AFL Round 4

[45HG 1,539]

And the good games just keep rolling.

Obvious aside, we've been blessed the last couple of weeks and this weekend (whilst lacking the blockbusters) is probably more competitive due to less one-sided games.

It should be a great round to watch but, again, a nightmare to tip!

Sydney v Geelong

Bang. Cracking start to the round between two giants who just continue to get the job done.

Not just lovers of the tough, contested ball these two are sides who can rip you to shreds in minutes (as North Melbourne have discovered in consecutive weeks).

Sydney have just gone against the newbies and were battling until a quarter of magic against the Roos saw them comfortably win. The Cats, too, have just been going but against higher quality opposition. This match is the biggest test for both of these sides and they'll be up for the fight.

Mcveigh, Parker, Kennedy, Hannebury, O'Keefe and Jack are all in ripping form and are all big-bodied, pretty well-skilled players who can go all day. For some reason, they are still quite underrated in my mind. The Cats mids are equally as talented but I'm not sure if they can match the Swans for depth with Johnson, Chapman, Bartel and Selwood running through. Mind you, they keep producing ripping kids.

Vitally, the Swans mids are goal-kicking mids - a dangerous proposition for any side to encounter. The crucial match-up will be Hawkins v Richards IMO.

The Swans by 7 in a low-scoring game.

Hawthorn v Fremantle

What to say about their last outings. The Hawks looked very far off the mark in the first half against the Pies, but looked a completely different side after the long change and rampaged to a crushing win.

The Dockers were pretty much the opposite. They controlled most of the first half and should have led by more than 6 goals - and boy did it come back to bite them.

It's the problem I see with the Lyon game style. Defensively they are great, but unless they are playing a very poor side they'll struggle to really put them away. This means that some quick clearances and some momentum can work against them in a big way because their lead can evaporate quickly.

I think this is where they will struggle on the weekend. I can see them keeping the Hawks quiet for a half, but I think Hawthorn will ease away in the second and I don't see Freo scoring too much (part of me thinks they'll finish on a pretty low total).

Hawks by 32 (depending on the last quarter!)

Richmond v Collingwood

I said in the pre-match summary there were no blockbusters.

I lied.

This'll be, yet another, 80,000 plus crowd at the G and it promises to be a ripping game.

The Tigers are in great form and the Pies are, well, the Pies. The midfield duel will be fascinating as will the Cloke/Riewoldt. Of note on Riewoldt is that, in terms of Dreamteam average, Collingwood is easily his least liked team - averaging only 51.3.

The Pies smalls are very hard to stop - I love the look of Elliot and it's good to see Dwyer getting a run.

For mine, this'll be a matter of the cooler heads keeping calm when it matters most and, to that end, I have to go with the Pies. This is just the kind of match that they win.

Collingwood by 17-21

St Kilda v Essendon

Goddard returns...kind of.

I don't like Essendon, and don't much care for the Saints either, so this will be short.

The Bombers had one of the most amazing wins you're likely to see last Friday. The Saints got the job done (being the flat-track bullies they are).

By all rights Essendon should win this game (they are a far better team) but, and I'll say this for the next few weeks most likely, they are due for a massive let down.

Against a fired up Saints team who won the corresponding fixture last year by 72 points, I think it may just be this week.

Saints by 14

West Coast v Carlton

The fun just rolls on in the Wild West.

Carlton are not as abad as 0-3 suggests, but that may not stop them from ending the round 0-4. West Coast wouldn't have gone home 100% thrilled with their win over the Dees and will be looking at righting their home record after terrible showings against the Hawks and Dockers.

The Blues have been good against the Eagles the last two times over there and they had chances to win both of their opening games.

Carlton should have the edge in the midfield, as is often the case, but they lack class around the ground and that will hurt them in front of the Eagles' home fans. West Coast are not the polished unit they were, however, and will struggle to roll the Blues.

Look for a tussle all night with West Coast prevailing by 5

Gold Coast v Port Adelaide

Arguably the two surprise packets of the season face off - and they meet with a 1 all head-head record against one another.

Gold Coast are immense from stoppages and general centre work and, especially up there, are very tough to shake.

I'm looking for the post-Showdown blues to strike down the Power.

Gold Coast by 11

Melbourne v GWS

Yuck.

A lot has been said about us, I feel I could go onto it but there's enough threads on here already to talk about the Dees (as I've said, I would rather these threads discussed any issues relating to footy outside of the MFC bubble).

GWS were woeful last week, make no mistake about it. Against a poor side at their home ground they came out and, at one stage, trailed by 45-0. Plucky against the Power and a dis-interested Sydney, the Giants were brought back to Earth through poor skill, decision making and discipline.

The first quarter is massive and for the love of God the Dees must tag Ward. It sounds stupid, but good players ALWAYS play well against Melbourne. We need to get a bit dirty, a bit in and under and put the clamps on the opposition's best players. They'll kick some goals, they'll get up and about at times, but we won last year by 78 and should have too much "class" and "desire" around the ground to get up.

Dees by 43

Adelaide v Footscray

I loved seeing the underDogs dismantle the Lions in Round 1.

Since then, they've been brought back to Earth.

Hard.

Look for that to continue. Adelaide will be absolutely fuming that they let the Showdown slip and will be out to take revenge. Expecting big ones from Thompson, Danger Mouse, van Berlo and Vince. Expecting the Mullet to dob 6.

Crows by 73

North Melbourne v Brisbane

You'd have gotten very good money for these sides to by 1-5 cumulatively at this stage of the year, with a shared percentage around 78.

You'd have been even more surprised to find that that one win, out of six, came against the Suns by 2 points.

Brisbane have, simply, been a massive letdown. The flair, creativity, aggression and excitement they promised in the NAB cup is completely dormant.

North, meanwhile, were very competitive against the Pies, should've beaten the Cats and led the Swans until they conceded an avalanche. They've been harder to read than the writing on Frodo's precious ring.

They'll love getting back to the sandpit. Brisbane, meanwhile, won't be thrilled to return - having won only 2 of their last 11 there in the last 3 seasons - 3 of those losses (and none of those wins) against North.

North should be too good and will enjoy a bit of momentum as they sense a win.

North by 35

Game of the Round

Swans Cats/Tigers Pies

Thrashing of the Round

Crows over the Dogs

Upset of the Round

Suns over Power. Possibly Saints over Bombers.

Closest tip last week:

Missed Saints over GWS by 1 point

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,224]

Finally a real test for Richmond. I've tipped them to fail.

[DemonWA 3,889]

nice summary of the round.

I think when we play sides like GWS our guys look at the guy they match up on and believe they can win. GWS and the Suns are about the only sides where i believe that the players think like this. Dees by 36 points

[Gorgoroth 12,786]

Richmond have their best chance to beat the pies, they have injuries and Reid was no 100% even though he came back on and played the game out.

Swans cats looks a ripper, I think the cats win.

Some good games this week, out on Saturday so will miss a bit but can't wait to watch some games.

[Young Dee 1,303]

From the MFC website - pretty impressive, said Dawes may play next week (can't wait - means we can drop Sellar or Gillies)

Round four injury list
Tom Couch (ill) – test
Chris Dawes (hamstring) – 1-2 weeks
Lynden Dunn (hamstring) – test
Joel MacDonald (hamstring) – test
Jack Fitzpatrick (concussion) – test
Jordie McKenzie (calf) – test
Nathan Stark (knee) – test
Tom Gillies (groin) – test

Imagine if next week we had a clean slate - it would be the first time in a while.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Young Dee

[What 18,810]

From the MFC website - pretty impressive, said Dawes may play next week (can't wait - means we can drop Sellar or Gillies)

Round four injury list

Tom Couch (ill) – test

Chris Dawes (hamstring) – 1-2 weeks

Lynden Dunn (hamstring) – test

Joel MacDonald (hamstring) – test

Jack Fitzpatrick (concussion) – test

Jordie McKenzie (calf) – test

Nathan Stark (knee) – test

Tom Gillies (groin) – test

Imagine if next week we had a clean slate - it would be the first time in a while.

Just shows that Dave Misson is worth what we are paying him and then some.

[Gorgoroth 12,786]

They just said on AFL360 that during the pies/tigers game you can hit the red button and listen to Eddie call the game as a Collingwood supporter, that would be awesome to listen to if they are getting flogged!!!

[Bobby McKenzie 2,375]

Finally a real test for Richmond. I've tipped them to fail.

Surely Carlton was a real test for the Tigers? The Blues have dominated Richmond for a long period. Make no mistake Richmond are the real deal. See if I'm right. Sad to think that we were better than them just a few seasons ago. At this time, we were both described as 'developing' teams. Oh well, at least one team succeeded in the development sector.

[bing181 9,155]

From the MFC website - pretty impressive, said Dawes may play next week (can't wait - means we can drop Sellar or Gillies)

Don't think Dawes would come straight back into the firsts, he hasn't played anything approaching a proper match since a half in the first NAB cup game. Could depend on how we go this week!

[H_T 3,042]

Just shows that Dave Misson is worth what we are paying him and then some.

But what does it say about our performances if they don't improve given the healthy injury list?

[Gorgoroth 12,786]

What a first quarter so far, 30-38 and still 6 mins to go!