Collingwood midfielder Tom Mitchell gets a kick away in front of St Kilda’s Seb Ross during Gather Round last year. Photo: AFL MEDIA

ST KILDA v COLLINGWOOD (MCG, Thursday 7:30pm local time)
For the second year in a row, the reigning premier has started the season 0-2. And ominously for Collingwood, Geelong didn’t make the finals last year after clinching the 2022 flag. It’s only a small sample size, but the Magpies look as though they’re standing still. In the opening two matches, fellow premiership contenders GWS and Sydney have absolutely bossed them around, making them look slow, sluggish and feeble. Pace has been a huge issue for Collingwood so far this season, and there’ll be no respite for the defending champion this week when it comes up against a St Kilda side boasting the likes of Liam Henry, Bradley Hill and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. In a further boost for the Saints, following their commendable showing against the Cats in Geelong last week, they welcome back superstar defender Jack Sinclair as well as Zak Jones after an injury-ravaged 2023 campaign. And by the same token, coach Ross Lyon made a huge early statement by dropping star on-baller Brad Crouch after he only managed 15 disposals – his worst return since Round 3, 2021. The Pies aren’t exactly getting quicker this week, either, with Tom Mitchell, Billy Frampton and Reef McInnes all recalled to the senior line-up. It would be surprising if Collingwood started the year with three straight losses (again, like Geelong did last year) and even though the Saints came very close to knocking them off in Gather Round last year, expect an improved performance from the Pies after spending the week going to work on their myriad deficiencies.
RONNY’S TIP: Collingwood by 10 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Collingwood by 12 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Collingwood by 3 points.

ADELAIDE v GEELONG (Adelaide Oval, Friday 7:10pm local time)
The Crows committed themselves to being better in close matches this year, but in their very first test, they came up short again, making it six straight losses for them in matches decided by a kick. But their hopes of notching their first win of the season have been given a huge boost with champion forward Taylor Walker (back) expected to line up. Geelong did what it had to do last week, after being seriously tested by the Saints, but in forecast perfect conditions in Adelaide this week, the Crows will be a much different proposition than the side that played at a wet and slippery Carrara and still almost snatched victory late against the Suns.
RONNY’S TIP: Adelaide by 25 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Adelaide by 8 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Adelaide by 7 points.

NORTH MELBOURNE v FREMANTLE (Marvel Stadium, Saturday 1:45pm local time)
The hits just keep coming down back for the Kangaroos with Josh Goater (Achilles) the latest casualty and the youngster’s season is now over barely after it began. But they will be hoping that co-captain Luke McDonald (hamstring) will return this week to strengthen that extremely vulnerable part of the ground. And North could be further bolstered by the return of its other on-field leader Jy Simpkin after copping that sickening hit from St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster in the pre-season. Fremantle’s huge win over runner-up Brisbane was soured by a raft of injuries and Brennan Cox (hamstring), Oscar McDonald (knee) and Karl Worner (concussion) will all be missing this week as a result. But despite the carnage, and even though North put up a fight for a half against GWS last week, it’s hard to see how the Kangas will get the better of Fremantle who could regain Jaeger O’Meara (knee).
RONNY’S TIP: Fremantle by 30 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Fremantle by 26 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Fremantle by 21 points.

HAWTHORN v MELBOURNE (MCG, Saturday 4:35pm local time)
The Demons have resembled Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the opening fortnight. After forward efficiency dogged them against the Swans, they couldn’t have been more impressive in attack against the Bulldogs as their maligned forward line functioned beautifully to yield their biggest score in eight matches. And with Harrison Petty (toe) set to return, Melbourne looks even more dangerous. It also helps when its superstar quartet of Clayton Oliver, Max Gawn, Steven May and Christian Petracca are firing on all cylinders. If Melbourne replicates its performance against the Dogs, the Hawks are no hope. With Oliver, Petracca and Viney in hot form, it would be fair to suggest that Hawks tagger Finn Maginness won’t be starting the game as the sub this time around as he did against Essendon in Round 1.
RONNY’S TIP: Melbourne by 31 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 32 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Melbourne by 29 points.

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SYDNEY v ESSENDON (SCG, Saturday 7:30pm local time)
The Bombers won well in the end, but don’t let the scoreboard fool you, they dodged a massive bullet against the inaccurate Hawks. For large parts of the game, Essendon was outplayed and was only kept alive by Hawthorn’s inability to convert. Luckily for the Dons, their accuracy was supreme and held them in good stead at the final siren. It’s fair to say that their quality of opponent rises up two or three notches this weekend. The Swans could not have been more impressive in the first two weeks. The manner in which they disposed of fellow flag fancies Melbourne and Collingwood was truly awesome. Their pace, skill, pressure and tall forwards were just too much for the stunned Magpies. The Bombers will have to play at their absolute best, and then some, to cause an upset here, and even though they could regain Darcy Parish (hamstring), their hopes of realising that lofty goal have been hit hard by the losses of Mason Redman (suspension), Matt Guelfi (calf) and Zach Reid (hamstring). With Isaac Heeney leading the charge in the middle, the Swans are doing just fine without Luke Parker (arm), Callum Mills (shoulder) and Taylor Adams (knee) and they should achieve their second 3-0 start in four years.
RONNY’S TIP: Sydney by 33 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Sydney by 16 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Sydney by 31 points.

WESTERN BULLDOGS v GOLD COAST (Mars Stadium, Sunday 1pm local time)
It hasn’t taken long for the Bulldogs to raise eyebrows. Jack Macrae not selected, Caleb Daniel the starting sub. Yep, the Dogs might only be one game in, but coach Luke Beveridge already has the footy world scratching its head with curious selection decisions. Like Maginness at the Hawks, it would be staggering to see Daniel as the 23rd man again this week, especially after he finished the game with more disposals than eight of his teammates despite only seeing 29 per cent game time. It would be surprising to see Macrae miss again as well. And after their last-quarter fadeout against the Demons, the Bulldogs need those two back in the team badly. They come up against an undefeated Gold Coast side that almost lost the unlosable match in driving rain against Adelaide last week. The Suns are still basically at full strength, but Ballarat is a happy hunting ground for the Dogs and they should produce a much better showing than they did last week.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 15 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 2 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Gold Coast by 9 points.

RICHMOND v PORT ADELAIDE (Adelaide Oval, Sunday 4pm local time)
The Tigers were very brave last round and almost toppled premiership contender Carlton despite losing Dion Prestia (hamstring), Josh Gibcus (knee) and Tylar Young (concussion) during the game. But they will tackle the Power without that trio while Jack Graham (quad) remains unavailable as well. Port Adelaide didn’t play much last week, easily accounting for struggler West Coast, and they too are missing key players in Sam Powell-Pepper (suspension), Jed McEntee (concussion) and Ollie Lord (knee/tibia). But the Power have won their last two games at the MCG, including a 10-point victory over Richmond, and with stalwart Travis Boak set to become the AFL club’s first player to reach 350 games, and just the 23rd man to achieve that feat in league history, expect Ken Hinkley’s side to celebrate that huge milestone in style as Richmond stare down the barrel of their first 0-3 start since 2010.
RONNY’S TIP: Port Adelaide by 14 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Port Adelaide by 28 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Port Adelaide by 33 points.

WEST COAST v GWS (Optus Stadium, Sunday 3:50pm local time)
The Eagles need a miracle here. How is a team that has won just seven of its last 55 games expected to take down the outright premiership favourites? Remarkably, one of those rare West Coast wins came against this very opponent at this very venue almost a year ago to the day! Six months later, the Giants nearly defeated Collingwood in an epic preliminary final and the Eagles were being compared to the 1996 Fitzroy team after losing five games by at least 100 points in the same season. Haven’t these two teams gone on different trajectories since their last meeting? The Giants by plenty here. If the Eagles can keep the margin below 50 points, they’d have done well.
RONNY’S TIP: GWS by 57 points.
ROCO’S TIP: GWS by 42 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: GWS by 65 points.

SEASON TOTALS
ROCKET 8
RONNY 8
ROCO 8