Pies to win the 2023 Premiership

Record crowds, close games, controversy and low scoring was the story of the opening week of the 2023 Finals Series.

GWS put in a business like performance to end St Kilda's 2023 season (credit: James Ross/AAP Photos) The 24 round warm up is complete and this weekend reminded me how good footy in September is. Players go harder, fans are louder and every moment has more gravitas especially for the teams in do or die matches. As expected, this weekend's footy wasn’t the best quality we have seen all season due to the extra pressure that finals brings. Don't get me wrong there were some elite moments but on the whole, skills were down, decision making was poor through defensive pressure being at a high level. Three games at the MCG with record crowds made me feel safe and regret not ducking down to Melbourne for the weekend. Nonetheless, let's get into the takes. Take #1 Dees to be GAWN in straight sets

Max Gawn tussles with Brayden Maynard after "Bruzzy" put his shoulder through Angus Brayshaw's jaw (Credit: Getty Images/AFL Photos) The Dees were absolutely terrible going forward on Friday night and could not have played worse in the final third. Petracca was off in the first half, Oliver wasn’t firing and their forward line was completely dysfunctional. Melbourne seemed to rely on individual brilliance to keep them in the game on Friday night from Kozzy Pickett or Christian Petracca. This reliance is not sustainable in finals footy and for the last month, it has felt like the Dees have played without structure or purpose. A lack of team chemistry driven by an inconsistent playing 22. A dysfunctional forward line cannot be fixed in a week. However, as the Dees arguably have a better, more experienced side on paper, this gives them a chance againstthe Blues. I think Carlton have a swagger about them at the moment and will get the job done in a tight one on Friday night. Take #2 Maynard gets off

Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw was knocked out early by Brayden Maynard (Credit: Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS) Bruzzy will get off. No doubt in my mind that he will get off. Why? Because if he doesn’t, the AFL tribunal simply does not understand the game of footy. An incident that should be seen as a footy incident with no malice intended. The reason why Maynard jumped in the air was not to block Brayshaw or bump the Demon, it was simply an attempt to smother the footy and should not be categorised as a careless act. Maynard wears his heart on his sleeve and will never shirk a contest, which is what the Pies fans love about him. As an Eagles fan, I don’t like him playing against the Coasters and when Liam Ryan laid him out in the 2018 grand final, I thought it was great. As a neutral he is great to watch, he brings the best out of his teammates and plays a brand of footy that belongs in September Speaking of Pies fans, good to see they are still as classless as ever by booing Angus Brayshaw off the ground on Friday night after the pivotal incident. I think Brayshaw is so crucial to the Dees' setup and if the incident did not happen, maybe there would have been a different winner on Friday night. Take #3 Big Big Sound will live on to a prelim

Adam Kingsley and is side before dismantling the Saints (Credit: GWS Giants) I never like to buy into first week hype but guess what, I am doing just that by predicting Giants and Blues wins this week. In my article on July 16, my second take was that the Blues and Giants will play finals despite being 10th and 11th respectively at the time. Now I am predicting both sides to make a preliminary final. The Giants are the form team of the competition and Adam Kingsley has got them playing a brand that allows the very talented list to thrive. Whilst the Power will be very tough to beat on Saturday night, having won at Adelaide Oval this season will give the Giants a heap of confidence. The difference between this weekend and the round 22 clash at Adelaide Oval where Port beat the Giants by 51 points will be that this game is being played in September. The majority of the Giants team have quite a lot of finals experience now which will hold them in good stead. If they can play a relatively defensive game and take the sting out of the crowd early, I think we could be seeing a Giants v Pies prelim.

Shoutout to Brent Daniels and Toby Bedford on the weekend. I thought they were elite and supported Toby greene very nicely. Take #4 Blues fans are funny

Blues players thanking their fans for "sticking with them" through the ups and downs after their elimination final victory on Friday night (Credit: SEN) The blues players 4 months ago were getting death threats, hate mail and being boo'd off the ground. Oh how the times have changed! The calls for Vossy to be sacked were so loud from the fans that the board had to hold an extraordinary meeting to make a call on the coach of the club. The board ultimately backed Vossy to take the club to the promised land which has proved to be a good punt and the feel good factor has well and truly returned to Princes Park. Blues fans are incredibly bi-polar and make me laugh from wanting their coach dead to now hailing him as some sort of sorcerer that has transformed the club. I understand Carlton have been through a lot in the last 20 years with zero success but hey blues fans, how about backing your coach and players when you inevitably become a bad side again. Take #5 Pies win the flag

Darcy Moore continues to lead from the front in the Pies victory over the Demons (Credit: Collingwood/Sarah Black) I didn’t think the Pies were great this weekend and I don’t think they have been great the last six weeks either. The side is not in great form and not all players are firing. But, you best believe I am still predicting them to win the flag because of one man and one man only… Nick Daicos. The best player in the competition is expected to return to the Pies side in the Preliminary Final and Collingwood are a much better side with Nick Daicos in it. I think there is a lot of pressure on the 20 year old Daicos to perform in the prelim having not played a game in six weeks. Prior to Daicos being injured, Collingwood looked untouchable and even when Daicos got a hard tag, the team was able to work through it and freed up other players to make an impact. I typically have disliked Collingwood throughout my life which is weird because arguably my favourite player Scott Pendlebury is a Pies legend. With Pendles leading the boys and Daicos returning to the side, I am predicting a 2023 premiership to the black and white stripes. In other news I didn’t speak about Brisbane at all in this article, largely due to the fact that they cannot win at the MCG and whilst they are well placed to make the Grand Final now with a home preliminary final, I cannot see them winning the flagg. In a completely unrelated note, it was great to see Coco Gauff win the US Open title at just 19 years of age. It feels like Gauff has been around for ages but is somehow only 19. This shows just how remarkable of an athlete she is to achieve al she has done whilst still being a teenager. Go Coco!

Coco Gauff holding her first grand slam trophy after defeating Aryna Sabalenka (Credit: Sydney Morning Herald) Also, I am predicting Novak Djokovic to win this evening's US Open title over Daniil Medvedev in 5 sets over 4 hours and 46 minutes of battling.

See you next week