The Multicultural AFL Football TV and Radio Show – Week 27

L-R: Vanessa Gatica, Habir Singh Kang and Gabriel D'Angelo

The Multicultural AFL Football TV and Radio Show – Week 27

Finals week 3

By Fiv Antoniou
19/09/2019

Last week the two semi-finals produced some mixed results with Geelong defeating the West Coast Eagles at the MCG to make the Preliminary final and the GWS Giants just pipped the Brisbane Lions to line up against the Magpies this week.

Like it or not the West Coast Eagles had their spirits subdued and it looked that way from very early in the game. The reason was probably Willie Rioli’s suspension due to allegedly tampering with his drug test specimen sample. The Eagles started that game on a flat note and were totally deflated by the last quarter.

Full credit to the Cats, they jumped the West Coast from the on-set and systematically unravelled them to win the game. However, the win did come with a caveat, in that Tom Hawkins got himself suspended for an indiscretion behind the play for striking the Eagle’s Will Schofield to the head.

On Saturday night Brisbane faced off with the GWS Giants at the Gabba. The Eagles jumped to a good start kicking the first four goals, but Brisbane kicked back to score the next 5 goals and be in front by 6 points at the first quarter break. The rest of the game was an arm wrestle between the two sides until the final siren. Although GWS won by 3 points under controversial circumstances.

The Giants’, Toby Greene was back in the wars again for the second week in a row with another report and this time actually copping a 1-week suspension for “making unreasonable or unnecessary contact to the eye region” of the Lions’ Lachie Neal. This will cost the GWS Giants dearly in the midfield as news also at hand indicate that Lachie Whitfield the Giants best mid-fielder will also miss the game against Collingwood due to having his appendix out.

Club officials have been shuffling to the Tribunal trying to appeal Hawkins' case and, more pressing, Toby Green’s case but to no avail – both are going for a week’s holiday - unless Toby Green’s appeal is successful on Thursday night and I don’t think so, as he got off with a fine last week and re-offended!

Back to what is going to happen this Friday night when the Richmond Tigers clash with Geelong for the privilege of playing in the 2019 Grand Final. Richmond have been biding their time. Fresh after a week’s rest they are waiting for Geelong as they set their sights on finishing this finals series as premiership winners.

Geelong is entering into the Preliminary Final after demolishing a subdued West Coast Eagles outfit in the last quarter of their semi-final. After a tight game for three quarters Geelong pulled the stops out and won with relative ease in the end.

This week the Cats are missing their prime forward Tom Hawkins due to suspension. The Cat’s defence and mid-field will be severely tested, especially Patrick Dangerfield who has been the Cat’s driving force since the finals series started. I cannot see how Geelong is going to beat the Tigers. How are the Cats going to negate the likes of Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Daniel Rioli, Bachar Houli and Co?

Geelong will have to work harder than last week. Ablett did very little last time out and he is overdue for a big game, but he will have to be at his very best this time out for the Cats to have any sort of chance. Geelong will find it harder to score without the ‘Tomahawk’, while Richmond has almost the best intercept backline in the league and not forgetting their lethal forward line with Riewoldt and Lynch firing at the right time of the year. It’s the Tigers by 28 points and a place in the Grand Final.

Late Saturday afternoon (4:30pm) from the MCG, the Collingwood Magpies are ready to take on the GWS Giants who will be without their star-studded mid-field players Toby Greene (suspended) and Lachie Whitfield (appendix operation).

In front of 98,000 supporters and I can only assume that the Magpie fans will make up more than 90 percent of that crowd, Collingwood is going to wipe the floor with GWS. The Magpies like the Tigers have come good at the right time of the year and are now looking to avenge last year’s Grand Final defeat once they dispose of the Giants this week first.

The Giants don’t have any decent win record at the MCG, having won only 3 out of 18 games in the last 8 years. Somehow or other they don’t know how to play the wide-open spaces of the MCG. The Giants have an opportunity to progress, but must blanket the Magpies star players including, Steele Sidebottom, Jaidyn Stephenson, Jamie Elliot, Darcy Moore, Will Hoskin-Elliot, Brodie Grundy, Jeremy Howe, Scott Pendlebury and if fit, Jordan De Goey. How does that saying go? “A bridge too far”…. I am picking the Magpies to win by an easy 40 points and take the last Grand Final berth.

Earlier this week the great ex Hawthorn and Brisbane Lions player, Luke Hodge announced his retirement from Footy and Don Pyke resigned as coach of the Adelaide Crows, more about both next week. That’s all from me, catch you next week for the Grand Final special edition.

WEEK 3 FINALS TIPS: Richmond (28 points) & Collingwood (40 points)

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