Welcome to another week of The Roar’s AFL expert tips! Round 9 is another big week of footy and it doesn’t get any bigger than Hawthorn and Sydney at the MCG on Friday night.
In what looks like the match of the round these two sides, who have met in the grand final twice in the last four years, will go head to head with both looking to push their case as premiership contenders in 2016.
The Swans are coming off a heartbreaker one-point loss to the Richmond Tigers last week while the Hawks despite boasting a solid 6-2 record haven’t been in great form and have the lowest percentage in the top eight.
Whichever of the two wins here will gain an important scalp and raise their position in the view of the competition, but the loser will continue to have questions asked of them – so there’s a lot on the line.
EVERY AFL GAME THIS YEAR LIVE ON FOXTEL
It’s a game that could go either way but my tip is that the Swans will take the win. Last week would’ve provided a bit of a reality check for them and I suspect they will bounce back strong.
The other game this week to feature two top eight teams is that between GWS and the Western Bulldogs, and I’m tipping the Giants to get the win here.
The Dogs are still missing some key players in the backline, add in a few key suspensions and the fact the Dogs are on the road and I think the Giants are deserving favourites.
Fremantle and Richmond looked just a few weeks ago like a good chance for the Dockers to get their first win but after the Tigers’ thrilling victory last week, it feels like they’re probably the better chance here. One of these teams wants to win, and one doesn’t – so that should make this pretty easy to pick.
Port Adelaide and West Coast provides an interesting contest, with both teams failing to deliver on expectations so far this season and both yet to beat a team inside the top eight. The Eagles haven’t won a game away from home so far this season but I will tip them to break that hoodoo here… without a great deal of confidence.
North Melbourne and Carlton have the greatest cumulative winning streaks of any match-up this week, with the Roos having eight on the trot and the Blues four. Make no mistake, this is a serious danger game for undefeated North, but I expect the mounting injuries to Carlton’s ruck department will give Todd Goldstein and North Melbourne a decisive advantage.
The other four games in the round look relatively straight forward. Collingwood will come up against Geelong with a lot of confidence but should be outclassed, Melbourne should bounce back from their loss to the Bulldogs for a win over Brisbane, and so should the Saints when they host Essendon.
The no-hopers of the round are Gold Coast who look likely to be missing Gary Ablett when they host Adelaide. The Crows will be keen to get a win on the board after two disappointing losses in a row, while the Suns have lost their last three games by a combined 284 points. The Crows are, without a doubt, my Lock of the Week.
\
Michael di Fabrizio
The fact that there are so many apparent certainties this week doesn’t make the tough ones any easier, and that starts with the Friday night clash between Hawthorn and Sydney.
The Swans stumbled in their first MCG appearance of the season last week and you’d expect them to have some response in them.
The Hawks haven’t been doing too much wrong this year, given their two losses have come to sides that are genuinely firing at the moment (Geelong and GWS). That’s a description you wouldn’t bestow on the Swans at this very point in time.
One area where the Tigers got on top last week was in the tackles, laying 19 more. With Hawthorn ranking as the competition’s top tacklers, the Swans can expect similar frustrations when they’ve got the ball this week.
While I think Buddy Franklin’s form can’t be overlooked, we saw last week that his work up forward alone won’t get a team over the line. It’s the Hawks for me.
In the other toss-ups, I’ve gone with Fremantle to break the drought against Richmond. Though winless to date, the Dockers aren’t the competition’s weakest team. They’re due.
GWS at home will prove too tough an ask for the Western Bulldogs.
BJ Conkey
Watching Jordan Lewis talk about his good mate ‘Roughy’ and his cancer setback was gut-wrenching this week. Lewis reiterated how, as tough as it was to focus on footy, it’s what Jarryd would want. The emotion will spill onto the MCG and you’d expect the Hawks to lift for their good mate. The Swans let the game slip against Richmond and that will still be haunting them when they take to the field on Friday.
Carlton’s streak has been fun to watch, but it surely must come to an end against North Melbourne. The Blues’ defence has held up surprisingly well this year, but so has the Kangaroos. It’s been so good in fact that the Kangas have only needed an average of 72 points per game for the last three to win.
While the Dockers are struggling to kick points, the Tigers looked like they turned the corner against the Swans with 31 scoring shots. If the likes of Brett Deledio, Dustin Martin and Ben Griffiths can play as well as they did against Sydney, they’ll inflict yet another loss to Fremantle.
| Round 8 | BJ Conkey | Michael | Josh | The Crowd |
| HAW v SYD | HAW | HAW | SYD | HAW |
| COL v GEE | GEE | GEE | GEE | GEE |
| GCS v ADL | ADL | ADL | ADL | ADL |
| PA v WCE | WCE | WCE | WCE | WCE |
| NTM v CAR | NTM | NTM | NTM | NTM |
| FRE v RIC | RIC | FRE | RIC | RIC |
| MEL v BL | MEL | MEL | MEL | MEL |
| GWS v WB | WB | GWS | GWS | GWS |
| STK v ESS | STK | STK | STK | STK |
| Last round | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 51 | 50 | 49 | 49 |
Jack Ziebell was playing his first match for Avondale Heights when he was yellow-carded for headbutting an opponent during a scuffle following a late…
"It looked like it was gonna go for miles - and then it went nowhere!"
Footy's getting closer and closer to taking over the US!
What on earth was this question from BT!?!
Mitch Georgiades' mates have no chill!
On the scoreboard, it looks like a creditable St Kilda performance. A loss to a Port Adelaide outfit many see as a premiership contender…
