Melbourne’s Christian Petracca gets a handball away despite the attention of Tom Liberatore in Round 1. Photo: AFL MEDIA

RICHMOND v FREMANTLE (Marvel Stadium, Friday 7.50pm local time)
The Tigers could have been knocking on the door of the top four by now, but a pair of catastrophic losses to Gold Coast and North Melbourne in the past two weeks now has them battling to stay in the top eight. It really does feel like Richmond has been transported back to Damien Hardwick’s first few years in charge when results like the ones they suffered in Rounds 17 and 18 were commonplace. And now they come up against the top-four Dockers, and are going to have to continue to make do without Dustin Martin (hamstring), Tom Lynch (hamstring) and Kane Lambert (achilles/hip) who remain sidelined with injury. Fremantle heads into the clash with its in-form forward Rory Lobb (shoulder) unavailable, in what is a big blow, but it does regain star defender Alex Pearce. Richmond’s record at Marvel Stadium is poor, having lost seven of its last 10 games there, while Freo has won three of its last four at the stadium. Hardwick has publicly stated how much the “Tiger Army” hates turning up to the Docklands venue, as evidenced by the fact that they’ve only attracted on average 23,000 fans in their past five games there when crowds were allowed to attend. It remains to be seen how much support Richmond will receive in the stands but, more importantly, despite their loss to Sydney last week, the Dockers are just a more well-drilled and reliable quantity at the moment. Their midfield really threatens to overpower Richmond’s and will go a long way to deciding this contest.
RONNY’S TIP: Fremantle by 19 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Richmond by 6 points.

NORTH MELBOURNE v HAWTHORN (Blundstone Arena, Saturday 1.45pm local time)
The Kangaroos finally did it. After almost three months of torture, they broke through for their second win of the season last week, and weren’t the scenes of jubilation heart-warming? As so often happens when a team parts ways with its senior coach, it experiences a dramatic uptick in form the following week. North Melbourne is the latest example of this phenomenon, and while it certainly showed vast improvement against Collingwood in former coach David Noble’s final game in charge, it managed to push through for victory in caretaker Leigh Adams’s first match. Who would have thought North would name an unchanged line-up in 2022? Things can change very quickly in this game. Will the rejuvenated and clearly unburdened Kangaroos continue riding the new-coach wave against the Hawks? Why not? Hawthorn has returned to form with back-to-back wins over Adelaide and West Coast, and is bolstered by the return of star forward Jack Gunston, but the carefree manner in which North played last week makes it a dangerous proposition. The Hawks cannot afford to take the Roos lightly.
RONNY’S TIP: Hawthorn by 8 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Hawthorn by 22 points.

SYDNEY v ADELAIDE (SCG, Saturday 1.45pm local time)
Adelaide was brave last week against Collingwood, but not for the first time this year, could not finish the job after finding itself in a winning position. The match summed up the Crows’ season to a tee. The bad news for Matthew Nicks’ men is that they come up against a top-four aspirant this week, which has won six of its past eight games, including road victories against Melbourne and Fremantle. The Swans are capable of dropping games they should win, as evidenced by their two losses in the aforementioned period to Port Adelaide and Essendon, but it’s hard to see them losing this one.
RONNY’S TIP: Sydney by 38 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Sydney by 32 points.

PORT ADELAIDE v GEELONG (Adelaide Oval, Saturday 4.05pm local time)
The Power’s finals hopes are all but shot, and look set to be extinguished this week by the in-form team in the competition. While this writer still thinks the Demons will come good at the right time of the year, the Cats right now are looking every bit a premiership contender, and it would be surprising if the grand final wasn’t contested between those two sides. But a lot of water still has to go under the bridge before then, and top-of-the-ladder Geelong still has to keep the pedal to the metal if it wants to win its second minor premiership in four years. The Cats were clinical against a would-be top-four hope in Carlton last week, reinforcing their standing as one of the very best teams in the league. They should have few issues winning nine games in a row for the first time since 2011.
RONNY’S TIP: Geelong by 29 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Geelong by 8 points.

BRISBANE v GOLD COAST (Gabba, Saturday 7.10pm local time)
Just like the Power, the Suns’ September ambitions are fading fast. But unlike Port Adelaide, which was gallant in defeat against Melbourne last week, Gold Coast blew a golden opportunity to stay on course for the top eight as it got smashed by lowly Essendon to the tune of 48 points. In fact, the Suns saved their worst performance of the year for their most important game of the year. Deflating stuff. And now they must pick themselves up, dust themselves off and prepare for one of the competition’s heavyweights, as well as their local rival. The key players continue to return for the Lions after their COVID/injury mayhem from the last couple of weeks, with Dayne Zorko, Daniel Rich, Jarrod Berry, Marcus Adams and Oscar McInerney all named. It all amounts to a tough night at the office for Gold Coast which not only looks destined for an eighth consecutive Q-Clash loss, but also on course to be knocked out of the finals race.
RONNY’S TIP: Brisbane by 37 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Brisbane by 36 points.

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WESTERN BULLDOGS v MELBOURNE (Marvel Stadium, Saturday 7.25pm local time)
The Demons have definitely experienced some turbulence in the past couple of months, but despite their inconsistent form over that period, reminiscent of their scratchy stretch between Round 13-19 last year, they still find themselves second on the ladder, and head into this clash on the back of a hard-fought win over Port Adelaide. They also regain premiership duo Clayton Oliver and Harrison Petty. The Bulldogs welcome back Aaron Naughton, but if they expect a similar walk in the park to the one they experienced against a woeful St Kilda outfit last week, they’ve got another thing coming. The Demons certainly haven’t been firing on all cylinders of late, yet they’ve still won three of their last four games, and the Bulldogs’ record against the top-eight teams this year has not been very good. It would take something special from Luke Beveridge’s men to upset the applecart this week.
RONNY’S TIP: Melbourne by 22 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 16 points.

CARLTON v GWS (Marvel Stadium, Sunday 1.10pm local time)
Last week, the Blues got a first-hand lesson in what it takes to be considered a genuine contender. This week, they won’t undergo any such rigorous examination. They’re up against a Giants outfit that is just treading water, waiting for the season to end. They now find themselves in the bottom four and have produced a pair of horrible performances in the past two weeks. With Josh Kelly (concussion), Tom Green (managed), Jesse Hogan (managed) and Connor Idun (foot) all out this week, it could get very ugly in the pristine conditions under the roof at Marvel Stadium.
RONNY’S TIP: Carlton by 55 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Carlton by 40 points.

COLLINGWOOD v ESSENDON (MCG, Sunday 3.20pm local time)
Bombers fans all over the country are asking: “Where has this been all year?” In an all-too-familiar story, Essendon is finishing the season with a flourish after exiting the finals frame very early. Having only managed two wins in their first 12 games, the Dons have won four of their last five, against finals hopefuls Brisbane, Sydney, St Kilda and Gold Coast. In their first 12 matches, they averaged 70 points, and in their last five they’ve averaged 100 per game. It has been a dramatic turnaround built on speed, dash and flair, largely generated from the back half. The Bombers are a different team, no longer cautious and timid, they are taking the opposition on at all costs, and it’s reaping huge dividends. This week they come up against one of the form teams of the competition in Collingwood, which has won its past eight games to sit fifth on the ladder and be the biggest surprise packet of the year after finishing 17th last year. The Pies’ uncanny ability to win the tight games continued last week, as they beat the Crows by five points, meaning they are now 7-1 in games decided by 11 points or fewer. It’s quite extraordinary. Taylor Adams and Isaac Quaynor have been named, but the streak has to come to an end at some stage, and they do look like a team slowly running out of puff and due for a loss. Essendon version 2.0 looms as just the side to burst Collingwood’s bubble.
RONNY’S TIP: Essendon by 12 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Collingwood by 2 points.

WEST COAST v ST KILDA (Optus Stadium, Sunday 2.40pm local time)
Like GWS, the Eagles can’t wait for this season to end. They’re well on track for their outright worst-ever season and will need to double their tally of two wins in the next five weeks to avoid that feat – a tall order indeed when you consider just how pathetic they’ve been this year. They’ve shown glimpses of life at their home ground in recent times, most notably in their win over Essendon, and for that reason they are half a chance of causing an upset here. But it’s hard to envisage the Saints not responding fiercely to easily their worst performance of the year last week, given what was at stake for them. St Kilda remains in the finals hunt, but in 10th spot and with Geelong, Brisbane and Sydney still to come in its run home, its margin for error has basically evaporated. Must-win games don’t get much more must-win than this, and with Seb Ross, Marcus Windhager and Hunter Clark all named in their extended squad, the Saints should get the job done.
RONNY’S TIP: St Kilda by 21 points.
ROCO’S TIP: St Kilda by 10 points.

RONNY’S SEASON TOTAL: 105
ROCO’S SEASON TOTAL: 107