The spotlight has been on the AFL for all the wrong reasons in the lead up to Round 18, but tipping competitions stop for nothing.
As they have been each and every week of the 2015 AFL season, The Roar‘s panel of expert tipsters are back with their tips and predictions for the weekend’s action.
It was a perfect round for Sean Lee in Round 17, seeing him open up a handy lead over Cam and Ryan. The big question now becomes: can he catch The Crowd?
Fancy yourself a good tipper? Be sure to cast your vote in the form below, to help The Crowd out-tip the experts.
Ryan Buckland
Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood, Adelaide, North Melbourne, West Coast, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle
A pretty up and down week of footy, to me, with a close game or two on the table. Expect very little change to the sides in the eight come Sunday evening; although we could have a new top four holder, pending a result or two.
Will it be another Friday night bloodbath? Probably not. But we’ll learn a lot about Richmond. Come back for my take tomorrow.
The early games are clear home team wins to me. The Cats and Pies will find themselves temporarily in the eight, before we get to what looms as a high leverage match up between a team hitting their straps and another that’s fading fast.
Adelaide travel to Sydney to face the Swans. This match could seal Adelaide’s position in the eight should they win, while a loss for Sydney would set their cotendership back a step or two. Indeed, a loss will likely see them cede their place in the four for at least a couple of weeks.
The Crows have looked a lot better at home than when they travel, which figures as the critical issue for Adelaide not just this week, but for the remainder of the year. The Swans will, tragically, be without Adam Goodes, and could still be down their twin tower forwards. That’s a huge plus for the Crows, who are showing a lot of the hallmarks of a rising contender everywhere except down back. I’ll back Adelaide to get the job done, but should Sydney get one or two of its key forwards back they’re probably the more likely victor.
Saturday evening looks a good night to watch the rugby and cricket. North Melbourne are starting to look like the side I thought they could be earlier in the year, while the Blues are limping to September. Tip accordingly. Gold Coast are once again a dual Brownlow medalist lighter, and the question ahead of their match up with West Coast is how many will they leave at home? Set the over/under at 4.5, and pick the Eagles anyway.
Sunday’s early game is a true Master vs Apprentice match up, with the Apprentice’s charges firing. In many ways, the Saints have out-Powered the Power in 2015, and could equal Port Adelaide’s seven wins with a victory here. Wouldn’t that be something. Hinkley’s boys have kicked two consecutive tonnes after their dour win over the Pies in Round 15. Both teams could crack triple digits here, and I’ll tip the Saints to kick a few more.
So, uhhh, a big win here could see the Western Bulldogs kick the Sydney Swans out of the top four. Yes I’m sure. No really, the Dogs could go from losing captain, coach and CEO to double chance in not much more than nine months. Why aren’t we talking about this? Oh yeah. Anyway, the Dogs should account for Essendon, who somehow kicked their biggest Hird-overseen score last weekend. That’s a misnomer.
We close out the weekend in the west once again, with the Dockers hosting the Giants. The Best In The Game is out with the after effects of being Mitchell’d a few weeks back, an injury he managed to stave off because he’s some sort of alien-man hybrid. The Dockers should not have won last weekend, but will bank those four points like the rest of them. The Giants were dry ordinary last weekend, and duffed a very good chance to keep themselves in the hunt. It’s not going to get any easier after this weekend, either.
Richmond have beaten the Hawks in two of their last three meetings. (Photo: Anthony Pearse/AFL Media)
Sean Lee
Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood, Sydney, North Melbourne, West Coast, Port Adelaide, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle
Hawthorn to defeat Richmond: Will Richmond be able to make a game of this? In successive weeks Hawthorn have demoralised Sydney and ripped Carlton a new air vent in the hind quarters. The statistics say that Fremantle is on top of the ladder, and Richmond nearly beat them last week, but there is little doubt that Hawthorn are the best team in the competition at the moment. Sorry Tigers, it won’t matter where Bachar Houli kicks it to this week, the game will already be long gone.
Geelong to defeat Brisbane: The Cats will not give up hope on sneaking into the finals. Only one game and percentage out of the eight now, they’ll make it three wins in a row this week to keep those hopes well and truly alive.
Collingwood to defeat Melbourne: Just over a month ago Collingwood were a top four team. Five losses in a row later and the Magpies have dropped right out of the eight. They’ll get back onto the winners list this week, but any talk of finals would be extremely premature.
Sydney to defeat Adelaide: Sydney have been stung by a couple of losses in a row and should bounce back hard. And with the game being played in front of their home crowd we will be spared the moronic booing of Adam Goodes and the even more disgraceful followup on social media and talkback radio.
North Melbourne to defeat Carlton: North have been gathering a bit of momentum over the past few weeks and that certainly won’t be checked by Carlton this weekend. The Kangas will take another step towards consolidating their place in the eight.
West Coast to defeat Gold Coast: The ability level of these two teams is as far apart as their geographical locations. Unfortunately for the Suns the distance will also be shown on the scoreboard at the close of play. Eagles by plenty.
Port Adelaide to defeat St Kilda: Port were pushed by the Baby Bombers last week with only poor kicking and an ex-ruckman being the difference between the two sides. The Saints are showing promise, but are still mediocre, which should allow Port to sneak home and keep their slim hopes for a finals berth alive for another week.
Western Bulldogs to defeat Essendon: I really want to tip the Bombers here but that would be going with my heart and not my head. They have been encouraging in recent weeks, but the slick, exciting Bulldog line up should have enough polish and poise to get up for the win.
Fremantle to defeat GWS: Fremantle are ladder leaders thanks to their dominant early season form only. They cling precariously to their number one position even though they are no longer considered to be the best team in the competition. They’ll stay there for a least another week, but unless their form picks up, they will find themselves usurped.
Cam Rose
Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood, Sydney, North, West Coast, Port, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle
Well, Roarers, I’m in a tipping hole, with all of my 50/50’s are going the wrong way. Luckily for me, this week there aren’t any 50/50’s. This isn’t to say there won’t be any upsets, as you can make some little cases for a couple (maybe the Dees and Crows, with the sneakiest of chances to the Tiges?), but straight up the line tipping feels the way to go this week.
| Round 18 | Cam | Ryan | Sean | The Crowd |
| HAW v RIC | HAW | HAW | HAW | HAW |
| GEE v BL | GEE | GEE | GEE | GEE |
| COL v MEL | COL | COL | COL | COL |
| SYD v ADL | SYD | ADL | SYD | SYD |
| CAR v NM | NM | NM | NM | NM |
| GC v WC | WC | WC | WC | WC |
| PA v STK | PA | STK | PA | PA |
| ESS v WB | WB | WB | WB | WB |
| FRE v GWS | FRE | FRE | FRE | FRE |
| LAST ROUND | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| OVERALL | 96 | 94 | 101 | 103 |
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