An unimaginable number of upsets gave bookie all sorts of headaches over the AFL weekend. The upsets also made a mockery of our predictions – we struggled to four tips for the week.
All the action reviewed in our weekly piece titled AFL Round 6 Results below:
Collingwood (8-11-59) vs Geelong Cats (15-10-100)
A hot first half from the unfancied Geelong team helped them get the better of the Collingwood Pies at the MCG on Friday night. In the first of many upsets in Round 6, the Cats jumped out of the gates and kicked the first seven goals of the match before surviving a brief comeback in the second stanza to win by 41 goals.
An incredible 425 possession form the Cats undid the Magpies and confounded them to their second loss of the season, no doubt incredibly flummoxed as to how they gave up 11 goals in the first half to their 2.
Mitch Duncan, Steven Motlop (3 goals) and Cory Gregson (3 goals) were all standouts for Gellong. While Scott Pendlebury was excellent in a losing cause for Collingwood.
Geelong’s third win of the campaign gets them to three wins from six matches and up to 12th on the ladder, however they’re equal on points with Hawthorne who currently occupy 8th.
North Melbourne (16-13-109) vs Richmond (10-14-74)
A 16,000 strong crowd at Blundstone Arena saw North Melbourne get the better of Richmond in the first of Round 6’s Saturday games.
In a close first half only a goal separated the teams as both teams benefitted from a direct running game and tight control of the ruck. However, six consecutive goals in the crucial third term sent North Melbourne on their way as Richmond suffered a monumental lapse in concentration. They’ll need to get to the bottom of that ahead of their difficult upcoming fixtures against Collingwood, Port Adelaide, Essendon and Fremantle.
Lindsay Thomas will receive most of the praise for his five goal effort (from just nine attempts), but Shaun Higgins and Brent Harvey were also key contributors.
North move to 9th on the competition ladder but will face much more tougher matches than this one. They were gifted 92 points from Richmond turnovers, a statistic that is unlikely to be offered by the competitions stronger teams.
Western Bulldogs (13-9-87) vs St Kilda (14-10-94)
St Kilda staged a dramatic comeback to shock almost everyone and beat the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium. The cellar dwellers were down by 55 points in the third quarter but amazingly kicked twelve goals to three in an incredible second half. The comeback is the fifth biggest comeback in AFL history and will no doubt have had bookies seething.
The comeback may have been sparked by an all in brawl right on the stroke of halftime because directly after the break the teams showed up with wildly different energies.
St Kilda midfielder David Armitage was the star of the show. He had a career best 45 possessions and 8 clearances. Together with Jack Billings who kicked 4 goals, he was largely responsible for sparking the wild scenes.
GWS Giants (16-12-108) vs Hawthorn (14-14-98)
In another Round 6 match we failed to predict the Giants beat last year’s premiers by ten points in Sydney.
The win is arguably the Giants greatest ever in their short history and was delivered courtesy of an incredible second half that completely shocked the Hawks. Jeremy Cameron was the hero at Spotless Stadium kicking seven goals to help reel in a 27 goal first half deficit.
Much like other games in the round the impetus came in a flurry. GWS kicked five straight goals to finish the half and take an unexpected cushion into the second half. They managed to hold on to that lead and with it two valuable completion points. They are now ahead of Hawthorne six games into the season.
The Giants’ 2015 record resembles a symmetrical gang sign – WLWLW. They’ll be hoping to turn this into a web address over the next few weeks.
Gold Coast Suns (11-12-78) vs Adelaide Crows (18-11-109)
Fellow league infants, the Gold Coast Suns, couldn’t replicate the amazing win of the Giants, instead suffering a large defeat at the hands of the Adelaide Crows. The match was largely one-sided. The undermanned Suns struggling to feature after conceding five straight goals in the first quarter.
After a number of their players were given bans for breaching the alcohol policies of the Club, the Suns were always destined to struggle, and that’s exactly how it panned out. The Suns were simply not good enough. The only silver lining was a last quarter win.
Eddie Betts had five goals, taking him to twenty for the season. He’s currently second behind West Coast’s Josh Kennedy in the Coleman Medal race, and the Crows are back on track.
Melbourne (7-8-50) vs Sydney Swans (12-16-88)
Sydney atoned for last week’s shock loss to the Western Bulldogs by beating a wasteful Melbourne side in Melbourne on Saturday night. The Swans got plenty of return from star forward Kurt Tippet (4 goals) but are facing six weeks without talented youngster Isaac Heeney who badly injured his knee.
The Swans crushed the haunting memories of last years grand final disappointment and reeled of seven goals to one in a first half that essentially killed off the contest.
Melbourne may cling to some positives from a gutsy second half. They actually took the half out by two points in a display that had coach Paul Roos pleased his side didn’t lose by 100.
Fremantle (12-8-80) vs Essendon (7-10-52)
The Dockers kept up their unbeaten start to the season by beating the Bombers in a low scoring encounter at home on Saturday night. A crowd of 37,000 packed Domain Stadium to see their ladder topping heroes get the better of an Essendon side that were expected to give them more trouble than they did.
The Bombers have gone away form their aggressive hard nosed footy and looked directionless at times in the face of constant Fremantle pressure.
Aaron Sandilands, was brilliant for the home side, registering 33 hit-outs, and he was aptly supported by the disposals of Lachie Neale (33), David Mundy (28) and Nat Fyfe (27). That service was in stark contrast to the ball Fremantle had to deal with, but they were wrong around the stoppages.
A 54 goal three quarter lead was shortened in a fourth quarter that won’t concern the Dockers coach Ross Lyon too much. It felt as though the Dockers were simply going through the motions, and that’s understandable after five consecutive wins and a handy lead in the sixth.
Carlton (11-9-75) vs Brisbane Lions (12-12-84)
Carlton lost to the Brisbane Lions in the battle of the early season wooden spoon. The Lions were given little chance by the bookies ahead of their matchup, however overturned their $4.00 odds to grab a narrow victory over 17th placed Carlton.
The nine point win came courtesy of a brave second half as they built up a third quarter lead and held on to it during a tense finale. The win gets them underway for the season and helped answer the critics who accused them of not caring about their results.
Dayne Beams and big off season recruit Allen Christensen were instrumental in winning quality ball for their unlikely attacking spearhead to kick the goals. Daniel McStay was that unlikely spearhead – he kicked a career best 4 goals in what turned out to be a one on one battle with Brisbane’s Levi Casboult (4).
The drought breaking win will give Carlton some confidence ahead of their Round 7 home match against the Giants, whereas the Lions have now lost four in a row, amounting to huge pressure on coach Mick Malthouse.
Port Adelaide (10-8-68) vs West Coast Eagles (11-12-78)
The final match of the round at the Adelaide Oval continue the trend of Round 6 upsets as the West Coast Eagles got up over the more favourited home side.
The Eagles ripped the form book, and their pre match odds of $4.50, to shreds as they responded brilliantly to a fierce last quarter barrage by the Power. Port gave it their all in an engrossing last quarter, but their all wasn’t enough to get past the Eagles desperate backline.
We had said before the game that the Eagles start to the season was a little misleading because of their favourable draw, however, on this evidence that is simply not true. They are genuine contenders, and with a number of youngsters (Jeremy McGovern, Elliot Yeo) starting to hit their straps they have the basis of a strong team for a number of seasons.
The Eagles remain near the top of their leaderboard after the win. The four points gets them to second on percentage. Port are in 10th, but with no cause for immediate panic.
