2017 AFL Round 3 Betting Tips
After starting the weekend very poorly, Essendon and Carlton salvaged a manageable round for us to make our weekend record 2-3 and move to 4-5 on the season to far. Now that we have a bit of a feel for the season and the strength of the teams, we’ll be looking to maintain a winning record starting here as we preview and give out tips for Round 3 of the AFL season below.
AFL Round 3 Betting Tips
Sydney vs Collingwood (Friday, 7.50pm AEST)
After finishing 2016 atop the AFL ladder and reaching the Grand Final, the Swans have started their 2017 campaign in the worst possible fashion with losses to both Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs. They’ll look to get back on track as they come up against the Magpies at the SCG on Friday night. Collingwood will also be hunting for their first win of the season after they fell to the Western Bulldogs and Richmond in the first two rounds.
Gun forwards Lance Franklin and Sam Reid almost dragged the swans over the line against the Dogs over the weekend with 10 goals between them but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Collingwood were valiant in their loss to Richmond, with midfield stars Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom and Adam Treloar all in the best few players in the game. Collingwood are extremely top heavy and while they generally win the battle of the midfield, I don’t think they are consistent enough in other areas of the ground to match it with the Swans, especially at the SCG.
TIP: Sydney -21.5 – $1.91 at TopBetta
Richmond vs West Coast (Saturday, 2.10pm AEST)
Richmond have started the season 2-0 with wins over Carlton and Collingwood but their first real test will come Saturday when they face the Eagles at the MCG. They’ve been gifted a fairly easy run to start the season with all of their first three games at the G, which will improve their chances of beating a travelling Eagles side exponentially. The Eagles looked a bit shaky last week against the Saints, trailing the majority of the game before storming home late in the last quarter.
Dustin Martin continued to show why he is regarded as one of the elite midfielders in the game with another dominant performance in the win over Collingwood while his Eagles young gun counterpart in Andrew Gaff also likely moved to 5 or 6 Brownlow votes with a fantastic performance against the Saints. Richmond definitely possess the midfield strength to run with the top teams in the comp with the additions of Josh Caddy and Dion Prestia, and Alex Rance should make life extremely tough for Eagles star forward Josh Kennedy. I like the Tiges to take this one.
TIP: Richmond to win – $2.60 at Sportsbet
Geelong vs Melbourne (Saturday, 4.35pm AEST)
Two more undefeated teams go head to head here as the Cats host Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Melbourne have shown why they are considered finals contenders by many with wins over St.Kilda and Carlton in the first two rounds. Like Richmond, however, their first real test will come against the Cats on Saturday as they’ll get a chance to prove themselves against one of the top teams in the comp.
Geelong claimed a miraculous 1 point win over the Kangaroos on Sunday after being down by as many as 5 goals late in the 3rd term. Patrick Dangerfield turned it on once again with 37 disposals and a goal while Tom Hawkins made an early case for Coleman contention with 4 goals to add to his 3 in round 1.
As much as I like the Dees prospects this season, their wins so far haven’t installed a super amount of confidence and I still think Geelong have the pedigree to win here, but after the Cats were pushed to the brink by North Melbourne last week, we like the Dees to cover a largish line.
TIP: Melbourne +18.5 – $1.91 at bet365
Port Adelaide vs Adelaide (Saturday, 7.10pm AEST)
The Adelaide derby will headline Round 3 action as both teams look to move to 3-0 on the season after great wins to open their 2017 account. Port Adelaide have prevailed in dominant fashion over both Sydney and Fremantle while Adelaide have claimed wins over GWS and Hawthorn. The two teams start to the season have been the most impressive in the league, making this matchup a mouth-watering prospect.
Port Adelaide in particular have been the surprise packet of the league and Robbie Gray looks like he’s back to his explosive best with a 30 disposal, 6 goal performance against Fremantle on the weekend. Really tough game to pick here, Adelaide will start as favourites, however, with Port looking like the Power of a few years ago when they made the elimination final, it’s really a 50-50 in which I’m happy to take the value.
TIP: Port Adelaide to win – $2.75 at bet365
St.Kilda vs Brisbane (Sunday, 1.10pm AEST)
After being talked up as one of the big potential movers of 2017, the Saints have slumped to 0-2 after disappointing losses to Melbourne and West Coast. They’ll be eager to get on the board here as their draw doesn’t get any either over the coming weeks with games against Geelong, Hawthorn and GWS in rounds 4-6. The young midfield core that looked to be taking massive steps towards the end of 2016 just hasn’t come along like many thought they would, with Luke Dunstan, Jack Billings and Jack Newnes all having a pretty disappointing first few games.
The Lions were brought back to reality by Essendon after a great win over Gold Coast in Round 1. Returning midfield star Dayne Beams was excellent in the loss to Essendon which will give the Lions plenty of hope moving forward while stalwarts Dayne Zorko and Tom Rockliff continued to impress. While they have a great top 6 of 7, the Lions fall away dramatically after that, and 2017 should be another year of rebuilding for the young core. Look for the Saints to get on the board here.
TIP: Saints -34.5 $1.91 at bet365
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