Round 3 Preview

Friday rocks around pretty quickly sometimes doesn't it? Or maybe it's because we had a shorter week, who knows. Well. Welcome to the first proper round of 2010! And here are my tips:

St Kilda vs Collingwood (Etihad Stadium) Friday Night.
This is one that I stopped to think about for a little while before making my tip, but not too long! The enticer of Luke Ball playing his first proper game against his old club makes me think of whether to tip the Pies or not. Would the occasion be too much or would he kick into gear after getting a canning in the media for not doing much in the first two weeks? Then you look at St Kilda's awesome play last week, destroying the Roos by 104 points in such an awesome display of footy. PS St Kilda are my pick for the flag in 2010 by the way. Collingwood will have to play awesome footy tonight, better than they did against the Dogs in order to win this game because I still think St Kilda have got the goods. If the Pies come out like they did last week then it will really serve it up to the Saints who will run with the game and end up destroying the Pies like they did the Roos. Yeah I know..Two totally different teams really but the Saints have the capacity to do so. In this case I think that the Pies will have a crack but will lose away in the last quarter and I'm going to pick St Kilda to win by 36 points.

North Melbourne vs West Coast (Etihad Stadium) Saturday.
Ok (scratches head) who do you go for in this game? This is one of the tough games for the round. Both are winless. One's coming off a narrow loss, the other a thumping. In recent experience it says that this game is going to be a tough and close encounter. West Coast haven't travelled well to Melbourne of recent times, North are going through a blooding process with their youth. Usually for me when a team gets a thumping they play really well the next week on the otherhand a team who is unlucky to lose usually wins the next week. So you can see my dilemma. Do you go for home ground advantage? Or do you go for a team that people have tipped to be the biggest improvers but haven't done anything yet. For me I have gone for potential and have picked West Coast to win by 11 points.

Port Adelaide vs Brisbane (AAMI Stadium) Saturday.
Man these tips aren't getting any easier are they? On so many levels this one is a hard one to tip. Both teams are undefeated. Port are coming off a lucky win, Port are at home. Brisbane are in good form in particular Jonathan Brown. If Port can stop J Brown then they will have a lot of power (no pun intended) on the rebound up forward but if Brown continues his good form then he will be hard to beat and so will Brisbane. To me this will be a tight game with heaps of stopages and to me will give Brisbane the edge and they will win by 2 points.

Sydney vs Richmond (SCG) Saturday Night.
Didn't have to think too much about this one. Although Richmond do have the capacity to win when no one expects them to so it is set up for them in that regards. But the way that the Swans played last week means they are going to prove me wrong as I had them at the bottom end of the ladder but they are on the way up. They have some great recruits in McGlynn (why Hawthorn got rid of him I'll never know), Kennedy, Bradshaw and Mumford plus the youth means a bright future for the Swans. On the otherhand Richmond have a lot of improving to do which will take time. So Tigers fans ride it out because Hardwick is the best coach he will bring the best out in time. OH I should get back to the game! Swans will win by 49 points.

Carlton vs Essendon (MCG) Saturday Night.
So many interesting variables. These two teams really play well against eachother, they bring out the best that's for sure. The last time that they met wasn't close but the other encounters over the past 3 or 4 years have been. I am looking forward to this one to see which team comes off the disappointing loses the best. Carlton going down to Brisbane by 19 and Essendon in embarrassment to Fremantle by 44 points. Both coaches are proud people and they won't want to lose so that's going to make it a great game. Carlton have better form than Essendon and people are going to tip them for that. But in this case because Essendon are coming off a bad loss I am going to tip them just in an upset to win by 6 points.

Melbourne vs Adelaide (MCG) Sunday.
Now this one is a tough game. Melbourne just missing out on the win by 1 point I know would sting. Adelaide on the otherhand lost a game that really was pencilled in for them but didn't capitalise on that opportunity at home and have two loses on the board as a result in 2010. If Melbourne can come out and play the way that they did last week then they will win. But on the otherhand if Adelaide can find some fire power then they will have no problems in winning. Hard one to pick for me. But my gut says Melbourne to win by 16 points.

Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn (Etihad Stadium) Sunday.
Another tough game to pick. Western Bulldogs slaughtered the Tigers last week in an impressive performance compared to round 1. Hawthorn took it right up to Geelong which was to be expected. I liked Hawthorns game but they lost too much puff towards the end of the game. Dogs play Etihad well and if this game was played at the MCG then Hawthorn will definately have an advantage. In this case it's going to be a fast game with not as much stoppages and I reckon that Western Bulldogs will win by 4 points.

Fremantle vs Geelong (Subiaco) Sunday.
Who would have thought that both teams would be undefeated after round 2? Fremantle's form has been awesome and that form got them a win in Melbourne something that they hadn't done for about 5 years. Geelong have come off a couple of hard fought games. The home ground advantage will be valuable for the Dockers and they could cause another upset here. Geelong have a few injuries which means that they have to do some swapping around. There are going to be some great match ups here which I am excited to watch. I do believe that the Cats will get up here and win by 26 points but it will be hard and tough.

Let's see how I go

More to follow....