The Power Of Eight! (The Lost Weekend)

Eight was definitely Buddy’s magic number on Friday night…though it could have been higher had he kicked straight.

Tears, tension and no spontaneous choral singing…that was the outcome of So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye round! But another theme became apparent during round eighteen and that revolved around the number eight. Lance Franklin kicked things off when he nailed eight goals on Friday night to help sink Collingwood, leaving the Pies in danger of missing out on the top eight. Which might hamper their chances of winning it all, don’t you think?

This was quickly followed by Essendon skipper Matthew Lloyd, matching Buddy’s haul with eight goals of his own and a contender dead-set certainty for mark of the year! The win gives the rebuilding Bombers eight wins for the year and a slim chance of making the eight…though a percentage that is still in the eighties won’t help their cause…

LLOYD!!! The magic power of eight drove the Essendon captain to great heights!

The Saints were pretty much down all day against Port but won by eight – lucky! The Pies only kicked eight goals against Hawthorn – great! Cult hero and personal favourite Damien Peverill may have the good fortune of extending his eight-year stint in the AFL – fine with us! What is with the number eight?

Well, ‘eight’ is considered to be the most fortuitous of all numbers in Chinese culture; as it sounds similar to the word which means “prosper” or “wealth”. And with the Beijing Olympics starting this Friday, August 8th (08.08.08 ), it might spark a series of fortuitous events in the AFL next weekend. Though Melbourne actually play Geelong on that Friday night to open round 19…ah, a upset win to the Demons might be too much to ask for the mystical powers of number eight!

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SATURDAY

Hmmm…tasty! The Cats rub Richmond’s nose in it…

• The Geelong machine powers on as they ease past Richmond and that Brownlow Medal with Gary Ablett’s name on it could be headed to the same bloke that took it from him last year! The Tigers now face a huge battle to finish anywhere but ninth after this little dose of reality…they better hope that their dynamic duo are ready for the trip to Adelaide! Speaking of dynamic duos…

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Hello kitty! Looks like the Roos might be regretting that move away from the Gold Coast after all…

• North Melbourne bid farewell to the Gold Coast and their leather-clad Catwomen by swooping late to steal victory from the Brisbane Lions. The Roos are now within reach of a top-four spot and it is all thanks to ‘the yoof’…well, Dean Laidley was wearing his cap backwards!

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Ever seen a porpoise sleeping? Jason Porplyzia down for the count after a chance meeting with Carlton’s Steven Browne…

• The Crows survive a final quarter surge from Carlton to record what Neil Craig described as an ‘enormous’ win…so clearly he likes his job and wants to hold onto it. The Crows were far from impressed with some off-the-ball incidents, particularly one that knocked out Jason Porplyzia. And who would have thought we would ever see this headline – Brad Moran was the difference?

SUNDAY

Having been banned from performing the handstand, Aker has found a new post-game celebration…a nice little ass-grab!

• The Dogs return to form in the nation’s capital by downing the slumping Swans, prompting coach Rodney Eade to break out the old ‘eight point game’ cliche that we at Half Back Flanker love so much! But Sydney, who were looking good for a top four spot, just can’t put together four quarters of footy right now…and their timing could not be worse!

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Gutsy effort from Luke Ball…surely that can’t be good for you!

• St Kilda were bloody lucky to outlast a gallant and un-tanky looking Port Adelaide but now find themselves in the eight at the expense of Brisbane. It took a pair of trademark crazy-brave efforts from Nick Riewoldt and Luke Ball late in the game to get them over the line – the coach is right to admire their courage!

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Well, there’s no doubt that those kids are his…farewell Shaun McManus!

• Not the most explosive Western Derby games we’ve seen but Fremantle chalk up another win over the West Coast Eagles. It was a dream ending for the retiring Docker stalwart Shaun McManus. Well, at least the ‘beating West Coast in the derby’ part…not so much the ‘talented team languising in the bottom four…again’ part!