The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 3

It has been a tough opening two rounds of tipping as the season’s early movers establish themselves. In an attempt to make sense of it all, The Roar‘s panel of expert AFL tippers are back to share their tips and predictions for Round 3.

So far in the 2015 AFL season, the underdogs are running rampant. Last week alone saw three considerable upsets with the Bulldogs continuing their strong start to the year against Richmond, St Kilda smoking the Suns, and Essendon sneaking past Hawthorn in a thriller.

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On top of that, not many who favoured Sydney against Port Adelaide would have confidently tipped a 48 point margin.

The game dividing the experts this week is North Melbourne vs Port Adelaide at Docklands. North took the chocolates in an identical fixture last season – Port’s only loss in their first 11 matches of 2014.

With less than ideal starts trailing both teams, a win for both will be seen as vital.

Sean Lee
Collingwood, Essendon, Adelaide, Sydney, Port Adelaide, Richmond, Hawthorn, Geelong, Fremantle

Collingwood to defeat St Kilda. The Pies have their worries, but St Kilda won’t be one of them.

Essendon to defeat Carlton. Carlton have won only three of their past 15 games. Better make that 16.

Adelaide to defeat Melbourne. If unanswered goals were a problem for Melbourne last week, how are they going to counter big Tex and the troupe of Adelaide midfielders who feed him?

Sydney to defeat GWS. Take one last look at that third position on the ladder Giants’ fans. It’ll be gone shortly.

Port Adelaide to defeat North Melbourne. The Roos are overrated. Simple as that. And Port are better. For that reason alone Port will finally get their season up and running with a comprehensive victory.

Richmond to defeat Brisbane. Richmond will win well sparking frenzy amongst their supporters, again. But settle down, you’ll probably lose again next week and Brisbane aren’t that good anyway.

Hawthorn to defeat Western Bulldogs. The Doggies have been awesome so far this season, they just won’t be quite as awesome this week. Will put up on a good show though!

Geelong to defeat Gold Coast. Geelong could always win without Gary Ablett. Gold Coast never could. And they won’t. Ever.

Fremantle to defeat West Coast. Things are bubbling along quite nicely for the Dockers. Genuine top four teams don’t drop games that they should win and the Dockers are a genuine top four side. They’ll win the local derby, but it will be hard fought.

Ryan Buckland
Collingwood, Essendon, Adelaide, Sydney, North Melbourne, Brisbane/Richmond, Hawthorn, Geelong, Fremantle

Collingwood return to their natural habitat on Friday night under lights, against a St Kilda side that we haven’t quite got a handle on yet. Not that we’ve been able to form a view on the Pies, either. Markets seem to give Collingwood a four-to-one shot, so go with that.

The Essendon Hawks will destroy Carlton, and Adelaide should be similarly victorious against Melbourne, if we believe the early season form lines. T

he Swans are getting their groove on a little earlier than last season and should account for the Giants, but little brother is no pushover anymore.

The suddenly litigious Brisbane take on Richmond at home. This is another one of those “if they’re serious” games for the Tigers. We said that against the Dogs. They should deliver this week.

Saturday night offers up ‘Match of the Round’, with the 1-1 North Melbourne hosting the 0-2 Port Adelaide. This one is too close to call definitively, and it’ll be a battle of the midfield. It’s a little bit like rock, paper, scissors:
– Wave running beats team defence
– Clearance and stoppage work beats wave running
– Team defence beats clearance and stoppage work

Who can do two of those things better than the other? In theory its Port Adelaide, but so far this year in practise it’s been North Melbourne. But how big an out is Nick Dal Santo in this respect? Take the home points, I think.

Sunday should be a good day to pick up three from three. Hawthorn will account for the Bulldogs – my new second favourite team aren’t there yet – and Geelong haven’t fallen as far as Gold Coast.

The Dockers will earn themselves a call from the RSPCA following their pulverisation of an Eagle on Sunday afternoon.

Cam Rose
Collingwood, Essendon, Adelaide, Sydney, Port Adelaide, Richmond, Hawthorn, Geelong, Fremantle

The Saints will give themselves every chance coming off a confidence-building interstate win, but inexperienced sides often struggle to back up, as Collingwood found out themselves in Round 2. St Kilda are a value bet, but Collingwood by 13 points.

Last week told us a story about both Essendon and Carlton. The Dons announced their top four candidacy, while the Blues confirmed the thoughts of those who had predicted a bottom four finish. Essendon by 42 points.

No side is hotter than Adelaide right now, while Melbourne have played six good quarters and two terrible. The interest here will be whether Paul Roos tries to put the clamps on the Crows, or continues to encourage a more positive style of play from his team. Adelaide by 50 points.

The Swans have fought their way to an impressive 2-0 start to the season, while the AFL succeeded in handing the Giants the same start, to have two undefeated teams in the lead-up to the “Battle of the Bridge”. Should be a good one. Sydney by 27 points.

North failed to flatter first-up and then perhaps flattered to deceive last week, and have bodies piling up at the side of the road. Port have been out-toughed in their first two weeks, and now it’s statement time. Port by 15 points.

Brisbane have found themselves outmatched in their two games so far, but get their chance against an inconsistent Richmond line-up. They may not burn Punt Rd down if the Tigers lose this week, but they’ll certainly start lighting the embers. Expect them to get up in ugly fashion. Richmond by 14 points.

Hawthorn didn’t put their best foot forward in Round 2 and paid the price. The Dogs triumphed in exciting fashion, and will be thrilled to test out their high pressure game against the mighty Hawks to see where they really stand. Hawthorn by 31 points.

Geelong and Gold Coast have been arguably the two most disappointing sides of the season so far. The Cats are a mile off top four pace, while the Suns are simply a train wreck who must surely find something in Ablett’s absence. Geelong by 48 points.

Fremantle have started the year hot, and West Coast have been pretty good. Western derbies are always high intensity and high pressure, but the Dockers should have a few too many weapons across the ground and up forward. Fremantle by 28 points.

*The Crowd’s tips correct as of 1:45pm on Thursday, April 16 (118 votes).