Just the three games to look forward to on Super Saturday in the AFL this week, as Monday night will see the Crows and Saints doing battle from Adelaide Oval. The three games on Saturday are set to be good ones, particularly the opening clash which sees the Giants face off against the Lions from 1.45pm.
As usual, you can see our full preview and betting tips for all three Saturday games below, or check out our tips for the rest of the Round 7 action by heading to our AFL Betting Tips page.
AFL Round 7 Saturday Betting Tips
Greater Western Sydney vs Brisbane
GIANTS Stadium, 1.45pm (AEST)
The Giants will be looking to bounce back from a loss to the Power at Metricon Stadium in Round 6. The loss bumps GWS out of the top eight with a 3-3 record and they have now been joined in premiership favouritism by the Magpies. Lachie Whitfield was a standout in the loss, racking up 25 touches and a goal while Jeremy Cameron seemed to find some form, botting two goals on the back of seven marks.
Given their history of injury problems, the GWS injury list is really as good as its going to get at the moment, with Callan Ward returning to the line-up against the Power and Tim Taranto likely to make his return from a shoulder reconstruction in the next two weeks. Brisbane is looking even better, with only Marcus Adams and Cameron Ellis-Yolmen missing from their best 22.
Incredibly tough game to call here. The Lions have been outstanding at home this season but they’ll be on the road here, where they are yet to win a game after losing to the Hawks in Round 1 at the MCG and Geelong in Round 6 on neutral territory. The Giants start as 4.5 point favourites here and you have to like them at home despite a poor performance on the weekend.
Sydney vs Gold Coast
SCG, 4.35pm (AEST)
The Swans went down by just eight points to the Tigers in an absolute slugfest on Sunday. They scored just 26 points in the game and to make matters worse, they lost their two best players in Isaac Heeney and Josh Kennedy to be sidelined for extended periods through injury.
Gold Coast lost a star player of their own last week in Matt Rowell, but it didn’t stop them from continuing to impress with their young core of players. Izak Rankine made his long awaited debut on the weekend and tore the game to pieces, kicking three goals and in a scintillating performance. The Suns couldn’t get over the line against the Dees though, and they’ll head into this game on the precipice of the top eight with a 3-3 record.
Can’t see the swans coming out with much heart here. They will be absolutely shell shocked by the loss of Heeney and Kennedy and with Lance Franklin still out, it’s hard to see them seeing this season as anything more than a right-off at this point. Time to blood some youth for the Swans, which won’t bode well for them against a fired up Suns team that has been playing well this season.
Richmond vs North Melbourne
Metricon Stadium, 7.40pm (AEST)
Still not even slightly sold on the Tigers this season. They have won their last two games, but those wins came over a lacklustre Demons side in Round 5 and an extremely undermanned Sydney side in Round 6, a game where they also scored just 34 points. They are missing a bunch of key players who didn’t make the trip to the Gold Coast and will face a much tougher test in the Roos this week.
North Melbourne were competitive but ultimately couldn’t get the chocolates against a strong Bombers side in Round 6. Toddy Goldstein was solid in the loss and should be important again this week as he goes up against what should be a makeshift ruck department of Ivan Soldo and Mabior Chol for the Tigers.
Like the value of the Roos here. If the Tigers come out and win this one in a dominant performance, I’ll be back on them in a heartbeat, but despite being the reigning premiers, they just haven’t shown enough in 2020 yet for me to back them to win by double digits here.
