The Roar's AFL expert tips and predictions: Round 8

Tipping is a mug’s game.

I got four last week (as did Liam Salter and the Crowd) and I don’t wanna talk about it. Fancy new boy Dem Panopoulos got six and now leads us by three points. Good for him.

Fortunately, this week looks a heck a lot easier, so hopefully we can all recover with some nice scores and I’ll be in a much nicer mood next week.

Stirling Coates

Richmond, GWS Giants, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Sydney, Port Adelaide, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane

What a difference a week makes! All the questions we had about Geelong are back after they let a five-goal lead slip against the Swans, whereas the Tigers are who we thought they were.

No Patrick Dangerfield affects the Cats more than no Trent Cotchin affects the Tigers so, coupled with Richmond’s imperious recent record over the Cats, the reigning premiers get the nod.

Another side on the way back looks to be Greater Western Sydney, who proved beyond doubt they’re at least a finals challenger with last week’s demolition of the Crows. They haven’t earned ‘lock them in’ favouritism for any match just yet, but they’re a class above the Bombers and should move to even-stevens.

Gold Coast and St Kilda will be both be looking at their clash as one they’ve got simply no excuses to lose. Fun fact: the combined margin from their last four meetings is 11 points – hopefully we get another thriller.

The Saints probably aren’t as bad as we think they are – three of their four losses have been against Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Richmond – but Gold Coast have been playing a bit better than they’ve been getting credit for. I’ll ‘reward’ them with my tip.

Saturday evening is where things get really interesting. Collingwood look so dysfunctional right now that I couldn’t tip them against anyone. They’ve got great character and ticker, but they just seem devoid of genuine talent – the kind of side who will push the best sides all the way in a three-goal loss and fall short against the worst sides by the same margin.

North Melbourne have looked good for long stretches in the last few weeks and I’m going to back them to get their first win of the season.

(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The other interesting tip I’ve got for you is the Swans to end Melbourne’s unbeaten run to the season. I like to think I’m usually pretty balanced with how I cover and tip Sydney, but I’m indulging this week in a pure heart-over-head tip.

We’ve (that’s right, not ‘they’, ‘we’) knocked off the Lions, Tigers (both away) and Cats this year – what more do you want? We’re a chance and I’m backing us.

The rest of this round we can just breeze through. Port Adelaide will snap in the Crows in half in a Showdown that will revolve unnecessarily around a jumper not being worn, West Coast will do just enough to down the Hawks in a close-but-not-really affair, the Western Bulldogs will rebound with aplomb over Carlton and the venue change snuffs out any chance Fremantle had against the surging Lions.

Couple of candidates for a Shoe-In of the Week and I’ll pick the Power – although I’m fully aware Showdowns can be a risky proposition at the best of times.

Dem Panopoulos

Richmond, GWS Giants, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Melbourne, Port Adelaide, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane

Picking a couple of upsets certainly helped last week, but with some more tough fixtures on the way, you can never be too confident in tipping.

If we’re happy to knock a couple of easy ones out of the way first up, we’ll settle with the Bulldogs to easily account for Carlton, and Brisbane to knock off Fremantle.

We can also put Port Adelaide as a guarantee, but only due to the opposition.

The Power are sitting pretty in third place with five wins, but as some of you may be aware, I’ve been vocal about being unconvinced by this team for weeks, so let’s not get too caught up in the impending 12-goal victory.

The grand final rematch should be a ripping contest to kick off the round, and you feel that Richmond have been the more convincing of the two teams this season, if only because we know of what they’re capable of.

Usually, these games allow the classic ‘redemption, but not really’ narrative to emerge, but I need to see the Cats gel better before tipping them.

Lachie Whitfield’s return really helped the Giants’ structure, while Essendon is playing fast, free-flowing footy that’s fun to watch. This’ll be a really tight contest that probably favours the home team.

That mirage I spoke of last week regarding St Kilda has fooled everyone. If they’re legitimate, they beat Gold Coast by five goals. I doubt they are.

Melbourne’s defensive structure really takes a hit with Adam Tomlinson’s injury, but it seems unlikely they’ll be caught out the back by the impressive Swans.

If the Eagles manage to lose to Hawthorn, it’ll be the biggest footballing disaster of 2021, which is saying something.

Finally, and purposely left until last, the match of the round may well be North Melbourne versus Collingwood.

It has a primetime slot at one of the better stadiums, and you’d be hard pressed to find two more consistent teams this season. Up the Roos.

Liam Salter

Richmond, GWS Giants, Gold Coast, Collingwood, Melbourne, Port Adelaide, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane

Last week’s results… ouch. I’m going to take my score of four, my successful tip of the Suns and my pessimism in my own team and run, telling myself that it was as good as week as one could’ve hoped. Unfortunately, this week doesn’t look much easier.

The blockbuster of the week is tomorrow night’s grand final rematch between Richmond and the Cats. The Tigers made a mockery of anyone who thought they were beginning to look less threatening, punishing a slightly-too-complacent Bulldogs last weekend to move into positive win-loss territory.

The Cats lost a controversial thriller to the Swans, and questions remain about how much of a force they’ll be this year. The Tigers are likely to see the returns of Dustin Martin and Nick Vlastuin, but suffer the exits of Trent Cotchin and Dylan Grimes. They’re still a stronger team and hold a good record over the Cats. They’ll win this.

The resurgent Giants host Essendon. I’ve liked the Bombers’ youth-focused season thus far, even if they’re well out of finals contention and, while GWS are favourites, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dons sneak a win here. I’m not tipping that though – I think the Sydneysiders (albeit injury-ravaged) will back themselves in here at home.

Moving to Queensland, the Suns are on a rare run of form; the Saints are coming off one of their ‘oh, maybe they are a good team?’ weeks. That makes it tough to pick a winner, but I’ll throw caution to the wind and tip the home side here in what might be a secretly entertaining clash.

(Photo by Matt Roberts/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Immediately following that game, North host the Pies in Melbourne. Who wins? Not footy. Who actually wins? As much as I want to tip the Kangaroos – they’re surely bound to win one, and Collingwood are floundering badly – I just can’t. Pies to bounce back but have no alleviation from the pressure on them.

Melbourne face Sydney in what should be a sensational Saturday night clash. The Demons faced a tougher-than-expected clash last weekend against the Kangas – a game where I honestly thought they’d revert to form and throttle it – but they survived. The Swans remain exciting and a bit of a wildcard, but the I doubt the Dees will lose this one – especially at home.

The last match of note is Sunday’s Doggies-Blues clash. The Dogs earned their first blight for the season when the capitulated against the Tigers. The Blues did the opposite, staging a great comeback to earn their third win of the season.

The Blues have a habit of taking it right up to the Dogs – they’ve won two of the last three, coming within three points of the other. There’s significant upset potential here, but I need to tip sensibly this week, and I’ll go for the Bulldogs.

As is tradition, there’s always a few games that look relatively straight forward. I’m going to back in the Eagles to score a win over the Hawks, the Lions should be able to pip a humiliated Freo in Perth Brisbane and Port will bounce back against the Crows in a huge Showdown.

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