BLOCKBUSTER ALERT! Geelong will take on Melbourne in a mouth-watering Thursday night fixture to open up Round 17 in the AFL this week. As always, we have you covered with a dedicated preview and betting tips for the clash below.
Remember to head to our AFL Tips page for content on every game in Round 17 this weekend.
Geelong vs Melbourne Betting Tips
GMHBA Stadium, Thursday 7th July, 7.20pm (AEST)
Geelong
Injuries/Unavailable: Tom Stewart (Out) Jon Ceglar, Brandan Parfitt, Sam Simpson (Test)
The Cats had the proverbial bye in Round 16 as they took on the Kangaroos in what turned out to be an ugly affair. The Roos were impressive in the first quarter, but after that they could muster just 15 inside 50s in the next three quarters, ultimately getting pulverised by the Cats to the tune of 112 points.
Jeremy Cameron continued his impressive season with another best on ground performance for the Cats with four goals and a season high 30 disposals. It was the perfect game to ease a few of the vetarans back into the side from injury in the likes of Gary Rohan, Patrick Dangerfield and Shaun Higgins, the latter of which being used as the sub.
Melbourne
Injuries: Luke Jackson, Max Gawn (Test) Tom McDonald, Blake Howes, Joel Smith, Daniel Turner (Out)
The Demons will be waiting on bated breath for any news concerning the health of ruck combo Max Gawn and Luke Jackson. They were able to get the job done against the Crows on the weekend without the pair, but were severly dominated by Riley O'Brien in the ruck, and will be desperate to get one of if not both of them back in the line-up against a much stronger Cats outfit.
Christian Pettracca was able to step up in the absence of the big men on the weekend against the Crows, pulling out his highest rated game of football in his career 33 touches, 20 of them contested and three goals.
Match Prediction
Everyone is finding it difficult to predict a winner here, even the bookies. The odds have opened dead even for this clash at $1.90 apiece and I'm not feeling confident to go anywhere near it without knowing whether Jackson or Gawn are definetely playing.
I do like the look of the unders here though. The Demons and Cats defences are ranked 1st and 3rd in the AFL this season, allowing just 63.1 and 69.3 points per game respectively. The last six games between these two teams has resulted in just 142.3 points per game.
Under 160.5
$1.88 (1.5 Units)
Prop Bets
Really like the W2W - Any Other Result market here at $1.87. These two teams have played in some close games over recent years barring of course the blowout win to the Demons in the prelim last season. Their three previous meetings had an average margin of just 10.6 points and two of them had the 'any other result' saluting.
W2W - Any Other Result ($1.87 at Ladbrokes)
Jeremy Cameron has been arguably the best player in the league this season. He leads the Coleman Medal with 46 goals and has been without doubt the most dynamic forward in terms of score involvements and goal assists. However, his disposal line is quite high this week after a massive 30 touches against the Roos. He's $1.73 for 20+ at Ladbrokes so when disposal lines drop later in the week, I expect it to be at 20.5 or 21.5 at most outlets. Love the unders there. Has had 20 just twice this year.
Cameron Under 19.5 Disposals (Odds Coming Soon)
