Round 15 – The Eight Point Game!

How many ‘eight point’ games have the miserable Fremantle Dockers played in over the years? One? Two, maybe? Is that being too generous?

It’s a common footy cliche…the ol’ ‘eight point’ game! When two evenly matched teams with dreams of September face off in a match that boosts the winner’s finals aspirations but also puts a major dent in the hopes of the loser. Tonight’s Carlton-St Kilda game is a classic example…the winner is in the eight and the loser is out! Collingwood and Adelaide are both chasing Sydney in fourth spot so their clash at the ‘G on Saturday afternoon becomes very important.

But while we have a few of these supposed ‘eight point’ games this weekend, there are other contests that are of little to no consequence whatsoever. Geelong (first) host Fremantle (14th) tomorrow while the Bulldogs (second) have a date with Melbourne (16th) on Sunday. You certainly wouldn’t call either of those clashes eight point games! In all honesty, they shouldn’t even bother playing these games at all…

So if the Blues v Saints match is worth ‘eight points’, how many points are on the line for the Cats v Dockers or Dogs v Demons? As we look ahead to round 15, we evaluate every game and decide how many points each victory should be worth.

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TEAM NEWS

• The great Chris Judd is back…now that his head has stopped spinning!
• Dustin Fletcher is fit to play…let’s hope so because he will probably need to stop both Brown and Bradshaw at the same time!
• Daniel Harris escapes the chop at North…though maybe he should thank Shannon Grant for that!
• Some good inclusions at Hawthorn but Sydney have one big ‘in’ to compensate for their big, bad, bustling ‘out’!
• No Richo for the Tigers as they head west to play the Eagles…that can’t be good!

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TIPS FOR THE EIGHT POINT GAME ROUND:

BLUES by 9: Despite the overload of all things Fevola this season, we’d much prefer him kicking goals and winning games than that bloody Stephen Milne!

MAGPIES by 18: Sydney last week and now Adelaide…the Magpies are destroying people’s dreams, one capital city at a time!

CATS by 1: Freo almost beat the Cats at home earlier in the year so this will be another tight one…nah, not really. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Geelong by plenty.

BOMBERS by 23: Essendon just automatically become a better side if James Hird is within a 50km radius of the stadium. Now that he might be acting as their runner, how could they possibly lose?

POWER by 18: If Port don’t start winning at home soon, the crowd response will be uglier than a night out with Chad Cornes!

HAWKS by 27: That Barry Hall verses Campbell Brown match up won’t be happening so it might have to wait until they have both retired and turned to boxing!

DOGS by 48: Rodney Eade wouldn’t care how much they win by as long as Aker doesn’t think, say or do something dumb…don’t like his chances.

EAGLES by 15: West Coast probably aren’t that fussed about winning but with a shiny new assistant coach to impress, that might be enough incentive.

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Tonight’s action:

Can the Blues get past St Kilda for the first time since 2001? Yes, it’s been that long!

MCG, Melbourne – 7:40pm (local): Carlton v St Kilda (SEVEN)

• How Many Points Is This Game Worth? 8th verses 9th on the ladder, level on points…this is almost the prototype of an eight-pointer! When you add the recent dominance of St Kilda and Carlton’s rapid improvement to the mix, it’s a compelling match up. EIGHT POINTS!
• The Carlton fans are back on the bandwagon already but imagine how crazy they will get if they knock off the Saints for the first time in seven years!
• If they do win, the Blues will be back in the eight. They didn’t cope well with that a few weeks ago so how will they go this time?
• Most of the big guns are available to play for the Sainters but none of them are called Fraser Gehrig. Can’t we get at least one grumpy old forward on the footy field these days?
• If Grant Thomas sued St Kilda for two hundred grand because he felt he was short-changed, how much would their long suffering fans get if they took the club to court? They must have been feeling short-changed for a very long time…