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The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 7

Expert
4th May, 2016
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Scott Thompson could have ended his career on a higher note last season. (AAP Image/Rob Blakers)
Expert
4th May, 2016
50
10057 Reads

Hello Roarers, and welcome to another edition of The Roar’s AFL expert tips. We’ve got a number of big match-ups this week between teams flying, falling, and everywhere in between.

Very intriguing right off the bat will be the battles between top eight sides: Geelong vs West Coast, and Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide.

These are two matches that, in an even pack in the top half of the ladder, could have a big impact on the finishing order of finals sides come the end of the season.

Geelong seem the logical choice to continue their recent good form against the Eagles, especially given their significant home-ground advantage and the Eagles’ poor form on the road.

The Bulldogs and the Crows looks like the game of the round, and both these teams will be very keen to get another win on the board after less than ideal performances last week – the Bulldogs falling short against North Melbourne, and the Crows sputtering as they took their time to put away struggling Fremantle.

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My tip is that the Crows are probably a bit ahead of the Bulldogs at the moment, but the Bulldogs do have the home ground advantage and a bit of extra motivation after a loss last week.

The most difficult match of the week to tip I think is the one between Gold Coast and Melbourne. These are two teams who have varied between hot and cold a lot this season, and after disappointing losses for both in Round 6, will be really setting themselves to come out and get a win here.

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So which one will pull it off? On paper I think Melbourne are the better side, but not by any significant margin, and that is probably offset by Gold Coast holding the home ground advantage.

Look, I’m going to tip Melbourne, but I do so with no confidence at all. It will be a game that tells us a lot about where these sides are at, and the winner will finish 4-3 and be considering its finals chances.

Collingwood and Carlton will meet at the MCG on Saturday. It’s funny, we’ve had Collingwood vs Essendon and Carlton vs Essendon in the weeks prior, so this has almost been a little tri-series between three of the oldest and proudest teams in the comp, and it’s mostly been absolute garbage to watch.

Well, the Pies and the Blues have both claimed wins over the Dons so far but which of them gets a win here? Collingwood look to be a bit better on paper, though neither team is setting the world on fire.

St Kilda and North Melbourne will play an interesting match on Sunday, the 6-0 Roos will no doubt go in as favourites but after passing a big test against the Bulldogs last week the challenge will be for them to back that up and keep on rolling. I’ll back my boys in of course but you’d be foolish to write off the Saints in any game this year.

The last game of the week will be played between Port Adelaide and Brisbane – the Lions put in a strong showing last week but didn’t get the reward, going down to the Swans by 3 points, while Port improved to 3-3 with a win over Richmond. I think Port will get the job done here just because I doubt Brisbane can string two strong performances together, especially given they’ll be on the road this week.

GWS over Fremantle, Sydney over Essendon and Hawthorn over Richmond look like the most certain of the tips this week. Some might point out the Tigers’ solid recent record over Hawthorn, or the Hawks average form of late, but I say a Richmond side without Alex Rance of Trent Cotchin is bordering on toothless, and the Hawks always come back strong after a loss. In fact, a brown and gold win on Friday night is my Lock of the Week.

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Michael di Fabrizio
There’s a few interesting games this week, so let’s look at the two that pair up sides from the current (and most would say eventual) top eight.

On West Coast’s away form this season, Geelong should beat the Eagles at Simonds Stadium. The Cats are starting to compile a pretty impressive resume, one that now includes the biggest win of the season, and are firing in all areas of the ground.

The Western Bulldogs host Adelaide later on Saturday and that one is a bit harder to gauge. The Dogs might finally be starting to feel the pinch from their sizeable list of outs. The Crows have done alright at Etihad Stadium this season.

That said, it’s hard to see the Dogs dropping two in a row at the venue. Some more thoughtful entries inside 50 this week should correct some of their struggles last week against North Melbourne.

Among the others, I’ll have my eye on Gold Coast and Melbourne. On what we’ve seen of the two teams this season, Melbourne are the better bet to bounce back from a disappointing loss.

BJ Conkey
It’s not often you back a team after they lose by 120 points, but the way Gary Ablett talked this week about the embarrassment of last week’s loss, and criticising his own form, gives me some confidence that the Suns will have a big turnaround in fortunes.

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This is a game Melbourne will feel like they should win, but then again they would have felt like that against St Kilda.

In a scrappy 1 vs 2 contest, the Bulldogs couldn’t rise to the occasion on the big stage last week against North Melbourne.

It doesn’t get any easier against the Crows who are the highest scoring side in the competition. I’m expecting another elimination-style final like 2015 with a similar result at the end.

Round 5 BJ Conkey Michael Josh The Crowd
RIC v HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW
COL v CAR COL COL COL COL
GEE v WCE GEE GEE GEE GEE
SYD v ESS SYD SYD SYD SYD
GCS v MEL GCS MEL MEL GCS
WB v ADL ADL WB ADL ADL
FRE v GWS GWS GWS GWS GWS
STK v NTM NTM NTM NTM NTM
PA v BL PA PA PA PA
Last round 5 5 6 5
Total 39 36 37 38

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