AFL Round 10, May 16
Gold Coast vs. Geelong
May 16th
Blink and you’ve missed it.
The previously untouchable Geelong, who won their first seven games of the season, have fallen to second spot on the ladder on the back of consecutive losses to Melbourne and Port Adelaide.
It was a tough pill for Cats fans to swallow on Friday night, as Chris Scott’s men gave up eight goals in the first quarter and ultimately went on to lose to the Power in G-Town for the first time since 2007. What’s worse is they’ll be without four premiership players, with Jeremy Cameron (concussion), Tom Hawkins (managed), Rhys Stanley (managed) and Mitch Duncan (managed) all sidelined.
The Suns recaptured some winning form with a 68-point triumph over the Kangaroos, making it five wins from nine games this season. While they’re far from a finished product, this bodes as an important game under Damien Hardwick, given that the Suns have yet to beat a team above them on the ladder.
It wouldn’t be a shock to see the Suns win this one, but even more shocking would be the Cats losing three on the trot.
Suggested Bet:
Geelong 1-39 at $2.25
Sydney vs. Carlton
May 17th
After facing the toughest fixture of any team over the last four weeks, Carlton will be looking to jump into the top four with an upset win over the ladder leaders on Friday night.
There has been a lot of hype around Michael Voss’ chargers this season, but they’ve mixed their form with two tight wins over the Dees (1 point) and Giants (19) while going down to the Pies (6) and Cats (13) recently. They took another belting in the medical department over the weekend, with Adam Cerra (hamstring) and Matt Cottrell (foot) joining a long list of casualties on the sidelines.
As for the Swans, they are low-flying towards September following another comprehensive 48-point victory over Fremantle in Perth. They’re now $1.02 to make finals, while star midfielder Isaac Heeney has been crunched into $4.50 favouritism for the Brownlow ahead of Nick Daicos and Zach Merrett.
Despite all the hype and positivity surrounding the Blues, it looks like they’ll slump to 6-4 after the first 10 rounds.
Suggested Bet:
Sydney (-13.5) at $1.90
GWS vs. Western Bulldogs
May 18th
Speaking of teams who desperately need a win, the Giants will be hellbent on banking the four points when they host the Western Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
It was the perfect start to the Giants’ premiership campaign when they won their first five games of the season. Things have gone south for the Orange Tsunami since, however, with losses to Carlton, Sydney, and Essendon from their past four matches. Unfortunately, they’ll be without Josh Kelly (calf) and Lachie Ash (calf) for the next six weeks while Leek Aleer has entered concussion protocols.
Despite the Giants’ concerns, it’s the Bulldogs who enter the game as $2.79 underdogs with Bet Nation. The underperforming sons of the west snapped a two-game losing streak in style, dismantling the Tigers by 91 points thanks to a dominant midfield display and a four-goal haul from Aaron Naughton, Sam Darcy and James Harmes. While Tom Libertore is indefinitely sidelined with concussion symptoms, Luke Beveridge must consider recalling Ryley Sanders and Caleb Daniel after they tore up the VFL.
Closer than the market suggests, but the Giants should salute with the home crowd.
