The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 12

It’s Round 12, and the second week of the bye rounds. West Coast and Sydney are travelling along very nicely, and following them is Cam Rose and the imposing figure of The Crowd.

Now with a two-point lead, The Crowd is now giving Ryan Buckland nightmares, reducing him to a rocking mess before he goes to bed at night.

This week sees some seriously juicy games in the offing – in particular Cam Rose’s Richmond against West Coast Eagles.

But despite the closeness, it looks as if the experts are all following our current leader’s tips.

So with Cam on the brain, let’s throw to him now.

Cam Rose
Tips: Hawthorn, Richmond, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Geelong

Adelaide v Hawthorn: The Crows were up and down in the month before their bye, and a bit of the early season gloss has worn off. The premiership defence of the Hawks has been somewhat meandering, but we can expect them to get down to business in the second half of the year. Hawthorn by 24 points.

Richmond v West Coast: Two teams that are right in the firing line for a top four spot come the end of the season. I’ve tipped against my Tigers during their four win run but I believe they’re certainties here, so perhaps that means you should back against them? Richmond by 21 points.

Carlton v Port: A battle between the worst performed team in the league, and the one that has under-performed the most. The Blues are slowly building under John Barker, while the Power weren’t terrible last week, they just lost when most expected them to win. Port by 19 points.

GWS v North: What looked a genuine 50/50 match a week or two ago has taken a different turn with key injuries to the Giants. Based on the current ladder, North’s last three matches have been against top four teams, winning one and only going down narrowly in the other. It should be good enough form for this, but it’s still a tricky match. North by 15 points.

Western Bulldogs v Brisbane: The Dogs should have appreciated the bye more than most teams, while the Lions are still a tier below this kind of opposition. The sort of game where you feel home ground advantage will play a role. Bulldogs by 27 points.

Geelong v Melbourne: The Cats have been rolling along okay, getting some wins under their belt over the last month. How will the Demons respond after throwing away victory last week? Will it spark their resolve, or will they be dispirited with one eye already on the bye? Geelong by 38 points.

Sean Lee
Tips: Hawthorn, West Coast, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Geelong.

Hawthorn to defeat Adelaide: The Crows are starting to lock in their big stars contract wise, but after this Thursday’s night game against the Hawks, Rory Sloane and company might be looking for a ‘get-out’ clause!

West Coast to defeat Richmond: Gee, the Tigers are going all right aren’t they? And as we all know there is nothing more tigerish than a tigerish tiger! But the Eagles are soaring also and there is nothing more eagle-ish than a soaring eagle. Should be a great game but with Coleman medal leader Josh Kennedy and recently returned goal kicking ace Jack Darling up forward, I’m backing the West Coast to have too much fire power.

Port Adelaide to defeat Carlton: Port Adelaide are floundering, but Carlton have already sunk.

North Melbourne to defeat GWS: I made the mistake of tipping GWS against good opposition last week. I’m not going to fall for making that mistake again this week. Plus the loss of Mumford, Coniglio, Patfull and Davis is going to really test out their depth. Mumford’s loss is a giant (sorry) blow.

Western Bulldogs to defeat Brisbane: The Bulldog’s have only won one of their last five games, but they should get back on the winners list this week.

Geelong to defeat Melbourne: Are Geelong beginning to make a surge for the finals? If they are, they’ll do the chances no harm this week.

Ryan Buckland
Tips: Hawthorn, Richmond, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Geelong

At least there’s only six chances to get things wrong again…

Week 2 of the bye period has a distinctively bland odour (wait does that mean it doesn’t have an odour? I’ll leave that to you), with a weak slate on Saturday at least somewhat redeemed by two good contests to open the round.

Wait, two games before Saturday? Do you know what this means?? Thursdays are back, baby!

And that’s where we start with this weekend’s losers.

Hawthorn journey to Thursday night football’s spiritual home, the Adelaide Oval, to tackle the Crows. It’s offence vs offence, and under lights could see the fabled double ton pop up on the scoreboard. What a way to welcome back our favourite spot in the schedule. The Hawks are hovering delicately under the radar; just the way they like it. I see a solid win for the Brown and Gold in this one, but Adelaide won’t be disgraced by any stretch.

Friday night’s match up looks very tasty indeed. An up-and-firing Tigers host an up-and-firing West Coast, in another one that could edge triple digits for both sides when all said and done. Richmond’s blue chippers are dealing once again, and, well, West Coast are good. Come back tomorrow for an extended take. I’m on Richmond for now, but the microscope may change my mind. Can you tell I’m excited?

The rest of the weekend may be a good opportunity to say hello to friends and family you may have neglected over the previous 11 weeks. Port Adelaide will get a much-needed tune up against the Blues. Todd Goldstein might actually impale whichever beanpole takes the place of injured Shane Mumford, and the Bulldogs will get another on the board against the Lions. At least Gold Coast aren’t playing, right?

Sunday’s lone fixture sees the Mark Neeld Cup dusted off and put up for grabs. Melbourne lost their heads against St Kilda last weekend – seriously, Leigh Motagna is running at the goals at approximately 30kph, and you don’t think to at least stand someone in the goal square? Anyway. Geelong keep confounding and confusing the critics: are they good? Are they bad? Are they somewhere in the middle? We’ll have to wait another couple of weeks to find out.