We’re back with a full-slate 9-game non-bye fixture and a big weekend of footy awaits us.
Somehow, footy has yet again, found a way to navigate through all the chaos of the current situation and Round 15 brings us a fair few exciting fixtures to look forward to such as the Lions v Cats on Thursday, Dons v Dees Saturday and Eagles v Dogs on Sunday.
Can we bounce back from the bye with a fill-up in Round 15?
Read on in our AFL Round 15 tips and preview.
The mighty Brisbane Lions (proudly sponsored by Neds) take on the Cats this Thursday night at the Gabba and will be hell-bent on getting one-up on Chris Scott and his men.
Not only did the home cooking at GMHBA Stadium cost the Lions the game when these two sides met back in Round 2, but it was the Cats who denied Brisbane a home Grand Final in last year’s prelim.
Geelong will feel incredibly confident after last Friday night’s Gary Rohan after-the-siren win over the Dogs, while Brisbane simply got the job done over North down in Tassie.
This is an incredibly even matchup between 4th (Lions) and 3rd (Cats) and there’s every chance we will see both sides feature deep into September.
Time to move the clocks forward 10 minutes ⏰ https://t.co/RFYjQeSrGW
Thursday nights game will now start at 7:30pm #Uncaged pic.twitter.com/9BsDjt9hZY
— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) June 22, 2021
A sneak-peek into this year’s finals if you will.
With a packed Gabba crowd behind the team, the Lions keen to atone for some tragic Geelong losses and the prime time spotlight – expect the mighty Brisbane Lions (proudly sponsored by Neds) to deliver.
Take the Lions 1-39 points.
No one has written off Richmond, but everyone has written off the Saints, and rightly so.
While the Tigers have had the bye to reflect on a golden opportunity wasted against the Eagles in Perth and St Kilda is still very much St Kilda.
The tragedy for the Saints and their supporters knows no bounds, and season 2021 is as St Kilda as it gets.
When these two sides met back in Round 5, Richmond demolished the Saints by 86-points at Marvel Stadium.
We all expect that the Tigers will play finals this year, but they need to make the most of this run home and depend on a few other things falling their way to make the top-4.
It all starts this Friday night as they return to the MCG, and a freshly-rested Tigers outfit on the rebound will make for another tough night at the office for the Saints.
Tigers to cover the line.
For the first time in a long time, North Melbourne will open the betting as favorites as they take on the hapless Gold Coast Suns in Hobart.
There’s a delicious level of irony having the Suns play in Hobart this week, given all the discussion about a Tassie team.
North have gone ok in the past couple of weeks, having a crack against the Lions and conjuring up a draw against the Giants.
The Suns, on the other hand, have been woeful, following the tired and true script where they look promising at the start of the year only to revert to the AFL’s easybeats and the entire football world questioning their place. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
This is North’s game to lose, they won’t.
In what we are calling the “Who should the media lobby to re-locate to Tassie Cup”, we’re backing the Kangaroos to get the job done.
For a club that’s recently sacked the coach/mutually agreed to part ways (whichever story you choose to believe), Collingwood hasn’t actually been that bad of late.
The Magpies won it for Bucks against the Dees before the bye and go in as favorites against Freo at Marvel Stadium this Saturday.
Under their new substitute teacher Robert Harvey, the Pies should be able to get the job done against a bruised and battered Freo team whose injury list just keeps piling up.
For a club that’s been under a lot of pressure both on and off the park, the footy field appears to be the Magpies’ safe space, playing in some close encounters over the past month and winning their past two games.
There was nothing inspiring about Freo’s most recent win over the Suns just before the bye and the Dockers have been rather ordinary all season, bar a few thrillers here and there.
Expect the Pies to make it three in a row, and we’ll back them to cover the line.
Not since the 2000 Grand Final, or the last time Essendon won a final in 2004 has there been this much interest in a Bombers v Demons matchup.
This Saturday night’s game at the MCG will be a real test to see where the Bombers are at and if Melbourne just had a bad day at the office against the Pies before going into the bye.
Despite sitting outside the top eight, everything’s coming up Milhouse for the Bombers.
Winning four out of their last five, players happy to re-sign and in career-best form (The Package), an exciting brand of footy, there’s hope that the glory days are set to return for the red and black.
The Dees did lose their last game to Collingwood in Sydney on the Queen’s Birthday, but given the circumstances surrounding that one, we’re willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Melbourne, yes, Melbourne has been the form team all year, and while some may have their ingrained doubts that they’ll ultimately stuff it up, I reckon they are the real deal and will bounce back with a win on Saturday night, putting some perspective as to where these two sides are at in season 2021.
Assuming all goes well, the Port v Sydney game will be played at Adelaide Oval.
The Portress has been good to the Power this year, having only lost two games and Ken Hinkley’s men are rightful $1.35 favourites going into the match.
Sydney was stunned by Hawthorn prior to the bye, and this year’s surprise packet would like nothing better to get back on the winners’ list and make a tilt for the top four.
In a game that could be another preview for what we see come September, this game could go either way, but both sides have played a high-scoring attacking brand of footy this year, and taking the overs in total points, I reckon is money for jam.
Even if the game somehow ends up being played in Geelong (as some reports suggest), I’m keeping it simple and sticking with the over.
All the fun of Covid and the game of musical chairs that is state border shutdowns now sees GWS “host” Hawthorn at the MCG this Sunday.
Even with the capped crowds, chances are you won’t struggle to get a seat for this clash.
Either way, the change of venue doesn’t stop who I’m backing in this one.
Toby Greene is back to his best and his on-brand brain fades, you either love him or hate him and I’m very much in the love him camp.
Despite that, Greene was very much one of the Giants’ best in their 36-point win over Carlton last Saturday night, including one of the best torpedo punt goals you’ll ever see just on quarter time.
TORPEDO TOBY 🚀
📝 BLOG: https://t.co/Pq7YQb1A82
🔢 MATCH CENTRE: https://t.co/R1za0VWPiM
📺 WATCH #AFLGiantsBlues on @kayosports: https://t.co/prAgdyuRN3 pic.twitter.com/to91v0stLE— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) June 19, 2021
The game was the most on-brand Toby Greene performance you can imagine.
Still in the hunt for finals, I’d expect the Giants to cover the line and for our man Toby to kick 3+ goals, putting on the show for the sparse crowd that makes the effort to get out to the MCG on Sunday.
With the Bulldogs spending a week in WA under extreme quarantine conditions in order to play West Coast at Optus Stadium on Sunday, this can only mean one thing:
They will win this game.
Collingwood has done it twice in both Adelaide and Perth, Geelong did it against Port under the “don’t touch the ball” policy and now the Western Bulldogs will let this trend continue, getting back on the winners list at the expense of the local health departments Covid plans.
I could go deep into the form, but I really don’t feel the need to.
West Coast proved how good they can be before the bye with a sensational win over the Tigers, the Doggies pipped after the siren by Gary Rohan/the Cats.
The past two games between West Coast and the Western Bulldogs have been decided by under 2 kicks, and we could be in for another thriller this Sunday.
However, the team playing under quarantine tends to pick up the points, and based on that alone, I’ll take the Dogs 1-39 points.
Much has been said and written about the fate of Carlton, their internal review, and coach David Teague this week.
They simply need to win this game and win it well to at least keep some of the pressure off.
It’s a shame they are playing the Crows, who for mine, are one of the most entertaining teams to watch this season and have a crack in just about every game they play.
Much to my surprise, 14th placed Carlton opens the betting as $1.57 favorites at the time of publishing.
Adelaide is at extraordinary underdog value at $2.40 and tends to be a far more glass-half-full team compared to the Blues entering year 23 of their 5-year rebuild.
Each and every round this season, I do like to predict a thriller and reckon this game could go either way depending on which Carlton or Adelaide turns up.
I’m taking either side by 15.5 or less.
If the Crows win this, I’m expecting David Teague to log into seek.com the following Monday.