Preview for Round 3, 2013

Artist's conception of a catatonic Kiss of Death.

Sorry folks, no Kiss of Death preview this week. Rumour has it that upon seeing the final criteria for the FFV's implementation for the National Competitions Review (now known as the National Premier League) the Kiss of Death went into a state of catatonic shock. Hopefully by next week the Kiss of Death will have snapped out of it, and we'll be back to business as normal.

If I have time - and with four tutorial classes to teach and post-grad coursework classes starting, I'm the busiest I've ever been, even if by regular people standards it's not really that busy - I'll share my thoughts on the NPL Victoria early next week, though considering the reaction to my limited response on the matter so far, it looks like some people have the impression that at the very least I'm:

1. Very late to the party with regards to the dodginess of athe proposals, and/or
2. Some sort of FFV or FFA or SMFC board lackey that just chooses to go whichever way the wind is blowing.

All of which hurts my very fragile ego, which is in turn attached to my decade long attempt to craft an online persona of being Mr. Cool, Calm, Reasonable and Independent, in order to wash away the uncleanness of my teenage try-hard 'effniks rule Aussie sockah 4eva' internet persona. And yet that dirt will not wash away. Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!

Anyway, for those heading out to Kingston Heath by public transport tonight, there's no scheduled public transport works, so one of the more laborious trips of the season should be slightly easier than last week. The trip home is always a nightmare though. Hope you have friends or a good book to keep you company.

Because I'm a fan of half-arsed efforts, I might as well chip in with some uninformed thoughts on this week's matches, even though I have a dislike for making predictions of this kind.

I'm hoping for a win tonight against Bentleigh, but will be happy with a point. Though I like what I've seen of us so far, we have had these false dawns before. Port should be too strong for a Pascoe Vale side that for both rounds hasn't managed to defeat opponents that have had players sent off. I expect Collingwood to bounce back from last week's loss, and Vishnu help all of us if the Tigers actually win a fourth consecutive match. I'm going to say that last week was an off day for Thunder, but that Richmond aren't beyond getting a result in their game. Last week seemed to see Green Gully return to regularly scheduled programming with their win against Hume, while Oakleigh have their backs to the wall with two losses from two starts, the only team below them being the Thunder who started the season on minus three points. I reckon a draw on that one. Hume should easily dismantle a poor Southern Stars outfit, not that that's meant to be belittling anyone - but so far Stars have looked absolutely pants. For Sunday's game - which South of the Border could be attending, just in case you wanted autographs - another match with teams with perfect records. I think though this is where the Knights run ends, Northcote have apparently looked shit hot so far this season and I expect that to continue.