Does Fremantle have an incentive to “tank” in the last minor round of the 2012 AFL season?

To tank or not to tank ? - that is the question facing Fremantle

For those of you not familiar with the Tanking term, Tanking occurs when a team deliberately loses a match to advance their cause. In the AFL there is often speculation that a lowly ranked team will “tank” matches to secure a first round draft pick in the AFL National draft. The incentive here is secure the services of a highly talented player in order to win more matches in the future.

What if the tanking scenario could be applied to the AFL finals race? The teams playing the 2012 AFL finals series are set but the finishing position of every team in the “Top 8” is not. Based of the Round 23 schedule released by the AFL, Fremantle may have the choice of underperforming in their match in order to secure a final in Perth against the West Coast. This would be a game that Fremantle would consider themselves with more than a fair chance of winning.

The most likely alternative for Fremantle is a trip to Melbourne to play a final. Given the travel involved and their poor record when travelling, the logical option for Fremantle is to perform below standard (or even lose against Melbourne) if this results in a Perth derby.

The final ladder positions will be determined by two games, Hawthorn vs West Coast and Geelong vs Sydney. The winner of the Hawthorn vs West Coast will impact the results of at least 3 other games: Geelong vs Sydney, Essendon vs Collingwood and Fremantle vs Melbourne.

If Hawthorn win, then Collingwood have an incentive to beat Essendon for a Top 4 spot and with West Coast likely to be in fifth position Fremantle have the incentive to underperform against Melbourne in order to play the West Coast in a Perth derby. It should be noted here that Hawthorn have a big incentive to win as this will secure top spot and a home final.

If West Coast win and secure a Top 4 spot, then Adelaide and Sydney will be encouraged to win their games against Gold Coast and Geelong (respectively) to secure Top 2 spots and home games in the first week. Fremantle would look at the GWS vs North Melbourne and Geelong vs Syndey games to see if they wanted to play either Collingwood or Geelong the following week.

For Fremantle, the extra incentive (or disincentive) will arise from the GWS vs North Melbourne match. This game is scheduled to start on Saturday at 4:40pm and Fremantle will know the final result during their game against Melbourne. A big win by North Melbourne (which looks likely) would provide little incentive for Fremantle to play well.

So this weekend it looks like Fremantle will be hoping that Hawthorn win, followed by a convincing win by North Melbourne, then they can “tank” their game against Melbourne so they can play against West Coast in a Perth derby.

It would be reasonable to assume that the AFL would prefer every that teams played each game on their merits and to the best of their ability, but in this scenario a finals team can manipulate results by underperforming.

What characteristics make a “real” man?

Latte – would you drink this, maybe not if you’re a “real” man??

One always speaks about these things in caution, as there is always some naysayer out there who will finding something wrong with this type of article. I can hear them now, “Oh, it’s demeaning to men, or coffee drinkers or balding men”. Well, as a bald man that drinks coffee, I’m not offended. So, let’s take the lighter side of this one, especially as this is really meant to be tongue in cheek.

How many of the “real” man characteristics below do you have?

Real Men don’t wear Pink – the reason why is obvious, Pink is a girl’s colour. But in marketing Blue is generally used for marketing Boys products, similarly Pink is generally used for Girls products. The answer lies in advertising.

Real Men don’t drink latte – a little trickier but had you ever heard a labourer ask for a skinny, soy latte. I think not, real men drink black coffee, the stronger the better and no sugar allowed!!

That leads to the next one – Real Men don’t drink Decaf – what were they thinking when they created Decaf, it isn’t coffee without the caffeine … and if you refer to the point above the stronger the coffee the better, so strong, skinny, soy lattes don’t count.

Real Men don’t drink Light Beer – actually you are better off drinking full strength beer as some of the ingredients to make the beer “light” can have adverse effects (apart from the obvious!!) on the human body.

Real Men like their liquor strong – unfortunately yours truly fails this one, but back in the day the upscale from beer on a night out was a “neat” single malt scotch, although straight tequila and /or vodka are amongst the preferred drinks of real men.

Real Men don’t do comb-overs – that’s right if you’re going bald either cut your hair really short or shave your head, it’s more fashionable and practical. Plus the ladies probably like it, although I would need confirmation on that one!!

Real Men eat meat – and lots of it!!! One of the best meals for a real man is meat lover’s pizza and beer. It provides enough sustenance for a big night out especially as they’re drinking full strength beer and potentially hard liquor by night’s end.

Real Men have a working knowledge of sport – real men understand that sport is organised warfare without the bullets. They should be able to grasp the concept of whatever sport that is on TV and be able to explain the rules if needed. Ideally they will have a team they support in every code but there will only ever be one team that they barrack for that rises above all others and nothing will get in the way of a real man and that team!!

… and finally Real men don’t cry – unless you spill his Farmers Union Iced Coffee !!

So lads, how did you stack up against the list? And ladies how many “real” men do you know?