance Franklin was also contained by the Shinboners. It's hard to stay at the top and keep winning and the Hawks are showing signs of that. I expect them to rebound strongly and I pity the Eagles, who are their next victims/opponents!

Carlton got so full of themselves after getting in the top eight for the first time in about 6 years that they forgot about the fundamental things, like playing football, and the Bombers duly dumped them straight back out of the eight! What a shame! And they seem to be having trouble getting Fevola to sign a new contract. And Richard Pratt has had to resign while he faces charges that could see him imprisoned for 4 years. How unusual for a Blues president to be embroiled in controversy? Pig's %#@*!!

How many more times will we have to hear Gary Ablett called the Brownlow favourite over the next 10 weeks? Yes he's in rare form, yes he's rightly favourite, yes he may win it, but, he doesn't need the pressure of it being announced every time he touches the ball or does something good on a footy ground. He had to endure favourtism on the night last year and despite a fellow Cat winning it, it was clearly disappointing for him not to win. He's super talented, but also delightfully modest and unassuming. Asked about his 37 possession 2 goal starring role in Saturday night's game his comment was "I went all right". Yes he did. I hope he wins the Brownlow, but like him, I want to see him win another premiership medal more.
Hopefully the ever-increasing media pressure won't get to him.

It's a small point but if I hear one more commentator say "Brad Ottens is a beautiful kick of the football" as he lines up for goal, and misses, I'll scream! I've lost count of the number of times his kicking has been praised immediately before he kicks another point. He may have been a great kick at some stage, but he isn't any more.
While I'm sounding off I may as well get a couple more things off my chest.
Number 3 for Geelong is JIMMY Bartel, he changed it from James a couple of years ago yet still, commentators keep calling him James.
And, there is no Jarrad Rooke at Geelong.
There is a MAX Rooke, he wears number 33 and changed his name by deed poll before the 2007 season, not that any of that matters to the commentators who continue to refer to him as Jarrad!

One more gripe. Why do umpires have to keep yelling out "Play on Play on Play on" when they've decided sopmeone has had long enough to take their kick and they want to speed the game up. Calling out "Play on" once is sufficient. Any player caught holding the ball in such a situation needs to listen better. The instruction does not need to be repeated three or four times to ensure they've got the message.