Big Weekend in Aussie Sport – NRL finals and AFL grand final
This weekend is huge for AFL and NRL fans alike. Starting tonight we have the blockbuster match between Canterbury Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels. The winner will book themselves a spot in the 2009 NRL grand final.
Then on Saturday afternoon the attention turns to Melbourne. Sports fans will get to watch the best two teams in the AFL this season battle it out for the 2009 premiership. St Kilda at one stage looked like going through the season undefeated, they face the 2007 premiers and last years runnersup, Geelong.
St Kilda are the sentimental favourites as if you ask AFL fans a lot of them see St Kilda as their second team. That and the fact that they have not won a flag since 1966 makes them the team people want to win. Geelong on the other hand need to win this grand final to be looked upon as a great team, rather than just a team that was pretty good. Like a lot of AFL supporters I will be going for St Kilda.
As if that is not enough on Saturday night we will see the Melbourne Storm up against the Brisbane Broncos to decide what will be the second team into the NRL grand final. Brisbane will be keen to erase the memory of their heartbreaking last second loss to Melbourne in last year’s finals series. Melbourne are a bit like Geelong. They have been in the last three NRL grand finals and have only managed one title. They will be seen as underachievers if they get in another one and fail again.
Getting back to Friday night, they are expecting a finals record crowd when the two Sydney teams face off at 7.30pm. The Parramatta Eels have momentum on their side after coming from close to last on the ladder to sneak into the top eight. They then toppled the minor premiers, St George Illawarra Dragons in week one of the finals before thumping the Gold Coast Titans last week.
The Bulldogs were equal top on points, this came after being the wooden spoon holders last season. Quite a remarkable turnaround. They have not set the world on fire over recent weeks. They lost the final game of the regular season before getting past the Newcastle Knights in week one of the finals. That win gave them a week off.
The toughest part of the weekend is watching as much sport as I can without my wife saying I watch too much sport.
I am tipping a Parramatta-Brisbane grand final for the NRL and a St Kilda win in the AFL. Enjoy your weekend.
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