Jeremy Finlayson (left) and Max Gawn do battle in the ruck the last time Port Adelaide and Melbourne met in Alice Springs last year. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
PORT ADELAIDE v MELBOURNE (Adelaide Oval, Friday 7.20pm local time)
What better way to kick off the annual Sir Doug Nicholls fortnight than with a top-four blockbuster between the Power and the Demons? To mark the occasion, the two teams will be adopting the traditional Indigenous names of their local areas, Yartapuulti and Narrm respectively. After a rocky start to the season, Port Adelaide has turned things around mightily, winning six games in a row to become one of the in-form teams of the competition. Melbourne is enjoying a similar formline, winning six of its last seven matches. As good as Ken Hinkley’s men have been so far this year, this match represents the second biggest challenge for them in 2023 to date. The only opposition that trumped the Demons for them was probably Collingwood back in Round 2, and they failed miserably. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Melbourne, but when they get a run-on, they are one of the hardest teams to stop. With the likes of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney in sensational form in the midfield, Port Adelaide’s on-ball cohort spearheaded by Zak Butters, Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis will have their work cut out.
RONNY’S TIP: Melbourne by 12 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 20 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Melbourne by 15 points.
NORTH MELBOURNE v SYDNEY (Marvel Stadium, Saturday 1.45pm local time)
Is there an end point in sight to the depths that the Kangaroos will fall to? It doesn’t look like it at this point in time. Since 2020, everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for the beleaguered club, and they received their latest hammer blow on Thursday. Coach Alastair Clarkson has taken time away from the job in order to focus on his mental and physical wellbeing as the mounting pressure from the eight-month-long Hawthorn racism investigation continues to take its toll on him. Former Carlton and St Kilda coach Brett Ratten will fill the breach, meaning by Saturday, North will have their fourth senior coach in charge in the space of just 17 games. Turmoil and instability has seemed to endlessly rock the Kangaroos in the last four seasons, and as if having their legendary coach absent this weekend isn’t bad enough, they will have to face the Swans without Luke Davies-Uniacke (hamstring), Cam Zurhaar (face), Darcy Tucker (hamstring), Aidan Corr (suspension), Flynn Perez (concussion) and Jack Mahony (shoulder), all of whom were rendered unavailable after last week’s smashing at the hands of Port Adelaide. The Swans have their personnel issues too with Callum Mills (calf), Luke McDonald (ankle) and Tom Hickey (concussion) joining their lengthy injury list, but it’s hard to see North, which was already embattled on the back of seven losses in a row, overcoming this latest crisis and producing a competitive showing.
RONNY’S TIP: Sydney by 40 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Sydney by 36 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Sydney by 25 points.
WESTERN BULLDOGS v ADELAIDE (Mars Stadium, Saturday 2.10pm local time)
How lucky are the folk of Ballarat? They are about to be treated to one of the games of the round in their own backyard. And this ground holds no fears for the Crows who upset the Bulldogs there last year in a thriller by one point. Suffice to say, they are vastly improved since then and boast one of the most dangerous forward lines in the league. Although their attacking potency has been disrupted this week with two key contributors Taylor Walker (managed) and Riley Thilthorpe (knee) both out of action, replaced by the inexperienced but talented Lachie Gollant and Elliott Himmelberg respectively. And at the other end of the ground, Nick Murray comes in for Tom Doedee (concussion). Adelaide is one of the most exciting teams to watch at the moment, as evidenced by their nine-goal hammering of St Kilda last week, but the Bulldogs have been quietly going about their business and putting together one of the more impressive formlines in the competition. Luke Beveridge’s men have now won six of their last seven games, to move up to sixth on the ladder. As impressive as the Crows have been in recent weeks, albeit only winning one of their last three games, they have lost multiple key players and look more unsettled than the Dogs.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 15 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 8 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 9 points.
FREMANTLE v GEELONG (Optus Stadium, Saturday 2.35pm local time)
The Dockers, who are going by the name of Walyalup this weekend, are fresh from producing comfortably their best performance of the season. And their sudden form spike has coincided with the Cats reaching a critical mass on the injury front. Although Geelong regains Jack Henry this week for his first game of 2023, as well as important small forwards Brad Close and Tyson Stengle, its medical room’s revolving door continues to swing as Mitch Duncan (hamstring) and Ollie Henry (testicle) make way, meaning the Henry brothers will have to wait that little bit longer to play alongside each other for the first time at the Cats. There is no doubt that the absence of Patrick Dangerfield and Cam Guthrie had a huge impact on Geelong last week in its loss against Richmond, and taking away another on-ball rotation option in Duncan could further exacerbate the Cats’ issues in that part of the ground. Freo haven’t beaten anyone of note so far this year, but they do seem to be getting Geelong at a good time, and as a result of that, should be good enough to strike while the iron is hot.
RONNY’S TIP: Fremantle by 19 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Fremantle by 2 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Fremantle by 11 points.
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BRISBANE v GOLD COAST (Gabba, Saturday 7.30pm local time)
To the Suns’ credit, they have responded to their poor 1-4 start to the year, and the sharp (but justified) criticism that came along with that, by winning three of their last four games – their only loss in that period a five-point defeat to premiership fancy Melbourne. Well, they face another flag threat in “big brother” Brisbane this week in the 24th Q-Clash. The Queensland rivalry hasn’t made for great reading for Gold Coast with the Lions boasting a dominant 17-6 advantage, and winning their last eight meetings by an average of eight goals. That trend will probably continue this weekend, but the Suns should aim to keep the margin below four goals, especially with their scoring options bolstered by the returns of Ben Ainsworth, Levi Casboult and Nick Holman. Whether they achieve that aim is another question. Brisbane is looking as ominous as it has ever looked in the Chris Fagan era with hardly any obvious weaknesses apparent on any line.
RONNY’S TIP: Brisbane by 33 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Brisbane by 30 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Brisbane by 21 points.
ESSENDON v RICHMOND (MCG, Saturday 7.40pm local time)
Richmond has woken from its lengthy slumber, which saw it lose five games in a row, by beating West Coast and Geelong in back-to-back games. Although, it did take quite a while to finally overcome the decimated Eagles at the MCG, while the Cats were missing a third of their best team last week. That’s why commentary during the week suggesting Richmond might be “back” seemed a little premature, but wins are wins, and the Tigers desperately needed a couple to stay afloat in 2023. They face an Essendon outfit that has been rather admirable in its recent gauntlet of heavyweights, and although the Bombers emerged with only one win from that period (arguably their best in five years when they stunned Melbourne), they have been competitive in their last four losses to Collingwood, Geelong, Port Adelaide (away) and Brisbane (away) – that is some stretch of games. Thankfully for Essendon, its fixture now gets easier and while it might be easy to get seduced by Richmond’s winning form, the Bombers have been far from disgraced over the past month and have been playing footy that would beat many other teams. It’s been nine years since the Dons won a Dreamtime at the ‘G game, and they’ve lost their last 13 encounters with the Tigers. Brad Scott’s men have a great chance this week to end both of those streaks.
RONNY’S TIP: Essendon by 10 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Richmond by 22 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Richmond by 25 points.
HAWTHORN v WEST COAST (Launceston, Sunday 1.10pm local time)
It’s already cynically being dubbed the “Harley Reid Cup”. Reid is this year’s standout No.1 pick prospect, and the loser of this match will only strengthen its chances of securing his services. The injury-smashed Eagles have been woeful, while the Hawks, despite sitting on the bottom of the ladder, have been slightly less horrendous, and have actually looked like winning more games than West Coast. Alas, both teams are stuck on one victory from nine matches, and given this match is being played at Hawthorn’s home away from home in Tasmania, that’s another reason why the Hawks should grab the four points.
RONNY’S TIP: Hawthorn by 21 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Hawthorn by 28 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Hawthorn by 29 points.
CARLTON v COLLINGWOOD (MCG, Sunday 3.20pm local time)
A season that once promised so much now teeters on the brink of disaster for Carlton. The Blues started the year undefeated after four games (3-0-1), but have since won just one of their last five games to slip out of the top eight. Carlton just continues to find new and inventive methods of getting in its own way. Their last four losses have all been against top-eight sides – Adelaide, St Kilda, Brisbane and the Dogs. If that doesn’t illustrate where the Blues stand in the pecking order right now, nothing will. Last week they scored one goal from 29 inside 50s in the first half despite having two of the AFL’s most dangerous key forwards Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay at their disposal. They need to somehow harness their second-half play which saw them almost pinch the win from the Bulldogs. The problem is, they don’t seem capable of putting together four rock solid, coherent quarters of footy together. And as if things weren’t already going badly for them, they’re now confronted with the hottest team in the AFL – Collingwood. The PTSD from their last meeting (when Collingwood came back from four goals down to win by a point and send the Blues out of the top eight in the final round) might already be enough to put the Blues off their game this week. But on top of that, the Magpies couldn’t be travelling better if they tried. Coach Craig McRae has his men playing inspired footy, which sees them sitting a game clear on top of the ladder. Their manic, pressure-heavy game style, their devastating ball use and with most of their best players in scintillating form, the Pies are going to be very hard to stop.
RONNY’S TIP: Collingwood by 25 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Collingwood by 16 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Collingwood by 31 points.
GWS v ST KILDA (Giants Stadium, Sunday 4.40pm local time)
The Giants were Collingwood’s latest victims, and they were brutally shown how far off the pace they are in going down by 11 goals at the MCG. With only 29 tackles laid against Collingwood, you can bet your bottom dollar that coach Adam Kingsley would have been putting his charges to work on that aspect of the game during the week. And GWS will receive a much-needed boost in the form of inspirational captain Toby Greene returning to the team. The men in orange come up against St Kilda on the rebound fresh from its worst performance of the year. The Saints had been playing at a very high level for the opening two months, while battling a big injury list for the most part, to win six of their first eight games, and only lose the other two by a combined 13 points. Was their 52-point belting at the hands of Adelaide an aberration or the start of a concerning slide? It’s hard to say at this stage, but they probably deserve a bit of faith and with Max King returning for his first game of the year, as well as Jade Gresham being added to their squad of 26, St Kilda should be able to bounce back.
RONNY’S TIP: St Kilda by 17 points.
ROCO’S TIP: GWS by 6 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: St Kilda by 13 points.
SEASON TOTALS
RONNY 57
ROCKET 53
ROCO 50