Facts and Figures
Average Score: 85.92 points per team; fairly high, considering only Richmond scored over 100 points.
Average Winning Margin: 22.50 points per game, which accurately displays that most of the games were close.
Round 12 (In a Nutshell): In Round 12 I correctly predicted one out of six results. Round 12 had plenty of intriguing story lines. Find out what transpired in the Round 12 Review!
Teams with the Bye in Round 12:
Geelong Cats, Gold Coast Suns, GWS Giants, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide
Friday Night Game
Melbourne Demons (97) v Brisbane Lions (75)
Demons Show they are a Force to be Reckoned with!
Facts and Figures: The Demons had 27 scoring shots, compared to the Lions 20. The Demons only had three more inside 50s than the Lions. Despite that, the Demons had 17 more hitouts, than the Lions. Strangely, the Demons had two more clearances and six less centre clearances than the Lions.
Pivotal Moment: Tom McDonald of the Demons gave them a 13 point lead near the midway point of the 4th quarter.
Melbourne Demons Game Changers: Max Gawn, Christian Petracca
Brisbane Lions Game Changers: Harris Andrews, Zac Bailey
Saturday Afternoon Games (Eastern Time)
Sydney Swans (92) v St Kilda (83)
St Kilda Waste Opportunity
Facts and Figures: Jack Higgins of St Kilda kicked one goal and six behinds. Both teams kicked inaccurately, as they kicked more behinds than goals. It was 27 scoring shots to 23 in the Swans favour. The Swans had seven more inside 50s. Despite that, St Kilda had ten more hitouts than the Swans as well as seven more centre clearances.
Pivotal Moment: Jack Higgins of St Kilda made the deficit three points, when they could have had a two point lead late in the 4th quarter.
Sydney Swans Game Changer: Luke Parker
St Kilda Game Changer: Brad Crouch
Saturday Evening Game (South Australian Time)
Adelaide Crows (73) v Collingwood (78)
Crows Fail to take Their Chances
Facts and Figures: It was 23 scoring shots to 18 in favour of the Crows. The Adelaide Crows had six more inside 50s, eight more hitouts and seven more clearances.
Pivotal Moment: Jamie Elliott gave Collingwood a four point lead reasonably late in the 4th quarter.
Adelaide Crows Game Changers: Rory Laird, Reilly O’Brien
Collingwood Magpies Game Changer: Jamie Elliott
Saturday Night Game
Essendon (84) v Richmond (123)
Richmond Better When It Mattered
Facts and Figures: It was 28 scoring shots to 24 in favour of Richmond. Essendon had one more inside 50. Despite that, Richmond had four more hitouts and two more clearances. Remarkably, Essendon took the lead in the 4th quarter, but somehow, lost by 39 points.
Pivotal Moment: Shai Bolton gave Richmond a ten point late in the 4th quarter.
Essendon Game Changers: Zach Merrett, Darcy Parish
Richmond Game Changers: Shai Bolton, Dustin Martin
Sunday Afternoon Game (Eastern Time)
Carlton (73) v West Coast Eagles (95)
For Carlton it’s a Case of What Could
Facts and Figures: Carlton only had two less scoring shots than the Eagles. The Eagles had plenty of injuries including Luke Shuey and Jeremy McGovern and they lost one of their most important players in Brad Sheppard who had to be subbed out due to concussion. Carlton’s goal kicking accuracy wasn’t up to standard.
Pivotal Moment: Jamie Cripps of the Eagles kicked an important goal in the 4th quarter.
Carlton Game Changer: Sam Walsh
West Coast Eagles Game Changer: Liam Ryan
Sunday Evening Game (Perth Time)
Fremantle Dockers (65) v Western Bulldogs (93)
Bulldogs Prevail
Facts and Figures: The Dockers had an honourable loss. They have been decimated by injury. It was a brave effort given they lost four players through injury during the game and Matthew Taberner who was ruled out before the game.
Pivotal Moment: Tim English of the Bulldogs gave them a 22 point lead near midway through the 4th quarter.
Fremantle Dockers Game Changer: David Mundy
Western Bulldogs Game Changer: Marcus Bontempelli