After all the blood, sweat and tears shed throughout the pre-season the AFL Season proper kicks off tomorrow night at the MCG. The big Easter round of matches throws up many intriguing matchups with many teams having a point to prove.

Here at Cha-Ching we will give you the inside scoop on what to look for in each match - don’t forget to sign up to our AFL package for all the winners this season.

Carlton v Richmond
Traditional rivals Carlton and Richmond kick off proceedings tomorrow night with a blockbuster at the MCG. Both teams are coming off forgettable seasons last year finishing 15th and 16th respectively. Carlton have bee quite loud throughout the pre-season picking up gun midfielder Chris Judd from the Eagles in trade week and selecting crack youngster Matthew Kreuzer with the first pick in last years National Draft. They have also had the distraction this week of dealing with Brendan Fevola’s nightlife antics. Richmond has been the exact opposite and has been going about their business pre-season with a minimal amount of fuss. Coach Terry Wallace will be the under the pump to produce a winning outfit or his job will be in jeopardy mid-season. They will welcome a fully fit Troy Simmonds after an injury interrupted season in 2007 and will also be relying on many of their young players to step up another level. Carlton going into tomorrow nights game as clear favourites, but don’t surprised if the Tigers lift for the occasion and it’s a much closer contest than anticipated.

Port Adelaide v Geelong
Thursday night also sees a rematch of last years Grand Final with Port Adelaide and Geelong going head to head at AAMI Stadium. Geelong should expect to see a very fired up Power outfit wanting to atone for the drubbing they received in last years Grand Final. In the corresponding game last year Geelong gave Port Adelaide a hiding so AAMI Stadium should hold no fears for them. A massive loss for Geelong will be that of Brad Ottens who has been ruled out with an ankle injury, meaning that Mark Blake will have to do the lion’s share of the ruckwork against arguably the competitions best ruck duo in Brendan Lade and Dean Brogan. This may well be where the game is won and lost and if Blake can subdue Lade and Brogan somewhat then Geelong look the likely winners.

Collingwood v Fremantle
Saturday afternoon sees Collingwood and Fremantle do battle at the MCG. Even though the Pies had a great year last year there are still plenty of pundits around who aren’t convinced about them as the real deal. Fremantle should be the big improvers this year after a terribly disappointing effort in 2007. They have new coach Mark Harvey at the helm and showed at the end of last year what sort of footy they are capable of playing. As always the key to a Fremantle win is Matthew Pavlich. The Docker skipper is a formidable opponent and should give Mick Malthouse and his coaching staff plenty of headaches throughout the day. If the Pies can limit the supply to Pavlich then they should go along way to winning the game. At the other end is Anthony Rocca who is often the Collingwood barometer as when he fires the Pies generally win the game.

West Coast v Brisbane
West Coast will begin life after Chris Judd and Ben Cousins when they face Brisbane at Subiaco on Saturday night. As has been well documented Judd has left the club for Carlton and Cousins has been sacked after a string of off field incidents. In the corresponding fixture last year the Eagles went in as the shortest priced favourite for the year only to get rolled by the underdog Lions. Without doubt the most intriguing and most important matchup in this game will be Darren Glass on Jonathan Brown. Brown will try and run Glass around and use his superior aerobic capacity to wear out the Eagles defender whilst Glass will be happy to stay at home and wrestle with the big Lion. However, with the Eagles being so strong at home it’s hard to see Brisbane beating them unless Brown can really get on top and the Lions midfield can curtail the Eagles strong on ball group.

St Kilda v Sydney
St Kilda goes into its Saturday night match with Sydney as the only team not to lose a game in 2008. They come off some great form in the pre-season which led them to the NAB Cup Premiership. Their two big talls down froward in Koschitzke and Riewoldt are up and firing and they are getting great service from their midfield. Sydney on the other hand comes into this game with typically poor pre-season form and they are notoriously slow starters. Another advantage for St Kilda is that they feel right at home at the Telstra Dome and it would take a brave man to tip against them this week.

Western Bulldogs v Adelaide
The first of Sunday’s games sees the Western Bulldogs host the Adelaide Crows at Telstra Dome. The Dogs come off a very disappointing season in 2007 where many people touted them as a Premiership chance. The Dogs have acquired Scott Welsh from Adelaide over the summer and he should help straighten them up as a leading target. Adelaide has been in fine form over the pre-season making the Nab Cup Grand Final before narrowly going down to the Saints. They made the finals last year and many people are predicting a drop down the ladder this year. However, they seem to have a good blend of experience and youth and if their NAB Cup form is anything to go by they should once again be a difficult opponent. Watch for many of their older stars such as Tyson Edwards and Simon Goodwin to spend a lot more time up forward this year. The Crows also play the Telstra Dome very well so playing away from home on Sunday should hold no fears for them.

Hawthorn v Melbourne
Hawthorn goes into its Round 1 contest with Melbourne as the shortest priced favourite for the round. The Hawks are a team on the rise with many young guns taking a big step forward last season. However, this looms as a bit of a danger game for Hawthorn as they are missing four key players through suspension. Campbell Brown, Luke Hodge, Shane Crawford, and Jordan Lewis are all suspended to start the season and this leaves a massive hole in Hawthorns midfield. Melbourne go into this season on the back of a very disappointing 2007. They finished in the bottom four and didn’t really give their supporters much to cheer about all year. They now have a new coach in Dean Bailey who will be hoping to spark some life into this at times lifeless club. The Demons have a massive opportunity to make a big statement this week against an under strength Hawthorn and only time will tell if they are up to the challenge.

Kangaroos v Essendon
The final game of the round is the Kangaroos against Essendon at the Telstra Dome on Easter Monday. The Bombers haven’t beaten the Kangaroos since that famous come from behind win in 2001 so they will be looking to get the monkey off their back under new coach Matthew Knights. Knights has given many of the players renewed enthusiasm after replacing Kevin Sheedy at the helm. All eyes will be on both full forwards as Essendon’s Matthew Lloyd has only played half a pre-season game after a hamstring setback whilst the Kangaroos Nathan Thompson is playing his first game for 12 months after a knee reconstruction. The Bombers will need to contain the likes of Brent Harvey and Shannon Grant if they are to win this game as they have given them real trouble over the past few seasons. They will also look towards the usual suspects in Lloyd and Scott Lucas to kick plenty of goals between them. If the two key forwards can get on top then it will go along way to providing Knights and the Bombers with a first up victory.

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Popularity: 100% [?]

Track: Flemington
Rail: +6m Entire Circuit
Condition: Dead 4 (Upgraded to a Good 3 at 12:58pm)

Racing was at Flemington for the second straight week for the final day of the Melbourne Festival of Racing.

Once again we had a 2yo straight race to kick off proceedings but unlike previous meetings all horses came to the outside fence. This set the precedent for the two other straight races for the day as all horses came out to the grandstand rail.

In the circle races the track raced brilliantly with Saratime and The Fuzz both winning after securing rails runs, whilst other winners such as Video Star, Translate and Electromotive all won after sitting off the pace and coming at least 4 or 5 horses off the fence.

The form from this meeting should stack up with the track racing perfectly. If anything when assessing the form of horses whose last start was down the straight it may pay to look what barrier they drew. Horses who have drawn the inside 2 or 3 barriers have tended to have a tough time getting into the right part of the track and are often stranded down the middle of the track without cover.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Track: Flemington
Rail: +2m Entire Circuit
Condition: Dead 4 (Upgraded to a Good 3 at 2:20pm)

Racing was at Flemington on ‘Super Saturday’ for the running of the Australian Cup, Newmarket Handicap and Australian Guineas. As has been the pattern since Flemington re-opened after Race 1 horses were expected to go to the outside fence in the straight races.

As expected Race 1 for the 2yo’s saw all the horses come down the inside rail, whilst in the other two straight races all horses came to the outside fence, a pattern that is becoming quite significant.

The track played well for the circle races with all horses receiving every chance to win barring bad luck. Races 3 and 5 saw the winners Von Costa De Hero and Coniston Gem race on or near the fence before winning, whilst Light Fantastic, Sirmione and Orange County were all able to winning coming at least 4 or 5 horses off the fence. If anything late in the day horses racing out in the middle of the track were at some advantage.

All in all it was a great days racing and barring horses that raced very close to the fence in the last few races all horses received every chance to win.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Track: Caulfield
Rail: +4m Entire Circuit
Condition: Good 3

Racing was at Caulfield on Saturday for the second consecutive week. This time the feature event was the Futurity Stakes which has recently been included as a race in the Asian Mile Challenge.

After three races many punters were labelling it another Caulfield leaders track with the first 3 winners all winning hard up against the fence, the last two leading all the way. However, this was mainly due to the slow pace that these races were run at it was just impossible for those back in the field to make up that amount of ground. This quickly turned around when some races were truly run. With horses being able to come off the pace and win on the inside (Carnero and About Face) and also come down the outside (Brom Brom, Bel Mer, Niconero, and Surfside Christmas).

After looking a bit leaderish to begin with the track played brilliantly throughout the day with all horses barring bad luck receiving every chance. The form from this meeting can be followed with some confidence.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Track: Caulfield
Rail: True
Condition: Dead 4

Racing was at Caulfield on Saturday for one of their feature meetings of the year, Blue Diamond Stakes Day. The rail remained in the true position from the last meeting their two weeks ago and this was of note as that day horses coming down the middle of the track were advantaged.

This seemed to be the pattern after the first two races with Coniston Gem and Zarita both winning after coming well away from the fence by design. Race 3 saw Publishing lead all the way hard up against the rail. This was about the only performance of this kind for the day with Light Fantastic, Princess Coup, Weekend Hussler and Reaan all winning the feature races by sitting off the pace and coming down the middle of the track. Even the majority of placegetters in these races were doing same.

The final two races saw Catechuchu lead and come off the fence in the straight by design to win and Benatar come from midfield and down the centre of the track to take first prize. This showed that the best part of the track was down the middle but horses could come from both on and off the pace to figure in the finish.

All in all it was a great days racing at Caulfield. Horses who raced on the inside section of the track in the second half of the program can be forgiven for poor runs as they were running on inferior ground.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Track: Moonee Valley
Rail: True
Condition: Dead 4 (Upgraded to a Good 3 retrospective of Race 1)

The spotlight was on Moonee Valley on Saturday for the running of the time honoured Australia Stakes. With the rail in the true position Cha-Ching followers had a head start already knowing that the fence was not going to be the place to be and those swooping out wide would be best suited.

The track raced as expected throughout the day with all horses that won coming 3-4 horses off the inside fence in the straight. Horses were able to sit anywhere in the run and win but it was paramount that they didn’t go near the inside part of the track in the straight.

It would pay to forgive the runs of those horses that raced on the inside part of the track in the straight. Whilst keep in mind for future form reference that the horses that swooped home down the outside of the track were at a distinct advantage.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Track: Caulfield
Rail: True
Condition: Dead 4 (Upgraded to a Good 3 at 12:55pm; downgraded to a Dead 4 at 4:45pm)

Racing was at Caulfield on Saturday for the traditional Blue Diamond Prelude/Orr Stakes meeting. With the rail back in the true position many people anticipated that it may be a track favouring those close to the fence.

The first two races saw the winners both come away from the fence with Saratime sitting off them before having no choice but to come wide and win the first, whilst Vivacious Spirit led in Race 2 before jockey Craig Newitt came away from the fence by design in the straight.

The next two races saw Wilander and Believe’N’Succeed both burn straight to the front and win leading hard up against the rail. The fifth race saw the beginning of a true pattern emerge with La Chasseuse and Lucky Diva both sitting outside the leader before coming wide in the straight and winning. The last three winners all did similar by sitting handy to the speed before coming down the middle of the track to win.

Looking back on the day it was very difficult for those horses back in the field to make ground and those that attempted to do so should be forgiven for a poor run.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Track: Flemington
Rail: True
Condition: Dead 4 (Upgraded to a Good 3 at 2:15pm)

Racing was at Headquarters on Saturday for the beginning of the Melbourne festival of racing. The first Group 1 of 2008 was the feature with the sprinters squaring up in the Lightning Stakes over 1000m.

The track raced perfectly throughout the day with horses winning from all sections of the track. Wayne’s Gold and Musidora both rode the speed to win Races 2 and 4, whilst other winners such as Playwright and Molotov were able to come wide and from well back to win their respective races.

There were two straight races on the card with all but one 2yo (ran unplaced) coming down the inside section of the track in Race 1 and all horses coming to the outside fence in Race 6. This seems to be a growing trend on the new Flemington that the outside section of the track seems the place to be in straight races.

The form from this meeting can be followed with a great degree of confidence. Barring horses that ran into bad luck all horses received every chance.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Track: Caulfield
Rail: +10m Entire Circuit
Condition: Dead 4 (Upgraded to a Good 3 at 2:25pm)

As has become tradition racing was at Caulfield on Australia Day for the Zedative Stakes and Blue Diamond Preview meeting. As we have pointed out previously when the rail is out a fair distance at Caulfield horses tend to get away from the fence late in the day.

The track raced fairly for the first half of the program with Reaan and Bundle O’Gold both leading to win Races 2 and 5 respectively. Jeuneyman and Siennas Fury were both able to come off the pace to win, with Siennas Fury putting up a huge effort coming from well back.

Race 6 saw Absolut Glam come down the centre of the track to win, whilst Zyzxx and Lucky Diva both rode the speed before coming wide by design in the straight to take out the final two races.

The form from this meeting should hold up; however it may pay to forgive horses who raced in the inferior ground on the fence in the straight.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Track: Flemington
Rail: +9m Entire Circuit
Condition: Good 3 (Downgraded to a Dead 4 at 12:40pm)

Racing was at Flemington on Saturday where the feature race was the Chester Manifold Stakes over the 1410m. With the rail out 9m it was expected that horses would go to the outside fence in the straight races and as the day went on would gradually get out towards the centre of the track in the circle races.

As usual all the 2yos came to the inside part of the straight in the first race, whilst in the other two straight races for the older horses the outside fence was clearly superior with the first two home on the grandstand side in Race 3 and all horses came to the outside fence in Race 7.

The circle races went as expected with horses gradually getting to the centre of the track as the day wore on.

The form from this meeting will need to be treated with a degree of caution. Horses that raced down the inside part of the track in Race 3 and in the circle races in the second half of the program can be forgiven for poor efforts.

Popularity: 25% [?]