There's something niggling away at the back of the mind over today's opening match of the round at Etihad Stadium between the top-placed St Kilda and the fourth-placed Carlton.
There's nothing logical about it. The Saints have won 11 on the trot; the Blues two as part of their 6-5 record for the season so far.
A third win would be a huge psychological breakthrough for the boys from Princes Park, who haven't strung that many together for five long, dark years. It would also be the first time Carlton have beaten the Saints since 2001.
The Saints have handed out some champion thrashings on their march through the first half of the season: 97 points over West Coast; 83 points over Fremantle; and 88 points over Collingwood.
Carlton has only really trounced lowly Richmond, by 83 points.
But for this writer, there is still this lingering feeling that the Blues could have some show of drawing first blood from the Moorabbin boys and living up to their pre-season promise.
The centre contests, involving the likes of Judd, Kreuzer and Gibbs for the Blues, and Dal Santo, Montagna and Ball for the Saints, should prove a highlight.
For St Kilda, the ruckman Steven King enters the naughty corner for four weeks, after an incident that had Sam Power seeing stars last week. Michael Gardiner, the club's other senior ruckman, is back from suspension and will be joined by forward Stephen Milne and defender Sam Gilbert. Carlton welcomes back Jordan Bannister after dropping Brad Fisher.
pstafford@thenational.ae
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE CARD
The line-up as it stands for the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27
50-man Royal Rumble
Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns
Casket match
The Undertaker v Rusev
Intercontinental Championship
Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Bludgeon Brothers v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship
Sheamus and Cesaro v Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy
United States Championship
Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
Singles match
Triple H v John Cena
To be confirmed
AJ Styles will defend his WWE World Heavyweight title and Cedric Alexander his Cruiserweight Championship, but matches have yet to be announced
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
