David EdwardsThe Official AFL Preview and Hype-Up
September 26th 2008 00:03
Hurrah, the football season is nearly over!!
Of course i say that in jest, after all, football is one of the elemental necessities of life. Without it how do we legitimately express our emotion without resorting to violence? As long as there are officially sanctioned national competitions in which we can barrack vehemently for a team then all is good in the world.
But seriously, how good are Grand Finals? Answer: very.
The Geelong v Hawks showdown has the potential to be a classic; a topsy-turvy affair with all the undulation of a Dan Brown novel. Sure you'll forget about it in two weeks time (like said novel), but if you want something to talk about at the water-cooler on Monday then don't miss this match.
Geelong have welcomed back the injured Paul Chapman into their line-up, meaning that one unlucky Cat had to miss out. David Wojcinski must be filthy about missing out on the Grand Final this year. He may seem pragmatic on the outside, but one can only imagine how pissed off you would be on the inside. Just like at your workplace - if you had been sucking up to the boss or closing important deals all year, only to be told the boss is taking the 'new chick' on the overseas business trip to Japan - then you would be entitled to a little bit of anger. Especially as you know your boss just wants to get a bit of coercive sex while he's away from the wife and kids. I'm not suggesting that Mark "Bomber" Thompson has similar feelings about Tom Lonergan, but one can certainly feel for Wojcinski.
Shane Crawford will be playing his first Grand Final at the ripe age of 34 and looking for a fairytale ending to his career. If the Grand Final itself is a Dan Brown novel, then the Crawford story is a Hans Christian Andersen classic. Nothing would please me more than to see a weeping "Crawf" fall to his kness sobbing hysterically, popping bottles of Yellowglen, and dedicating his best on ground award to God himself.
Will Buddy Franklin kick 15 goals and win the match for Hawthorn? This is the question everybody wants SportingMind to answer. Quite simply, he won't. He will be marked heavily, perhaps leaving Jared (i have a) Roughead to reap the benefits of being the lesser respected forward. Will Roughead reap the fact that 8 defenders will be marking Buddy, leaving himself about 50 metres of open pastures? Unfortunately the gravitational pull towards Buddy is too hard for Hawthorn midfielders to resist, leaving Roughead with the resultant statistics of 1 mark, 0 handballs, 1 goal.
The game will most likely be decided in the 3rd quarter - a period in which Geelong excel above all others. SportingMind tips a Cats victory, although not by the humungous margin of last year (115 points), but by a more sedate 40 points in 2008.
Skip to the panning camera shots of inconsolable Hawks lying on the MCG right now because the Cats will make this win number 43 from 45 games. If you've tipped against that then you're an irresponsible gambler.
-SportingMind
Of course i say that in jest, after all, football is one of the elemental necessities of life. Without it how do we legitimately express our emotion without resorting to violence? As long as there are officially sanctioned national competitions in which we can barrack vehemently for a team then all is good in the world.
But seriously, how good are Grand Finals? Answer: very.
The Geelong v Hawks showdown has the potential to be a classic; a topsy-turvy affair with all the undulation of a Dan Brown novel. Sure you'll forget about it in two weeks time (like said novel), but if you want something to talk about at the water-cooler on Monday then don't miss this match.
Geelong have welcomed back the injured Paul Chapman into their line-up, meaning that one unlucky Cat had to miss out. David Wojcinski must be filthy about missing out on the Grand Final this year. He may seem pragmatic on the outside, but one can only imagine how pissed off you would be on the inside. Just like at your workplace - if you had been sucking up to the boss or closing important deals all year, only to be told the boss is taking the 'new chick' on the overseas business trip to Japan - then you would be entitled to a little bit of anger. Especially as you know your boss just wants to get a bit of coercive sex while he's away from the wife and kids. I'm not suggesting that Mark "Bomber" Thompson has similar feelings about Tom Lonergan, but one can certainly feel for Wojcinski.
Shane Crawford will be playing his first Grand Final at the ripe age of 34 and looking for a fairytale ending to his career. If the Grand Final itself is a Dan Brown novel, then the Crawford story is a Hans Christian Andersen classic. Nothing would please me more than to see a weeping "Crawf" fall to his kness sobbing hysterically, popping bottles of Yellowglen, and dedicating his best on ground award to God himself.
Will Buddy Franklin kick 15 goals and win the match for Hawthorn? This is the question everybody wants SportingMind to answer. Quite simply, he won't. He will be marked heavily, perhaps leaving Jared (i have a) Roughead to reap the benefits of being the lesser respected forward. Will Roughead reap the fact that 8 defenders will be marking Buddy, leaving himself about 50 metres of open pastures? Unfortunately the gravitational pull towards Buddy is too hard for Hawthorn midfielders to resist, leaving Roughead with the resultant statistics of 1 mark, 0 handballs, 1 goal.
The game will most likely be decided in the 3rd quarter - a period in which Geelong excel above all others. SportingMind tips a Cats victory, although not by the humungous margin of last year (115 points), but by a more sedate 40 points in 2008.
Skip to the panning camera shots of inconsolable Hawks lying on the MCG right now because the Cats will make this win number 43 from 45 games. If you've tipped against that then you're an irresponsible gambler.
-SportingMind
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