Australian football – Six in the Mix
This Thursday, August 7, 2008, marks the 150th anniversary of the first recorded match of Australian football. The Australian Football League (AFL) is celebrating that date on the 19th fixture in the season with the Tom Wills Round – named after one of its game’s founders.
The first match of the weekends’ Round pits Melbourne Football Club and Geelong Football Club. The two oldest of any kind of football club in the world (respectively) are polarized on and off-field. Languishing on the bottom of the 2008 AFL Ladder, the Melbourne Demons are cash-strapped and frequently in discussion for relocation; first on the ladder are the Geelong Cats who boast a long-going Ford sponsorship in the Victorian city they are named after.
If you have been following The Epoch Times AFL column, one common thread may have appeared to your mind the number six. Apart from the amount of points awarded for kicking a goal, six has a curious place in helping to predict how the nation’s most-watched sport’s season unfolds.
Round 6 is always an exciting time in AFL. By then, we can see how well the teams are progressing in Australian football.
At present, seven of the top eight teams at the end of 2008’s Round 6 are poised for finals – keeping alive a seven-year trend that at least six teams at Round 6 will play-off at the end of a 22-week season.
At the end of Round 18, it’s pretty much the same story as last week. The Geelong Cats remains on top; second through fifth retain their positions; sixth through 10th jostle for the remaining three top eight positions and to play-off in the finals in September; 11th and 12th keep their slim mathematical chances alive and the bottom seven positions remain unchanged.
With just four matches remaining, six teams are still a chance to snare fourth place and a double chance in the four-week finals series.
It’s hard to split the Hawthorn Hawks and the Western Bulldogs, who emerged this year as the unstoppable Cats’ threats to winning their second consecutive Grand Final.
The Hawks and Dogs are preparing for their second clash this season in five weeks time. They will meet in the first week of the four-week finals series in September in the Qualifying Finals.
The Cat’s defeat of the Richmond Tigers last weekend – their 38th win from 40 matches – keeps them two and half games clear atop the ladder.
Let’s hand Geelong the Minor Premiership title now please.
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AFL Round 18 Results
Friday August 01 2008
COL 8.14(62) vs HAW 17.14(116)
Saturday August 02 2008
ESS 19.10(124) vs MEL 17.6(108)
ADE 13.16(94) vs CAR 12.14(86)
GEE 20.14(134) vs RIC 10.11(71)
NM 13.14(92) vs BL 11.18(84)
Sunday August 03 2008
WB 17.11(113) vs SYD 14.13(97)
STK 14.17 (101) vs PA 14.9(93)
FRE 17.14(116) vs WCE 12.11(83)
AFL Ladder Round 18/22
Team % points
- Geelong 153.6 68
- W. Bulldogs 122.8 58
- Hawthorn 125.6 56
- Sydney 117.3 42
- N. Melbourne 98.4 42
- Adelaide 106.3 40
- St. Kilda 101.1 40
- Collingwood 109.4 36
- Brisbane 104.6 36
- Richmond 94.2 34
- Carlton 95.7 32
- Essendon 87.5 32
- Fremantle 94.1 20
- Port Adelaide 92.0 20
- West Coast 67.4 12
- Melbourne 65.9 8
Round 19 – Tom Wills (founder) Round
Friday, August 8
Melbourne v Geelong
(Melbourne Cricket Ground, VIC) 7.10pm AEST
Saturday, August 9
Carlton v Port Adelaide
(Telstra Dome, Melbourne) 2.10pm
Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions
(Aurora Stadium, Launceston, Tasmania) 2.10pm
Collingwood v St Kilda
(MCG) 7.10pm
Sydney v Fremantle
(Sydney Cricket Ground, NSW) 7.10pm
Sunday, August 10
North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs
(Telstra Dome, Melbourne) 1.10pm
Adelaide v Richmond
(AAMI Stadium, Adelaide, SA) 2.40pm
West Coast Eagles v Essendon
(Subiaco Oval, Perth, WA) 2.40pm
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