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AFL Preliminary Finals review


RICHMOND GO TO THE BIG DANCE AFL GRAND FINAL

The first of our AFL Betting Tips Preliminary Finals saw Richmond able to overcome a sluggish start going in at half time with a 21 point deficit. It looked like trouble for the Tigers and our +18.5 Geelong bet looked in nice shape. However a 5 goal unanswered burst after half time sparked by the big time recruit Tom Lynch, saw them well on their way to their second Grand Final in 3 years. We missed our line bet on Geelong by a solitary point.

Tom Lynch the star

Tom Lynch the star off season recruit was clearly the key for the Tigers. Riewoldt struggled but the man many Tigers fans had dreamed was the missing piece to the puzzle delivered in spades on the 2nd biggest stage of the year. Lynch kicked 5 goals and was a dominant force taking 10 marks. It is not totally out of the realms to say he was absolutely the difference and without similar tall timber at the other end for Geelong with the suspension of the Tomahawk the Cats had no “get out” kick going forward.

A game of two halves

This was literally a game of two halves, Geelong dominated the opening half and the shoe was on the other foot in the second half. Geelong have missed a golden opportunity letting a 21 point lead slip in a Preliminary Final and this could haunt them for some time to come, particularly as the minor premiers.

There is somewhat of a caveat to this the fact that they had to play their “home” finals at the MCG against Collingwood (MCG home ground) and Richmond (MCG home ground). Geelong really need to take this issue to the next level, they simply must be allowed to have at the very minimum their first final at GMBHA stadium.

Geelong Coach Chris Scott has a lot to answer to

Geelong has now won 4 of 15 finals since the 2011 AFL Premiership. The buck must stop with Chris Scott but appears to not. Questions need to be answered like:
a. Why did Scott not play their lead ruckman Rhys Stanley in the Collingwood game only to play him the next week (lost by 10 points to Collingwood)?
b. Why did Scott start their best defender Blicvas on a wing only to see Richmond’s best forward Lynch kick 5 goals?

Richmond hot favs for GF

Richmond now advance as the hot fav for this weeks AFL Grand Final against the Giants, it will be interesting to see how the Tigers accept the favourites tag as they relished the underdog status against Adelaide in 2017.

GIANTS CREATE HISTORY INTO GRAND FINAL

The second of our AFL Betting Tips Preliminary Finals saw the underdog GWS Giants get home in a thriller over Collingwood after looking to have the match sewn up with a quarter to go.

Winning Bet for subscribers

It was only a small investment but a winning one as we too GWS +21.5 in a nice result. Congrats to those of you that took the recommendation further as a win bet.

GWS played to the conditions… Collingwood Q3 “asleep at the wheel”

The GWS Giants handled the wet conditions much better than Collingwood and they were hard and contested. As we touched on last week sometimes the battle hardened week in week out finals side is better placed than the side having the week off. This looked very evident in the first 3 quarters of this game and it seemed to take Collingwood that long to get themselves into “game mode”.

Classic Q4 Final

The Giants had a 33 point lead 6 minutes into the last term, but the Giants would not score again from that point and Collingwood had 9 scoring shots kicking 4 goals 5 points to go down in a last gasp thriller by 4 points.

Collingwood have no one to blame but themselves, they simply failed to bring the hardness around the contest that the Giants were committed to bringing. GWS contested ball numbers were out of this world compared to Collingwood and quite simply the Pies did not want to play inside ball.

Perhaps being kicked out of 2 of the last 3 AFL Preliminary Finals instilled a greater resolve within the Giants than even we envisaged. That was the second week in a row they have endured a barrage of inside 50s in the final term and clung on to survive. They are a hard nosed defensive unit despite being capable of kicking goals quickly. Their Coleman medallist Jeremy Cameron stepped up with 3 goals in a crucial performance and Collingwood’s mids failed to get any ascendancy from the dominance of their ruckman Brodie Grundy.

Wasted Opportunity Collingwood

That is 2 years in a row of heart break for Collingwood in losing a Grand Final and now a Preliminary Final by less than a kick. Coach Buckley, whilst stating his team and club are in broader “good shape” conceded it was a wasted year. Like Richmond of 2018, they simply lost the “unlosable” Prelim Final simply because they were underprepared. As is the case with Richmond this year, Collingwood will need to wait until this time next year for redemption…if!!

The Giants are now on new ground as the Orange Tsunami have made their way to the biggest day on the AFL calendar, now the question remains can do what it takes to record their maiden AFL Flag?

AFL Grand Final 2019

Full game preview and tips out Thursday afternoon.