Author: craigpett

Wow – amazing Grace! She tipped 7 out of 8! The next best was 5 by Annie, Matt, Sal and me. Way to go Grace. At the top of the ladder there’s no change. It’s still Dee by 1.

What a win for the Crows. They gave their all right from the start and when they looked gone, 16 points down with 5 or so minutes left, they found a way to kick three goals and hold on in that frantic last minute.  Will they be able to keep up the intensity and get their season back on track? Let’s hope so. It’s funny, they will probably start favourites against Essendon at Adelaide Oval on Friday night. It’s amazing what one good win does. (Also, from a tipping point of view with the Crows’ win, those of us who too often let our hearts rule our heads when it comes to the Crows finally got a break).

Meanwhile, Port notched up another win, although you have to feel for Freo with two last-minute losses at Adelaide Oval within a week. 

Ladder after Round 5…

Great tipping this week by Austin, Dee, Hudson, Judith and Rob who got all 9, followed by Annie, Gaynor, Helen and Margot with 8. (Those of us who tipped Freo were a bit stiff). We now have a new leader, Dee, who is 1 in front of five who are tied for second – Janet, Helen, Judith, Rob and Ausi.

The Crows’ woes continue. Arguably they were a little bit better against Melbourne but they never looked like winning. It’s hard to see how they can turn things around and this week they have Carlton at Marvel. Are they looking at bottom four this year? What a disaster that would be.

The Gather Round really is now a big thing. There was a lot of hype about it in Melbourne this week. Hopefully it stays in Adelaide for good.

Ladder after Round 4…

Leading the way this week were Austin, Jeremy, Margot, Ray and myself with 5, followed by Dee, Grace, Helen, Hudson, Janet, Judith, Matt, Rob and Sal who all got 4. Meanwhile at the top of the ladder Janet still leads by 1 from Helen and Dee.

Jeepers. This time a month ago the Crows were full of hope and expectation about the season ahead. Now they are in a big hole and the pressure is on big time. They fought pretty hard against Freo, especially in the first half, but there were so many skill errors and no scoring power up forward. For the first time too (that I have seen anyway), Tex looked old and slow. But still, it’s a long season and we are only 3 games in. There’s plenty of time for them to turn things around, hopefully starting with Melbourne on Thursday night.

Port lost their first game and will be looking to bounce back against Essendon at Adelaide Oval next week.

Ladder after Round 3…

Well done to Matt who led the way with 7 out of 8 this week, followed by Dee, Gaynor, Janet, Jeremy, Judith and Robert who all got 6. That puts Janet in the lead on her own by 1 from Helen and Dee.

Well, the Crows are off to a dismal start. So much for the expectations of a much better year and making the finals for the first time since 2017. It’s true we are only 2 games into the season and there’s a long way to go but if we lose to Freo in the west on Friday night, the heat will start to build on Matthew Nicks (also the board that extended his contract for another two years). Meanwhile, Port are off to a great start. That was a good win for them against Richmond today after being down at half time.

Brisbane v Collingwood on Thursday night will be a good one to watch. Could Collingwood go 0-4? Let’s hope so.

The ladder after Round 2…

Great tipping by Helen and Janet this week, both getting 8. Then Austin, Dee, Hudson, Judith and Robert all got 7. Helen and Janet are tied for the lead, one ahead of Dee.

That was a disappointing start for the Crows. They seemed to be second to the ball for the first three quarters and they really missed Tex’s leadership. The last quarter was great but it was all too late. A good start to the season for Port with an easy win over ‘Wet Toast’ and Collingwood are now 0-2 – doesn’t that bring joy to many people around the country.

Next week starts on Thursday night with St Kilda v Collingwood.

Ladder after Round 1…

We’re off and running. Of the 4 games, Annie, Dee, Helen, Janet, Margot and Steph all got 3 and share the early lead. Well done to Margot and Steph for getting Carlton. (How did Brisbane manage to lose that one from 46 points up?) And how good was it to see Collingwood not just lose but get done properly.

This year we have 17 people tipping, which is a record for this famous competition. Gaynor and Grace (Matthew’s wife and eldest) joined on Friday. Welcome Gaynor and Grace!

Next week starts on Thursday night. Then the big game is the Crows v Gold Coast at the Gold Coast on Saturday night. No Thilthorpe for the Crows and the Suns got off to a flyer on Saturday.

The ladder after Opening Round…

The third honour board all up to date (to see the previous two, see the ‘Honour Boards’ page on this blog).

Mum caught up 1 on Helen this week which means they have finished tied on 140! (See the Ladder page on the blog). The two of them now go into a play-off in the finals. It will be done week by week. If there is a winner after week 1 of the finals, that’s it. If not, it goes on to week 2, and if need be all the way to the grand final. Also, with every game they tip on along the way, they have to give a margin. That way, if it goes all the way to the grand final and they pick the same side in that game, the winner will be the person who has the lowest aggregate margin for the whole finals series. I’ll email the results each week and put them on the blog.

In this round 24, well done to Matt and Ray who got 7, and Matt’s 7 saw him jump into third, just 1 behind the leaders. He had a good year in his first season in this competition. So did Dee, who finished 5 off the lead. Huddo did well too, finishing 2 further back.

The interesting question now is where will the St Kilda v GWS Elimination Final be played? St Kilda have apparently said that if it is not scheduled at Marvel, their home ground, they will be going straight to the Supreme Court. As they should. If St Kilda win in Court, that will set a precedent for a team like Geelong to always have its home finals at its home ground.

I’ll keep you updated with the results of the Helen-Mum finals tip-off.

Leading the way this week were Matt, Janet and myself with 7. Special mention to Jeremy for going for West Coast over the Bulldogs (he also went for a couple of draws – remember, in this comp, if you tip a draw and get it right, you get 4). At the top of the ladder, Helen is now in the lead again by 1 from Judith, with Matt 3 further back, then Dee and Annie 1 behind him. We have one week of tipping left!

Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more heartbreak for the Crows, one thing happens that is more painful than all the previous heartbreak combined. It is still hard to believe that what happened actually happened. How can a goal umpire at the highest level, a) make a mistake like that, and b) not think to have it reviewed? It’s like he just drifted off with the fairies for a minute. Forgot how to do his job.

On to happier subjects, Collingwood lost and Margot’s Blues have made it 9 in a row.

Next week begins on Friday night with Essendon v Collingwood at the MCG.