Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (left) and Shane Edwards, two drawcards in “Dreamtime in the West”. Photo: AFL MEDIA

MELBOURNE v BRISBANE (Giants Stadium, Friday 7.50pm local time)
Victoria’s latest COVID lockdown has once again wreaked havoc with the AFL’s fixture, with four of this round’s six games relocated, starting with Friday night’s match-of-the-round between the Demons and Lions, which was originally scheduled for Alice Springs. Triumphant after a win in the top-of-the-table clash last week against the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne is back in prime time again this week facing off another premiership contender in Brisbane. The Lions are arguably the hottest team in the league right now, having won their last seven games by an average of 45 points. And they’re only going to get stronger this week with reigning Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale returning, as well as important defender Ryan Lester. However, this week they come up against the best team in the AFL, which emphatically proved its premiership favouritism last time out with a comprehensive dismantling of the Dogs. Melbourne looks as good as it’s looked in the last 20 years. Not only is every line brimming with star power, the Dees are playing with a defensive system behind the ball which makes life incredibly tough for their opponents. Clearly the Lions are no slouches and have the capabilities of testing that structure to its very limits, but Melbourne has dealt with basically everything the competition has thrown its way so far in 2021, barring a one-point loss to Adelaide, and with its confidence sky-high will be hard to break down.
RONNY’S TIP: Melbourne by 9 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 2 points.

SYDNEY v ST KILDA (SCG, Saturday 1.45pm local time)
The Saints returned to the winners’ list last weekend against bottom-placed North Melbourne, but it was hardly done in convincing fashion. Brett Ratten’s men could only get the job done by 20 points and missed a golden opportunity to fatten up their horrible percentage which now reads just 76.4. And it’s so low because they have been tossed around like a rag doll by teams above them on the ladder far too frequently this season. Sydney just so happens to be one of those sides. Recent performances against Melbourne and Geelong, coupled with spectacular victories over Brisbane and Richmond earlier in the year, illustrate beyond doubt that the Swans are a superior outfit to the Saints. Sydney has a top-four spot in its sights and, with influential ruckman Tom Hickey (knee) named to return, should remain on course for that target by the end of the weekend. If this game was being staged at its original venue of Marvel Stadium, it might have given St Kilda a tiny glimmer of hope, but that was washed away upon confirmation that it was being moved to the SCG, where the Swans have now won five of six games in 2021.
RONNY’S TIP: Sydney by 48 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Sydney by 30 points.

ADELAIDE v COLLINGWOOD (Adelaide Oval, Saturday 4.05pm local time)
The Magpies are certainly employing a dull, drab, heavily-defensive game style which is completely risk-averse and makes winning games of footy almost impossible. Does it minimise the damage and help them avoid heavy losses? Sure it does. In fact, they’ve lost to flag threats Port Adelaide and Geelong by a combined total of just 11 points in the past two weeks. Very admirable. But the final margin against the Cats was perhaps a bit misleading, because after being held to their first goalless first half in 16 years, the Pies could only manage one goal to three-quarter time. At one stage, Collingwood had only scored 10 goals from 10 quarters over the span of three rounds. Hardly inspiring. This week, Nathan Buckley’s side comes up against a team that has been given the green light by its coach to take the game on, trust its instincts and bring its natural flair to the forefront. Adelaide looked a million dollars for a decent portion of last week’s clash with Richmond. Granted the Crows did get overrun in the end by a Jack Riewoldt masterclass, but they were only nine points down midway through the final quarter. Collingwood could very easily stifle Adelaide’s ambition to take the game on up the centre corridor for good parts of the game, but the inevitable outcome of this meeting looks as though the Crows will eventually overwhelm the Pies and crack the game open at some point. The loss of Brodie Grundy (neck) is significant for Collingwood, especially with Adelaide ruckman Reilly O’Brien coming off arguably his best game of the season.
RONNY’S TIP: Adelaide by 27 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Adelaide by 10 points.

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ESSENDON v RICHMOND (Optus Stadium, Saturday 5.40pm local time)
A huge positive to emerge out of the mess of another footy-free weekend in Victoria is the staging of one of the season’s marquee games, “Dreamtime at the ‘G”, at the state-of-the-art Optus Stadium in Perth. The game was declared a sell-out within 17 hours of tickets going on sale, which is a credit to not only Essendon and Richmond fans in WA, but also that state’s general footy-loving public. It should be a spectacular event, and promises to be one of the highlights of the season. And “Dreamtime in the West”, as it’s being called this year, has the potential to produce a memorable game as well. In one corner we’ve got the emerging Bombers (ninth), who have won their last three games in a row, including a stirring comeback win against West Coast last week, and in the other, the reigning double champion Richmond (eighth), which looks as though it might be getting its act together in time for the second half of the season after yet another trademark slow start. Only one game separates these two sides and the winner will find itself in the top eight at the end of the round. Essendon hasn’t looked this promising or exciting in many years – its ability to play exciting, daring footy and turn defence into attack so quickly has made it one of the most attractive teams to watch in 2021. Only the Bulldogs and Lions have scored more points than the Dons. But underestimate the Tigers at your peril. Toby Nankervis (knee) is a huge out, and they’re still missing Tom Lynch (knee), Kane Lambert (calf) and David Astbury (achilles), but more stars are returning with Shane Edwards and Marlion Pickett the latest key players to re-join the line-up. The Dons won’t die wondering, as they’ve shown in most of their 11 outings so far this season, but the Tigers will probably be just too good in the end and should register 11 consecutive wins against Essendon for the first time in 100 years.
RONNY’S TIP: Richmond by 12 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Richmond by 12 points.

CARLTON v WEST COAST (SCG, Sunday 3.20pm local time)
Things are just going from bad to worse for the Eagles. After capitulating against the fast-finishing Dons in spectacular fashion last week, they have been whacked over the head with a litany of key players forced out of the side due to injury. Oscar Allen (concussion), Josh Kennedy (soreness), Tim Kelly (knee), Brendon Ah Chee (calf) and Jarrod Brander (adductor) join Jeremy McGovern (knee), Luke Shuey (hamstring), Liam Duggan (knee) and Alex Witherden (groin) on the sidelines. It’s an absolute decimation, and if West Coast can’t get on top of this injury crisis, its spot in the finals will be jeopardised. Carlton is currently 0-6 against the top-eight sides this year and has been close but not good enough all year, losing all six games by a respectable average margin of 23 points. Its bold pre-season declaration of being a finals contender is on life support and if the Blues cannot beat the Eagles on Sunday and finally take the scalp of a top-eight team with all of West Coast’s outs, then not only will their slim finals hopes be all but extinguished, given they already sit two games and percentage outside the eight, but put bluntly, they never deserved to be in the finals conversation in the first place.
RONNY’S TIP: Carlton by 24 points.
ROCO’S TIP: West Coast by 6 points.

FREMANTLE v WESTERN BULLDOGS (Optus Stadium, Sunday 4.40pm local time)
The Bulldogs endured some disruption this week in preparation for their clash with the Dockers, spending the week in Sydney, but that shouldn’t impact their ability to take care of business over in Perth later in the weekend. The Dockers are clearly a better team at home this year as evidenced by their 4-1 record compared to 1-5 on the road, and they’ve even claimed a couple of impressive scalps at Optus Stadium in GWS and Sydney. But the Doggies are a class above those two sides, especially when one considers Melbourne and Richmond have been the only teams so far this year to crack the code of beating Luke Beveridge’s men. When the Dogs are in full flight, as they have been for most of the season, they’re simply an awesome team to watch, and they pack far too much firepower for Freo to handle.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 31 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 8 points.

RONNY’S SEASON TOTAL: 66
ROCO’S SEASON TOTAL: 69