The Sydney Swans have held on for an eight-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval

Dustin Martin, the quiet and reserved teenager, belies his extrovert image, writes Callum Twomey

Geelong has broken a long-standing VFL/AFL benchmark in beating North Melbourne by 66 points at Skilled Stadium

Sydney Swans coach John Longmire says his team is finally starting to see results for their effort

Poland's first Australian rules football club is under formation in the city of Poznań, dubbed the Polish Bisons.

Maciej Makarewicz says the team is hopeful of making their international debut at the 2011 Euro Cup in Belfast, and are also hoping to be able to schedule some friendly matches with the clubs in Berlin and Prague, both of which are within a few hours' drive. The team currently has 13 players, none of whom are Australians, although there is some playing experience through squad member Wlodek Przygorzewski, who took part in the European Crusaders side at the EU Cup a few years back.

Closer to home, the Bisons intend to encourage the creation of teams in other Polish cities and kick off a domestic competition.

The Bison is a popular symbol for Poland, with Białowieża Forest in the east of the country famous for having been t ...

Saturday morning and I’m recalling only a couple of things from last night’s match. 1. Daniel Motlop’s shot from the pocket. and 2. Richo’s reaction to threading the eye of the needle. I loved it. Great illustration of the love of play, and the fascination of the football itself, and what can be done with it. However, I [...]

Essendon will honour veteran Dustin Fletcher by unveiling the 'Fletcher end' before the club's clash with West Coast on Sunday

The AFL Record spends a day with Giants coach Kevin Sheedy as his team takes baby steps into the AFL

Geelong will break a record that has stood for more than 70 years if it defeats North Melbourne at Skilled Stadium on Saturday

There is a certain rhythm to the football cycle, but Geelong has managed to defy it over the past

Long weekends are usually something you would embrace. Not having to face the early morning chill of the May morning, getting a chance to sleep-in from the comfort of your warm bed, and not having to worry about your workload piled in your locker. Yet, lo and behold, as my alarm accidentally went off in [...]

I’m home and still euphoric from another ‘Bool week, now established as comfortably my favorite race experience. Unless you have joined the devoted throngs, you can’t possibly understand the wonder of this pilgrimage. It’s been disconcerting to hear and read on my return journey about the “carnage” of “a bad day” (The Age) at Warrnambool. [...]

Hawthorn coach says win over struggling Port Adelaide wasn’t ‘overly impressive’ despite Hawks moving into top four

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus hopeful that star midfielder has avoided a season-ending ACL injury

Hawthorn kicks eight of the last nine goals to overwhelm Port Adelaide by 32 points at AAMI Stadium

There has been a late change to the Hawthorn side for Friday's night's clash with Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium

Click here for audio and stats of the Friday night meeting between the Power and Hawks in Adelaide

Time to lock away our teams for Round 7. Have you made some big trades? Who have you gone as captain with no Swan? Let us know how you are traveling over the round in the comments and join the chat to discuss all the DT stuff over the round.

Thank goodness the multi-bye rounds are over for a couple of months. Sure, it helped my own team ranking, but now we're back to some sort of normality with more teams and more match-ups to choose from and no Thursday night games making a mess of things. Much better.

Adelaide coach Neil Craig has a simple message for his players ahead of the clash with Melbourne

Melbourne's players were hit with an extra training session this week in an effort by coach Dean Bailey to shock them out of poor form

Carlton defender Jordan Russell will play his 100th AFL match against St Kilda on Monday

Hawthorn's Paul Puopolo is the latest little man to try to prove that size doesn't matter

By Brad Carr In last year’s Almanac, I wrote up the Round 7 game between West Coast and Hawthorn, and I referred to Subiaco Oval as “what sadly remains the worst stadium in the AFL”. In the course of editing the book, Paul Daffey picked up on this point, and asked that I elaborate on this [...]

The Norwood player kicking the ball is Nick Ramsey and his Centrals opponent is veteran James Gowans.

Mr DT has emailed in a Friday round preview for you to read. This should get the juices flowing for this arvo and the big trades and decisions we need to make! Thanks Mr DT.

Port Adelaide v Hawthorn

Port Adelaide lost to North Melbourne by 60 points last week. Hawthorn had a bye last round following a tough but tight loss to Geelong the week before.

Port Adelaide are not the full dollar at the moment with an embarrassing loss to new boys Gold Coast and an insipid performance against North last round.

Hawthorn should be well rested after the bye and will be looking to consolidate with a win against Port after a bit of a stumble against Geelong in their last game.

Key Hawks, Cyril Rioli and Cameron Bruce will be missing due to injury but other than that the Hawks should make light work of it.

Hawthorn by 42 points

Western Bulldogs v Sydney

Western Bulldogs have two losses in a row after faltering against Collingwood and Fremantle the week before last round. Sydney had a close defeat to Carlton to go with their defeat by Geelong on the other side of their bye.

Both teams will be smarting over their recent losses as there were opportunities for both teams to have reversed the results.

The Bulldogs and Sydney have the similarity at the moment of playing their football in patches, literally in one match they seem to be playing two different games. It’s not through lack of trying but both teams need to play an even four quarters against the better sides instead of fading in and out of the contest.

With the game at Manuka it might just suit the Bulldogs hard running style. For the Dogs it is interesting to see Brian Lake dropped for this clash, and for Sydney the loss of key midfielder Kieren Jack will be again evident this weekend.

Western Bulldogs by 17 points

Geelong v North Melbourne

Geelong had a bye after a tough fought 19 point win over the challenging Hawks the round before. North Melbourne showed a lot of guts and determination in their spirited 60 point thrashing of Port Adelaide.

Although their coaches may look the same that is where the similarities end for the two clubs with Geelong’s so called ‘rebuilding’ phase looking a lot different from the Kangas ‘from the ground up’ approach.

Geelong survived the early challenge by the Hawks on Easter Tuesday and were just relentless with their attack of the ball. Joel Selwood , Paul Chapman and Jimmy Bartel all look in their peak form for the season as the Cats almost look completely flawless.

Around the ground looking at the match ups it’s going to be a tough day at the office for the tireless Roos.

Geelong by 56 points

Richmond v Fremantle

Richmond had a 26 point win over Brisbane last round. Fremantle had a bye after a run of 3 wins in as many rounds.

A danger game for Fremantle coming off a bye and Richmond coming over a confident boosting victory over Brisbane, plus the fact that last time these two teams met the Tiges won with the match also in Melbourne.

A few teams have been caught out by the bye in the early rounds but the Dockers are not looking like the yo-yo team they once were with some consistency starting to show in their football. The Tigers need to translate their wins over bottom teams into challenging the better teams and with young players like Dustin Martin they could definitely have their moments.

Fremantle by 23 points

Gold Coast v Brisbane

Gold Coast were brought back down to earth with a crash suffering a crushing 139 point defeat by the unforgiving Bombers. Brisbane were persistent but eventually went down by 26 points to Richmond.

This is the ultimate grudge match with some choice words being exchanged between both clubs. Brisbane feel hard done by with the five star treatment the AFL has laid out for the new Gold Coast team, but although the comparisons are there it’s hard to compare their starts in two different eras.

The Lions do have a point ,that it is already a flooded sports market up in QLD and the years spent tireless working to build a supporters base could have been undone.

I don’t blame Jared Brennan and Michael Rischitelli for wanting to leave for the Suns after being offered as trade bait and the way the Lions treated Daniel Bradshaw just to get Fevola was at the most very average.

It won’t be a close match but both teams won’t mind getting down and dirty.

Brisbane by 72 points

Essendon v West Coast

Essendon made it look like a training drill with a percentage boosting 139 point win over Gold Coast. West Coast smashed Melbourne by 52 points as they continue to improve and impress.

Last time these two teams met in Melbourne, somehow the Eagles pulled a miracle from the kitbag and came away with a win but a lot has changed since then. A new coach and a new outlook for the Dons has seen them tighten the screws down back and play a more structured brand of football.

West Coast came into this season with a lot of doubts and speculation hanging over the head of their coach John Worsfold, but they have shown faith in their recruiting and it might be starting to pay off as evident with Jack Darling‘s Rising Star performance.

If this match was in W.A West Coast would be looking more than an even chance but with a young team and a lacklustre on the road record, the Bombers should win.

Essendon by 32 points

Melbourne v Adelaide

Melbourne endured an embarrassing defeat in primetime at the hands of the Eagles by 52 points. Adelaide turned their fortunes around with hard fought 19 point win over St Kilda at home.

Who wants this win more? Both teams seem to be lacking some desperation at the football with the demons playing like they were on a holiday. Adelaide had the game in the bag last week but nearly coughed it up until they remembered they were at the ground to play some football.

This is a game Melbourne need to win or they can kiss their season goodbye and being at the MCG is the only difference between tipping the Crows to win or lose.

Melbourne by 21 points

St Kilda v Carlton

The Saints are sinking faster than a lead balloon after their 19 point loss to Adelaide last week. Carlton toughed it out against Sydney to record a 16 point victory in trying conditions.

St Kilda’s season is officially a write off with only 1 win from 5 games I can’t see them salvaging enough from the rest of the season to even really challenge for finals. It’s a big call but while other teams have kept developing and evolving, the Saints look like they have been content to ride out a game-plan that has serious deficiencies.

The Blues have the speed in the midfield to burn off any Saint’s resistance but what I like about last week’s win was they are now showing the hardness needed to win that contested football.

Carlton by 39 points

Collingwood Bye

Your Tips and Opinions

While we do have an official Tipping Competition this year but feel free to add your tips in the comments section instead or as well. You can see our tipping leader board on the right which sees me equal first.

What do you think of Kick2Kick’s tips for the seventh round of the 2011 AFL season? Have we missed anything? Got a tip wrong? Please write your thoughts in the comments section and join in on the banter.

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Simon Black’s “mercenaries” jibe at high-profile Gold Coast Suns recruits seemed out of character at the time (see previous post).   In subsequent days, Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna weighed in with a dig about “cleaning up [Brisbane’s] mess” and now, somewhat predictably given the sequence of events, Brisbane coach Michael Voss says he is taking McKenna’s comment “personally”.   ‘Anonymous’

Fortunes at a footy club can change in an instant but you have to have faith in yourself and those around you if you want to succeed, writes Peter Schwab

Michael Voss is the latest to weigh into the increasingly heated lead up to the AFL's first 'QClash' between the Lions and Suns

The Giants should look to youthful leaders when they make their debut in the AFL, writes Wayne Schwass

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick says his side's match against Freo will show where his side is in their continued development

Brian Lake will spend at least the next three weeks playing for Williamstown and not undertaking a 'mini pre-season'

Gold Coast official and former Lion Marcus Ashcroft has hit back at criticism of Suns utility Jared Brennan

Richmond vs. Fremantle

Richmond 1-39 points @$2.95

Well this is set to be a very interesting game of footy. The unpredictable tigers play the real deal in the Fremantle Dockers at the home of football the MCG. In what is some what a surprise the Dockers have lost their past 7 games at the Mecca. That is a huge stat considering the fact to win a grand final you obviously have to win the ‘G’. You can make the argument that Freo don’t play enough games at the MCG which if you include all non Victorian teams is true but when you do get the chance to play on the hollowed turf of the ‘G’ you have to take advantage of it and find ways to win.

And in the past few years The Dockers haven’t made the most of their opportunity of playing on footy biggest stage. Now Richmond is lucky enough to play pretty much every second game at the MCG which is a huge advantage against a non Victorian team. Not only that but the tigers have some very exciting players on their list the emerging superstar Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin has stepped up his game this year, the Coleman medallist jumping Jack Riewoldt and Brett Deledio who provides the run of half back.

I love seeing Richmond play footy their passion and enthusiasm is just plain awesome to watch and in my opinion no other club sings their song with the amount of pure joy and pride as the tigers. Let’s hope we will hear that famous song again this Saturday night.

Melbourne vs. Adelaide

Adelaide 1-39 points @$2.55

It’s been 7 rounds of footy I can finally talk about the crows!

The crows got a very much needed win last week against last year’s grand finalist St. Kilda, the crows looked very impressive in the first half taking a 30 point lead into half time, the saints cut the lead down to only 3 points early into the final term but goals from the tough as nail Patty Dangerfield last year’s best and fairest Richie Douglas and Kurt Tippets amazing check side from the boundary secured a 19 point win for the Crows.

Melbourne on the other hand was very disappointing last week against the Eagles in Perth and to say that the demons and Coach Dean Bailey are under pressure is a massive understatement. The Melbourne footy club desperately need this win but unfortunately for Melbourne and their club president one of the most respected men in footy Jim Stynes I can’t see that happening.

The crows are in better form and have a more advanced game plan and a more disciplined and structured team. If the crows win it will make my mum a very happy lady, would like to wish my mum and all the mums out there a very happy mother’s day.

Odds taken from sportsbet.com.au on Friday May 6th 2011

Your Bet tips for Round 7

Do you have your eye on a mouth watering bet this weekend? If so, let us know in the comments section below.

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North Melbourne midfielder Shaun Atley made the big shift from the Murray Bushrangers last year and hasn't missed a match since

A genuine crisis for a Hawk, Israel's too nice for his own good and respect for the Bears

Blaming football culture for personal problems is an all-too-familiar cop-out, says Luke Darcy

You may remember last year when I discovered at the Brothers AFC presentation night that I was recognised for playing 146 combined senior and reserve grade matches for the club. Don’t be surprised if you didn’t, I even had to go back to past archives to try to find out if the figure at the [...]

By Vincent Tan I like Melbourne. I like that “Before the Game” is actually shown before the game. I like that I can sit at a pub and have absolutely no compulsion to zip up my jacket to hide my navy blue and white hoops for fear of ridicule and the inevitable drunken comment about whether [...]

Is this the tail end of the Cape York Wet season or Autumn in Melbourne? Looking out the window at the porch light illuminating the rain falling in front of the grapefruit tree you could be excused for confusion. But no, an arm with sleeve rolled up thrust out the window tells me it’s still [...]

It’s been a while since I updated Almanackers about my pursuits for the Imperial Footy Club and for those that care I thought I’d get off my arse and update my half a dozen or so fans about where my chase for a premiership stands.  Truth is I’ve started a new job and been telling [...]

Back to a semi-normal round and we all hopefully have choices to make about who to play on the ground and who to leave on the pine. I have tried to make this a bit easier by looking at these fringe players for you.

New Zealand Rugby League has selected Melbourne Storm winger Matt Duffie into their national team, the Kiwis. The 20-year-old scored two tries on debut for the Storm last year against the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL. He is hoping to make a similar impact in the Test arena as he makes his Test debut against the Kangaroos on the Gold Coast on Friday night.

The St Kentigern's, Auckland old boy, who was once selected for the New Zealand Aussie Rules team, has been in great form this season, scoring five tries in the five matches and has proven to be a master under the high-ball.

Duffie admits his AFL background has helped him in the rival code. "I just got into AFL just for a kick-around and something to do on a Sunday, but the skills that I learned there have helped me a lot in my career so far and hopefully they'll continue to help me."

Duffie was selected in the original squad for the 2008 International Cup but withdrew when signed to the NRL’s Storm. The withdra ...

DA’s Clue of the Round (7): Avid fans of footy matches, First knew me as trim catches. Then consequently: 4A9. Before rattles plagued my sign. Nowadays, surprise-surprise, I’m a union under foreign skies. What am I? [Don't give it away in the comments...we'll let you know next week] David Astle is being held hostage in the dictionary. The only time he’s allowed out is to make [...]

St Kilda's Stephen Milne says the Saints have put their early-season woes behind them with a sparkling training session during the week

Big men Sam Day and Joey Daye will debut for the Suns in the 'QClash', along with Tom Lynch

We are in the process of developing this new site. Please let us know what you think, and if you identify any problems – keeping in mind we are still putting together The Almanackers’ authors’ page, and some other pages – let us know. Suggestions welcome.

Our teams are in for Round 7. We have a bit of fresh meat to look at in Paul Puopolo and Isaac Smith and as usual, some new Suns to look at. Check them out! How are you shaping up for this round without the Magpies?

It is Round 7 with the Collingwood bye and we're trying to work out what the hell we are going to do! There is quite a bit of fresh meat this week to talk about... and the best thing is, Calvin is in the Green Vest! Oh yeah! Enjoy!