2017 AFL Round 9 Betting Tips

Another weekend filled with upsets meant that we hit on just 2 of our 5 tips in Round 8 of the AFL. We’ll look to bounce back this week as we preview and give our betting tips for some of the key games in Round 9 of the AFL kicking off this Friday night with a big clash between the Cats and Bulldogs.

AFL Round 9 Betting Tips

Geelong vs Western Bulldogs (Friday 7.50pm AEST)
The Dogs will play their 3rd Friday night game in 4 weeks as they travel to Geelong to take on Cats in the opening game of the round. It will be the Cats first game of the year at Simonds Stadium and will be looking to open their home account with a win before backing it up with two tough games at the Cattery against Port Adelaide and Adelaide in the following weeks. After winning their first five games, the Cats have slipped off the pace massively, losing their last three against average opponents in the Magpies, Suns and Bombers.

The one positive for the Cats is that they’ll come up against the Bulldogs at a time when they are fighting a mini form slump and some crucial injuries. The Dogs narrowly escaped with a five point win over the Tigers last weekend before losing a hard fought game to the Eagles in Perth on Friday night. They are currently 5-3 but could easily be worse than that after scraping through wins over North Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond.

The Cats midfield has been struggling to put pressure on opposing teams through their current form slump, but should get better this week with Scott Selwood likely to return to the side after a 10 tackle performance in the VFL on the weekend. Simonds is a hard place to play regardless of the cats form and with the likes of Stringer, Cloke and Dale Morris all still under injury clouds, we like the Cats to bounce back here in a close game.

TIP: Geelong 1-39 – $2.50 at Sportsbet

St. Kilda vs Sydney (Saturday 1.45pm AEST)
The Saints have won their last three over the Hawks, Giants and Blues and will get another tough test this week as they face the Swans, who seem to have returned to form, at Etihad on Saturday afternoon. After losing their first six games, the Swans have won their last two, albeit against some pretty lacklustre competition in the Lions and Kangaroos.

The Swans midfield brigade seems to have finally come to the party, with Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery all claiming over 30 disposals on the weekend while the return of Isaac Heeney has been an underrated factory in their turn of form. The mid-sized forward has averaged 24 touches and kicked 4 goals in his 3 games back from injury and gives the Swans some real pressure inside their forward 50.

The Saints high pressure, fast paced style works perfectly on Etihad and the great conditions that you always get under the roof suit their big marking forwards perfectly. I’m picking it to be a close game but St. Kilda have been too good under the roof lately to go against them.

TIP: St. Kilda 1-39 – $2.30 at Sportsbet

Greater Western Sydney vs Richmond (Saturday 4.35pm AEST)
The Giants bounced back after a loss to the Saints in round 7 to beat the Magpies in a close game on the weekend. The win wasn’t without its setbacks, however, with star midfielder Stephen Coniglio suffering an ankle injury which will sideline him for the next 10 weeks. Coniglio is just another addition to a long list of injuries the Giants have at the moment that includes Ryan Griffin, Nick Haynes and Adam Kennedy.

Some good news for the Giants is the fact that 2016 best and fairest Toby Greene will come back into the line-up after missing the last two weeks with injury while Brett Deledio could make his long-awaited season debut.

The Tigers suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Dockers on Sunday as David Mundy kicked a goal after the siren to win the game. They have one of the lightest schedules in the league and will return to some easy games after this weekend marks the last in a hard 4 game stretch that included games against the Crows, Bulldogs and Dockers. Sydney has become somewhat of a fortress for the Giants and we think they beat the Tigers here in another close game.

TIP: Greater Western Sydney 1-39 – $2 at Sportsbet

Collingwood vs Hawthorn (Saturday 7.25pm AEST)
The marquee Saturday night game sees the Pies host Hawthorn at the MCG. Much like Sydney, Hawthorn’s form seems to have turned throughout the past few weeks after consecutive wins over Melbourne and Brisbane. The Hawks injury list is extensive at the moment, with Grant Birchall, James Frawley, Jaeger O’Meara, Cyril Rioli and Ben Stratton all missing this clash.

The Pies also have their injury woes, with Ben Reid set to miss the next 3-4 weeks, however, star midfielder Adam Treloar could return from an ankle injury this week.

The Hawks midfield, besides Tom Mitchell, has really struggled to find form this year while the Pies has been one of the most dominant in the league. Collingwood should win the battle of the midfield easily and ultimately win the game comfortably.

TIP: Collingwood -11.5 – $1.92 at Ladbrokes

Essendon vs West Coast (Sunday 1.10pm AEST)
Essendon bounced back on the weekend after two tough losses to Melbourne and Fremantle to beat Geelong in arguably the game of the round. Zach Merret continued his dominant form, collecting another 33 disposals and laying a game high 12 tackles in the win. Joe Daniher also returned to form with a great 5 goal display.

West coast improved their season record to 6-2 with a win over the Bulldogs on Friday night and will make their last trip to Melbourne for 5 rounds when they face the Bombers. A good game against the Bombers would set up the next couple of months perfectly for the Eagles, who could almost secure their spot in the top eight by round 14 with four of their next five games at Domain Stadium.

Although the Bombers were really impressive on the weekend, we think the Eagles, who have a decent looking injury list at the moment, should be too strong.

TIP: West Coast Eagles -10.5 – $1.92 at Ladbrokes