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Melbourne may be sitting at the very bottom of the ladder with just one win to their name, but they are certainly showing enough to suggest that last place is not where they will end up.  In round 8 against the Western Bulldogs Melbourne were the better tean for the majority of the game. It took a dissapointing third quarter and an inspired performance from veteran Jason Akermanis to give the Bulldogs a 104 to 97 victory. Akermanis turned back the clock scoring four goals and taking 19 touches adding to the call from Doggies fans for him to continue playing for a few more years yet.

Akermanis to win the Brownlow? Get your free bet from sportsbet now.

Round 8 saw reigning premiers Hawthorn put their season back on track with an 87 to 65 victory over Fremantle. Last years 100 goal man Buddy Franklin looked back to his best scoring four majors. While both Stuart Dew and Brent Guerra showed their amazing technical skills helping to pick apart the Fremantle defence almost at will. The only up side for Fremantle was the continued good form of captain Matthew Pavlich, but the man can’t do it all on his own.

You can get odds of $6.00 for Hawthorn to retain the title as well as a free bet at sportsbet.com.au

Even without Garry Ablett Geelong look pretty much unbeatable. In this round 8 demolition of North Melbourne the Cats scored 18 goals with 10 different goal scorers. In the first term alone they amassed 137 touches destroying The Kangaroos with their creativity and guile.

At $2.00 they are the hot favourites  to reclaim the flag and it would take a brave man to bet against them.

The Bribane Lions continued their good form under new coach Michael Voss with a 119 to 83 victory over The Adelaide Crows. Despite being behind at half time an amazing performance by Justin Sherman and four goals in the 3rd quarter from Daniel Bradshaw saw The Lions Collect their 5th win of the season and cement their place in the top eight. There was a downside for Voss’s boys though as Daniel Merrett, Jed Adcock and Joel Patfull all finished off the field. Adelaide will have to pick up their game in the coming weeks as they now have a 3 and 5 record and sit 12th on the ladder.

Adleide are $26.00 to turn their season around and claim the flag. Get your free bet at sportsbet.com

The round 8 tie between West Coast and Sydney promised alot, and in keeping with the great games we have seen so far this year the two teams didn’t disappoint. Only a few poinst seemed to seperate the sides all night before Sydney came out with a noarrow 106 to 101 victory. Adam Goodes was back to his devastating best for the Swans with three goals and 26 possesions. Josh Kennedy proved to be a handful all night and bagged three goals, but it wasn’t quite enough to get the Eagles what would have been an excellent and much needed 4 points. West Coast are now two places outside the 8 in 10th, while Sydney have jumped in to 9th.

You can get odds of $5.50 on West Coast missing out on the 8 all together and a free bet at sportsbet.com.au

Warren Tredrae put in a stella performance against a luckless Richmond side who not only lost the game after Tredrae scored his 7th goal in the dying seconds, but they also lost their star recruit Ben Cousins after he broke his hand. Cousins had only just returned from a hamstring injury and is now certain to miss round 9 after an operation to put a metal plate on the broken bone.  Tredrae’s seven goals gave Port Adelaide a 102 to 99 victory, which keeps them in the top four.

Richmond are at $2.35 to gain their second win of the season against Essendon in round 9

Carlton youngster Bryce Gibbs feels that captain Chris Judd is in Brownlow medal winning form and after his performance in round 8 against Collingwood many people agree, as Judd grabbed himself one goal, 32 possesions and four goal assists. But Judd wasn’t the only great performer for the Blues who sent a resounding message to the rest of the teams with a 104 to 53 thumping of Collingwood, on their day they are as good as anyone.

Carlton are at $2.50 to finish in the top four. Well worth your free bet at sportsbet.com.au

St Kilda remain top of the ladder with an unblemished 8-0 record, but this was certainly their toughest test of the season. Essendon found them selves 28 points down after the first quarter but they never gave in. Captain Matthew Lloyd caused the Saints back line problems and scored three goals as did rising star Jay Neagle, but it wasn’t enough and the Bombers end round eight in eighth place.

Get your free bet on The Saints winning the flag at sportsbet.com.au

If anyone needed reminding just why AFL is the greatest sport on earth all they have to do is watch the round 6 tie between Hawthorn and Carlton. The sides seemed inseparable and went in to the final quarter with just one point between them. It was here that Hawthorn seemed to have the game wrapped when Buddy Franklin and Stuart Dew scored five majors between them to give the Hawks a 25 point advantage. But Carlton never gave in and Judd, Murphy, Gibbs and co replied with three unanswered goals to get themselves within five points. In the dying seconds Brendon Fevola, who had missed an easy chance early in the first quarter, found himself thirty yards from goal with an opportunity to claim and amazing victory. At this point he had kicked an impressive 8 goals 3, but it just wasn’t to be. Fev left punters all around the country kicking whatever was closest to them as his shot dipped and swerved only to hit the post, giving Hawthorn a 106 to 102 victory.

Round 6 also saw St Kilda continue their 100% start to the season and cemented their status as Geelong’s main rivals for the 2009 flag. The Saints were extremely wasteful in the first quarter kicking 3 goals 7, but they soon clicked in to gear with Nick Dal Santo playing a vital role in what was his 150th game. Nick Riewoldt continued his amazing season by scoring another 4 goals as he terrorised the Doggies defence all afternoon and proved that he could be a good outside bet for the Brownlow. The 104 to 76 defeat is the Bulldogs third in a row, but they definitely showed enough in this game to not be counted out just yet.

Garry Ablett went in to Geelong’s match against the Demons as the hottest Brownlow favourite since betting was allowed on the medal. So punters all over the country were left crying in to their meat pies when the star limped from the field with a suspected groin injury. Ablett will miss at least three weeks of action confirming many people’s fears and lengthening his Brownlow odds ever so slightly. The injury to Ablett was the only downside to another dominant Cats display. Paul Chapman, Jimmy Bartel and Joel Selwood all racked up over 30 possessions in the 111 to 68 win at the MCG. The win continues Geelong’s 100% start to the season. But they can only slot in to second place behind St Kilda, while another loss sees the Demons in a world of trouble at the bottom of the ladder.

Elsewhere in Round 6. Collingwood bounced back from last week’s disappointing defeat against Essendon, defeating North Melbourne 127 to 75. The Pies are looking good and could be a good bet to hand St Kilda their first defeat of the season in round 7.

Dustin Fletcher’s 300th game for the Bombers will definitely be one he would rather forget. After limping off with a hair line fracture in his leg, he then had to watch Brisbane Lions Captain Jonathan Brown lead his side to a 43 point win. After round 6 both sides have a patchy 3 and 3 record with the Lions sitting 9th and Essendon 10th.

The Tigers tried to back up their round 5 win over North Melbourne with a good performance against Sydney. They showed a lot of spirit coming back from 27 points down at half time to get within 6 points in the final quarter, only to fall away losing by just 15 points.

West Coast Vs Freemantle was the first of two derbies in round 6. West coast led at half time, but wasteful kicking saw them finish on 9.20.74 while Freemantle and Captain Matthew Pavlich playing his 200th game got over the line scoring 13.9.87.

Port Adelaide totally dominated their local rivals in the other round 6 derby. Warren Tredrea, Daniel Motlop and Robbie Gray all scored three goals a piece to seal a 105 to 79 victory over the Crows.