Round 20 - the pointy end!!

Well, what a week it was last week! The fangsnatcher dropped to fifth after picking a measley 3 and all of a sudden we have 4 new leaders! EJ leapt to the front picking 7 and taking home a bottle of tasty MH for his trouble. Ranks and Whopper are holding strong but the real concern is our very own Mitch. Come on tipsters..there'll be uproar if one of our own is on top at the end of the season.

A soggy Round 20 kicks off on Friday night with the 'Hot Pies' taking on the Dons at the MCG in an ANZAC day replay. Collingwood are in blitzing form whilst the Dons are still flailing around all over the place.    
Speaking of all over the place, Carlton takes on Richmond on Saturday arvo. Both teams have been so inconsistent but the Tiges will be showing off a bit of white line fever with the release of a certain documentary this week.

A cracking game from the Swannies last week holds them in good stead for a top match up over in the West against the Dockers. Fremantle are sans Sandilands so the Bloods are in with a chance. The Cats have got another top 4 challenge this week when they vie with the Bulldogs at the Dome on Saturday night. This should be a ripper of a game, with the Doggies looking to take out a top team.
At the other end of the table West Coast are doing absolutely everything in their power to secure the priority draft pick and taking on Port over in Adelaide they should go that little bit closer on Saturday night.

Brisbane are playing at the Gabba and could quite possibly run over Adelaide who's finals chances have gone down the proverbial plug hole. Jonathan Brown is looking to run out for his 200th game this week but a knee injury could stop any running at all. The Hawks have always played superbly against Melbourne beating them by an average of 45 points in their last 5 games, and after their big headed president gave them a mouthful in the media this week they will most likely come out firing.

And finally it's the mighty Saints against the Roos, who are just holding onto finals contention. The Saints should be too strong in this Sunday evening showdown, but what better time than a wintry Sunday evening to crack a bottle of Mitchell Harris red and settle in. Go on...

Good luck tipsters,

Lis, Mitch, Johnno and Shan  

Round 19 - 4 weeks to go!!

Well, tipsters, there's only 4 rounds to go and the fangsnatcher has stretched his lead to 2! There's a bundle of tipsters close on his tail so the Mitchell Harris Tipping comp is looking like coming down to the wire yet again this year.
“Do or do not... there is no try.” Yes, the little green man won the bottle last week..nice one Yoda..

Onto the footy..
Friday night kicks off with the Blues clashing with the Bombers. Carlton will come out firing this week after their coach Brett Ratten nailed his own team as "soft" and "lacking commitment". They have lost their last 6 games against the Bombers so history may be repeated yet again. It's do or die for the Swannies this week who are struggling to hold onto the top 8. They meet the Hawks who had a bit of a hiccup last week against Adelaide but should hold strong despite playing up in Sydney.

Yet another team is striving for that highly valued 8th spot and the Roos will have to knock off a strong Freo outfit this week to grab it. The Dockers are looking to muscle the Doggies out of 4th spot so they too have a bit to play for, despite missing a couple of key players. And then on Saturday night it's the match of the round, the blockbuster, the one not to be missed.. Pies V Cats! What a game it will be, both teams are in cracking form and the G should be heaving.

What a contrast over in the West - Top two teams to bottom two teams. The battle of the wooden spoon, both teams are in miserable form. The battle of the shockers.

The Saints seem to still be struggling to adjust to their big skipper being back in the forward line and after being knocked out by the Bombers last week, they need to nail a win. Port ran over the top of the Saints earlier in the year and have won their last two under Matty Primus. Jimmy Stynes' Dees are continuing their top form but will meet a tough opponent in the Tigers who played a ripper game last week and in the final game of the round the Doggies meet up with the Crows over in the city of churches. Big Bad Bazza is leading the league goal kicking and should clock up another bagload this week.

Good luck tipsters, there's not long now..

Shan, Lis, Mitch and Johnno

MItchell Harris Tipsters...the 5 star edition!

Five stars indeed!
In only our second year up and running Mitchell Harris was this week named a 5 star winery in James Halliday's 2011 edition of The Wine Companion! All three wines were positively reviewed with the 08 Shiraz snapping up a brilliant 95 points, the Cabernet 94 points and our Sauv Blanc a handy little 93 points!
Check out the full reviews here.

Anyway, enough of the gratuitous bragging, onto the tipping...

Whopper had a whopper of a week snapping up his second bottle of MH for the season and moving his way up into 5th spot. But still the Fangsnatcher hangs on! And where did Ranks come from? He's just pipping out Mitchell Harris' own Dr Mitch. It's as tight as a camel's butt in a sandstorm at the top of our leaderboard so pick carefully tipsters..

Nick Reiwoldt will lead his boys out onto the Docklands turf (very carefully) on Friday night to face up to the Bombers. The Saints haven't snapped up a win for the last couple of weeks and will be hungry to get 4 points on the board. Check out some vintage Collingwood V Carlton rivalry footage here before making your pick for Saturday afternoon at the G. Big fists and even bigger hair!

Port Power farewell Warren Tredrea this Saturday afternoon when they take on the soaring Hawks. Port had a top win last week in the SA showdown but will be up against a Hawthorn team trying to cement their spot in the finals.

Saturday night sees the Dees take on Brisbane. Wow, what a performance from the red and blue last week! They absolutely whipped the Swannies last week and Brisbane could be in for a similar thrashing this week unless the mouth on legs can fire up and kick a few goals. The Swans could be looking at another drubbing when they meet the Cats on Saturday night unless they can pick up the pace a bit to escape the endless pussy cat tackling.

It's getting awfully close to wooden spoon time and the Tigers are doing everything they can to stay off the bottom. They've shown some glimpses of exciting footy throughout the year but the Crows will be out to avenge their poor showing last week. The Roos should never have lost to the Bombers last week and after the form the Aker-less Doggies displayed it could be a tad one sided at "Ankle breaker" Stadium on  Sunday afternoon. The round winds up with a the Western Derby. Freo are only limping over the line and have lost their grip on a top 4 spot. Could this be the time for an Eagles upset?

Good Luck Tipsters!

Shan, Mitch, Lis and Johnno

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5 stars in our second year!

A great nod of the head for us at Mitchell Harris Wines with James Halliday awarding us the status of 5-star winery in only our second year in his 2011 Wine Companion. A great feeling to be the newest Pyrenees ( or Ballarat ) 5-star winery in the Companion.

Needless to say, some awesome and meticulous work from our now superstar winemaker John Harris has resulted in some terrific wines that have now scores some great Halliday reviews.

In brief:

Mitchell Harris Pyrenees Shiraz 2008 : 95 points
Mitchell Harris Pyrenees Cabernet Sauvignon : 94 points
Mitchell Harris Pyrenees Sauvignon Blanc Fumé : 93 points

Check out the full reviews over at the Wine Companion

Round 17 is upon us tipsters and amidst the Aker Show there is still footy to be played. Tre "T-bone" Watts took home the chocolates last week just pipping out Yoda who simply replied with "Ohhh. Great warrior.Wars not make one great”...

Disco Dowsley has snuck up the ladder and knocked Pop out of 2nd spot last week but it's the Fangsnatcher still leading the way. Can he hang on for six more rounds??

Onto the tipping...
A cracking game kicks off the round with the Hawks and Saints locking horns at the Phone Dome on Friday night. Hawthorn are flying along and the Saints are still trying to adjust to having their skipper back on board..it'll be a close one!

The Pies have topped the ladder this week but can they hang on to the No. 1 spot until September?? The Tiges will struggle here and should be well and truly outclassed by the black and white. The betting agencies are paying out for a Brisbane win against the Catters on Saturday arvo but I'm tipping the big cats wont be troubling the little cats at home too much..

The Roos are only just sitting out of the 8 like a dog at the back door. Given Essendon's lacklustre performance of late they might just push their way into 8th spot. That 8th spot they're fighting for currently belongs to the Blue Baggers and they need to knock off West Coast over in the West on Saturday night. The Weagles had a ripper win last week and will come out fighting..

The Bulldogs take on Freo this week and also took on Freo's club song giving their own "Heave Ho" to the shy and quietly spoken Akermanis. The mighty Dees have slowly crept their way up the ladder but the Bloods played a stirling game last week and with Jude Bolton clocking up 250 games they should be too good.

The SA showdown winds up the round on Sunday evening. Port Adelaide, led by their new coach Matty Primus, could repeat their Rd 6 performance and take out their home town rival, Adelaide.

Now, before you scoot off and enter your winning tips take a quick minute to have a squiz at this recent press review on the MH range...it'll make you thirsty..

www.ozwinereview.com/2010/07/mitchell-harris-range.html    


So Giddy up tipsters, tip well and have a great weekend.

Cheers, Lis, Johnno, Mitch and Shan

Round 16 tipping - Beware the Fangsnatcher

Welcome tipsters...
 A final word on the round ball game - we have two winners in our World Cup tipping comp. Reidy and BD take themselves home a bottle of the 07 Shiraz for their troubles..nice work lads! Viva La Espana!! It's just lucky Paul the octopus isn't on our mailing list..
Two of our other tipsters hit the jackpot last week, Troy "Champs" Chandler just pipped The Wiz for the tasty little bottle of MH. The Wiz has been uncharacteristically quiet this year but could be coming home with a flying finish. Hard to see him knocking of the Fabulous Fangsnatcher though, who is holding onto the No 1 spot like a couple of stubborn molars.
Our illustrious winemaker Johnno has done a 'Cadel' going from 8 picks in round 14 to a measly 4 last week, dropping rapidly off the back of the pack..

Onto the ball game...

Adelaide have been on quite the winning streak of late but their last three wins have been against the Dees, the Bombers and West Coast - not really the top flyers of the AFL by any stretch.. Geelong will be a different story all together and the pussy cats should send those crows flapping right out of reach of the top 8.

A Saturday afternoon shindig at the G will see Collingwood come up against the Saints. Last time these teams played the Saints skipper shredded his hammy, but he's back in the game whilst the Pies are one down with Travis Cloke sidelined for a bit of argy bargy last week. The Malthouse V Milne mouth off should ensure a firey match up.

The Hawks are looking like playing sans Buddy on Saturday arvo down in the Isle of Apples. They match up against a Brisbane outfit who have been locked away in court all week battling it out with Fitzroy over which way the Lion should roar!

With two coaches under fire, look out the loser of this game between the Bombers and West Coast. Woosh or Matty Knights could be lining up at Centrelink behind Choco next week..
Under new coach Matty Primus, Port meet the Bulldogs on Saturday night at Tio Stadium..Huh? Where? Tio who? Ok ok, so I googled it and they're headed to Darwin. Playing in about 35 degrees should thaw out the boys this week and the Doggies will still be without Aker who still can't seem to "fermez sa bouche!".

Two teams...both desperately trying to cement their spot in the top 8.  Blues V Bloods. A loss for either of these teams could see them slip out of the 8 quicker than green grass through a goose. A little bit of Facebook sledging from Richmond's Daniel Jackson sets the scene for their clash against North Melbourne on Sunday. The Tigers have won four in a row and might just make it five this week. Finally the Dees head west to face Freo who are coming off a disappointing loss last week and should come out flying, especially given Melbourne's record of winning 1 of their last 19 interstate games!

Good luck!

Shan, Johnno, Mitch and Lis

Mitchell Harris Tipsters..it's Round 14!

It's an early start to the round this week tipsters so remember to get your tips in before the Thursday night bounce as we move rapidly to the pointy end of the season.
Ratman took out the MH bottle last week as well as taking out the title of Freakiest Profile Pic of the Year..check it out if you dare! Our resident dentist, the Fearless Fangsnatcher, has moved two points clear on the Mitchell Harris Mates leaderboard and is settling into his top position there.

It's been hailed as the game of the round as Fev matches up against his old side...but it would appear there's just one element lacking - Fev. Amidst rumours of Wayne Carey like behaviour at a club party he'll be absent this week. No Fev, no Browny, no goals?  Hawks have clocked up 6 in a row and are absolutely flying. The Doggies have got some top players back on the list so it should be a cracking game on Friday night.

Port do an 80's pop duo and Go West on Saturday to take on a Fremantle side that are holding on to their top 4 spot whilst the Eagles head eastward for a tough gig against a classy Pies outfit. The other Saturday night match will be a tricky one to call when the Bombers take on the Crows at home.
Geelong will be out to avenge last week's loss, and with big Pods up on the forward line and Gazza charging through the centre of the Cattery the odds are a bit long for the Roos.

Sunday afternoon sees the Swannies head south to take on the current wooden spooners Richmond who have lost a bit of their roar of late. If Jack Riewoldt could kick another bag of ten they might just give Sydney a run.
Saints played a magnificent game last week and should get across the line easily in the final game of the round. The Baker's dozen was dropped to nine but the Dees have got their work cut out for them this week.

So, stay warm tipsters and let's reel in that Fangsnatcher!

Cheers, Shan, JH, Mitch and Lis