'Collingwood soar, whilst Cats remain sore' - Round 16, 2011 Wrap

In a surprise follow up to last week's unexpected loss to Essendon, Geelong have gone down to the Eagles at Subiaco by 8 points. After the Eagles led by a whopping 40 points mid-way through the game, the Cats clawed their way back only to fall agonizingly short.

To rub salt into the wound, Collingwood have taken advantage of Geelong's recent vulnerability and now sit top of the ladder. I guess the Cats will be left to lick their wounds... I hope they don't mind the taste of salt!

West Coast vs Geelong

Possible Votes: Embley, Ling, Kerr, Priddis


Hawthorn vs Brisbane

Possible Votes: Mitchell, Hodge, Franklin


Essendon vs Richmond

Possible Votes: Zaharakis, Stanton, Cotchin, Heppell


Gold Coast vs Sydney

Possible Votes: O'Keefe, Reid, McVeigh, Goodes


Collingwood vs North Melbourne

Possible Votes: Swan, Pendlebury, Thomas


Port Adelaide vs St Kilda

Possible Votes: Goddard, Dal Santo, Steven


Western Bulldogs vs Carlton

Possible Votes: Boyd, Murphy, Cooney

*DISCLAIMER: The deliberate random order of the players above does not reflect the order I think they will poll in, and should be treated/used only as a guide. My own actual votes will be revealed at the conclusion of the season*

'Essendon Spoils Geelong's Purrfect Streak' - Round 15, 2011 Wrap

In what will be one of the biggest upsets of the season, Essendon have stunned the undefeated Cats, ending Chris Scott's dream run, to hang on by 4 points. You'd have been called a lunatic if you floated the idea that this was the first defeat Geelong was to sustain in Season 2011, particularly given Essendon's form over the past month!

We've seen some weird phenomenons this year, none more crazy than the amount of draws we've had this year. But this right here takes the cake! Speaking of crazy one must feel for the guy that had 1 Mill on Geelong to win. Just goes to show that nothing in sports betting is a certainty, and even the most unlikeliest of results can come to fruition.


Western Bulldogs vs Melbourne

Possible Votes: Ward, Griffen, Cooney


Richmond vs Carlton

Possible Votes: Judd, Robinson, Murphy, Warnock


Fremantle vs Gold Coast

Possible Votes: Pavlich, Griffin, Ablett


Essendon vs Geelong

Possible Votes: Howlett, Heppell, Melksham, Hocking


Adelaide vs Sydney

Possible Votes: Johncock, Bolton, Vince


Brisbane vs Port Adelaide

Possible Votes: Black, Schultz, Power, Brown


Collingwood vs Hawthorn

Possible Votes: Pendlebury, Hodge, Thomas


North Melbourne vs St Kilda

Possible Votes: Dal Santo, Goldstein, Goddard

*DISCLAIMER: The deliberate random order of the players above does not reflect the order I think they will poll in, and should be treated/used only as a guide. My own actual votes will be revealed at the conclusion of the season*

'They're Flying High' - Round 14, 2011 Wrap

West Coast continued their remarkable turnaround in form with a compelling victory over Carlton at Etihad Stadium. The win was even more significant given it shows the Eagles have the ability to win away from home, in Melbourne, when in previous seasons they have struggled to come to grips with the travelling factor.

With the Eagles having to play only one side in the top six teams prior to the finals, it looks likely they will successfully complete their transformation from being cellar dwellers to becoming a top four team - all in the space of twelve months.


Hawthorn vs Essendon

Possible Votes: Mitchell, Savage, Shiels, Hodge


Richmond vs Melbourne

Possible Votes: Moloney, Watts, Jones, Foley


Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs

Possible Votes: Boyd, Griffen, Ablett


Fremantle vs Brisbane

Possible Votes: Broughton, Pavlich, , Black


Sydney vs Collingwood

Possible Votes: Cloke, Ball, O'Keefe, Goodes, Swan


Geelong vs Adelaide

Possible Votes: Enright, Ling, Chistensen, Varcoe, Corey


Carlton vs West Coast

Possible Votes: Priddis, Lynch, Scotland


Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne

Possible Votes: Goldstein, Petrie, Wells


*DISCLAIMER: The deliberate random order of the players above does not reflect the order I think they will poll in, and should be treated/used only as a guide. My own actual votes will be revealed at the conclusion of the season*

'New Kids on the Block' - Round 13, 2011 Wrap

Last year we witnessed one of the up and coming superstars of the competition take his game to the next level, and lay claim to the fact that he deserves to be recognised as one of the elite of the competition. That man of course is Scott Pendlebury, who went on to poll 21 votes on the back of 13 in the previous season, and finish equal 4th in the Brownlow. Quite an impressive effort!

Another player who has had a similar rise in his game this year, and one who coincidentally was selected in the same draft as Pendlebury, is Marc Murphy. And just like Pendles, Murph has a similar polling performance when he polled15 votes in 2009. As a Carlton supporter having watched nearly all of the sides matches, it wasn't all that surprising that Murphy then went on to poll only 5 votes in 2010 given he looked underdone for much of the season due to an injury interrupted pre-season.

But now that he's fit and firing, and playing arguably his best season to date, you'd be silly not to think Murphy isn't a chance at taking home the Charlie. So too Pendles, for that matter, who has followed on with form into this season and is right up there in contention. The only thing standing in their way of glory is of course the polling machine that is Chris Judd. Come the end of the season we could very well be in a situation where the 'new lads' come up against the might of the established superstar in Judd.

Will it be a three-peat for Judd, or will his reign come to an end with one of the up-and-comers dethroning him?


Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide

Possible Votes: Ward, Griffen, Murphy, Giansiracusa


Hawthorn vs Gold Coast

Possible Votes: Savage, Bruest, Mitchell, Ablett


Essendon vs North Melbourne

Possible Votes: Harvey, Swallow, Petrie, Wells


Brisbane vs Richmond

Possible Votes: Vickery, Martin, Cotchin, Redden


St Kilda vs Geelong

Possible Votes: Corey, Stokes, Menzel, Ling


Melbourne vs Fremantle

Possible Votes: Scully, Green, Martin, Watts


Carlton vs Sydney

Possible Votes: Kruezer, Gibbs, Murphy, Walker


West Coast vs Port Adelaide

Possible Votes: Hurn, Priddis, LeCras, Kerr, Boak

*DISCLAIMER: The deliberate random order of the players above does not reflect the order I think they will poll in, and should be treated/used only as a guide. My own actual votes will be revealed at the conclusion of the season*

'Meet Me Halfway' - Round 12, 2011 Wrap

It appears we have an overwhelming consensus with regards to who we all think will finish among the top 2 tiers of the Brownlow leaderboard come the conclusion of Round 12. Distinguishing the winner is the much harder task, with Judd only skipping 5 votes clear of Murphy over the last couple of days of voting in the poll. Hopefully the fact that I mistakenly wrote Round 14 - instead of Round 12 - in the heading of the poll didn't skew the votes. That'll teach me for setting up polls/writing blog entries @ 1AM. I mean, um... it wasn't a mistake, no... erm, it was a test... YES! ...you've passed the test!

Ahem.

Of the results we had:

Judd (44%)
Murphy (31%)
Mitchell (7%)
Pendlebury (5%)
Watson (5%)
Other (5%)
Ablett (0%)
Boyd (0%)
Moloney (0%)

TOTAL VOTES: 38.



St Kilda vs Western Bulldogs

Possible Votes: Goddard, Boyd, Jones, Steven


Adelaide vs West Coast

Possible Votes: Rosa, Kerr, Lecras


Gold Coast vs North Melbourne

Possible Votes: Wells, Harvey, Ablett


Geelong vs Hawthorn

Possible Votes: Podsiadly, Sewell, Mitchell, Bartel, Rioli


Carlton vs Brisbane

Possible Votes: Murphy, Walker, Robinson, Judd


Sydney vs Richmond

Possible Votes: O'Keefe, Seaby, Martin, Cotchin


Fremantle vs Essendon

Possible Votes: Pavlich, Ballantyne, Ibbotson, Fyfe


Melbourne vs Collingwood

Possible Votes: Cloke, Wellingham, Ball, Davis


*DISCLAIMER: The deliberate random order of the players above does not reflect the order I think they will poll in, and should be treated/used only as a guide. My own actual votes will be revealed at the conclusion of the season*

'Bombers Dee-moralised' - Round 11, 2011 Wrap

It only feels like yesterday when Essendon handed the new AFL franchise in the Gold Coast a footballing lesson. But 5 weeks on and you wouldn't believe the Bombers form could stoop so low, having now lost to fledging sides Richmond and Melbourne in recent weeks.

With a loud chorus of media commentators talking up their chances of a Top 4 finish having all but sounded out to a whisper, one must ponder the question; where to now for the Bombers? If the popular opinion is that Judd is central to the success of the Carlton side, I guess you could say in relative terms that the same applies to Watson for Essendon.

For Hirdy, it appears the honeymoon is over, and the reality of a long and difficult marriage is only starting to sink in. Poor bloke.


Essendon vs Melbourne

Possible Votes: Moloney, McKenzie, Trengove, Gysberts


Geelong vs Western Bulldogs

Possible Votes: Johnson, Ottens, Bartel, Corey


West Coast vs Gold Coast

Possible Votes: Cox, LeCras, Priddis, Ablett


Brisbane vs Sydney

Possible Votes: Bird, Bolton, O'Keefe, Goodes


Collingwood vs St Kilda

Possible Votes: Cloke, Thomas, Pendlebury


Hawthorn vs Fremantle

Possible Votes: Rioli, Hill, Broughton, Mitchell


North Melbourne vs Adelaide

Possible Votes: Petrie, Swallow, Goldstein, Ziebell


Port Adelaide vs Carlton

Possible Votes: Robinson, Walker, Murphy


*DISCLAIMER: The deliberate random order of the players above does not reflect the order I think they will poll in, and should be treated/used only as a guide. My own actual votes will be revealed at the conclusion of the season*

'Leader(s) of the Pack' - Round 10, 2011 Wrap

Explaining how she asked me
for 6", and I gave her a footlong...

The results are in!

"But hold on", I hear you say. "Why is there a gratuitous
picture of some random chick accompanying this blog post?" That folks is female goal umpire Chelsea Roffey... who I may or may not have a little thing for. If anything she distracts me from wanting to punch in the face of that smirking guy that always sits behind the goals at Subiaco games waving those stupid 'Messages on Hold' hand-shaped signs.

But I digress...

So for the poll which asked all of you fellow Brownlow devotees, as of Round 10 "Which 3 players listed below do you think would feature in the Top 3 of the count at this stage of the season?", you voted...

1. C. Judd (67%)
2. J. Watson (62%)
3. S. Pendlebury (34%)
4. M. Murphy (25%)
5. J. Selwood (20%)
6. Other (20%)
7. D. Swan (16%)
8. M. Boyd (11%)
9. A. Sandilands (2%) 

TOTAL VOTES: 42.

The results haven't sprung any surprises, although with Watson on the sidelines, i'd say he'll fall back off the pace given he isn't expected to return until Round 12 against Freo. There's still a long way to go, but can Judd sustain his lead coming into the half-way mark of the season, or will the likes of Pendles/Murphy/Selwood attain the upper hand? We’ll pose that question to you very soon, so keep an eye out!

Also, you may have noticed this blog hasn't been as quite up to date. The trouble is, I have been quite busy over the past few weeks and have had little time to dedicate to the write ups of this blog compared to last season. A few of you have even shot me emails in anticipation of my write-ups asking when the next is going to be posted, and i'm humbled to see there are still those out there who actually read this blog on a weekly basis. Kudos to you, good sir!

As a result of my busy schedule, from now on i'll be sacrificing my game-by-game write ups, as I just don't have time to do one for each game. I will, of course, continue to post up the top players from each game who I think are a chance at votes. Of course, if you want to discuss votes for any particular game feel free to reply to the blog entry located at the bottom and i'll be happy to share my thoughts. Hope that keeps you keen punters at bay!

All in all never fear though, folks, as this blog is still alive and well, it's just been in hibernation mode for a few weeks... much like Essendon's early season form of late! Anyway, on with the show...

Melbourne vs Carlton

Possible Votes: Murphy, Judd, Robinson, Walker


North Melbourne vs Sydney

Possible Votes: Swallow, Bird, McGlynn, Wells


Fremantle vs St Kilda

Possible Votes:  Schneider, Dal Santo, Gilbert, Peake


Gold Coast vs Geelong

Possible Votes: Johnson, Selwood, Kelly, Podsiadly


Richmond vs Port Adelaide

Possible Votes: Gray, Boak, Foley, Thomas


Adelaide vs Brisbane

Possible Votes: Clarke, Thompson, Black


Collingwood vs West Coast

Possible Votes: Thomas, Ball, Pendlebury, Didak


West Bulldogs vs Hawthorn

Possible Votes: Guerra, Mitchell, Hodge, Sewell


*DISCLAIMER: The deliberate random order of the players above does not reflect the order I think they will poll in, and should be treated/used only as a guide. My own actual votes will be revealed at the conclusion of the season*