This is what rivalry is built on

ONE POINT... BUGGER...

Just to get some perspective on the Battle of the Birds...
2006 Grand Final: Eagles by One Point (84-85)
2006 Semi Final: Swans by One Point (85-84)
2006 Round 15: West Coast by Two Points (65-67)

2005 Grand Final: Swans by Four Points (58-54)
2005 Semis: Eagles by Four Points (65-69)

The past results have been less close, but don't expect any charity at all next year if these two teams are still on top. They will have to slug it out again.

Grand Final Thoughts

It has taken me Three Quarters to get my thoughts down in bloggable form.

I decided to not use the computer for the first half, but the direction of the game seemed to force my hand as a distraction.

Quarter 1:
West Coast playing like thugs trying to rough up our guys. The swans playing nervously.
The West Coast dominate, but a 16 point lead flatters the Swans goalkicking which has been appalling.
Quarter 2:
It was a bit more of the same, except there was Goals both ways...
Quarter 3:
Sydney kick a few extra goals and start dominating field position and possession. West Coast look like they have more injuries. A few late goals (three in a row) had the effect of cutting the margin to 11.

Let's get ready to go.

Go Swans!!!

We're the eagles, West Coast Eagles...
We're the Eagles, it's crying time.

Tomorrow is the chance for the Swans to secure their place in history.

They have played reasonably well this season, but have done well enough to get themselves there.

At around 5:30pm it will be time to shake down the thunder from the sky again.

Time for a re-pete.

Too Tired to Update until now

Having had last weekend swamped by assessments, I have been a bit too tired to keep updating my blog.

Oh well.

Swans Win - Who said last year was a fluke?
Broncos Win - I really thought they were gone a few weeks ago, guess I was wrong.

Picks for tomorrow and the events I would like to blog about...
Adelaide - Too much at stake for them to go down at home. (I also want Sydney to beat all three teams to win the title) - That said, a West Coast win would also have interesting stories to write about it too.
Dragons - Just so the Grand Final can mirror the 3 v 6 Finals of 1999. (The Dragons won interstate in week 1, only to have the other team make the Grand Final against them (like Brisbane have now done) and Win overall).

Finals Week 2

NRL:
Dragons v Sea-Eagles - To Play Storm
Knights v Broncos - To Play Bulldogs

AFL
Fremantle v Melbourne - To Play Swans
West Coast v Western Bulldogs - To Play Crows

Pete's Analysis
The Wild West for the AFL finals should set up interesting contests. The best placed teams to make the grand final may not be the teams best placed to win this weekend.
But that is all the effect of good management on coming higher on the table.

Prediction: Melbourne and West Coast to Win good matches.

The NRL games pit some decent rivalries together. St George-Illawarra are perennial underachievers, but based on last week may seek to turn it around. Brisbane look to be on the slide, but Newcastle will probably be missing Danny Buderus, so it should be an interesting clash.

Prediction: Knights and then a close one with perhaps a slight advantage to the Dragons.

Super Saturday Night

I guess I have had other things to do, so live-blogging everything becomes quite a hassle.

That said, there is lots of sport happening tonight.

St George Illawara (Team 6) 20 d Brisbane (Team 3) 6

Not watching much of that because of the AFL, but it seems as though the Broncos form has returned to where they were a few weeks ago.

Bulldogs (Team 2) v Canberra (Team 7)
This is looking to be quite a fascinating context, in torrential rain, but lots of handling errors makes the game more interesting than it would be otherwise.

Update: Halftime 12-6 lead to the Bulldogs
Bulldogs will win easily in the end. 30-6 with 10 mins to go.

Eagles v Swans
Well into the game the Sydney Swans look like they are playing well enough to get a home preliminary final. There will be updates continuting though on this game.

Update: 3/4 Time - Sydney 66 - West Coast 63.
Full Time: Sydney 85 - West Coast 84 - YEAAHHH!!!

Live Blogging - Adelaide v Fremantle

Time for some AFL finals fun. Our First live blogging experience of the weekend, to be followed up across the AFL and NRL Finals series.
Let's get ready for some fun. :)

Quarter 1: I guess we will go slow, but the noise from the crowd caught on TV sounds exciting. Notionally I would like a Fremantle win for sentimental reasons. But we will have to wait and see.
Q1: 15 Remaining: Freo 1-1-7; Adelaide 0-1-1.
Strong early start for Fremantle. The play looks swarming and aggressive.
Q1: 7 Remaining: Freo 4-2-26; Adelaide 0-2-2.
The Crows have missed a few top chances (including one in front of goal). This wind is having a huge impact.
Quarter Time: Freo 4-2-26; Adelaide 1-3-9.
Adelaide came back in the last few minutes. Lots of kicks are getting timed poorly with the wind out of defence by Freo, but at the same time the wind has produced a spectacular goal.
Quarter 2: 16 remaining: Adelaide 2-4-16; Freo 4-2-26.
I am wondering if Adelaide's accuracy is not helping them, but they did just kick another goal.
Q2: 7 Remaining Adelaide 3-6-24; Freo 4-2-26.
The direction of the momentum is enthralling. Freo look impotent in attack at the moment, struggling in defence. Adelaide have just wasted another two chances though, and Freo is still just on top.
Half Time Freo 5-2-32; Adelaide 3-8-26
A late goal to Freo gives them the honours for the half. Adelaide finished poorly.
Q3: 14 Remaining Freo 5-3-33; Adelaide 3-11-29
Another run, another series of behinds... Adelaide could have just taken the lead.
Q3: 8 Remaining Freo 7-4-46; Adelaide 3-12-30.
The score looks like a bad joke. The defensive efforts are strong. Freo just kicked a goal to move slightly clear... All the players look tired, and it is hard to see where things will head in the longer term. Freo get a free kick as I write this, will extend to 16 points. Looks like an interesting set up for the final term...
Q3: 4 Remaining Freo 7-4-46; Adelaide 4-12-36.
A spectacular goal from the Crows, puts them back closer to the action, and may set them up well for the final term.
Three Quarter Time Freo 7-4-46; Adelaide 5-12-42.
Will be tough for Freo to keep their lead, although Adelaide have not been in front yet. The start of the final term will be critical, but having slightly narrowed the score against the wind, they will be in the best position to get through.
Final Q: 13 Left Adelaide 6-13-49; Freo 7-4-46
Adelaide goal puts them in the lead. That Might be enough to do it, with the momentum how they want it.
Final Q: 7 Left Adelaide 8-14-62; Freo 7-4-46
Game Over, might blog more later, but at this stage, it is unlikely to shift.

Soccer-lose

Those Australians seem to always perform sporadically.

Put some A-Leaguers together and scrape a win in front of a home crowd.

Put the European Pros together and lose in tough conditions.

Weird.

Anyways, we have qualified, but we still need to make sure that we will actually do something when we get there.

Should be interesting when we get to the finals next July.

Victoria Shut-Out!!!

AFL
West Coast v Sydney
Adelaide v Fremantle
Collingwood v Western Bulldogs
St Kilda v Melbourne

It is hard to tip right now who will go where, but it harder to see a Victorian team making a massive showing in the finals series now that the Swans and Fremantle have secured the final places in the Top 4.

Since they are both in exceptional form, I think Freo and Sydney wins are not out of the question this weekend, as long as the match officials get the timing of the siren right.

NRL
With Melbournites failing in the AFL, they may get some courage from the Storm.

I can't see them getting beaten now (which means they probably will). The recent form of the top 8 sides, means that it is only likely for Parramatta to get an early season holiday. Any of side outside the top 3 could end up joining them (although it is admittedly likely to be Canberra).