Screwed. + Wow

Adelaide completely utterly screwed Collingwood over yesterday. There's simply no other way to put it. An Adelaide loss yesterday and the Woods would find themselves in Sydney next weekend against an injury/suspension/form hit Swans outfit. Instead, Collingwood find themselves gearing up for a clash against either St. Kilda or the Kangaroos - matches that they would be expected to lose. Obviously we can't just pin this on Adelaide. Collingwood screwed themselves over on Friday night with that insipid performance against the Dockers. Win that, and they find themselves top four. I can not overstate how disgusting Collingwood's performance was on Friday night. They cost themselves a legitimate shot at the premiership.

Who would I rather see Collingwood lining up against next weekend? Well Collingwood have beaten St. Kilda twice this year, and lost to North twice, so conventional wisdom says that you'd rather play the Saints. Honestly though I'd rather line-up against North. St. Kilda scares me. They have the capacity to play brilliant football on any given day. Any team with Nick Riewoldt is a team to be feared. Add to that the Robert Harvey factor and I can't see the Pies beating St. Kilda. Guys like Lenny Hayes and Riewoldt are going to die before Harvey exits with a loss. At least with North you know what your going to get. They play hard, run well and they've got Brent Harvey. They're the team I'd rather play.

The other scenario is one I really don't want to even consider. If St. Kilda beat a Lucas-less, McVeigh-less, Fletcher-less Dons outfit they'll win 4th spot and the Pies will travel to Adelaide next week. That's not something we want. I can't see the Saints losing, so the Pies best gear-up for a clash with St. Kilda on Saturday night next weekend.

On a brighter note, how good was last night? Is that the highlight of the season? You'd have to think so. Watching Buddy and then Fev go at the 100 mark was truly amazing. It was just a fantastic football experience. In the midst of Collingwood's depressing result it was something to really lighten the football spirits. Watching Brad Fisher 1m out directly in front of goal and looking to handball was just fantastic to see. Putting away my basic dislike of Buddy Franklin and especially of Brendan Fevola, I genuinely wanted to see both of them crack the 100 mark. When discussing the game of the season people will think of the Round 3 Showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide for the sheer intensity and hardness of the contest, the Collingwood Geelong clash for the transcendent experience that it was, the second Hawthorn Adelaide matchup for its closeness and thrilling finish, the much hyped Hawthorn Geelong battle which lived up the hype and then some or the thrilling Richmond-Brisbane duel where Joel Bowden slotted the winning goal. But in reality last night's duel between Carlton and Hawthorn was the best match of the season, and the final scoreline read Hawthorn 159 Carlton 81.