Round 18 of the AFL season continues on Friday night as the Richmond Tigers face off against the Brisbane Lions in what should be a blockbuster clash. We have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
Remember to head over to our AFL Tips page for preview and betting tips on every game across Round 18.
AFL Richmond vs Brisbane Betting Tips
Metricon Stadium, Friday 16th July, 7.50pm (AEST)
The Tigers are on life support at the moment. Another loss on Friday night would likely see their chances of making the top eight dashed. This game was scheduled at the MCG but has now been relocated to Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast.
Match Preview
Tough to like much about the Tigers at the moment, they have lost their last four games in a row to the Eagles, Saints, Suns and Magpies and many are calling the dynasty over. That stretch of games against relatively easy opponents was supposed to be where they made their stand, but now they are reeling and have back to back must win games against two of the top sides in the comp in Brisbane and Geelong.
They have been absolutely battered by injuries of late, and will be without Vlastuin, Prestia, Soldo, Houli, Coleman-Jones, Broad and Balta this week while Chol, Edwards, Lambert and Nankervis will all need to pass fitness tests to play.
Brisbane were dealt a massive blow on the weekend. Not only did they go down to the Saints in a disappointing perforamcne but they lost star forwad Eric Hipwood to an ACL injury that will rule him out for the rest of the season and beyond. Luckily for the ions, the rest of their injury list still looks okay, with Cam Rayner and Darcy Gardiner the only other players out for extended periods at the moment.
The Lions had been performing at a really high level for a few months, so it was no surprise that a down week was in the works when they faced St Kilda on the weekend. They will be desperate for a win here after theTtigers have had their measure over the past few seasons.
The Lions started as 13.5 point favourites when the game was scheduled to be played at the MCG. I really liked them at that line, but after the announcement that game would take place at Metricon, that line shifted out to 18.5 points, which makes me like them even more. I think the Tigers play Metricon Stadium really well and the Lions faltered at the very same ground against a Melbourne based side in St Kilda just last week. Back the Tigers to get the job done, or at elast keep it close in Riewoldt's 300th.
Tigers +18.5 (1.5 Units)
$1.90
Same Game Multi
Another week, another game backing Jayden Short to have 20+ disposals. Missed it for the first time this season against the Suns a few weeks ago but bounced back with 31 in the loss to the Magpies on the weekend. Jarryd Lyons also missed the 25 disposal mark for just the second time in 10 weeks against the Saints last week, we expect him to have a similar bounce back after averaging 27.8 touches per game this season so far.
Riewoldt will be playing his 300th game this week so I think there might be a but of extra incentive to give him a special moment. If there is a fair margin either way in the last quarter, the Tigers will be looking for him more than usual, back him to kick 2+.
Short 20+ Disp.
Lyons 20+ Disp.
Riewoldt 2+ Goals
RICH vs BRI Same Game Multi
$3.10
