8th vs. 7th
The last time these two met it went right down to the wire, with the Dons just getting over the line by just 4 points. This time however, what’s at stake is a lot clearer.
Each team comes into the round sitting in the bottom two spots of the 8, with 6 wins and 6 losses each. Teams that also sit on that record are Hawthorn and Port Adelaide and are therefore, only out of the 8 by percentage. The next couple of weeks will shape the rest of Essendon’s season with games against Collingwood and Sydney (in Sydney) to follow, where as the Blues have what should be an easier road against Fremantle (in Perth) and Richmond.
The Bombers have had the better of the Blues in their past 4 encounters, with Carltons last win in round 3 2007. A draw was the result before that. In each of those six games, both sides have scored in excess of 100 points, so expect another shootout this week.
A win this week sets the victors up nicely for the weeks to come, whilst a loss will likely send them out of the 8 and looking for another door to open later in the year.
As a Bombers fan my tip goes to the Dons, but this is one game that is sure to be a cracker.

SuperCoach watch: Brendan Fevola loves to kick a bag against the Bombers, and has collected two bags of 8 and two bags of 7 in jus this past seven encounters. Back in round 3 this year he had enough chances but inaccuracy saw him collect just 4.7 for a return of 116. For the Bombers I would look to the likes of Jobe Watson, Brent Stanton and Matthew Lloyd for your points, as they also have decent records against the Blues in recent times.
By Ben

Collingwood vs. Fremantle
SportsBET odds: $1.13 vs. $6.25
4th vs. 15th
Collingwood has hit some good form; winning their last four matches. Senior players are finally finding some more form and their hard grit, determination and pressure has finally paid off. Collingwood’s smaller players are doing much of the damage at the moment scoring goals and running hard all over the ground.
For Fremantle it’s a different story. The Dockers have lost their last five matches, but only by an average of only 16 points. It seems Fremantle are unable to put four solid quarters of footy together. They hold onto teams for 3 quarters and then fade away in the last quarter, just as they did last week against Geelong.
In these two teams last eight encounters, Fremantle have beaten Collingwood 5 times to 3. They have defeated the Pies on their home turf in Melbourne 3 of those five times. The Pies with the 3 wins have won 2 at home and have upset the Dockers on their home turf at Subiaco on one occasion. The good news for the Dockers is that they play well against the Pies in Melbourne; the bad news is that Collingwood have hit some good form and have won these teams last two MCG matches.
With recent form the Pies should bring this one home, for a fifth consecutive win. But they should be wary of the Dockers whose younger guns are on top of their games at the moment.

SuperCoach watch: Alan Didak and Heath Shaw have both been in good form in the last couple of weeks. Having missed the last match against the Dockers last year due to off-field events and club suspensions both these guys will want to step up yet again and make an impact.
Dane Swan averages 107pt’s against the Dockers in the last 3 meetings and has been in outstanding form for the Pies this season averaging 116.33 points. He has also gathered a total of 108 possessions in the last 4 encounters with the Dockers.
David Mundy has scored an average of 106 points in the last 3 games against the Pies and expect Aaron Sandilands to dominate in the ruck contests and hit outs.
Mature-aged small forward Hayden Ballantyne makes his long-awaited debut.
Steele Sidebottom has made way for Dayne Beams, mostly due to Pendlebury’s injury.
Keep an eye on Chris Tarrant against his old mob and in his new defender role.
By Christine

Adelaide vs. Sydney
SportsBET odds: $1.29 vs. $3.75
6th vs. 11th
After some exceptional performances from their top-tier players, Sydney couldn’t get the 4pt’s against their bogey side Collingwood. The thing is though; it goes from bad to worse with Adelaide next up for the Swans……..
9 out of the last 10 outings have gone the way of the Crows so if you were thinking about tipping the Swans; don’t bother.

SuperCoach watch: Look for Sydney’s better players to dominate the scoring irrelevant of the actual game result. The likes of Jolly, Kirk, O’Keefe and Goodes are the ones to look out for.
Youngster Pat Veszpremi is back after injury issues.

For the Crows, it will interesting to see if Chris Knights can continue scoring goals for fun after being curtailed against the Roo’s in their last game.
By Vish

Brisbane vs. Melbourne
SportsBET odds: $1.07 vs. $8.75
5th vs. 16th
Brisbane is set to annihilate the Demons this Saturday night at the Gabba.
Melbourne has had two bad games on the trot and Brisbane beat Hawthorn by 42 points last week. You would expect Brisbane to make easy work of Melbourne, but they might not. Brisbane’s form has been up and down this year and Melbourne has shown signs of playing good attacking football, just without a good forward.
I guess what I am saying is if everything goes wrong with Brisbane and everything right with Melbourne, Melbourne will win, barring that; Melbourne will be defeated and it’s just a matter of how much.
Brisbane have defenders Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull coming back to put on top of the defenders that kept Hawthorn to 41 points last week. It’s sure that Melbourne won’t be troubling the scores too much. Brisbane by 30 points is my tip.

SuperCoach watch: Liam Jurrah could be one to watch; he seems to be better suited looking exciting than scoring well on SuperCoach though. Brock McLean is out inured so he could be swapped out. Bradshaw had a horrible game last week, expect him to bounce back if he doesn’t you might want to look at picking him up if he goes cheap. Luke Power had an awesome game last week with 162 and is looking very good. Albert Proud had a shocker last week; he is a bit of a spud anyways, so you shouldn’t have him.
By Luke

West Coast vs. Hawthorn
SportsBET odds: $2.85 vs. $1.44
13th vs. 9th
The Hawks have gone sour but let’s not kid ourselves – They are still capable of being a quality side. And there is no better chance to show it against a West Coast outfit that has no reason to win due to their current eligibility of the priority pick.
Dean Cox is out with groin issues with the Hawks getting Gilham and Ladson who are crucial to the return of their zone – I can’t see them losing it.

SuperCoach watch: Dean Cox is a big loss for the 35% of people who have him in their SuperCoach team. It’s not known yet for sure how long he will be out but with other big-men in form and cheaper (Jolly and Clark spring to mind), it could be a good time to make a little money to uptrade.
Lance Franklin is dirt-cheap at $385 000…………it’s for a damn good reason though. All you can do is hope that he regains the form of last year.
By Vish

Geelong vs. Port Adelaide
SportsBET odds: $1.06 vs. $10.00
2nd vs. 10th
Geelong returns to Skilled Stadium to play an inconsistent Port Adelaide team.
Port sits at 6 wins and 6 losses while Geelong is yet to be defeated in 2009. Geelong is set to welcome back premiership captain Tom Harley and will more than likely recall Matthew Stokes who had 38 touches in the reserves last week.
Port Adelaide will go into this match with some confidence as they are the last team to defeat the Cats at home in 2007. I suspect however, Geelong will try and establish some solid form going into their round 14 clash with the Saints. The power will be hoping that the weeks break will be able to give them an edge of the Cats who have come off two interstate trips either side of the break.
Tredrea looms as a danger for the Cats but I think if Port Adelaide is to stand a chance in this game they need to negate the impact of Geelong’s power midfield.

SuperCoach watch: Steven Salopek has remarkably been dropped and if you’ve got him, which has to hurt; especially considering that he was Port’s highest possession winner last time these two played each other.
Joel Corey has scored 124pt’s and 145pt’s against Port the last two times they played each other so consider him a captain if you have him and don’t have Ablett of course.
By Brent

North Melbourne vs. Western Bulldogs
SportsBET odds: $5.75 vs. $1.15
12th vs. 3rd
The care-taker led North Melbourne outfit take on a rampant Bulldogs who will be looking to continue on from their winning form from the past 4 games.
Looking at the past; before the round 2 game this year, North had won the last 5 in a row, so they normally match-up pretty well on the Bulldogs and with the usual improvement that you get from a care-taker’s first game; you would give North a chance. Add to that, the return of their captain in Brent Harvey and the odds of a good showing improve.
That’s enough of me giving you North fans false hope though. I just can’t see them kicking a winning score, only averaging a little over 70pt’s a game which is the worst in the league.
The Bulldogs for me in a closer one then the odds suggest.

SuperCoach watch: Adam Cooney is back to form and if you need an underpriced quality midfielder, then he’s your guy at $474 300.
Keep an eye on Brent Harvey’s return. He could be cheaper than he’s already cheap price of $487 900 after next week considering he has a break even of 127pt’s.
Pre-season hero Liam Anthony gets his gets his first game after foot stress-fractures.
By Vish

St Kilda vs. Richmond
SportsBET odds: $1.09 vs. $8.00
1st vs. 14th
This game could get very ugly for Richmond, especially if St Kilda decides they want to treat this week as a full dress rehearsal for the Geelong game to come. Richmond just doesn’t have the footskills to deal with the St Kilda zone and if they decide to go head to head they’ll lose their as well. The only way Richmond can get close in this game is if St Kilda are too focused on Geelong but as I hinted above I think it could work the other way.
Riewoldt to show his cousin how to play and St Kilda to win by…. A lot.

SuperCoach watch: Jason Gram has hinted at getting back to some of his better form and what better team to play him into it than Richmond he might be worth trading in if you don’t have him.
Nick Riewoldt will be switched on as the Geelong game approaches and expect him to have a big game, think about giving him the Captain tag.
Ben Cousins will be keen to prove St Kilda wrong for letting him pass by, but expect St Kilda to pay him enough respect and keep his score in check.
By James Rose

Hail Mary’ multi-bet of the week
This week I’ve gone for……
Freo to be within 38pt’s of the Pies ($1.92)
Adelaide to win by no more than 39pt’s against Sydney ($2.20)
Hawks to win by no more than 39pt’s against West Coast ($2.20)
North to be within 35pt’s of the Bulldogs ($1.92)
Richmond to be within 41pt’s of the Saints ($1.92)

And when you mix them all together, you get the odds of $38.26.
Worth a little eh?
By Vish
For a more in-depth look at the betting for each game check this post.