Order the Round 1 games as to how they interest you

[Joao]

Port v Fremantle- This has the potential to be the closest game of the round. W.A. teams handle the Adelaide Oval pretty well and Fyfe looks set to explode after a huge pre season

This one ain't true I'm afraid. In recent times Adelaide is to us what the MCG is to West Coast. It is only the Eagles who like AO.

 

[JRyan23]

Melbourne Geelong - could easily be match of the round if both teams show up. 2 teams with high expectations from supporters and key off field recruits to already solid lists...would be even better if those recruits actually played. Contrary to popular opinion, every round and point counts and the race for top 4 (which both teams and fans are striving for) can be decided by percentage and dropped points.

Hawthorn Collingwood - this is a contest of 2 teams around the same class looking to sneak into the top 8. Both needs runs on the board early.

St Kilda - Brisbane - really keen to see Brisbane this year. Still huge question marks but this is such a winnable game. St Kilda need to win this or it could be season over after round 1. Im not kidding. They looked a fair way off the pace early days.

After this its a fairly big gap to the rest.

GWS - Dogs - maybe the dogs will go better without the pressure this year? But against a GWS side destined for a flag i doubt it.

WCE Sydney - dont rate the eagles at all this year and Sydney should be fired up after their start last year cost them a flag. Should be a thumping.

GC - Kangas - meh. Two really, really average sides. GC have got a dream round 1 opponent here at home. If they cant win it, looked for sub 10k crowds for the year.

Port - Freo - Port are going to start their season off by smashing Freo 100+. They love to boost percentage against the bottom 6 so they can compensate for a lack of premiership credentials (or preliminary final credentials for that matter).

Richmond Carlton - in front of a packed house Richmond will absolutely flog Carlton. If there is a hangover, it wont be felt here. Only team who might get better percentage than Port.

Gold Coast game is in Cairns so probably won't get 10k anyway, don't play at HOME until Round 10

 

[mr bagcroft]

Funny thread, for years I heard people complain about Richmond v Carlton opening the season and the most common complaint was why should 2 s**t teams open the season, now we are reigning champs and still people continue to bag this spectacle of an opening game. So really unless this game is a grand final replay opposition supporters will not be happy with it opening the season and even then I’m sure they will find issues with it. Funny funny stuff.

To be fair, most of those opening round games...have been shithouse.

 

[LRobbo]

I seem to recall the Pies have had the wood on the Hawks for a while?

Beaten us once since 2011 mate

 

[whatwhatsaywhat]

Beaten us once since 2011 mate

ah, righto, for some reason i had it in my head that pies had a good record against the hawks; i might be thinking of the cats? pies have beaten cats three of the last four times i seem to recall...

 

[Cdog71]

1. Essendon v Adelaide: Game of the round with two likely finals sides.
2. Hawthorn v Collingwood: Two traditional big clubs looking to climb back up the ladder. Should be a close game.
3. GWS v Western Bulldogs: Interested to see if the Dogs can climb back after a down season
4. West Coast v Sydney: New stadium. Enough said.
5. Port Adelaide v Fremantle: Will be intriguing to see how Port's new talent fare and if they're looking the real deal.
6. Richmond v Carlton: Season opener. Definition of meh contest.
7. St.Kilda v Brisbane: Scratch that. Two non finals clubs is the definition of meh.
8. Gold Coast v North Melbourne: See above but even more sucky.

I thought cats and dees game of the round.

 

[schmuttt]

I thought cats and dees game of the round.

You aren’t meant to include games with your team.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I thought cats and dees game of the round.

Quite possibly, just in this exercise I’m not allowed to pick my clubs game.

 

[dean33]

To be fair, most of those opening round games...have been shithouse.

Always some drama and have been a couple of close ones. To be fair though Carlton have been pretty s**t the last 5 years, Always fun watching the blues get belted though.

 

[Cdog71]

Quite possibly, just in this exercise I’m not allowed to pick my clubs game.

Right....makes sense

 

[HTT]

To be fair, most of those opening round games...have been shithouse.

We need us both to be good at the same time

09-12 superior Carlton teams smashed us every time
13-14 (especially 13) close games between two reasonable teams
15-17 Carlton have been s**t. 15/17 we too good to make it exciting, not good enough to make it a spectacle. 16 we were s**t too.

18 should be more of the same. If they make a game of it, we probably haven't played that well. If we play well, it'll be over fairly early.

Hopefully 2019 onwards the blues start to challenge for finals spots. Then we'll start getting some good games. I reckon Bolton has them going the right way.

 

[underthestars]

1. Geelong vs Melbourne. Ablett. If he plays. Otherwise demoted to midrank.
2. Essendon vs Adelaide. Rebound factor. Can the Crows change the usual script for teams that get creamed in the grannie?
3. Hmm. Bias.
4. Hawthorn vs Collingwood. No reason. Nothing of note to be gained in either victor.
5. GWS vs Dogs. Canberra. Should be higher but it's in canberra.
6. West Coast vs Sydney. Curiosity. Introducing a cute boutique stadium that many westerners seem to think should host boutique sized grand final crowds.
7. Gold Coast vs North Melbourne. Bye. The suns need this to go 1-8 before the bye.
8. Power vs Fremantle. A certainty. always fun to watch it unfold or come horribly undone.
9. Richmond vs Carlton. Enough already! At least richmond deserve an opener this year - about 15 other clubs do moreso than carlton.

 

[TeeJay Blue]

Always some drama and have been a couple of close ones. To be fair though Carlton have been pretty s**t the last 5 years, Always fun watching the blues get belted though.

Funny that your team has never 'belted' ours in recent years. Funny that you also make it 'the last 5 years'.

Within that period included 2013 where your lot lost to our supposedly 's**t' team twice. One of those matches seeing Richmond making history, being the first side to be eliminated from the finals by a 9th place team coming back from a 30-40 odd point deficit after half time.

Let's go back to 2007 when the season opener became a thing. I'll include the couple of non-season openers along the way as well as the head to heads during the latter half of the seasons. Margins in bold are from season openers.

Along the way, your team has won many games without humiliating us.
30, 5, 12, 27 (Carlton's worst season), 30, 9, 43 and 26 (Last two from Tigers Premiership year).
(Wow we've been so horrible! Why do we exist!)

Compare it with our victories against your mob in the earlier years.
17, 30, 83, 20, 56, 89, 20, 103, 44, 4, 10 and 20.
(How no one batted an eye when Richmond got pantsed!)

Our average winning margin against your team over the many years was almost double that of yours (41 to 23). As for the season openers, averages are 44 (Carlton) to 27 (Richmond).
If I were to include the two early matches from 2013 and 2014, Richmonds average would drop down 6 to 21.

Perhaps you should give our 's**t' side more credit for putting up a fight against your 'unprecedented' mob whilst languishing around the bottom end of the ladder.

 

[LightTower4]

You seem upset by Victoria, did Victoria hurt you in some way?

Stole their Grand Prix 24 years ago.
He never recovered.

 

[dean33]

Funny that your team has never 'belted' ours in recent years. Funny that you also make it 'the last 5 years'.

Within that period included 2013 where your lot lost to our supposedly 's**t' team twice. One of those matches seeing Richmond making history, being the first side to be eliminated from the finals by a 9th place team coming back from a 30-40 odd point deficit after half time.

Let's go back to 2007 when the season opener became a thing. I'll include the couple of non-season openers along the way as well as the head to heads during the latter half of the seasons. Games in bold are season openers.

Along the way, your team has won many games without humiliating us.
30, 5, 12, 27 (Carlton's worst season), 30, 9, 43 and 26 (Last two from Tigers Premiership year).
(Wow we've been so horrible! Why do we exist!)

Compare it with our victories against your mob in the earlier years.
17, 30, 83, 20, 56, 89, 20, 103, 44, 4, 10 and 20.
(How no one batted an eye when Richmond got pantsed!)

Our average winning margin against your team over the many years was almost double that of yours (41 to 23). As for the season openers, averages are 44 (Carlton) to 27 (Richmond).
If I were to include the two early matches from 2013 and 2014, Richmonds average would drop down 6 to 21.

Perhaps you should give our 's**t' side more credit for putting up a fight against your 'unprecedented' mob whilst languishing around the bottom end of the ladder.

Prepare to be humiliated.

 

[TeeJay Blue]

Prepare to be humiliated.

I'm prepared for any outcome. Seems to me that you aren't.

 

[dean33]

I'm prepared for any outcome. Seems to me that you aren't.

The only outcome is how much we win by, it’s gonna be a real celebration, raise the flag and then feast on you blokes all in front of 70,000 of the army.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

West Coast V Sydney as it's West Coast.
The rest are all the same to me, if I am home I might turn it on if I am not I won't feel I'm missing anything.
I miss the days when I really loved footy.

 

[TeeJay Blue]

The only outcome is how much we win by, it’s gonna be a real celebration, raise the flag and then feast on you blokes all in front of 70,000 of the army.

Good for you KB!

 

[greatwhiteshark]

1. Geelong vs Melbourne. Ablett. If he plays. Otherwise demoted to midrank.
2. Essendon vs Adelaide. Rebound factor. Can the Crows change the usual script for teams that get creamed in the grannie?
3. Hmm. Bias.
4. Hawthorn vs Collingwood. No reason. Nothing of note to be gained in either victor.
5. GWS vs Dogs. Canberra. Should be higher but it's in canberra.
6. West Coast vs Sydney. Curiosity. Introducing a cute boutique stadium that many westerners seem to think should host boutique sized grand final crowds.
7. Gold Coast vs North Melbourne. Bye. The suns need this to go 1-8 before the bye.
8. Power vs Fremantle. A certainty. always fun to watch it unfold or come horribly undone.
9. Richmond vs Carlton. Enough already! At least richmond deserve an opener this year - about 15 other clubs do moreso than carlton.

How do you call the second biggest AFL stadium in the country Boutique?

 

[TY24]

1 - GWS vs. Western Bulldogs
A fixture which has started to develop some history in recent years, will be a good test for both sides, with the Bulldogs looking to push back up the ladder following their premiership hangover and the Giants looking to reinforce the thought that they'll be one of the teams to beat this season.
2 - West Coast vs. Sydney
One of the most bitter rivalries of the modern era to open the best stadium in the country. West Coast also debuting their new logo and jumper under lights, and playing in full royal against the Swans. Expecting West Coast to put up a brave fight when the majority of people have them as the underdogs.
3 - Melbourne vs. Geelong
2 teams looking to redeem themselves after missed opportunities in 2017. Fingers crossed Ablett recovers for this one so we can see the holy trinity of Selwood, Ablett and Dangerfield take the field together. Also excited to see what this promising Melbourne line-up can bring to the table.
4 - Essendon vs. Adelaide
Essendon will be wanting to push even further following their 2017 resurgence. Adelaide will still have open wounds after not turning up on grand final day, should be a good contest.
5 - Port Adelaide vs Fremantle
2 teams that I'm not sure about heading into 2018. Port will be wanting to put in a strong performance to try and shake off the 'pretender' tag that many
gave them in 2017, Fremantle have looked positive throughout preseason and will be looking for big seasons from Nat Fyfe and Cam McCarthy to help push them back up the ladder.
6 - Hawthorn vs. Collingwood
Two of the AFL's fallen giants in 2017, should be an intense contest as these two teams look to move back up the right end of the ladder.
7 - Richmond vs. Carlton
Will be good to see the premiers in action first up in 2018, and see a packed out MCG for game 1, however that's where my interest ends. Expecting close to a 3 figure margin for this one.
8 - St. Kilda vs. Brisbane
Brisbane will likely struggle this year with the departure of Tom Rockliff, expecting an easy win for the Saints in this one.
9 - Gold Coast vs. North Melbourne
Battle for the spoon, not expecting fireworks from either side.

I did originally have West Coast vs Sydney at 1, then I read the "not including your own team" rule

 

[TY24]

How do you call the second biggest AFL stadium in the country Boutique?

Probably a Victorian who can't deal with the fact that the MCG isn't the best stadium in the AFL anymore (in truth it hasn't been since the Adelaide Oval redevelopment was completed)

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Probably a Victorian who can't deal with the fact that the MCG isn't the best stadium in the AFL anymore (in truth it hasn't been since the Adelaide Oval redevelopment was completed)

I found the word boutique a very strange word to describe the stadium. Never heard a large major stadium being classified as boutique.

 

[dean33]

Probably a Victorian who can't deal with the fact that the MCG isn't the best stadium in the AFL anymore (in truth it hasn't been since the Adelaide Oval redevelopment was completed)

Best stadium in Australia? Please, it’s the best stadium in the world.

 

[TY24]

I found the word boutique a very strange word to describe the stadium. Never heard a large major stadium being classified as boutique.

It's not a boutique stadium by any stretch of the imagination. A boutique stadium is (in my opinion at least) a small, suburban stadium used before a major stadium in that city was built (eg. Punt Road Oval, Princes Park).

In that case, Perth's boutique stadiums would be Steel Blue Oval, Lathlain Park, Fremantle Oval, Leederville Oval, etc.