AFL Finals Week 1 Preview
Port Adelaide v West Coast
The Tip: Port Adelaide by 5 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Troy Chaplin
Chance For An Upset: Every game this weekend should be close. The Eagles will be selected to win by many, but the home ground advantage for Port Adelaide and Judd's injury problems could mean the Power get the week off.
Port Adelaide
They win if....they get goals from some of their smaller players, the Eagles will be concentrating on Tredrea, Ebert, Motlop and The Hoff so someone like Pearce, Rodan or Cassisi will be required to help on the scoreboard.
The Good News: Lade wasn't going anywhere, and now it is official, he agreed to a new contract.
The Bad News: The Burgoynes were not in the 40 possible All-Australians, both Peter and Shaun should have been there.
West Coast
They win if....the Big Q is unstoppable, the Power defenders are not the biggest.
The Good News: Embley is back, he is a versatile player who can do for the Eagles what Chad Cornes does for the Power.
The Bad News: Chick is in the team but reportedly he won't be next year.
Hawthorn v Adelaide
The Tip: Adelaide by 21 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Tyson Edwards
Chance For An Upset: The Hawks should be favourites, as Adelaide do travel to Victoria to play them, but Hawthorn's game against the Swans exposed many weaknesses and the Crows will look to exploit them. Ricciuto and McLeod could have more finals experience than the entire Hawthorn side, so the veteran Crows should have an advantage.
Hawthorn
They win if....McLeod is stopped by Sewell.
The Good News: Franklin wasn't stopped by Massie when they played, the ball just didn't get down that end of the ground, if they supply Lance with the ball he could kick a winning score.
The Bad News: Last week's game may not have been Hawthorn's worst match of the year, their worst one might have been when they played Adelaide.
Adelaide
They win if....their veterans attack the ball early, Hawthorn may not have the experience but they will have the intensity, so the Crows will need to match that.
The Good News: Ricciuto can will a team to win, and him kicking goals is also helpful.
The Bad News: They don't have Bassett to hound Franklin.
Collingwood v Sydney
The Tip: Sydney by 9 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Brett Kirk
Chance For An Upset: Collingwood can beat the Swans in the regular season, so they can do it again. But September is when Sydney turn it up and just don't lose many games. This game could go into extra time, something that hasn't happened since maybe 1994.
Collingwood
They win if....Goodes is contained, they might need a tag-team of taggers to do that with a couple of players rotating off the bench to run with Goodes.
The Good News: Fraser is back, he can compete with the big Sydney ruckman and might also go forward and expose the lack of height of the Sydney back line.
The Bad News: According to the selectors, the Magpies don't have any of the top 40 footballers, that must be wrong.
Sydney
They win if....Hall can hold his marks and kick accurately for goal.
The Good News: Ed Barlow is a great find by the Swans.
The Bad News: There is plenty of talk that Jolly might want to move to a Melbourne club.
Geelong v Kangaroos
The Tip: Geelong by 25 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Cameron Mooney
Chance For An Upset: The Kangaroos went to Kardina Park and won, the Cats defeated the Kangaroos for their home game, so this is the decider at a neutral venue, sort of. They finished far ahead of everyone on top of the ladder, the Cats have to win this game.
Geelong
They win if....N Ablett and Stokes combine for at least 4 goals.
The Good News: The Rooke trip to Germany must have fixed his injury problems.
The Bad News: Egan is a big loss, he is a very underrated player and the Cats won't know what they have lost until they take the field without him.
Kangaroos
They win if....the Kangaroos are too tall in the forward line with Egan out for the Cats.
The Good News: Most people picked them to finish last, so they did a lot better than that.
The Bad News: Archer might only have 2 more games until his career is over.
The Tip: Port Adelaide by 5 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Troy Chaplin
Chance For An Upset: Every game this weekend should be close. The Eagles will be selected to win by many, but the home ground advantage for Port Adelaide and Judd's injury problems could mean the Power get the week off.
Port Adelaide
They win if....they get goals from some of their smaller players, the Eagles will be concentrating on Tredrea, Ebert, Motlop and The Hoff so someone like Pearce, Rodan or Cassisi will be required to help on the scoreboard.
The Good News: Lade wasn't going anywhere, and now it is official, he agreed to a new contract.
The Bad News: The Burgoynes were not in the 40 possible All-Australians, both Peter and Shaun should have been there.
West Coast
They win if....the Big Q is unstoppable, the Power defenders are not the biggest.
The Good News: Embley is back, he is a versatile player who can do for the Eagles what Chad Cornes does for the Power.
The Bad News: Chick is in the team but reportedly he won't be next year.
Hawthorn v Adelaide
The Tip: Adelaide by 21 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Tyson Edwards
Chance For An Upset: The Hawks should be favourites, as Adelaide do travel to Victoria to play them, but Hawthorn's game against the Swans exposed many weaknesses and the Crows will look to exploit them. Ricciuto and McLeod could have more finals experience than the entire Hawthorn side, so the veteran Crows should have an advantage.
Hawthorn
They win if....McLeod is stopped by Sewell.
The Good News: Franklin wasn't stopped by Massie when they played, the ball just didn't get down that end of the ground, if they supply Lance with the ball he could kick a winning score.
The Bad News: Last week's game may not have been Hawthorn's worst match of the year, their worst one might have been when they played Adelaide.
Adelaide
They win if....their veterans attack the ball early, Hawthorn may not have the experience but they will have the intensity, so the Crows will need to match that.
The Good News: Ricciuto can will a team to win, and him kicking goals is also helpful.
The Bad News: They don't have Bassett to hound Franklin.
Collingwood v Sydney
The Tip: Sydney by 9 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Brett Kirk
Chance For An Upset: Collingwood can beat the Swans in the regular season, so they can do it again. But September is when Sydney turn it up and just don't lose many games. This game could go into extra time, something that hasn't happened since maybe 1994.
Collingwood
They win if....Goodes is contained, they might need a tag-team of taggers to do that with a couple of players rotating off the bench to run with Goodes.
The Good News: Fraser is back, he can compete with the big Sydney ruckman and might also go forward and expose the lack of height of the Sydney back line.
The Bad News: According to the selectors, the Magpies don't have any of the top 40 footballers, that must be wrong.
Sydney
They win if....Hall can hold his marks and kick accurately for goal.
The Good News: Ed Barlow is a great find by the Swans.
The Bad News: There is plenty of talk that Jolly might want to move to a Melbourne club.
Geelong v Kangaroos
The Tip: Geelong by 25 points
Best-On-Ground Guess: Cameron Mooney
Chance For An Upset: The Kangaroos went to Kardina Park and won, the Cats defeated the Kangaroos for their home game, so this is the decider at a neutral venue, sort of. They finished far ahead of everyone on top of the ladder, the Cats have to win this game.
Geelong
They win if....N Ablett and Stokes combine for at least 4 goals.
The Good News: The Rooke trip to Germany must have fixed his injury problems.
The Bad News: Egan is a big loss, he is a very underrated player and the Cats won't know what they have lost until they take the field without him.
Kangaroos
They win if....the Kangaroos are too tall in the forward line with Egan out for the Cats.
The Good News: Most people picked them to finish last, so they did a lot better than that.
The Bad News: Archer might only have 2 more games until his career is over.
