Round 9 saw the Western Bulldogs give Geelong their toughest test of the season so far, but they couldn’t quite get over the top of them losing by just two points. They did have a chance to grab the victory when Brad Johnson took a late mark giving himself a goal scoring opportunity. But like Carltons Brendan Fevola in round 6 Johnson choked under the pressure sealing the 116 to 114 win for Geelong. The Bulldogs looked good though and showed that will be one of the teams to watch when the finals come around after they fought their way back from 37 points down in the third. For the Cats, brownlow medal favourite Garry Ablett was in superb form on his return from injury, as was Steve Johnson who scored five majors. Can anyone stop Geelong powering to another title? At $2.05 you can get your freebet on them at sportsbet.com.au.
Carlton put in a disasterous 1st half display scoring only 5 points in their round 9 tie against Adelaide. It was a game that saw the worst of Carlton as they made a number of elementry mistakes, while Brendan Fevola sulked his way through another game fueling speculation that he won’t be at the club next year. Adelaide took their foot off the accelerator in the third quarter, but the truth is that Carlton were never in it. At sportsbet.com.au you can get odds of $3.00 that Carlton will miss out on the top eight all together.
The West Coast Eagles had started the year off pretty well, but now find themselves in the bottom four after they had the life squeezed out of them by Collingwood in their round 9 clash. Collingwood were missing five first choice forwards and were hoping that someone would step up to the plate and dominate play. It was Leon Davis who took up the challenge taking 32 possesions and scoring three goals. Collingwood have had mixed start to the year and now sit in mid table, but at sportsbet.com.au you can get odds of $501.00 for the magpies to finish with the woodenspoon.
Fremantle were leading going in to the half time break but got over run in the second losing by 13 points against North Melbourne. North are struggling to attract crowds to their games at the moment and after watching this display it is pretty hard to understnd why. The Kangaroos showed a lot of heart and determination as well as some skill to claim a 98 to 85 victory in round 9. This victory is their fourth of the year and keeps them in the hunt for a finals spot. If you like the way that North Melbourne are playing at the moment why not back them to finish in the top four, you can get odds of $51.00 and a free bet at sportsbet.com.au
Another horror week ended in another defeat for the Richmond football club. The Tigers actually led their round 9 tie against Essendon at half time, but they seemed to implode as Essendon turned on the style in the second half to win 125 to 85. Jason Minderlich was outstanding for The Bombers as was Patrick Ryder who took a screaming mark over the heads of three Richmond players in the fourth quarter. At $1.95 Essendon are dead cert to be in the top eight at the end of the season go and get your free bet on them at sportsbet.com.au.
Sydney were simply sensational in the first quarter of their round 9 tie against Port Adelaide. They scored 8 goals 1 and restricted Port to just one goal. Barry Hall was back to his devastating best creating a host of opportunities and scoring two goals. the 123 to 68 victory leaves the Swans in 5th place on the ladder and looking good to be in the finals. Can Sydey actually go on to win the flag? Sportsbet.com.au has them at $41.00 to do just that.
St Kilda were lucky not to be rolled over by The Brisbane Lions after some inacurate kicking saw them go in to the fourth quarter 3 points behind. But in the end they just had too much power up fron with Nick “Dangerbolt” Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke both scoring four while Leigh Montagna worked his socks off finishing with 33 possesions. Get you free bet on Dangerbolt winning the brownlow medal at sportsbet.com.au.
The reigning premiers Hawthorn haven’t had the best start to the season, but their round 9 victory over the Demons seemed to show that they are finally hitting their stride. Lance Franklin scored four goals while Jarryd Roughhead scored three and both of them porved to be too much for the Demons defence to deal with. Their had been question mark over the hunger or lack of it this year from Hawthorn but with some big names still to come back from injury they are now looking like they could be the team to beat in the second half of the year. At sportsbet.com.au you can get odds of $5.00 for The Hawks to win back to back flags.
