Round 12 of the AFL season gets underway on a Thursday night this week as the Sydney Swans ‘host’ the GWS Giants from Optus Stadium at 8.10pm (AEST). The ‘Battle of the Bridge’ has always been a highly anticipated matchup and while it won’t be in Sydney this year, there will no doubt be plenty of eyes on the game. We have our full preview and betting tips below.
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AFL Round 12 Sydney vs GWS Betting Tips
Optus Stadium, Thursday 8.10pm (AEST)
Unlike every other team in Round 12, the Swans and the Giants will both be coming off an ‘extended’ break after having the bye in Round 11. Although it’s extended by today’s standards, it will still only be a seven days break for the Swans and six for the Giants.
Sydney
It seemed like an eternity ago with the amount of games that are being played at the moment, but in fact it was just last Thursday night when the Swans went down by nine points to the Pies in their last game. They were competitive against a pretty good side throughout, but ultimately couldn’t get the job done. Without Lance Franklin and Isaac Heeney in the line-up, the Swans are really struggling to find avenues to goal, and had to rely on journeyman Jackson Thurlow to find the scoreboard against the Pies.
There’s no end in sight for the Swans injury problems, with Franklin, Heeney and captain Josh Kennedy all set to be out for an extended period. Without their three best players, they have struggled through the middle part of the season and now sit in 17th place on the ladder with a 3-7 record.
The one shining light for the Swans this season has been the form of Tom Papley. The small forward sits in fourth place in the Coleman Medal tally with 21 goals and will be desperate to bounce back after a few lean weeks against the Saints and Pies, where he kicked just one combined goal. Papley booted 2.2 the last time he played against the Giants and 14 goals in nine career games against them.
GWS
The Giants are coming off a solid win against the Bombers in Round 10, their third in a row and after recovering from some serious injury problems, they are finally starting to look like the team that made the Grand Final last season. They currently have one of the strongest looking injury lists in the league, with only Toby Greene, Matt de Boer and Phil Davis the notable absentees this week.
When the Giants midfield is in-tact, they look like the best team in the league, and it is at the moment with the likes of Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Lachie Whitfield, Jacob Hopper, Harry Perryman and Tim Taranto all up and firing.
A more unheralded star of the Giants line-up is defender Zach Williams. The running half-back flanker has torn apart the Swans in recent history, averaging 28.3 touches per game over his last three against the cross town rivals. After returning from injury in Round 9, he has averaged 19.5 disposals per game and we expect him to keep climbing here against one of his favourite opponents.
Williams 20+ Disposals
$2.10
Prediction
We have been all about the favourites of late, as teams starting to find more chemistry in their offences resulting in much larger margins over the last few rounds. We are sticking to our guns here and opting to take the Giants at the line.
The Swans caught the Magpies at their very lowest a few weeks ago and still lost the game by nine points. This week they catch the Giants on a full week of rest and in great form. Sydney were demoralised by an up and about Saints team back in Round 9 to the tune of 53 points and we expect a similar result in perfect conditions on Thursday night.
