A lot has happened from my point of view. From the lows of the cats losing to the Bombers and Eagles in successive weeks and had to sit through a humiliating loss to Beno’s Swannies at the Pineapple Hotel just 2 weeks from the finals. On the extreme upside I witnessed a flickering football on Matty P’s plasma TV go through a Geelong goal 22 times to Collingwood’s 8 in the last round of the home and away series. I was so happy with that win. So many people put it off to be a nothing game but it was the win we needed to have and I honestly think if we didn’t win that game the way we did we may not have won the premiership this year.

So from that demolition of Pies all us boys flew down to Melbourne for the first week of the finals and saw 4 finals in 3 days, all in Melbourne. First time it has happened for a long time. Hawks/Cats was first up and it was unbelievable. The 3-5 goal burst (sorry my memory is a bit blank here) in the 3rd quarter was incredible. The other games were pretty good. Best finals intensity was definitely the Pies/Eagles clash. Lots of congestion, intense tackling. It was a pure finals game.

After that to sit through a comfortable open prelim was just what the doctor ordered. I had made a pact with myself this year that if the Cats made the Grand Final – I’m going. It didn’t matter what it would cost me I’m going. At the very least I would fly down to Melbourne for the week.So at 3-quarter time or about 5min into the 4th quarter with the game in the bag I booked my flights and accom to Melbourne. No grand final ticket as of yet…

Sunday came around and I was tossing up between gambling on a cats member that had succeeded with the GF ticket ballot that was not going to attend (I’m an interstate member, I can’t enter the GF ballot) or put some pretty pennies down and get one of those ridiculously expensive corporate packages. I think I was still a bit drunk at the time after celebrating hard the night before  (the cats are in ANOTHER grand final!) I was feeling great and was very happy. I just bit the bullet and bought one of those corporate  packages. I didn’t want to gamble. I wanted to fucking be there and after deciding not to go in 2009 I didn’t want to make that mistake again.

So I make the call to AFL ticketing offices and ask if they’ve got any tickets available. The lady on the phone, surprisingly didn’t sound as if she’d been getting calls like mine all day, said that I’d have to order my ticket and package online – there was no way of knowing what seat I would get. I told the lady on the phone if they had any premium seats left as online it seemed they were sold out. She said they did due to some cancellations and I just had to wait 10 seconds, refresh the page and it would show up. Again, I didn’t want to gamble on my seat. I figured if I was paying $1400+ already on the standard corporate package I may as well pay $300 more and guarantee myself about the best seat in the house. So I splurged and probably paid the most or equal amount of anyone that was at the G for my ticket. But it was totally and utterly worth it.

Sorry, this is turning out to be a bit of a Grand Final story. I’ll cut it short. The actual Grand Final story will come eventually. Went to the footy show, grand final parade, grand final function (GF eve), grand final – obviously. You can see Grand Final week videos and photos I took from the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/user/footyhighvideos#p/u

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29433163@N05/

I really wish I went in 2009. I’ve thought about it a lot and I still rank that grand final higher than 07 and 11. I think because in 2007 it was over early and we were clear favourites (apparently, I can’t really remember at the time). I know I was at 2011 but I was quietly confident we’d win, so to win wasn’t as big a surprise as 2009 was. 2008 hurt me so much – just ask Matty P and Beno. To beat the Saints who were in red hot form, they had NO excuses whatsoever on the day. They were favourites (I’m pretty sure) and to win in a close one was incredible. 2011 I was there and it was incredible. It all sort of built up though. I went into the year not really knowing what would happen but slowly near the end of the season we started gaining the momentum and it seemed the pies were on the decline. Especially after that round 24 game that no-one seems to rate but I really think it was significant. Not the margin so much as it seemed obvious they shut up shop after half time but they just didn’t seem to be able to beat us, just like in round 8. That prelim final from last year was a long distant memory after that round 24 game. I knew that the ‘prelim 2010′ wasn’t going to happen to us again, not this year and if we were going to face them at any stage in the finals that it was going to be a tight game and at the very worst we’d only go down by a couple of goals, not feel like we’re getting hammered by 10+ goals like in 2010. Chris Scott built Geelong to beat the Pies in 2011 and it worked perfectly, facing them in the Grand Final.

It’s hard to say really all the premierships have their pros and cons. 2007 was the first in 44 years or so, 2009 was our redemption and 2011 well they called us too old too slow, we were just too good on the day.

There was just more on the line in 2009, more to lose if we had have lost that game than if we lost to the Pies in 2011.

Having said that, I start to look at bigger and better things now. There’s been lots of comparisons with Cats and Lions being the greatest teams of the modern game and people asking which was better? Historically 3 in a row will always look better looking back on it. But I’d want to be living through the way the cats have done it. Obviously I’m biased but we’re not done with yet, we’ve had a better win/loss ratio than the lions. Our ride has been so up and down. Again, this is why I rate 2009 so much that loss to the Hawks was the worst, to bounce back and win a premiership the year after felt so good. I honestly would have content with the Cats not winning another premiership for 10+ years but now they’ve gone out of their way, surprised us all, even supporters of the Cats and won another one in 2011. As I said before I’m looking for bigger and better things now and would love to be compared if not eclipse that of the hawks from the 80s and to win back to back premierships in my lifetime would be awesome. I’m looking forward to 2012 with much more ambition than I did in 2011.

The Cats have shown me that no matter what anyone says or what the current trend says that if you make a few slight adjustments, manage your players well, have the right people working at your club that already has a great culture than anything is possible. Losing Yablett and Bomber was the best thing that happened to the club. I said it when Bomber decided to leave that him leaving now was the best thing that could happen to Geelong than him sticking around to complete his contract when his heart wasn’t in it. I just didn’t expect a premiership right away. I thought maybe a year or 2 down the road.

I keep writing but I’m not going to edit this mega post. The main reason I started writing was to review my goals I made from earlier this year and start drafting out some goals for this year.

So what were my goals for 2011?

• Attend the first week of the finals in Melbourne – Did it, 4 games in 3 days. Cats blitz in the 3rd quarter was unbelievable.
• See a blockbuster Cats game – I saw my team win the Grand Final AT THE MCG! Can’t top that.
• Get a Geelong membership – Got an interstate membership
• Post on Footy High once a week (at least) – failed. I got off to a good start though.
• Pick a clever dream team and have good reasons why for each player chosen – I did that and wrote a post about it. I came close but Matty P once again is too good lucky
• Reach $150 in the $100 Challenge – total fail. Will have to be smarter next year. Too many exotic bets and not enough big bets on sure things.
• Complete Tipping Comp – did this. I won the tipping comp out of us boys. Actually tipped every week and reminded the boys to tip. No excuses. I’m the fucking back to back tipping champ!
• Get a full dream team this year – We had a full league this year! No strangers. Next year though we might look to make our league a bit more challenging.
• Write a TON of prediction posts – I think I wrote quite a few? More than last year I’m guessing.
• If Cats make a Preliminary Final or even Grand Final I’M GOING! – I didn’t go to a prelim but I had my reasons. I went to the Grand Final though! YOU BEAUTY!

So a bit of a draft on some of my footy goals for next year?

Go to Geelong for a game, in Geelong – maybe the unfurling of the flag. Will go standing room. The game I went to in 2006 I think it was when Stokes came of age was unreal once we got in the standing room. Pity we were sitting in the Fred Flanagan room for the first 3 quarters.

I also really regret now not going to Geelong on Sunday after Grand Final day. Although I probably wouldn’t have seen much at the park where all the Cats guys went on stage, being around Geelong and going to the pubs would have been pretty awesome.

When in Geelong visit Billy and Ling’s pubs, stay the night in Geelong. Visit the Beach. I really haven’t done much stuff in Geelong

Go to a new city – Perth or Adelaide or somewhere else (canberra, NT but I doubt we’d play there). Obviously only if Geelong are playing there but no doubt we’ll play someone there.

Maybe buy an AFL membership (maybe). I need to toss up if it’s worth it and how much it is. It all rides on what the fixture looks like for next year. I am counting down the days till fixture day (9 days to go!). I’m seriously as excited about the fixture coming out as I am about week 1 of the finals. I just want to be able to plan what weeks I go to the footy and see if Geelong have a good draw or not. Will be very interesting to see which teams play Gold Coast and GWS twice next year also. Will the AFL put the money making games away (ie cats vs gold coast twice) or will they make it fair? Very keen on the draw for 2012!

Go to a Prelim if the Cats make it - I didn’t go this year as I was hanging out for a Grand Final if we made it. They say prelim week is the purest supporter week in football so I’d really like to experience. If Cats aren’t in it but the games seem good and I’m into the teams that are in it, I’d still consider going and maybe staying the week and living up Grand Final week in Melbourne again but not go to the game (unless I can for $300 or less). Go to fed square and watch.

Buy a good cats collar shirt that fits - Hopefully they change the logo or maybe I can find an old GFC logo collar shirt. I’m really not a fan of the current Cats logo.

Take more photos/videos – I took heaps on Grand Final week but I didn’t take much the other Melbourne trips. I’ll put more effort in.

I worked out that I’ve roughly spent $5000+ on football related things in 2011. That includes memberships, tickets to games, merch, flights, accom, some spending money if I’m away on a footy trip etc, drinks, online betting etc. Note that I blew $700+ on betting against the cats and spent $1700+ on my grand final ticket alone. 6 flights, 10+ nights accom + spending money, total of 16 attended AFL games, it doesn’t seem all that bad.

I’m not going to make any Footyhigh.com goals. Apart from enable Winchy to post here I don’t want it to feel like a chore to post here. I won’t badger Matt and Beno to write here if they don’t want to. Just if you feel like talking footy like I am tonight, post here. We’re just mates that enjoy footy. I just like the aspect of having something to look back on. See the silly bets we make, see the photos/videos memories of the footy years gone past. I know I’ll probably look back on this post or especially my Grand Final 2011 post if I ever make it in a few years time.

More competitive Dream Team League. Sorry Philby, you’ve been demoted down a league. I think we’re going to implement a new policy for next year. You need to at least spend 10minutes on your dream team each week or you’re out. If you’re not going to pick a captain for the year and don’t really know who players are then you’re not worth being in our league. We need more competition!

Final one. Pick a new sporting bet site for the $100 challenge in 2012. The current one we use. Sportingbet.com.au is a bit limited it seems on what other sites offer. So we’ll see what else is out there in the off-season and give another site a go and let you know. There’s nothing wrong with sportingbet.com.au . In fact they got themselves a mobile site during the year which was ever so helpful when we were at a pub or game.

• Pies 40+ $1.60
• Game points over 190 $1.90
• Pies over 27 points half time $2
• Pies over 37 half time $2.65
• Pies first quarter $1.18
• Pies first points $1.62
• Pies first behind as first points $3.30
• First goalscorer Dale Thomas $17
• Pies First to 15 points $1.22
• Pies/Pies half time/full time $1.18
• Most Goals – Riewoldt and Swan tied with 4 each paying $3.25 and $19. So you would get half. $1.625 and $9.50. Let’s just assume you picked Swan as it’s paying more so $9.50.

11. Dead Heat Rules

11.1 A Dead Heat occurs where two or more participants in an event tie for first and second place.
In the event of two selections having a Dead Heat, the customer’s stake is split with half the stake applied to the winning selection and the other half lost. With more than two selections, the stake is split proportionately.

http://www.sportingbet.com/t/info/rules/rules.aspx

• Pies to lead at end of each quarter $1.20
• Total match goals 34 or more $5.50
• Total match points 221 points or more $4.50
• Pies over 15 points $1.12
• Pies over 24 points $1.22
• Pies over 39 points $1.60
• Total Match points odd $1.95
• Pies score first points and win $1.77
• Pies over 60 points $2.20
• Pies over 60 points (10 goal hiding) $2.20
• Winning margin Pies over 60 points $2.20
• Most disposals group A – Deledio and Swan tied. Deledio has better odds @ $10 so you’d win $5
• Most disposals group B – Didak, Jackson and Newman tie at 26. Newman better odds at $10 so you’d win $3.33
• First Goalscorer/Winning margin Thomas/Pies over 60 $38
• Riewoldt more goals than behinds $1.41
• King more goals than behinds $1.75
• Nahas didn’t score so money back $1
• Brown more goals than behinds $1.57
• Cloke more behinds than goals $2
• Beams more goals than behinds $1.81
• Swan more goals than behinds $1.77
• Didak more goals than behinds $1.41
• Riewoldt last goalscorer $9

If you placed $1 single bet on each of these you would have walked away with $137.29 this (includes initial $1 wagered on each bet)

Total of 34 bets so a profit of $103.29 if you bet 100%! Obviously you could have multi’d a few of them but you can’t multi them all.

I didn’t go so well personally. My results:

• Won my Riewoldt more goals than behinds $1.41
• Got partial money for Didak and Swan for most disposals (as it was a dead heat/tie) $2.33 and $1
• Pies first points and win match $1.77
• Pies first to 15 points $1.22
• Collingwood behind first score $3.30
• Collingwood first points $1.62

I staked $22 on the game and ended up with $12.65. Thought I had beams for last goalscorer in the bag until Didak and Riewoldt kicked the last 2 within the last 50 seconds. Check out the other bets I made for the Tigers/Pies game.

How did you go with your bets?! Any punts for the rest of the week?

I’ve made my own bets for the game. Not for each type of bet but for a majority of them. Here are my bets:

I’m thinking Didak is going to have a blinder game tonight. Swan most disposals as always. I see Collingwood kicking around 20 goals to Richmonds 7. Though I sort of contradict myself as I think the margin will be around 55 points. I can also see the two twin towers in Dawes and Cloke kicking a few goals early. A small midfielder for the pies will kick the last goal. Blair or Sidebottom. Interesting that Didak isn’t named on the first goal scoring list, that’s why I went with the ‘any other unlisted collingwood player’ for first goal.

Here is the complete list of bets you can make for theo Richmond VS Collingwood match up:

• What grinds my gears part 3: excuses for messages sent that don’t get the response they were after…. Friend stole my phone etc..
• What grinds my gears: part2: people who don’t give thankyou waves on the roads.
• WGMG.p8: guys self portraits of themselves with their tops off in their profile pictures, not cool unless your batting for other team

Anyway. Round 2 has just passed and it’s time to get my vent on and rant and rave about what grinds MY gears from Round 2 of the AFL season in 2011.

1. #WGMG – Gold Coast Comparisons To Other New Team Debutantes

Everyone kept talking throughout the week about how some of the other debut teams had a win, but no-one takes into consideration at how young and immature the Gold Coast bodies are. The team that was out running (that’s about all it looked like) along side Carlton the other night had 10 players LESS than 21 years of age.

Let’s have a look at the other teams that have debuted in the last couple of decades and see how many players debuted sometime during the whole FIRST year (not just their first game) that were under 21.

• Adelaide – 3 (Win first game)
• Brisbane Bears – 3 (Win first game)
• Fremantle – 10 (out of 41 players that debuted that year, and note they lost their first game)
• Port Adelaide – 10 (out of 34 players that debuted that year, note they lost their first game)
• West Coast – 4 (Win)

So there seems a case that mature bodies certainly do help. For those that thought they were going to have the measure against the Blues.. what are you thinking?! It’s going to be a long season for Gold Coast and their supporters but tough it out, there are some good signs there and you’ll be a force in a couple of years.

Also note they’ve come into what I would say is one of the toughest year where apart from maybe the Cats and Saints each team is expecting a significant improvement from their list and hoping to rise up the ladder, more than years before. And there’s no way you’re going to see Cats and Saints dropping lower than Gold Coast. Sorry GC, spoon for you

2. #WGMG - Hawthorn All Of A Sudden FLAG CONTENDERS

No!! We fell for this last year. We all saw them smash the Dees round 1 2010 and we thought they were back after an injury riddled 2009. We gave them that excuse and thought, ok we’ll let 2009 slide, they’ve just come out and belted the Dees, all their guns seem in good shape.. they’re back!! NO! After they belted the Dees they then LOST their next 6 games. Yes they lost their next SIX GAMES!

You’re all foolish to go jumping on their bandwagon yet again right now.Wait till the hawks string together a month of wins against some serious opposition then maybe, just maybe we can call them a legitimate TOP 4 chance. But flag chance? They’ve got a lot to prove first.

3. #WGMG – Sandilands Cleans Out Steve Johnson

They ran into each other! If you look at the vision, the bump hurt Sandilands just as much at Steve Johnson. Sandilands went down as well, and Steve Johnson got up before Sandilands did. It just looked bad cos Sandilands is a freeking tree! But obviously, if you look at the vision closely, Steve Johnson is the toughest man alive.

4. #WGMG – The Pronunciation of Podsiadly

It’s Pods-ee-ADD-lee NOT not Pods-ee-ARRD-lee, Dwayne Russel!! (And a lot of other commentators)

http://www.pronouncenames.com/pronounce/podsiadly

5. #WGMG – I Just Can’t Take A PUNT!

My $100 AFL Betting Challenge is going woeful. Laid down what I thought were a handful of very reasonable bets on the weekend but still a few points off the margin. I’ll get a win eventually.

So what’s grinding your gears this week after Round 2? Umpires? Your Team? The Sub Rule?

Give us the lowdown on What Grinds Your Gears in the comments below or vent them on twitter using the hashtag #WGMG

So here goes the AFL POWER 17 for Round 1 2011

1. Collingwood – I actually thought Port did quite well against the Pies. To demolish a side by 75 points in what looked like a pretty good contest is scary prospect put forward by last years premiers.
2. Essendon – NAB Cup form was no hoax, Essendon showed the football world they’re the real deal demolishing what most expect to be a top 4 team in the Bulldogs by 55 points. Can they keep up the momentum?
3. Adelaide – To come back from 30 points down near half time to win by 20 is a huge achievement over the Hawks that many expect to be a premiership contender.
4. Geelong – The underdogs showed true grit to overcome Saints footy to get them over the line in the dying seconds. Showed the footy world they can still compete with the supposed top 4.
5. West Coast – A few men down near the end to get over the line is a great start for a team that many had placed in the bottom 4.
6. Carlton – A win many expected them to have. Goal-less in the 3rd term but a strong finish gets them over the line against a more spirited Richmond outfit.
7. Fremantle – Pace got them over the line as the competitive Lions were outrun by injuries and a few questionable umpiring decisions going their way.
8. Melbourne – A great fight back to secure a draw. I think they’d be more happy about taking the 2 points than Sydney.
9. Sydney – Sydney had the game won but shut out Goodes in the last half. Sydney then became no Goodes.
10. Brisbane Lions – Were brave. Injuries and questionable umpiring decisions struck hard. They really should have won. I don’t expect them to just drop away as many predict. They have some exciting kids coming through.
11. Richmond – The most spirited performance for the opening game by the Tiges in the last few years. Disappointing to let their momentum and lead slip dramatically in the last term but the Tigers spirit is there. Am expecting a much closer encounter against the Saints tonight than many are predicting.
12. Port Adelaide – Scoreboard aside they were very competitive against the reigning premiers. Let slip in the last 40min of the match but signs aren’t bad at all down at Port.
13. St Kilda – Another ‘Saints Footy’ display was on show on Friday night. They need a better structure pushing up forward, continually targeting Riewoldt against the Cats never works.
14. North Melbourne – They’d be disappointed not to get over the line when West Coast were a few men down after having a slight lead heading into the final term.
15. Hawthorn – Should be bitterly disappointed not to take home the 4 points after seemingly having the game under control being 30 points up near half time. Do we rate Hawks too highly? Hypothetically if they didn’t win the Grand Final in 2008 would we be expecting them to win all these games? Disappointment after disappointment.
16. Western Bulldogs – All the talk this week is about the Bombers. On the other end of the spectrum it’s the Doggies being belted by a team not many would have in the top 8 this year. They need to have a real hard look at themselves and produce a massive game this week against the Lions for all to see if they’re genuine contenders this year or not.
17. Gold Coast Suns – Haven’t made a name for themselves yet. This is their big week.

Think I’ve placed teams in the wrong spot? How would you rate the 17 sides after round 1? Leave your comment below!

Backline

Goddard – He’s a DT lock in anyones team. If you don’t have him you have some sort of crystal ball. IE You’re a freak!

Gibbs – Yet another DT lock. Dual Position Player (DPP). Legend. If you’re a clever ducky you would have had him as your vice captain and used the dream team partial lock out loop hole.

Deledio – Deledio is in the top 25 paid players in the AFL for real. He’s priced in DT as a $371k DPP back/mid. He has a rubbish game on the weekend yet still managed 74 odd points. He’s primed for a big year, as are the Tiges.

Broughton – I’ll admit a lot of research didn’t go into him and maybe I’m paying the price for a lower than average score this week. He was a cheap defender that I know a lot of people were getting so I was a sheep with this pick.

Grimes – Cheap as chips defender for the value he will implement into Sarge’s Heroes this year. Started on the right foot at 100+ score this weekend.

Lower – You don’t get promoted off the rookie list and not play. He played and played a blinder. Near 100 one of the best defender rookies if not the best out there.

Duigan – mature age rookie gun. Didn’t blow the house down with 51 but you’d think he’ll play a few more games. A handy bench player.

Coad, Stanley, Toy – These guys I feel are the most promising GC defenders to have at basement prices. Some may feel it’s the wrong move having 3xGC on the bench but as long as everyone is playing on field, why does it matter? Save a lot of money and build up to a big team come finals time.

Midfield

Montagna – He’s full of run, flair and he seems young. Gets a lot of kicks and can kick goals. I chose him over people like Boyd, Selwood etc as I think he kicks it a lot more and kicks more goals than them.

Bartel – A tackling machine and doesn’t attract a hard tag. Can kick a goal and is a magnificent mark.

K.Cornes – The most consistent midfielder going around. A score of 96 this weekend he didn’t disappoint. If he gets this every week I’ll take it.

Foley – I think he’s crucial for the Tigers this year after coming off injury. He had the worst game this weekend but I think if I keep my patience he’ll come good. If he has a bad game next week I may be looking for a downgrade to someone like Curnow who got over 100+ his first game.

Krakouer – Every man and his dog will have him. Mistake that he’s in my midfield? Only time will tell. A lovely 96 to open his account with AND he was subbed late in the game.

Bewick – Another mature age rookie. Not the most convincing game (to hold his spot) but feel he played some smart footy. Scored ok and will be a worthy bench player if he keeps his spot in the team, and given lions injuries I’m sure he will.

Swallow – DT lock as pick no1 in the draft. People say he’s the new Selwood, if that’s the case he could be a DT keeper by the end.

Conca – A late pick given the team announcements on Wednesday night. He came in for Harris who has a supposed injury cloud.

Heppell – I struggled justifying keeping Heppell in. I didn’t have a good feeling. I’m glad he got an 80 today but Essendon just dominated today. I can’t see this happening every week so I’m still not 100% convinced but he stays for now.

Rucks

Ryder – 50k less than Sandilands and got a respectable score today. Was on track for higher but didn’t quite get there. Happy to have the money in the bank but given that Essendon have the bye Grand Final week it could bite me on the ass. Having said that, predicting that I’ll make Grand Final week of DT is probably big headed of me so I like having 50k to play with while still generating good scores from Ryder. I’m not 100% convinced he’ll maintain good scores though so I hope he keeps it up.

Cox – Best preseason of his life just about. Cheap as chips for the quality you get. Tonights game just proved that.

Tippet – Only have him as my DPP link with Petrie.

Keeffe – Keep hearing a lot of good things about him. Disappointed he didn’t play on the weekend and maybe could have picked a better bench ruck but for 92k who else would I pick?

Forwards

Franklin – He’s a DT lock pretty much. Had a great preseason. Didn’t go well against the crows – the only game I didn’t really get a look at this weekend. Hopefully bounces back next week I’m sure he will.

Sylvia – DPP was maybe the main reason I went for him in the end. I liked Stevie J but I’m glad I didn’t touch him. I’m still nervous about Sylvia so hopefully he can remain consistent.

Goodes – F$%K YOU! He was on about 70 at half time and managed 74 by games end. This is why Melbourne came back, they managed to shut out Goodes. This worries me greatly. The great debate over whether to have Goodes or Pavlich in your team, well the answer may be none of them. They both fail to deliver a monster score too often.

Riewodlt – He’s a DT lock. My only concern about him, well 2 now is A – his minor injury he got during the game and B – the way St Kilda play doesn’t allow him to get a plethora of goals. Everyone will have him for his price but he didn’t score well on the weekend. Let’s just hope that’s because Harry Taylor is a superstar.

Yarran – My DT hate right now. I didn’t want to pick mid priced players but I read too much into it, people were picking him and I’ve seen footage of him playing when he first started last year or year before dominating from half back getting a lot of possessions. He just didn’t do this on Thursday night. If he has another poor game he’s done and dusted in the Sarge’s Heroes team (or awaits a downgrade later in the year)

Tapscott – Most people should have him. A monster of a lad with a deadly kick. Was great today in the game against Sydney.

Richardson – Yet another mature age rookie. Had a reasonable game tonight. Will play mainly as a bench player.

Petrie – He’s a guy that will play 20+ games for the year. At 200k you can’t go past him. Yes he’ll mis rounds 1 and 3 but get over that hurdle you save yourself a trade and have your 7th placed forward and backup ruckman when one of your rucks has a bye. I think this is a smart move given the deep benches this year but time will tell.

Matera – One of the GC prime basement price picks. Probably the best forward prospect for the price.

Darling – Huge boy was in everything tonight. Think he’s got a lot of footy in him.

That’s my Dream Team selections as my starting team. Noticeable absentees would be Swan and Harris. I plan to get them at a later stage, definitely Swan anyway. Some guys I tossed and turned about but didn’t end up getting were Higgins (over Foley) Dale Thomas (over K. Cornes) Pendlebury (over Bartel) Knights (over Yarran) Palmer (over Higgins/Foley) Pavlich (over Goodes/Sylvia) Sandilands (over Ryder) and probably a few more but I can’t find my other notepad where I wrote notes.

Overall I’m ok with what I have. I have $185k left i the bank so I’ve got a lot to work with. This year I think we’re going to see higher scores than ever given the amount of rookie priced players that will potentially play a lot of games.

How is your Dream Team shaping up for 2011?

I’m not going to muck around. Here’s my major predictions for this year:

Final Ladder (does NOT include finals)

1. Collingwood Barring injury I can’t see Collingwood slipping. They are now the hunted which could cause a little slip or just make other teams go silly.
2. St Kilda What a shocking off-season. They’ll let their footy do the talking and contend yet again. They’ll need to inject some youth to go all the way. Gamble will need to be good for them.
3. Hawthorn I am expecting a huge year from Cyril, Buddy and Roughead. Mitchell I reckon has gone off everyones radar, a fine preseason he’s had. They’ve had injury riddled years gone by and apart from Hodge this year looks to be their best year yet. A fit Burgoyne and new recruits Bruce and Hale they are a scary prospect.
4. Western Bulldogs Have set a huge expectation on themselves to make a grand final this year. I’m not sure if they’ll make the grand final, as Roosey would say ‘too many variables’ but they’ll be top 4
5. Carlton Pace, Murphy, Gibbs and of course Judd and the 3 amigos up forward (Betts, Yarran, Garlett) a club goal to win a final gets them to 5th spot for me. They remind me of a Geelong from 2004.
6. Geelong I really can’t get a read on my own team. They are ‘old’ but age is just a number. I do agree that unless some kids show some real promising signs that there won’t be a lot of improvement. What could get them further up in the ladder is a ‘twinge’ of gameplan. If the talented list stays healthy and Tommahawk can hold onto a contested mark and kick straight – watch out! Flying under the radar helps too (I still can’t get ’08 out of my head).
7. Fremantle Haven’t had the best of preseasons a fair few injuries but I think they’ve got the class to get into another finals series.
8. Melbourne They’ve been down for too long. Their talent they’ve received for being shit needs to shine. This is the year they’ll play a final.
9. Essendon They’ll show signs of promise. No thanks to the players it’ll all be because of King Hird, of course! Unfortunately they’ve hit a year where a lot of teams are on the improve, they’ll just finish just below the 8.
10. Sydney They had a bit of a dream run last year. They could still to scrape into the finals but have them missing out. They need to forget about Bradshaw. Him playing will only hurt them long-term.
11. Adelaide They’ve lost a lot of talent and the board is putting pressure on the coach early. I actually predict Neil Craig will be the first coach to go this year. He just seems like he’s conceded already. There needs to be a spark at the Crows, a new coach will do that.
12. North Melbourne Poor preseason will lead to a poor start and as a result a poor finish to the ladder. Throw in the towel early and prepare for the greatest preseason for 2012, North.
13. Brisbane They’ll surprise a few and NOT finish bottom 4. They’ll inject a lot of kids to show promising signs for years to come. They’ll finish a bit higher if Browny(!!) can be a fit and healthy kid.
14. Richmond I think they’ll have a similar year to last year. We’ll all feel sorry for them and it’ll be epic when they win games. They just won’t win many.
15. Port Adelaide To be honest I don’t know a great deal about Port. They seem to like their new coach a lot so that gets them off at least the bottom of the ladder. Goal for me: Learn about Port Adelaide.
16. West Coast If Kerr can stop being a twit I think they could finish higher than this but their skills are terrible.
17. Gold Coast Suns New team, so many kids. Ablett in doubt. They need to find their feet. They’ll win a few games and it’ll be great when they do but you counter in travel to a young side as well, you’re not going to see many wins here. The experience will be great however.

Grand Finalists – Collingwood VS Hawthorn

With Collingwood winning unfortunately.

Brownlow – Joel Selwood

No Yablett means all the votes go to Selwood. Selwood polled 21 votes last year and Yablett was runner up. Selwood will poll 40+ votes. I’m not sure what he’s paying but GET ON IT!

Coleman – Buddy Franklin

Not very original but from all reports a great preseason and he’s ready to go. My only concern (being a good concern for hawk fans) is that I predict Roughead to have a huge year, so he may steal a few snags.

Rising Star – Swallow

Not very original but there you go.

AA Captain – Judd

Because everyone loves him

Norm Smith – Dale Thomas

Matty P and I agree on something. I can no longer call him a f$%#ing flower. He’s earnt my respect and can perform on the big stage.

How will the sub rule turn out – Rubbish – Toss it out next season.

Like absolute crap. You would think that if there are no injuries going into the last quarter that most teams will have used their sub by now. The problem with this is that if injuries occur then they can’t sub meaning you’re down to a 2-man bench. I think you’ll find that once 1 team subs the other team will probably sub not long after. It’s going to be a game of chess. Maybe we’re all looking into it a bit too much. Personally I think the sub should be your 22nd best player (but not a key position player) and should only sub if someone is actually injured. If there’s 10minutes to go send out the sub and take the risk. It’ll be a huge talking point throughout the year.

Biggest off-field talking point – Malthouse/Buckley scenario

I hope it burns down and affects the playing group as well. Heck we need anything we can get to knock the Pies off their perch.

First Coach to be sacked – Neil Craig

I feel like he’s flat. Not a career coach. Passion lost. Conceded. I think he’ll leave mid-late year also. Crows need some spark (not at kardinia park)

How many games will Yablett play – 15

Dale Thomas Top 10 for Brownlow – YES!

How many games and goals will Daniel Bradshaw get – 7 games for 11 goals

What are YOUR predictions for the season ahead?!

For the other boys 2011 predictions check out the following:

• Matty P’s 2011 Crystal Ball
• Beno’s 2011 Predictions Post

1. Collingwood 5W 0L
2. Hawthorn 4W 1L
3. Essendon 3W 1L 1D
4. Adelaide 3W 2L
5. Sydney 3W 2L
6. Carlton 3W 2L
7. Western Bulldogs 3W 2L
8. West Coast 3W 2L
9. Geelong 3W 2L
10. St Kilda 2W 2L 1D
11. Port Adelaide 2W 3L
12. Brisbane 2W 3L
13. North Melbourne 2W 3L
14. Melbourne 2W 3L
15. Gold Coast 2W 3L
16. Fremantle 1W 4L
17. Richmond 1W 4L

Now before you get your knickers in a knot I know NAB cup means nothing, just look at how Carlton performed when they won the NAB cup in 05 and 07 (claiming the wooden spoon and 15th spot those years). Having said that, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Collingwood aren’t going to win the spoon this year and there’s a fair chance that Richmond and Gold Coast will probably be looking at the bottom end of the ladder. In fact the last 7 teams in this NAB form guide I’ve created, apart from maybe Fremantle, will probably miss the 8 this year.

Worrying signs based on preseason for mine would be – Fremantle, Melbourne and Richmond. To a lesser extent St Kilda and Geelong.

Good signs based on preseason form would be – Essendon, Hawthorn and Adelaide.

Winning form is good form, preseason or not. I bet a lot of people will be putting Essendon a bit higher on their predicted ladder than where they had them 2-3 months ago. Even Ross Lyon is getting a worried about the Saints form heading into the regular season.

Will the form of the NAB cup alter your predicted ladder for 2011? Or will you dismiss it entirely? Personally I think there are some things we can read from it but you may have to dive deeper than a form ladder to find it.

As a cats fan in Brisbane I rarely see any cats game live. I’d much rather see my team playing every week on TV, even if it is a practice match than this preseason knock out competition. Apart from reading articles I’d like to be able to give my own opinion on the kids we’re blooding and get a feel for how we’re traveling in the lead up for round 1. The majority of clubs can’t do this with this knock out format. They care about how THEIR team is traveling.

No, they’re probably not all willing to travel to a country town for a practice game but given the opportunity to watch their team play live in the comfort of their own home – sure!

Big kudos to those clubs that were able to stream the footy live online for the Nab Challenge games. A step in the right direction! I’m sure the AFL could figure out a way to make some advertising dollars by showing games live/replay online also while improving the online live coverage of online games in future.

Also just on the numbers for the NAB Cup. Yes, the numbers may be down a bit on previous years (didn’t help charging $20 for entry, even for NAB Challenge games) but surely we would have been competitive still with the NRL on a regular season?

Get people in for free and have booths inside selling merch, club and AFL memberships! Get people going to the AFL (hey it’s free why not) if they like what they see they may consider going back during the regular season or even buying a membership.

Final answer to your question where would I like to see my team on a Friday night? Answer – If not within a reasonable distance from where I live, then LIVE on TV!

Sarge’s 2010 Goals

Sarge having a good time

Beno not having a good time

Dominate Dream Team – Top 4 (after a dismal 2009 performance)
I feel I can give myself a pass mark here. I won 2 leagues (Dream Team and Supercoach) and in our main league I played off in a preliminary final against Matty P. I also beat Matty P during the regular season.

Reach $300 in the $100 Challenge
Total fail. I ended up losing the lot trying to catch up to Matty P. Not sure how he did in the end but I’m pretty sure he got within $150 or so.

Sarge’s Footy Goals for 2011

Attend the first week of the finals in Melbourne
Will depend on who is playing a little bit but I’m just keen to see some live finals footy

See a blockbuster Cats game
Looking like we’ll go down and see Cats VS Hawks at the MCG

Get a Geelong membership
Already done!

Post on Footy High once a week (at least)
I really want to get some consistency happening around here. My post has to be non-competition based (ie post doesn’t count tips or bets post)

Pick a clever dream team and have good reasons why for each player chosen
IE Don’t pick Relton Roberts just cause he’s a cheap rookie playing in Round 1. Do more research on him.

Reach $150 in the $100 Challenge
Ok so maybe $300 was a bit too high a goal last year

Complete Tipping Comp
Publish everyones tips

Get a full dream team this year
No Tom Harley’s!

Write a TON of prediction posts
I want to look back at the end of 2011 and have a laugh or claim glory on predictions set at the start or during the year.

If Cats make a Preliminary Final or even Grand Final I’M GOING!
This is more like a LIFE goal. Next Grand Final the cats get themselves into, I’m going. Even if it costs me the $1200 or whatever the ridiculous amount is for an AFL GF package.

That’s it. I may add more. The main ones for me would be seeing blockbuster games live in Melbourne (finals and big games at the G) and getting FootyHigh to a respectable site. Bring on the footy season!