Richmond and Sydney will get Round 15 started in a match which surely no one except whoever owns Etihad Stadium could think should be played at Etihad Stadium.
Who owns that ground again? Ah, yeah, right – makes sense.
I’m tipping the Swans to win this one but it’d be a different story if it were at the MCG, as it will be in finals.
Crows vs Eagles on Saturday offers an interesting question as to which side is going to be most able to cover for its injury concerns.
Usually the home ground advantage would be a tiebreaker for me here, but the Eagles have a decent record at Adelaide Oval, and I’m going to tip them in this one.
GWS vs Hawthorn on Saturday night could’ve been a real close contest – and still might be, really. But without Jeremy Cameron, I reckon the Giants fall short.
Sunday just happens to be my birthday and I would like one North Melbourne win, please, Gillon. And no injuries.
Geelong, Port Adelaide, Collingwood, Melbourne and Fremantle all look like relatively straightforward tips this week though for what feels like the millionth time this year I’m tempted to think Brisbane can cause an upset.
Went out on a limb last week picking North for lock of the week… never in doubt (it was constantly in doubt for the entire match). This week I’m putting the mozz on Port.
Adrian Polykandrites
Richmond, Geelong, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Fremantle
We’ve got a great match-up to kick the round off, and for the sake of the season a Sydney win would be the best result but the Tigers will get over the line in a close one.
Port should be too strong for the Blues. Here’s hoping the Blues can make a contest of it in club champ Kade Simpson’s 300th.
West Coast looked completely disjointed without their star forwards against the Bombers and I’m tipping the Crows to snap their four-game losing streak and keep their season alive in another close one.
Collingwood pretty comfortably over the Suns.
Giants vs Hawks is pretty much a coin toss but Cameron out – on top of the already-missing Toby Greene – really hurts GWS so I’ll take the Hawks.
Melbourne to bounce back for pretty easy win over the Saints.
North should be too strong for the Bombers in another nice match-up and the Dockers should be too good at home for the Lions.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
TomC
Sydney, Geelong, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Essendon, Fremantle
The Swans have really run themselves into some confidence lately, and might just have the edge over the Tigers.
West Coast don’t seem to mind travelling to South Australia, but while the Crows have been unconvincing for a while now the continued absence of the Eagles’ key forwards swings this in favour of the home team.
GWS just aren’t quite right at the moment. Hawthorn to get their first win at Spotless Stadium.
Essendon versus North Melbourne feels like a toss of the coin. The Bombers’ form is just a little better. Should be a cracker.
Elsewhere, the Power over Carlton, Geelong to beat the Bulldogs, Collingwood to continue the Suns miserable year, Melbourne to get back to winning against the Saints, Freo over the forlorn Lions.
| Round 15 | Josh E | Adrian P | Cam R | TomC | The Crowd |
| RIC vs SYD | SYD | RIC | SYD | SYD | SYD |
| WB vs GEE | GEE | GEE | GEE | GEE | GEE |
| CAR vs PA | PA | PA | PA | PA | PA |
| ADE vs WCE | WCE | ADE | ADE | ADE | WCE |
| GCS vs COL | COL | COL | COL | COL | COL |
| GWS vs HAW | HAW | HAW | GWS | HAW | GWS |
| MEL vs STK | MEL | MEL | MEL | MEL | MEL |
| ESS vs NM | NM | NM | ESS | ESS | NM |
| FRE vs BRI | FRE | FRE | FRE | FRE | FRE |
| Last week | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 76 | 78 | 76 | 85 | 87 |
Fairsuckofthesav
Guest
Crows will win and start a late season run. Beware the wounded Crow. The last time Sloane and Gibbs played together Crows beat the Premiers.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Tigers- this was a good game of footy. Both sides are class. Tigers out run another in the last quarter Cats- will be too good for the dogs Port- to spoil Simpson's 300th Crows- For me this is it for Adelaide, they can't win with the return of a few stars and Eagles a few down...... Pies- Suns are second rate Hawks- I don't think there's much between these two. For that reason I'm going with the Hawks due to Cameron's absence Melb- too much class for saints Ess- seem to be in good nick, while Nth just a little stale at the moment Feo- Will beat Brisbane
andrewc
Guest
north's best win of the season was over the swans at the SCG. waite did not play that night. north are 3-1 in the games waite has missed. youd have expected them to beat the dogs and lions anyway. and expected them to lose to the cat at kardinia park anyway. im not saying its a good thing for north he is out. but i dont think the evidence in 2018 suggest there is a dependence there.
Maurice
Guest
Hard to see who is going to kick the goals for WC , would be good to see McGovern straight up in the forward line, A good night there could add a few extra thousands to his next contract.
Birdman
Roar Rookie
Hate to say it but Giants might still have the Hawks' measure at Spotless
gameofmarks
Roar Guru
Eagles are going to get smashed unfortunately.
User
Roar Rookie
Gets harder but not impossible, will be impressive if we get up
User
Roar Rookie
You obviously missed their inclusions and who we are missing.
WCE
Roar Rookie
oh no, now Lecca has been ruled out of our forward line for Saturdays game !!
Dan, Concord
Guest
Hopefully Cameron will break the jinx the other guys have put on the Hawks and tip GWS to win. Can't believe you guys would do that to me. And I'm going to the game for crying out loud. Haha. I'm getting used to going to the game at spotless and the Hawks not winning. What I would love to see is some good footy, not bombing it in all the time, run and carry, and a competitive effort. Special bonus points if it's close and the Hawks prevail. Also it was my birthday this week so it would be a nice present!
anon
Roar Pro
This is such a tough week. There's about 4 games that you can justify tipping either way. The Swans have a great Docklands record, but they always play bottom feeders like Carlton, Western, St Kilda, Essendon (only showing competitiveness this year) and North who have been flat track bullies even when competitive in recent years. I don't know how much you can read into those wins because Sydney would have been favourite to win most games at the Docklands in the last few years. Richmond are an average team away from the MCG. They are bad interstate and ordinary at the Docklands (but those performances were against Docklands tenants not interstate teams). At the MCG this is a simple pick.
IAP
Guest
Adelaide are missing half their team; it won't be that good.
IAP
Guest
It's not a coincidence that the top 3 teams on the ladder are the teams with the shortest injury lists. West Coast is starting to find out what the rest of the competition has had to deal with, and their depth looks to be a bit wanting at the moment.
IAP
Guest
I'm tipping Essendon; they're up and about and their pace will trouble North. I've also tipped GWS to win at home.
Thatsashame
Guest
Get on the Bombers, Giants and Crows bandwagon for making the 8. They will all win this week and everyone will be watching very closely, particularly the 3 clubs they beat.
Rissole
Guest
Agreed
Paul D
Roar Guru
If Jarrad Waite isn't playing I'll tip Essendon regardless of whether Green is available or not. North doesn't do anywhere near as well when he's not around.
Rissole
Guest
"The extra time off has helped Jake Stringer (leg) and Josh Green (foot) prove their fitness, with Worsfold saying both were available despite playing out the Eagles' win sore." If Green plays I'll tip North, if he's dropped I'll tip Essendon.
User
Roar Rookie
If wce can get up(which I believe they can) it will be a monumental effort
WCE
Roar Rookie
I'm a bit worried with this game against the crows. No Kennedy, no Darling, Lecca playing with a busted wrist ,no Barrass and small forwards not in great form and Adeliade brining in a bunch of players back from injury.They have to bring in Ah chee and Ainsworth for some grunt and run and surely consider Vardy as a big marking forward. I hope the coaching department have got in the ear of the group and said the club wont tolerate the abysmal performance dished up to Essendon last week. I hope our record in Adelaide stays the same as recent which is pretty good. WCE by 23