Hawthorn and Sydney both shed Rating Points (RPs) on the ChiPS and MARS Rating Systems this past weekend but remain in 1st and 2nd positions, respectively, on both Systems

It's an odd weekend's football when the three predicting progeny of the ChiPS System wind up as the best Head-to-Head, Margin and Probability predictors.

Today, not a post about football, but one about the history of one of MoS’ Margin Predictors, Shadow.

Neither the Head-to-Head nor the Line Fund algorithm think much of the TAB prices on offer this week with the result that they've put only 2.6% of the entire Portfolio at risk across the nine games

Hawthorn wrested back from Sydney its Number 1 ChiPS Ranking this weekend, bringing the ChiPS and MARS Rankings for the top two places back into alignment. Hawthorn are now, according to ChiPS, about a half-goal better side than Sydney at a neutral venue.

All nine favourites won this week, but only five of them were home teams, and only two of those five covered their respective spreads, so whilst it was a week of solid result tipping and margin predicting it was a not a week of profitable MoS wagering.

The relatively late withdrawal of Gary Ablett from the Suns team to play the Cats on Sunday provided a fascinating case study in how bookmakers value such pivotal players.

Many teams' latent abilities and inabilities were revealed this past weekend, reflected by the changes in their ChiPS and MARS Ratings and Rankings.

If you've had a poor round's wagering and tipping, I think you're due an appalling pun in your blog post title.

No sooner, it seems, at this time of year, does one round finish before the next one starts.

I have reason to be suspicious about seasons where MoS has been startling in Round 1, so I feel much more satisfied that the results for Round 1 of 2015 are pleasingly positive without being yell-from-the-rooftops amazing.

With the Essendon situation now resolved, at least for the time being, and the TAB consequently willing to field complete Head-to-Head and Line markets, MoS is now locked in for the first week of the season.

It's March already and I've not written a thing here about my plans for MoS for the upcoming season.

After Saturday's demolition of the Swans by the Hawks it's fitting that both ChiPS and MARS Rate the Hawks at season's-end as the Number 1 team - though, to be fair to ChiPS, it thought that was the case before the GF too.

Obviously not the result that anyone expected nor the one that Investors wanted this week - and, frankly, not quite the Grand Final that I think the season deserved. Congrats to the Hawks regardless - they were maybe the best and certainly one of the two best teams all season.

Almost all of MoS thinks the Swans will win on Saturday.

So comprehensive was Sydney's win over the Roos and so faltering the Hawks' over Port Adelaide that MARS has seen fit to elevate Sydney's Rating above Hawthorn's for the first time this season.