Life is great for Collingwood supporters. With four rounds of the home and away season left, they are on top of the ladder and just smashed Carlton by 48 points. Carlton only managed 12 points for the first quarter and eight for the next two meaning that at three-quarter time the score stood at 80-20.
Elsewhere, Essendon defied their recent form and had a good win over St Kilda. Even though they have done well in recent times against the Saints, the Saints were still the favorites. It was hard to find a betting site that didn’t recognize this. Thus all those who wagered on Essendon found themselves receiving a very healthy payback.
Port Adelaide didn’t help Hawthorn’s chances of doing well in the finals with a eight point win while Geelong just had too many answers for the Swans who simply struggle against the better sides in the competition. Round 5 now seems a million miles away as that is when the Swans were on top of the ladder and flying high.
Melbourne are definitely the surprise packets of the competition and showing that their years being mired at the bottom of the ladder could be over. Same too for Richmond who had a 20 point win over the Crows.
For the Bulldogs, it was a far for stress-free game against North Melbourne as opposed to what happened last time when Barry Hall was tormented. Finally the Dockers smashed the Eagles in the Western Derby with a 75 point thumping.
The tables have definitely turned from the early days when the Eagles were the big brother and the Dockers couldn’t lay a glove on them. Now the Eagles have no answer for their more polished opponents.
Looking at the ladder, Collingwood have a two point lead over Geelong which makes a difference as the Cats have the superior percentage. Likewise the Saints have a two point lead over the Bulldogs and Dockers for third spot. If the Saints slide any more they could finish as low as fifth which is just unimaginable. There is a fierce tussle between the Dockers and Bulldogs for fourth spot and then there is the rest which you could say are making up the numbers.
Hawthorn was in sixth spot and 10 points behind the Dockers. Carlton, Sydney and the Kangaroos are fighting over the last two spot but in all honesty, none of them deserve it.
Darren Albert writes for this blog. He also writes about live betting odds.
