Tom Lynch, back for the Tigers this week, comes to grips with Gold Coast last year in round 12. Photo: AFL MEDIA

GOLD COAST v RICHMOND (Marvel Stadium, Thursday 7.20pm local time)
Just when you thought COVID couldn’t wreak more havoc upon the AFL fixture, it has outdone itself this week, with most of the country firmly in its grip with lockdowns introduced across many major metropolitan centres. The round opener was supposed to be at Metricon Stadium, but is now one of potentially four games relocated due to the developing situation across Australia. So the Suns will now play their “home game” against the Tigers in Melbourne – not exactly fair, but it’s hard to quibble about such matters when the very staging of the season remains on a knife’s edge. You wouldn’t think Richmond would struggle to account for the hapless Suns, but Damien Hardwick’s team is in the midst of the most worrying slump of its current golden run. Having just been restricted to a measly two goals by the battling Saints, the Tigers will now have to do battle without a further four injured stars – Dion Prestia (hamstring), Kane Lambert (hip/calf), Nathan Broad (ankle) and Noah Balta (ankle). Luckily for them, though, Tom Lynch and David Astbury return. Gold Coast hasn’t escaped unscathed, either, with Noah Anderson (hand), Zac Smith (concussion) and Hugh Greenwood (managed) all unavailable this week, but David Swallow and Sam Collins do return. This is all of a sudden a massive match for the Tigers, who are clinging on to eighth spot by their fingertips. They’ve been gifted a massive free kick by having this game played at Docklands, despite Hardwick’s protestations earlier this year that his club hates the venue, and, really, if they can’t dispatch of a team like the Suns, then they have no business being included in the premiership discussion for season 2021.
RONNY’S TIP: Richmond by 25 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Richmond by 72 points.

GEELONG v ESSENDON (GMHBA Stadium, Friday 7.50pm local time)
The Bombers head to the Cats’ home ground for a home-and-away match for the first time in 28 years on Friday night. And despite Geelong’s daunting record at the ground, with 22 wins from its past 24 games there, Essendon will have some degree of confidence that it can spring an upset. The Dons’ belief and consistency have been at their highest levels for a long time under rookie coach Ben Rutten, and they just recently pushed ladder leader Melbourne right to the end. But unfortunately for them, Geelong has a propensity for bouncing back from a bad loss (like the one it suffered last week against Brisbane). The Cats also have a phenomenal record against the Bombers, winning 14 of their last 17 meetings. Back at home, and on the rebound, Chris Scott’s men should get the job done.
RONNY’S TIP: Geelong by 22 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Geelong by 22 points.

MELBOURNE v GWS (MCG, Saturday 1.45pm local time)
The Demons are just going at the moment. After scoring spectacular back-to-back wins over fellow premiership threats in the Bulldogs and Lions, their mid-season bye was bookended by dour struggles against bottom-10 sides Collingwood and Essendon – the first resulting in a shock loss, and the second a hard-fought, grinding victory. But winning form is winning form, and the Demons remain on top of the ladder for a reason. They also head into this contest blessed with basically a full list to choose from, apart from Adam Tomlinson (knee). It’s a great position to be in. Meanwhile, the Giants blew a golden opportunity to enter the top eight last week after losing to second-last Hawthorn. They could very well look back on that result at the end of the year and view it as the one that cost them a finals spot. Captain Stephen Coniglio (ankle), Jesse Hogan (calf) and Sam Taylor (ankle) could potentially all return this week, but with their morale deflated by the Hawks, and still stranded on the road as a result of the COVID outbreak in Sydney, it might just all be too hard coming up against the equal flag favourites.
RONNY’S TIP: Melbourne by 19 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 30 points.

ADELAIDE v BRISBANE (venue and time TBC)
At the time of publication, it was still unclear as to where this game was going to be played. The Crows remain hopeful of hosting it at Adelaide Oval, but with both clubs currently in Victoria, like the other 16 clubs, it’s probably more likely to take place at a venue such as Ballarat’s Mars Stadium. But whether the game is held in SA or Victoria, the task facing Adelaide is a huge one. Matthew Nicks’ team has definitely shown an ability to cause a major upset, with wins over flag fancies Geelong and Melbourne to its credit, but it would take a monumental effort to make it a hat-trick of heavyweight scalps. The Lions are basically the hottest team in the competition, winning nine of their last 10 games by an average of seven goals, with their most recent performance arguably their most impressive of the year – a 44-point smackdown of the Cats, Geelong’s biggest loss in four years. Brisbane is firing on all cylinders, and making matters worse for Adelaide is that it might have to head into battle without inspirational captain Rory Sloane. who injured his finger last weekend.
RONNY’S TIP: Brisbane by 28 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Brisbane by 40 points.

HAWTHORN v PORT ADELAIDE (Marvel Stadium, Saturday 7.40pm local time)
The result of this match is almost inconsequential given the enormous occasion that is Shaun Burgoyne’s 400th AFL match. Burgoyne becomes just the fifth player to achieve the milestone, along with Kevin Bartlett, Michael Tuck, Dustin Fletcher and Brent Harvey, and it’s very fitting for his name to be added to that elite group of legends. As the footy gods would have it, Burgoyne will also achieve the incredible milestone against his former club, for which he played 157 games and with whom he won one of his four premierships. As for the game itself, the Hawks have looked like a new team since their mid-season break, beating top-eight challengers Sydney and GWS, while just falling short against Essendon. The Power wouldn’t want to take this contest lightly, especially given the Hawks’ extra motivation to celebrate Burgyone’s big night in style. But as we’ve seen all year, Ken Hinkley’s side has few issues in taking care of lower-ranked sides, and it should be able to continue that trend.
RONNY’S TIP: Port Adelaide by 15 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Port Adelaide by 18 points.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

FREMANTLE v CARLTON (venue and time TBC)
This is another game for which the venue remained a bit of a mystery at the time of publication. But the strong suggestion is that it will be played in Geelong. If that were to happen, it would form part two of an historic triple-header at GMHBA Stadium, with the Swans and Eagles doing battle there on Sunday. As highly-respected statistician Josh Kay pointed out, all 687 VFL/AFL games held at the Cattery so far have featured Geelong, but this expected venue change would mean that two out of three games this weekend would not. These continue to be strange times! And what a massive break it would be for the Blues, avoiding a trip to Perth to face the Dockers, who have a sparkling 5-2 record at Optus Stadium this year. But while Freo is 2-5 on the road, its most recent outing saw it down the Magpies at Marvel Stadium. And Nat Fyfe (shoulder) is a good chance of returning. The Blues did what they had to do against the Crows last week, basically getting away with playing one quarter of footy, and would be buoyed by their most recent visit to Kardinia Park – a two-point win over Geelong last year. But the Dockers are a serious outfit who have shown they can perform well in spite of a lengthy injury list, and they might just have too much grit for the flaky Blues.
RONNY’S TIP: Fremantle by 9 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Carlton by 6 points.

SYDNEY v WEST COAST (Kardinia Park, Sunday 1.10pm local time)
One can’t help but think there was more than a bit of gamesmanship in the Swans’ decision to choose Kardinia Park as its alternative home venue for their clash with the Eagles this week, given the COVID situation in Sydney. Since early 2007, Geelong’s record at its home ground has been a staggering 97-11, but John Longmire’s side has bucked the league-wide trend of opposition teams being dominated there, to be the sole master of the Cats in Geelong, winning three of its last four games at the venue. In fact, Sydney is responsible for four of the Cats’ last 11 defeats there. In stark contrast, West Coast hates the stadium, winning just one of its last 13 matches there and losing its last seven at the venue by an average margin of 65 points. The Eagles’ last visit there in round six resulted in a 97-point hiding. This is a massive clash between sixth (Swans) and seventh (Eagles), with only percentage separating the two teams. Both sides are 2-4 away from home, although one of West Coast’s win on the road did come against a side (Carlton) that wasn’t enjoying true home ground advantage at the SCG. The Eagles were spanked last week, but this writer believes their star quartet that returned from injury against the Bulldogs – Brad Sheppard, Jeremy McGovern, Luke Shuey and Tim Kelly – will all be better for the run, and therefore they deserve one last chance to prove themselves at the Cattery.
RONNY’S TIP: West Coast by 2 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Sydney by 10 points.

COLLINGWOOD v ST KILDA (MCG, Sunday 3.20m local time)
Just when you thought the Saints’ season was over, they maintained a faint pulse in the most spectacular and unexpected way last week with a 40-point win over reigning premier Richmond, keeping the Tigers to their lowest score in 60 years in the process. It was a stunning performance, which prompted St Kilda fans all over the country to ask: “Where has this been all year?” But once again, Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall showed how vital they are to team success when they are playing together. The Saints have certainly developed an unhealthy reliance on the duo, and it’s essentially Ryder and Marshall or bust, but while they keep combining, St Kilda will continue to be hard to beat. The euphoria and emotion surrounding Nathan Buckley’s exit quickly evaporated for Collingwood last week with a reality check in the form of a loss to Fremantle in Melbourne, and the Pies will struggle to return to the winners’ circle this week.
RONNY’S TIP: St Kilda by 14 points.
ROCO’S TIP: St Kilda by 16 points.

WESTERN BULLDOGS v NORTH MELBOURNE (Marvel Stadium, Sunday 4.40pm local time)
After a solid couple of months of footy, which albeit has only yielded 2.5 wins, you just get the feeling that the Kangaroos are headed for a massive fall down the stairs this week against the Bulldogs. The last time these two sides met, the Dogs registered their greatest ever VFL/AFL win – a 128-point annihilation at this very stadium back in round three. Josh Bruce booted 10 goals, to go with the 12 he kicked in his previous two meetings with the Kangaroos, and North was left red-faced and beaten up. Will a similar result occur this time around? You’d like to think not, especially when you consider the meaningful gains made by the Kangaroos since that nightmarish evening on Good Friday. But once the Bulldogs get that sniff of blood in the nostrils, they become a pack of rabid, merciless and relentless hounds who will not stop ravaging their opponents until the final siren sounds. If the Roos can keep the final margin below 10 goals, that would be a great effort.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 74 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 48 points.

RONNY’S SEASON TOTAL: 82
ROCO’S SEASON TOTAL: 85