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The 2015 AFL season is upon us! This year The Roar’s panel of expert tipsters will be scratching their heads and putting their titles on the line, bringing you their tips and predictions each and every round.
Fancy yourself a handy tipper? Why not join The Roar’s AFL tipping competition, or scroll down and have your vote in The Crowd’s weekly tips – each week the combined votes will tallied to see if Roarers can out-tip the experts!
LOOKING FOR ROUND 9 TIPS? VIEW TIPS FOR ROUND 9
Ryan Buckland
Richmond, Gold Coast, Sydney, Brisbane, West Coast, GWS, North Melbourne, Fremantle and Hawthorn
Richmond go into Round 1 as the lockiest locks that ever locked. What’s the betting line? Doesn’t matter, take the over.
Gold Coast should knock off the Dees if they are serious about their chances this year, but it’s Round 1 so who really knows. It’ll be a 10:50am start for this one in the west, so I’m guaranteed to be at the shops.
Sydney are another lock – Essendon may have their players back on board but they’ll be mighty rusty after missing the NAB Challenge.
The Dayne Beams Cup will have BLFC engraved on it come Saturday evening, as we get our first taste of just how rebuild-ey Collingwood will be in 2015.
West of Melbourne or west of the Nullarbor? Take this one based on the home – that’s the only convincing arc I can find.
Sunday’s slate looks the most interesting of the week. I expect the Giants to win in Melbourne for the first of a few times this year, believe in what North Melbourne has done over the off and preseason to impress me more so than Adelaide, and I really, really want Fremantle to show that the footy world’s collective writing off of their chances is just plain wrong (but this one is a 50/50 proposition).
Monday will show us more about Geelong than it will Hawthorn. We know Hawthorn will be excellent, but the jury is out on Geelong. I’m playing the percentages and backing the Hawks, but expect it to be close.
Cam Rose
Richmond, Gold Coast, Sydney, Brisbane, West Coast, GWS, Adelaide, Fremantle and Hawthorn
Carlton vs Richmond: Both sides are going in very confident of a win, so there’s going to be a wake-up call for one club. The Tiges should be superior over the course of the year, and in Round 1 sometimes that’s all you can go on when picking a winner. But the Blues do have some sort of mental hold over the Tiges, which will keep them in it for a long way. Richmond by 11 points.
Melbourne vs Gold Coast: The Suns look to be missing key players and have others underdone, so must be some risk against a fit, enthusiastic Melbourne looking to make a positive Round 1 impact for the first time since man landed on the moon. That said, the Suns should still just be too slick across the ground, but an upset is definitely on the cards. Gold Coast by 12 points.
Sydney vs Essendon: The margin has been helped by the Anti-Doping Tribunal, but the result will not be. Sydney.
Brisbane vs Collingwood: A tough match between two sides that will likely be occupying similar positions on the ladder come season’s end. That being the case, you can do worse than just sticking with the home side in these sort of games. Another factor is the Magpies’ lack of midfield depth after Dayne Beams’ defection to make it a Lions strength. Brisbane by 21 points.
Western Bulldogs vs West Coast: Both sides have shown some brightness over the pre-season, suggesting that they may not finish as low as some, including myself, initially rated them. The Eagles experience edge through the middle, and Josh Kennedy up forward, should be enough to secure victory. West Coast by 19 points.
St Kilda vs GWS: Several experts around the place have picked the Giants for a spot in the bottom four, which smacks of a laziness based on seasons past. They’ll win this comfortably, and give an indication how far removed they’ll be from the bottom this year. GWS by 48 points.
Adelaide vs North Melbourne: This should be the most entertaining match of the round, both sides capable of playing fast footy with plenty of forwards to do some damage. Both clubs have top-four aspirations, and the Roos need to win these sort of matches to finish there, while the Crows can’t make it if they don’t. Adelaide by 8 points.
Fremantle vs Port: Two sides expected to figure prominently come the end of the season, and we get to see just how much gap is between them early in the year. A loss for either is a big set-back against a fellow contender, but probably more so for the Dockers at home. The Power lost their last two NAB Challenge matches, and three in a row would start to raise some little question marks. Fremantle by 4 points.
Hawthorn vs Geelong: The Hawks haven’t won an Easter Monday clash against the Cats since its introduction in 2010, perhaps the only remaining stain on their ultra-impressive record over the last few years. Each clash has been a classic, and we can expect more of the same again. The Hawks will start favourite once more, but the Cats will play some exciting football to try and bring them undone. Hawthorn by 19 points.
Sean Lee
Richmond, Gold Coast, Essendon, Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn
Richmond to defeat Carlton: Mick to see exactly where Carlton will lose games this season.
Gold Coast to defeat Melbourne: Losing to Essendon reserves during the preseason was only the start of Melbourne’s 2015 nightmare.
Essendon to defeat Sydney: They may be underdone, but at full strength and with free spirits, Bombers will ruffle the notoriously slow starting Swans.
Collingwood to defeat Brisbane: The Pies stole the backpages earlier this week and they’ll steal this game from Brisbane too!
Western Bulldogs to defeat West Coast: The boys from the Kennel are on the rise.
St Kilda to defeat GWS: When the highlight of your pre-season is beating a fourth rate, topped up Bomber line up, it isn’t really a highlight at all. Sorry Giants, it’s the Saints in a close one.
North Melbourne to defeat Adelaide: It’s now or never for the Roos. If they are to truly challenge for the premiership they have to win games like these.
Port Adelaide to defeat Fremantle: Angus and Paddy’s sigh of relief will blow stronger than the Fremantle Doctor.
Hawthorn to defeat Geelong: Tip against the Hawks at your peril. A threepeat is there for the taking!
| Round 1 | Cam | Ryan | Sean | The Crowd* |
| CAR v RIC | RIC | RIC | RIC | RIC |
| MEL v GC | GC | GC | GC | GC |
| SYD v ESS | SYD | SYD | ESS | SYD |
| BRI v COL | BRI | BRI | COL | BRI |
| WB v WC | WC | WC | WB | WC |
| STK v GWS | GWS | GWS | STK | GWS |
| ADL v NM | ADL | NM | NM | ADL |
| FRE v PA | FRE | FRE | PA | FRE |
| HAW v GEE | HAW | HAW | HAW | HAW |
| LAST ROUND | – | – | – | – |
| OVERALL | – | – | – | – |
*The Crowd tips correct as of 7:00pm Thursday April 2 (449 votes).
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