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Two teams are gone and two more will be eliminated from the 2015 AFL finals by the time the final siren blows on Saturday. It’s semi-finals time, and our panel of experts are back once again to share their tips and predictions for the weekend’s action.
MORE AFL FINALS:
>> WHO WILL WIN THE SEMI FINALS?
>> HAWKS V CROWS PREVIEW & PREDICTION
>> SWANS V NORTH PREVIEW & PREDICTION
>> FINALS FORECAST: HAWKS V CROWS
>> THE X-FACTOR FINALS PLAYERS
>> AN ALL WA GRAND FINAL?
>> HOW TO WATCH THE SEMI-FINALS
This weekend brings two huge elimination finals to the MCG on Friday night and ANZ Stadium on Saturday.
Both of last year’s grand finalists will be looking to keep their 2015 premiership tilt alive when they host the sides that finished the season in 7th and 8th, who are both fresh off confidence boosting wins.
Will the Hawks bounce back from their stumble last week against the Eagles and keep the three-peat alive? Or will the Crows snag their second preliminary final berth in four years?
Can the undermanned Swans put in another gallant effort? Or will the Kangaroos make up for the beating they took in last year’s finals at the hand of Sydney?
As always, if you fancy yourself a handy tipper, submit your tips in the form below and help The Crowd out-tip the experts.
Cam Rose
Hawthorn, North Melbourne
Hawthorn vs Adelaide: The Crows have averaged 117 points per game over the last six weeks, winning five games in exhilarating style. Their prime movers are all on fire, complemented by a forward line that has clicked dangerously into gear and can be nigh on unstoppable.
Their backline is still suspect though, if the opposition can get the ball in often enough. The Hawks look to be faltering, and have lost the air of invincibility they had two months ago, but are still the team to beat. I can’t believe they’ll play as poorly again as they did last week, as error-riddled and fumbly as I can recall from them. Champion teams bounce back. Hawthorn by 19 points.
Sydney vs North: The Swans were fierce of intensity against the Dockers, but inaccurate in front of goal and continue to lose players at a rate of knots. Unless they get some personnel back this week, it could well be that a tipping point has been reach. As a Richmond man, I am unable to say nice things about North right now, and I just broke my keyboard typing out their name. I’ll be barracking against them with a single-minded fury on Saturday night, but it may not be enough. North by 11 points.
Sean Lee
Adelaide, North Melbourne
Adelaide to defeat Hawthorn by 5 points: The Crows are on a roll and the Hawks are starting to stutter. Hawthorn have been the heaviest scoring team in the competition but Adelaide’s fire power measures up pretty well. Betts, Walker, Jenkins, Lynch and Cameron find the big sticks as regularly as any other group of forwards in the league.
Unfortunately the Hawks have lost their leading goal kicker in Gunston. Roughie and Breust should be able to cover his loss, especially if Rioli and Puopolo chip in with a cameo goal here and there, but one wonders if the Hawk machine is as well oiled as it has been in the past?
North Melbourne to defeat Sydney by 15 points: While Jack may be back for Sydney, their gutsy performance against Freo last week will have taken its toll on some battle weary legs. Losing Reid doesn’t help, especially with Buddy unable to take his place in the line up, and you’d have to wonder about the true state of Jack’s fitness. The Kangaroos have most of their top liners available and are full of running and confidence after downing the Tigers. Their second prelim final in two years beckons.
Ryan Buckland
Adelaide, North Melbourne
The second week of the 2014 finals series threw up something of an unusual set of results. Both top four participants (Fremantle and Geelong) were knocked off by their less-ladder-worthy opponents (Port Adelaide and North Melbourne, respectively), which was the first time that had happened since the current finals system was introduced. In fact, an elimination final survivor hadn’t won a semi final since 2007 before last year’s double dose.
But if you believe the commentary from this week, including from noted Crows man Ryman White, the double up is in prospect this season too.
Let’s pump the breaks a little. Yes, Adelaide are going really well, and just won what might be the best final in terms of its flair and excitement since, well, a very long time. And yes, Sydney are missing a host of their best attacking players. It couldn’t happen again though could it? I mean, you don’t become a 16-win team by being bad at football.
But you know what? Change is afoot. I’m backing the Crows to eek their way over the line in a very, very high scoring contest on Friday night, by six points again; and North Melbourne to beat the Swans by 18 points on Saturday. Why? You’ll have to wait until Friday and Saturday, for my full forecasts, for more.
| Finals – Week 2 | Cam | Ryan | Sean | The Crowd |
| HAW v ADL | HAW | ADL | ADL | HAW |
| SYD v NM | NM | NM | NM | NM |
| LAST ROUND | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| OVERALL | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Bonus: This week, Microsoft have kindly allowed us to present their detailed prediction engine – Bing Predicts – to Roarers. They’ve given Bing Predicts the job of predicting the AFL Finals results. Bing Predicts takes a statistical analysis of games, with a history of correct tips around the Cricket World Cup and recent tennis tournaments.
Last week, Bing Predicts managed to hit 3/4 correct, including West Coast with a confidence of 76%, based on results The Roar has seen.
This week, Bing Predicts is strong on both favourites – even if the experts aren’t!
HAW vs ADEL
Round 25, September 18HAW wins: 88.5% chance
SYD vs NMFC
Round 25, September 19SYD wins: 81.5% chance
We’ll track how Bing Predicts goes throughout the AFL Finals.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.