Two developing sides will clash at the MCG on Saturday, Adelaide travelling to meet Collingwood in Round 2 of the 2022 AFL season.
The Pies are riding the high of beating a finals fancy, while the Crows will be hoping to atone for a loss by the narrowest of margins last week.
Remember, Before You Bet will be previewing every game of the 2022 AFL season, so be sure to check out our AFL Tips page for regular updates.
Collingwood vs Adelaide Betting Tips
MCG, Saturday 26th March, 1.45pm (AEDT)
Collingwood
Injuries: Charlie Dean, Nathan Murphy, Jordan Roughead
Collingwood are relatively healthy across the board, just missing a couple of key defenders. All injuries listed are medium term.
Collingwood were one of the good news stories of Round 1, youngsters and recruits leading them to an important win over the Saints. Nick Daicos was remarkable on debut, showing the ability to accumulate football and make good decisions across half back, while Pat Lipinski was the best in black and white on club debut. As a young squad, there will no doubt be ups and down over the course of the season, but there was enough last week to suggest that Collingwood will chalk up a few wins this season.
Adelaide
Injuries: Rory Laird, Andrew McPherson, Paul Seedsman
Adelaide have some key names missing, all of Laird, Seedsman and McPherson important to their line-up. As a result, the Crows had to experiment with some younger players in the running midfield positions last week, with limited success.
A 1-point loss to the Dockers was a heartbreaking way to start the season for Adelaide, who performed admirably while undermanned. Josh Rachele showed himself to be an instant star, booting 5 goals on debut and playing with the confidence of a seasoned veteran. Matt Crouch also made a successful return from injury, giving Crows fans plenty to cheer about.
Opportunities to win will be limited for the South Australian side this year but Saturday does pose as one of those.
Match Prediction
Run and carry will be crucial on the MCG and Adelaide will be missing two of their weapons in this regard. Playing away from home, the Crows also appear to have limited routes to goal, Rachele appearing their most likely source of majors.
On the flipside, Collingwood will thrive on having a large home crowd at the home of football where they play their best. There is plenty of creativity, run and X Factor in the 22, and I expect now confidence to complement that.
I expect the home side to take the four points from this one, led by the likes of Jordan De Goey, Brodie Grundy, Jack Crisp and Scott Pendlebury.
Collingwood -18.5
$2.00 (1 Unit)
Prop Bets
Lipinski was promised more opportunity at Collingwood and that’s exactly what he got last weekend. Playing a midfield role, Lipinski racked up 30 touches all over the ground, thriving with his new squad. As a hard outside runner, the recruit will love the spaces of the MCG on Saturday.
Patrick Lipinski Most Disposals Gr2 ($3.60 at Sportsbet)
Smith was relatively quiet last week with 18 touches but he is the main source of rebound from defence for Adelaide at the moment. He has also achieved 20+ disposals in his last nine matches against Collingwood.
Brodie Smith 20+ Disposals ($1.57 at Ladbrokes)
A stunning debut proved that Rachele’s preseason form was no flash in the pan. While he won’t kick 5 goals every week, he showed in scratch matches that he can find the big sticks in a losing team and will be a focal point of Adelaide’s forward line.
Josh Rachele 2+ Goals ($2.02 at Ladbrokes)
