Round 7 – Sal’s preview: “Jesaulenko, you beauty!”

Greetings All,

 

Mike Williamson was the voice of footy when I was growing up.  His grand final commentary along with his sidekicks, especially Butch Gale and Teddy Whitten is etched into folklore.  Would Jezza’s screamer in the 1970 Grand Final be quite the same without Mike’s voice behind it?  He was our voice of footy back them, there was no live coverage our vision was limited to a quarter from a couple of games each week and a few ground level shots from the rest.  Mike and his counterparts brought the game to life for us.  From someone whose love of the game was nurtured by his obvious passion and love for the game – Mike Williamson, You Beauty!  RIP.

 

Back to normality and a Friday night start to the round, should make tipping a bit easier but form is so fickle in 2019.  It all kicked off with the Anzac Day round and the booing of medal winner Scott Pendlebury.  Personally I don’t get it.  Adults carrying on about their right to boo!  Completely infantile – it is the stuff of kiddies pantomime.  There are several players over the journey who have been worthy of derision, usually for their style of play, sportsmanship (or lack thereof) or even public persona.  May have let out some vitriol in their direction myself, just can’t bring myself to boo.  The trend though of booing opposition players just because they are good really lets us down as does that of booing players that have left your club, often not through their own choosing.  Enough about the infantile stuff it onto the theatre of footy!

 

Coxless ($1.37) v Grayed Out ($3.65)

 

We kick the weekend off in the loungeroom for reasons best known to the fixturing department.  The Coxless Pies will be tested by Port.  He has been able to provide solid relief for Grundy who has been outstanding.  This week he has to confront the dual ruck combination from Port against Lysett and Ryder.  The quality of his relief could be a game decider, Roughead could really show his value in the role.  Port lose their most creative player with Robbie Gray gone, will make life easier in the Collingwood coaches box.  Collingwood have shown that their best footy is as good as anyone’s and seem to be able to play at the level long enough to put their opponents away and expect them to this week.

 

Bit of Weeding ($2.26) v A Wingarded Moment ($1.78)

 

Chad has come to the rescue of the Hawks a couple of times already to emphasize what a handy pick up he will be.  The overriding question though is whether the rest of the squad has the talent for ultimate success.  What they do have is tried and trusted system, along with Chad it helped get them over the Blues last week and should go a long way to get them a long way to get them over the Dees this week.  Sam Weideman has been this week’s sacrifice for all of Melbourne’s woes.  Their woes go so much deeper.  Max Gawn said they were good for three quarters against the Tigers – for Melbourne’s sake I hope that was marketing.  They were good in the first quarter and rabbits in the spotlight for the remainder of the game.  Provided Hawthorn can bring enough intensity, the Demons will roll over again.

 

The Kelly Gang ($1.22) v All A Lonie ($5.30)

 

Great news for the Saints that Lonie did not rupture his ACL, he still has some time on the sidelines to recover and the Saints lose some of their spark on the forward line.  He will be missed against the Giants who will ecstatic to take Josh Kelly out of the headlines for the next couple of years.  GWS at home should be too good.

 

Kings of the Jungle ($1.46) v Friendless ($3.10)

 

Well Kings of the Queensland Jungle at least – they should conquer Swans who still have no Buddy and are really struggling for consistency across the team.

 

Western ($1.10) v Golden ($10)

 

It’s the coastal battle and the West has won 8 from 10 with a draw in there also.  9 from 11 on Saturday night!

 

Learning English ($3.35) v Jacked Off ($1.41)

 

Jack might not have been happy being $1500 lighter, however his knee issue might not be all bad for the Tigers.  While they would be better with him, it ensures that Tom Lynch will be the linchpin of the Tiger forward line over the next few weeks.  They have shown over the last couple of weeks that their system stands up well irrespective of personnel.  The Bulldogs on the other hand are confused.  They do have an emerging ruckman. the investment of games in Tim English will bear fruit.  In the short term though their midfield is better on paper than on the park.  Not sure that will change this week, Tigers to win.

 

Black ‘n Blues ($2.46) v Decked the Hall ($1.67)

 

Aaron Hall was the Kangas sacrifice so far – there might be more once teams are finalized.  They just have not come up to the level they played at in 2018, the biggest missing piece has been a solid second banana up forward.  Ben Brown is a beauty but he needs someone to share the load.  The Blues have been impressive beating the Dogs and having a very good first half against the Hawks.  Injuries cruelled them along with a lack of maturity in the second half.  They lose four quality players this week and none more crucial than Matthew Kreuzer.  This should give Goldy and the Roos a huge advantage.  Expect the Blues to be feisty again just think North will have a more settled line up.

 

Purring ($1.56) v Booing ($2.76)

 

The Cats are healthy and are playing a quality brand of footy.  Some justifiable questions about their MCG record, however they have won twice their already this year against well regarded opposition.  The Bombers will be another test.  Their run and gun game will be completely different from the precision based game of the Eagles that they shut down last week.  Joe Daniher in form will be a handful for any defense and which Cat defender can go with McDonald-Tipungwuti?  The issue is that the Bombers are not as trustworthy as the Cats.  So while they could win, I reckon Geelong are more likely.

 

Taylor Made ($1.41) v Mundy 3 Hundy ($3.35)

 

David Mundy’s 300th was celebrated with some commentary Mike would have been proud of when he nailed a goal last week.  Has been a stalwart for the Dockers and still with plenty to give.  Has to travel and face the Crows who are looking a bit better with Taylor Walker getting some swagger back into his game.  Freo are going well and have the Giants scalp away, however the Crows at home are a tougher proposition.

 

Friar Time

 

A terrific win from the Friars last week over Glen Eira in the Seniors and the Girls also won well over Power House.  The reserves did meet a tough competitor in Glen Eira who were too well organised on the day, while the Under 23 got the chocolates over Fitzroy.  This weekend The Friars host the other promoted team Hawthorn Amateurs  while the girls kick off the dew at Aquinas.  The Under 23s travel out to the infamous Snake Pit at St Bernards. Unfortunately the club has had to withdraw our Under 19 team but will be working feverishly to get them back on the park in 2020.

 

Go Friars, Go Blues,
Cheers, Sal

 

 

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Comments

  1. george smith says

    It is remarkable that Mike Williamson was replaced at Channel 7 as commentator in 1977! All those strange cliches like: “All alone like Lazarus the leper”, and “Jack Hill the blind miner could see that!” all gone so long ago.

    He turned up as ground announcer in 1990. I am sure that there were other times when he announced the premiership medals, but 1990 I know word for word:
    “I’m sure the boys will do a lap of honour if we can ever get the cup away from Peter Daicos” and so on. Every premiership player seemed to have a story according to Mike, such as Jamie Turner repeating the achievement of his father Ken.

    Lou Richards departed as a commentator in 1987, Sandy sometime in the 90s. In the meantime, during the 1983 SANFL grand final, South Australia was plotting a terrible revenge on all those Vic defeats over the years. Who WAS that peculiar young man, with his creepy obsession with Jackie Love? Yes, it was Bruce!

  2. JASON ANDREW TOPPIN says

    I MWET WIKE WILLIAMSION AT EASTLAND SHOPPING CENTRE IN MELBOURNE SOEM YEARS AGO HE WAS FRIENDLY I ALL I CNA SAY IS GID REST YIOUR SOUL MIKE WILLIAMSON AND MAY YOU REST IN PEACE.

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