We have already soared through the first third of the 2015 AFL season and the bye rounds are now just around the corner. Before that though, Round 9 offers up a string of tasty fixtures for fans to sink their teeth in to (aside from Friday night, of course).
As they are each and every week, The Roar‘s panel of expert tipsters are back with their tips and predictions for the weekend’s games.
Can Geelong expose the high-flying Eagles in Perth?
Will Port Adelaide’s poor run of form continue against a Melbourne outfit that is difficult to judge?
Can St Kilda get a confidence-boosting win on the road against the Lions?
These are the games dividing our experts this week. What do you think Roarers?
Fancy yourself a good tipper? Make sure you cast your vote in The Crowd’s tips below, and help other Roarers out-tip the experts!
Cam Rose
Sydney, Hawthorn, Melbourne, GWS, Essendon, Fremantle, St Kilda, North Melbourne, Geelong
Sydney vs Carlton: The Swans are up and flying now, with a top two spot theirs to lose. The Blues will have a change of coach, but not a change of outcome; let’s just hope they start putting up a fight. Sydney by 58 points.
Hawthorn vs Gold Coast: The Hawks have shown what they can do against weak sides consistently this season. The Suns will start getting stronger from this point on with some players trickling back in, but another thumping is coming up. Hawthorn by 75 points.
Melbourne vs Port: The Power are struggling to get their running game up and going, and the Demons, as shown in victories over Richmond and the Bulldogs, are quite adept at strangling the run of opposition sides. The Dees also match up well against Port. Melbourne by 8 points.
Western Bulldogs vs GWS: The Dogs early season form has faded, while the Giants are still on the rise, and capitalising on a wave of momentum. The Dogs should bounce back, but if the Giants are ready for them, they’ll be too classy, with a few more forward options. GWS by 22 points.
Richmond vs Essendon: The Tigers and Dons are treacle-slow in their ball movement when out of form, but lighting fast when playing well. Both sides are coming in with confidence, and the winner will end the round in the eight, the loser will be out of it. Essendon’s strength is their marking talls down back, and they’ll be well positioned to counter Richmond’s forward thrusts. Essendon by 15 points.
Adelaide vs Fremantle: The Crows have been relatively poor early in games, while the Dockers have scorched opposition sides from the get-go. If more of the same occurs, this can only go one way. Fremantle by 28 points.
Brisbane vs St Kilda: A win to either side will see them a couple of games clear of the wooden spoon. The Saints have been more consistent and honest overall, while the Lions have the benefit of home ground and have shown much more promise in the last three weeks, albeit falling away in the second half against Essendon. St Kilda by 8 points.
Collingwood vs North: Only one win separates the Pies and Roos, but seven ladder positions and about 40 per cent. Collingwood has been something of a surprise packet, while North have responded pretty well to humiliating losses so far this year, so we can expect it to continue. North by 19 points.
West Coast vs Geelong: The Eagles are making people sit up and take notice, but the true test of their form starts now, as they play more sides in the middle and upper part of the ladder. The Cats have really only lost to the best sides, and if they travel well, they can win this. Geelong by 15 points.
Sean Lee
Sydney, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide, GWS, Essendon, Fremantle, St Kilda, North Melbourne, West Coast
Sydney to defeat Carlton: Sydney play with spirit. Carlton play as if they have been drinking spirits. Mick may have gone, but Carlton’s blues have not. More pain for them this week.
Hawthorn to defeat Gold Coast: Hawthorn have lost all the close ones this year, but seeing as though this one won’t be close, they’ve got nothing to worry about. This will be about as one sided as it gets.
Port Adelaide to defeat Melbourne: Maybe, if they’re lucky.
GWS to defeat the Western Bulldogs: GWS are the real deal, while the Bulldogs are not quite the real deal. Not yet anyway. So, are the newcomers really a top four threat? If they are, then they need to win games like this one.
Essendon to defeat Richmond: It is hard to get a handle on the form of either of these teams. Both can be good and both can be horrid. I still think Essendon’s best is better than Richmond’s best, so on the off chance that both teams bring their best, the Bombers might just scrape in.
Fremantle to defeat Adelaide: The first rule of tipping for 2015 is don’t tip against Freo. So I won’t. Probably not ever.
St Kilda to defeat Brisbane: Brisbane had pulled off a couple of good wins in a row before they ran into Joe Daniher and the Bombers last week. Josh Bruce and the Saints could inflict similar pain this week.
North Melbourne to defeat Collingwood: I want to tip North with confidence, but I can’t. So I tip them with trepidation instead.
West Coast to defeat Geelong: Can’t fault the Eagles so far this year. They have met every challenge thrown at them and mostly triumphed.
Ryan Buckland
Sydney, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide, GWS, Essendon, Fremantle, Brisbane, North Melbourne, West Coast
Ok I’m setting myself a challenge for his week’s tips: five words or less.
I spilled more than 4,000 on St Kilda and Port Adelaide earlier in the week, and, like a four year old iPhone, my vocabulary needs some time to recharge.
Carlton: New coach wonky potential.
Sydney: Winning despite average Franklin performances.
Tip: Sydney
Hawthorn: Don’t poke the bear.
Gold Coast: Sure, injuries. But issues deeper.
Tip: Hawthorn
Melbourne: Play the NT well.
Port Adelaide: Looking like a sixth seed.
Tip: Port Adelaide
Western Bulldogs: Coming back to earth.
Greater Western Sydney: Headed for the moon.
Tip: …The Dogs, no, the Giants.
Richmond: Back on track?
Essendon: Finally, playing fast footy.
Tip: Essendon
Adelaide: Same old story on defence.
Fremantle: Death on wheels.
Tip: Fremantle
Brisbane: Midfield starting to click. Phew.
St Kilda: Green shoots are there.
Tip: Brisbane (home points)
Collingwood: Youth being exposed a little.
North Melbourne: Can’t do both things well.
Tip: North Melbourne
West Coast: Not convinced. Ask on Monday.
Geelong: Who freaking knows.
Tip: West Coast in a close one.
| Round 9 | Cam | Ryan | Sean | The Crowd |
| SYD v CAR | SYD | SYD | SYD | SYD |
| HAW v GC | HAW | HAW | HAW | HAW |
| MEL v PA | MEL | PA | PA | PA |
| WB v GWS | GWS | GWS | GWS | GWS |
| RIC v ESS | ESS | ESS | ESS | ESS |
| ADL v FRE | FRE | FRE | FRE | FRE |
| BL v STK | STK | BRI | STK | BRI |
| COL v NM | NM | NM | NM | COL |
| WC v GEE | GEE | WC | WC | WC |
| LAST ROUND | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| OVERALL | 48 | 44 | 47 | 49 |
jax
Guest
I'm really looking forward to seeing Brant Colledge tomorrow. It will be his 3rd game tor WC and his first game for the year. He was recruited as a key forward but Simmo turned him into a midfielder and he has been excelling in that role in the WAFL all year. At 192cm (6"4) he is the same height as Mundy which makes him one of the biggest midfielders in the game. WC now has Yeo and Colledge as very big-bodied midfielders that are very talented and versatile players and they can both take contested marks and kick goals and they are only 21 and 20 years of age respectively. This WC midfield is going to be very hard to stop in the coming years. They have the nucleus of a big and talented midfield in place today and they just need to string some games together now and it won't be very long before they start tearing some of the better midfields apart. . I'm hoping that they will do a job on the Cats tomorrow and show the league that they are the real deal even with a number of their stars missing. All the best for tomorrow Brant.
johno
Guest
Sitting at Melbourne airport about to head to Adelaide for first ever game at AO (Spy vs Spy anyone ....) and at the start of the year I had pencilled this in as a danger game for the Dockers. Now with the list of Adelaide outs including Sloane, Jaensch, Douglas, Crouch and Smith and Freo basically down ..... well Morabito, Dawson, Silvagni and Crowley ... and I doubt any but Mora in full form with a years worth of matches under his belt would get a game at the moment ..... I do not have the same reservations. Looking forward to seeing the Dockers play at a great venue with some good mates from the West coming across. Sure Adelaide are second on the ladder for clearances ..... but Gold Coast are no. 1
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
I'll be very surprised if Adelaide get close to Freo. I think it will be an easy win for the Dockers, majority of their best 18 back on the park. Heave-ho!
Dirk Rushent
Guest
Swans winning margin is easy to calculate for a change.....here's the formula!! Syd > Geel by 7 goals then Geel > Carl by 13 goals = 20 goals aggregate margin a>b>c, then deduct nominal agg. realistic 15% due to Syd's hard physical game last week AND 6 day back up, so margin now 17 goals (102 points). Watch how close I get, partic. since Buddy & Tippo (one/both?) are well overdue to 'run riot' sooner or later...this is no doubt 'the week' for it.
Macca
Guest
Michael- Carlton playing without Murphy Gibbs and Judd in the midfield plus missing Jamison down back means the have Rowe on Tippett and White on Franklin should definitely mean a100 point plus win for the Swans - even if those players were playing and Carlton were in great form the Swans would be favorites to win by 4 or 5 goals.
Michael huston
Guest
There's no way to say this without sounding supremely arrogant... but here goes... Anything less than a 100+ point win to Sydney would be a disappointment. We played good against Hawthorn, and we took our foot off the gas for three quarters against Melbourne, so that was virtually a bye. They should be feeling great, and ready to heap pressure onto a demoralized Carlton side that's distracted, and under-strength. Carlton have no midfield, they just got a new coach, and it's at the SCG. I want to see Sydney come out and give their all, and their all is definitely 100 points better than the Carlton side that will take to the field Friday night. What do I think will happen? Sydney will play in cruise control, win by about 40-50 points, and John Barker will be talking about the fact that his boys were "able to stay in the game".
Franko
Guest
Worried about Melbourne. They are good at choking and could suffocate Port, throw in the lottery of Alice Springs and it's a real danger game. How the (sort of) mighty have fallen... Like 2013, it's not about winning, it's about having a crack. That's all we want to see.
DylanC
Roar Rookie
50/50 Games Melbourne v Port - Melbourne just with the combined score not to crack the ton. Bulldogs v GWS - Giants should be to good but if the Bulldogs show up this will be game of the round. Richmond v Essendon - The most 50/50 game of the season so far. Literally flip a coin.. Tigers for me. Brisbane v St Kilda - Brisbane.. home ground advantage. West Coast v Geelong - I’m not convinced on the Eagles.. or the Cats. Who knows? Eagles on home ground advantage alone. 60/40 Games Adelaide v Fremantle - Fremantle should win but you can never count Adelaide out at AO. Collingwood v North - Again North should win but you can never count on them actually winning. 100/0 Games Sydney v Carlton - New coach same results. Their hand was forced but could they have picked a worse first game for the new coach! Hawthorn v GC - This could get ugly. Hawks by 100 plus.
Macca
Guest
If we assume that Warnock, Armfield, Gibbs & Judd come out of last weeks side Henderson should come in, Graham is a dead set certainty and we need another key defender so Jaksch will probably some in (although I would like to see Fields but unsure whether they have elevated him off the rookie list yet for Sheehan)and I wouldn't be surprised to see Holman come in who has been doing some pretty good tagging roles in the 2's. if that happens we could see Cripps, Graham & Holman taking on Kennedy, Parker & Jack plus Jaksch going with Tippett - it would definitely give these young blokes a glimpse of what is required at AFL level and hopefully be a real education they build off.
Cameron Rose
Expert
I think Cripps will relish the chance to take on Kennedy and Parker, and the responsibility that comes with it in the absence of Judd and Gibbs.
Macca
Guest
I agreewith Cam the change of coach for the blues won't change the outcome (especially with Judd & Gibbs missing) but lets hope it changes the selection policy and the game plan and we actually see some exciting attractive footy from the blues - if only in patches or from just 1 young kid.