AFL tips round 21 wrap
What a fascinating weekend of AFL tips and betting was round 21 as we near the AFL finals and the race for the AFL Grand Final hots up with four winners from ten bets and our first losing round for six weeks. We were home on Collingwood and Sydney was an excellent result for us on a +20.5 line and $3 win bet. We missed the disappointing Port Adelaide, Geelong and North in a shock loss to the Dogs.
How to lose the unlosable AFL game…Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide has a unique ability…to lose games that just are unfathomable to lose. They did it again in AFL tips and betting round 21 game against West Coast. It was carbon copy of the AFL finals 2017 game loss after the siren to West Coast again. That’s now five in a row losses to the Eagles in Adelaide all by single digit amounts.
But the real story of the game is the last 90 seconds. Clurry gets the ball just outside 50 and instead of switching inside and killing 30 seconds off the clock he kicks long to a 2 v 1 West Coast and they mark it. Then an errant West Coast switch kick becomes a ground ball and Ebert, instead of picking it up, overruns it and West Coast start a forward thrust that becomes a goal.
Now two points up and the centre ball up becomes a secondary ball up. Port just had to win this clearance and go wide/forward. But no, the Eagles ruckman wins the clearance kicks long forward where McGovern (on Ebert who is horribly outmatched) marks inside 50. Not only that but Port has only one spare defender who is nowhere near impacting this contest.
So, that’s it for Port who now looks a chance to miss the AFL finals top 8 and faces AFL tips and betting games against Collingwood and Essendon!!
Melbourne…not far behind Port in Disaster-ville
So Melbourne is the second disaster AFL tips and betting side for Round 21 and has put their AFL finals spot at risk. Like Port they have a unique ability to lose games they really should win. The difference is Melbourne cough it up early and they just were simply outworked, outmuscled and had a distinct lack of desire by the Swans. It was just terrible and they have done it time and again the last two years. And to add
On the other side of the coin, the Swans were simply brilliant. They have now won eight of ten games on the road this year. The last five minutes are worth watching as they did what Port struggle to do…control the ball and tempo of the game. Hinkley should look no further than the Sydney tape to play to his Port players.
Melbourne now play West Coast in Perth and Sydney plays GWS as both fight to retain an AFL finals spot.
Disappointment number 3…Geelong
We struggle to make sense of Geelong who was an AFL tips and betting play for us but really struggled for three quarters before coming home hard in Q4 to lose to the Hawks 71-60 and move out of the top 8 in the process. However, as luck would have it the Cats now play Freo and Gold Coast at home which should ensure their appearance in the AFL finals this year. The Hawks with this win now place themselves in the top 4 as they look to an unexpected AFL Grand Final berth.
Au Revoir Adelaide Crows
So that’s it for the Crows for AFL Finals 2018 in a spectacular fall from the AFL Grand Final last year to outside the 8 this year. Issue after issue with the Crows and the big question will be is their an external review of Football Ops given the pre season camp stuff up and hamstring injuries and the question around again reported Captain Tex Walker. Or will nothing happen, put it down to a bad year and move on.
As for GWS they were simply quite brilliant and again showed how to control the ball in pressure situations in a tight finish. They also have injuries which will test them come AFL finals time and may be an issue to earn an AFL Grand Final berth but right now we see them as the second ranked side.
In other games North lost to the Bulldogs to put their AFL finals spot in jeopardy, Collingwood defeated Brisbane in a good game, Richmond smashed Gold Coast, Essendon defeated St Kilda and Fremantle beat the terrible Carlton.