It was another cracking round of AFL in Round 15. We had blow-outs, mighty comebacks and some thrilling finishes. As they are each and every week, The Roar‘s panel of expert tippers are back to give their tips and predictions for Round 16.
Sean Lee was the big mover in Round 15, scoring an impressive eight points, to skip past Cam Rose and leave Ryan Buckland, well, in last place, still.
In what has been a notoriously tough season to tip, Round 16 doesn’t get any easier with games such as: Collingwood versus West Coast, Sydney versus Hawthorn, Geelong versus the Bulldogs, and the Power versus the Crows. Let us know what you think in the comments below and be sure to submit your tips to help The Crowd out-tip the experts.
Ryan Buckland
North Melbourne, Dogs, Suns, West Coast, Hawthorn, Fremantle, Melbourne, Adelaide, Richmond
Booooo. The Thursday Night Experiment is over for another year, so we’re back to waiting for Friday to kick the round off. It also means we’re cramming five games into Saturday once more. Can’t we just work this out, AFL? Fortunately, Friday night is an interesting match up with ladder implications, starting off a crucial round of action that could see a shake up of the battle for the bottom half of the eight.
I’m going with North on Friday night – come back tomorrow for a little more on why that is.
It’ll be an action packed Saturday afternoon, with three top eight shaping games on the slate.
The Cats all but counted themselves out of the finals with their selfless act a couple of weeks back, but since then results have broken in a way to give them a slim chance of sneaking into the eighth seed. Meanwhile the Dogs are all but a lock, based on current form and their cozy 9-5 record. Getting one over the Cats will see the Dogs lock away the key – did anyone see that coming? Geelong’s defence has been disappointing this year, and I expect it to fold under the immense pressure of the Dogs.
The Expansion Cup currently stands 4-2 the way of Gold Coast, and bizarrely it’s very possible the Suns get another one over the Giants this weekend. As I’ve been saying, you can almost throw Gold Coast’s first 12 weeks out the window now G Ablett is back in red. The Giants have surprised me in recent weeks with their resilience. It’s a tough one to pick – I’m taking the home points, but not with much conviction.
So yeah, I was wrong about the Eagles. There it is. Ahhhhh. Feels good. I can start being a fan again. The Eagles travel to Melbourne to face the Pies – wait this is at Docklands? But there’s no game at the ‘G til Sunday this week? That’s strange. The Pies are the team to slip out of the eight for me, but I also thought North Melbourne would make the top four a few weeks ago, so take that as you will.
West Coast start their toughest stretch of the season, with just the Gold Coast Suns standing between them and dates with 8+ win sides in the next five weeks. Twilight games have been wonky this year, but I don’t subscribe to that as a reason for tipping against my beloved West Coast Eagles. It will be another emotion-packed Showdown at Adelaide Oval on Sunday. (Photo: AFL Media)
Cam Rose
North, Geelong, Gold Coast, West Coast, Hawthorn, Fremantle, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, Richmond.
North vs Essendon: A lot of praise for the Bombers win over Melbourne last week, but it was arguably the worst win of any team this year. The Roos are inconsistent, but even a poor performance from them will get the job done here. North by 27 points.
Geelong vs Western Bulldogs: The Dogs have won four in a row off the back of their bye, a dream fixture handing them the three bottom sides along with the Dees. The Cats haven’t actually won a game of football in over a month, albeit only losing two matches in that time. One is due for a loss, the other a win. Geelong by 14 points.
Gold Coast vs GWS: Intriguing match between the expansion sides. The casualties are piling up at the Giants, while the Suns have been battling a long injury list all year, but have shown better form in recent times. Gold Coast by 13 points.
Collingwood vs West Coast: The Pies have strung together three brave defeats in a row, but now face another quality opponent. The Eagles have quietly gone about winning 10 of their last 11 games, an impressive feat. This feels like the sort of game I always get wrong, so while I think the Pies will win, I’m going to tip the Eagles. West Coast by 13 points.
Sydney vs Hawthorn: If the Hawks can’t get over the line here (and the Eagles win) they’ll sit two games out of third spot, and will almost certainly be travelling in the first week of finals. Hawthorn hasn’t shown they can produce their best with any frequency, while the Swans are struggling to play near their peak at all. Hawthorn by 15 points.
Fremantle vs Carlton: The Dockers have had their issues, but if they lose this then the wheels will not just have fallen off, but disintegrated completely. Fremantle by 38 points.
Melbourne vs Brisbane: When was the last time the Demons started favourite two weeks in a row? They couldn’t get the job done under the weight of expectation last week, but will be more suited here given there will be no kind of media build-up this time. The Lions have been playing three good quarters of football against better sides in the last few weeks, but run out of steam badly – looking at their last four final quarters, they’ve kicked a total of 4.11, while their opposition has piled on 24.11 in that time. They’ll enjoy playing poorer opposition than they have for while. Brisbane by 25 points.
Port vs Adelaide: The most emotional Showdown of all also has extreme football significance. The Crows dropped out of the eight for the first time all year last week, while the Power have never been in there yet still cling to hope – they could be only a game out if they win this week. Port by 17 points.
St Kilda vs Richmond: The Tiges have won five on end against the Saints, and there’s no real reason why that run should end now, particularly at the MCG. They won’t want to take them lightly though. Richmond by 21 points.
Sean Lee
North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, GWS, West Coast, Hawthorn, Fremantle, Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond
North Melbourne to defeat Essendon
Western Bulldogs to defeat Geelong
GWS to defeat Gold Coast
West Coast to defeat Collingwood
Hawthorn to defeat Sydney
Fremantle to defeat Carlton
Melbourne to defeat Brisbane
Port Adelaide to defeat Adelaide
Richmond to defeat St Kilda
(Sean promises he’ll provide explanations for his tips again next week!)
| Round 16 | Cam | Ryan | Sean | The Crowd |
| NM v ESS | NM | NM | NM | NM |
| GEE v WB | GEE | WB | WB | WB |
| GC v GWS | GC | GC | GWS | GWS |
| COL v WC | WC | WC | WC | WC |
| SYD v HAW | HAW | HAW | HAW | HAW |
| FRE v CAR | FRE | FRE | FRE | FRE |
| MEL v BL | BRI | MEL | MEL | MEL |
| PA v ADL | PA | ADL | PA | PA |
| STK v RIC | RIC | RIC | RIC | RIC |
| LAST ROUND | 5 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| OVERALL | 83 | 79 | 85 | 88 |
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