Opening Round of the 2024 AFL season continues on Friday night with Brisbane taking on Carlton at the Gabba. Both teams will be desperate to go deep in September again this campaign, which should make for a cracking contest. As always, we preview the clash and provide our best bet and Same Game Multi!
Also, Before You Bet will be providing free previews and betting tips for EVERY game in the 2024 AFL season, so make sure to head over to out our AFL Tips regularly to keep up to date with all of our free content.
2024 AFL Opening Round Preview & Betting Tips
Brisbane vs Carlton
Friday 7:40pm AEDT, March 8th, Gabba
After coming devastatingly close to breaking their 20-year Premiership drought last season, Brisbane will be expecting to be competing for the ultimate prize again in 2024. Last year’s four-point loss to the Magpies in the Grand Final (90-86) shows they’re doing almost everything right and can now also compete with the best at the home of footy.
Brisbane’s off-season was a relatively quiet one which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you’re coming off a Grand Final appearance. They’ll be hoping for some natural progression from the likes of Kiddy Coleman, Darcy Wilmot, Cam Rayner and a number of other younger players. On top of that, Will Ashcroft who missed last year’s finals series with an ACL injury will come back into the mix at some stage in 2024.
The Lions looked to be in great touch in the pre-season with a win over the Suns in match sim as well as a 25-point victory against the Swans in their official practice match. Hugh McCluggage was particularly impressive in the latter game with more inside mid minutes after somewhat of a down year in 2023 on the wing.
Similarly, Carlton are coming off a successful season where they came desperately close to making their first Grand Final appearance of the millennium. They of course bowed out in the Preliminary Finals against the Lions by 16 points (63-79) despite leading by more than five goals in the first half.
The Blues will also bring back a very similar squad to last season where they stormed home with 11 wins from their last 13 games. Patrick Cripps will lead the Blue Army for another year, while Charlie Curnow, Jacob Weitering, and Sam Walsh are the three vice captains.
Unfortunately, just like last season, Walsh is set to miss the early part of their campaign with back soreness. And in another big blow for the Blues, Weitering will also be sidelined indefinitely as he continues to rehab an injured calf.
Match prediction: There’s some cracking games in Opening Round and this one is certainly no exception. The Blues will be out for revenge after losing to the Lions in the prelim last season, although achieving said revenge will be no easy feat considering the Lions have won 14 straight matches at the Gabba.
The Gabba has simply become a fortress in recent seasons and although it’s the first proper hitout of the year for both clubs and anything can happen, it’s highly unlikely the Blues can cause the upset here.
Without Walsh’s gut running in the midfield and their key pillar in Weitering in defence, I expect the Lions to get on top in the midfield and for their key forwards to kick a big score.
Brisbane -22.5
$1.92 (1 Unit)
Same Game Multi
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Kiddy Coleman 20+ Disposals – After a tremendous 2023 finals series, big things are expected of Coleman this campaign. He will be the go-to rebounding defender and should be racking up big disposal numbers all season.
Dayne Zorko 20+ Disposals – Loves playing against the Blues and has racked up 20+ disposals in 10 straight outings against them. He also reached that mark in his latest pre-season game in only 69% game time.
Nic Newman 20+ Disposals – Underrated accumulator that should get plenty of it again. Averaged over 23 a game last season and finished the year with 23+ in 11 straight matches.
Lincoln McCarthy 1+ Goals – Always seems to bob up with a goal or two a game. Finished last season by kicking one in each of his last 10 outings and remains solid value.
SGM Odds: $4.20 at BoomBet
