North Melbourne and Sydney are set to kick-off Saturday AFL action at 1:45pm at Marvel Stadium. When a team has so much off-field uncertainty, you’d generally say that the couple of hours on the weekend is a good distraction for the players, however with the recent run of form for North, I’m not too sure that is the case.
Check out our North Melbourne vs Sydney preview and AFL betting tips for this match below.
AFL Round 10 Preview & Betting Tips
North Melbourne vs Sydney
Marvel Stadium, Saturday, 1:45pm AEST
Brett Ratten is at the helm for North Melbourne this week, with Alastair Clarkson stepping away from the head coaching position during the week. It’s a tough task for Ratten, with 7 players coming out of the team from their demoralising loss to Port Adelaide last week. You’d assume seeing the result and the major changes that most are the result of omission, however only Curtis Taylor finds his way out of the team due to form. There are some big names that have joined the injury list, with Luke Davies-Uniacke, Cameron Zurhaar, Darcy Tucker, Jack Mahony and Flynn Perez out, Aidan Corr suspended for striking Ollie Lord. For all the negatives around the club, there is certainly cause for some long-term excitement with George Wardlaw, the No. 4 pick last year, set to make his debut. He is averaging 18 disposals, 6 tackles and 4 clearances across his VFL appearances this season, and will be one to watch not only for his ability to tackle and pressure, but also hit the scoreboard.
With a lot of big-bodied mids coming out of the team, and Ben Cunnington sitting on the emergency list as a potential sub, this presents as an interesting opportunity for the North Melbourne midfield. LDU attends over 80% of centre bounces for the season, so there is some opportunity. Liam Shiels has seen increased time through the middle in the last 3 weeks, Hugh Greenwood returned to the side last week and attended 55% of CBA’s, and Tom Powell has previously been a beneficiary when LDU has missed games.
This certainly isn’t the same Sydney team that we saw on the biggest stage in September last year. The injury bug has also hit them this week, with Callum Mills, Logan McDonald, Tom Hickey and Marc Sheather all set to miss with injury. Unfortunately for the Swans, a number of their top players who are healthy have struggled to match their career best form at the same time, outside of Errol Gulden, who has put together back-to-back career high disposal outings (37 vs Collingwood, 39 vs Fremantle). There was a time earlier in the season when Joel Amartey and McDonald looked like they’d potentially both be keeping Lance Franklin and Hayden McLean out of a spot in the best 23, however injury has led to the Swans relying on the latter. One of the major beneficiaries of Mills’ early injury last week was James Rowbottom, who saw a lot of time through the middle and played well above his season averages statistically.
I like the Swans to get on top in the midfield battle in this one, however I don’t see either defensive unit being as being majorly threatening. Although both teams have a couple of genuine defenders, the likes of Ziebell/McDonald/Hall for North and Blakey/Florent/Cunningham will be looking to attack and slingshot out of D50 and attack with Larkey/Coleman-Jones and Franklin/Heeney likely to enjoy their match-ups in this one. I will side with a selection on the total going over 172.5 points.
Over 172.5 Points
$1.90 (1.5 Units)
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Hugh Greenwood 15+ Disposals – Returned to the lineup and played alongside LDU, so I am anticipating more time for him through the middle this week with LDU out.
James Rowbottom 20+ Disposals – We saw more of Rowbottom through the middle last week, and he was able to show a glimpse of the numbers he can generate when given the opportunity. Had 12 in the first half and 11 in the second half, and finished with 9 clearances, so you’d expect a similar opportunity for him today. I’d also consider Rowbottom 25+ as a single bet at $6 at Boombet.
Callum-Coleman-Jones 1+ Goals – Part of the problems teams were having with Sydney’s defensive ability was largely due to the present of the McCartin brothers and Dane Rampe. All three are out of the side this week, and I imagine that with most of the focus on Nick Larkey, there should be some opportunity here for CCJ across the course of the game.
Same Game Multi Odds: $4.33
