Last year’s Round 11 Essendon-Carlton clash, after which the Blues sacked then-coach Brendon Bolton. Photo: AFL MEDIA

SYDNEY v WESTERN BULLDOGS (SCG, Thursday 7.40pm local time)
Both of these teams head into this contest with a boost of confidence on the back of impressive upset victories last week. The Swans handed North Melbourne its first loss of the season while the Bulldogs survived a spiteful clash with fierce rival GWS to emerge with their first win of 2020. The Swans have defied expectations so far this year to be one six-point loss away from being undefeated. The Dogs, on the other hand, have fallen well short of external prognostications, but that win over the Giants could be what jolts them into action. The loss of Josh Dunkley (ankle) is a huge blow for Luke Beveridge’s side, but fresh from preventing their season from spiralling out of control, and armed with a good recent record at the SCG, the Doggies are a good show to win their first meeting with Sydney in 15 months.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 8 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 12 points.

GWS v COLLINGWOOD (Giants Stadium, Friday 7.50pm local time)
The Giants have to get their season back on track fast otherwise the premiership fancies will run the risk of missing out on the finals, let alone make the grand final. Their last two performances have been really poor, and their attempt at roughing up the Bulldogs last week totally backfired and made them look rather silly in front of a national free-to-air audience. They probably couldn’t have picked a worse team to try and right the ship against, either, because Collingwood is standing out like a sore thumb at this early juncture as the team to beat in 2020. As it did against the Doggies in round one, Collingwood blitzed St Kilda last week with its fleet of lethal small forwards ensuring the contest was over virtually at half-time. However, GWS has won four of its last five against the Pies, including their last two meetings at this ground, and the potential inclusions of Toby Greene (knee) and Josh Kelly (calf), along with a full game from Lachie Whitfield (concussion), could be enough to keep it from slumping to 1-3. The Magpies might welcome back Adam Treloar (calf) and Mason Cox (knee) for the preliminary final rematch as well.
RONNY’S TIP: GWS by 2 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Collingwood by 6 points.

PORT ADELAIDE v WEST COAST (Metricon Stadium, Saturday 1.45pm local time)
You probably couldn’t get two teams whose enthusiasm levels are more juxtaposed than this pair. The Power have been the early bolters this season, sweeping all before them on the way to a perfect 3-0 record and top spot on the ladder. The Eagles, on the other hand, look like they don’t want to be in Queensland, with footy the furthest thing from their minds. And the messaging from coach Adam Simpson in recent weeks has arguably given them an out mentally to underperform as badly as they have been. On paper, this is Port Adelaide’s sternest test, considering the three teams it has defeated so far aren’t expected to make the finals. But in reality, even with the loss of Xavier Duursma (hamstring) and West Coast hoping to regain Jeremy McGovern (ankle/suspension), Ken Hinkley’s men should have no problems accounting for West Coast based on exposed form.
RONNY’S TIP: Port Adelaide by 17 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Port Adelaide by 6 points.

ST KILDA v RICHMOND (Marvel Stadium, Saturday 4.35pm local time)
Doesn’t this loom as an intriguing battle? Both sides head into this game on the back of horrible performances. St Kilda has at least shown some spark recently with an impressive win over the Bulldogs a fortnight ago, but it’s been a while since Richmond has resembled the club that has dominated the league for the last three years. Although, it must be said, its draw against Collingwood is probably not looking so bad at the moment. The expected return of Dustin Martin (ribs) will be a huge boost for the Tigers, and their recent domination of the Saints, with 10 wins from their last 12 encounters, should continue this week as they attempt to alleviate their uncharacteristic impotency which has seen them kick just 10 goals in the last two weeks.
RONNY’S TIP: Richmond by 24 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Richmond by 32 points.

ESSENDON v CARLTON (MCG, Saturday 7.40pm local time)
For a period it looked like it was off, but at the time of this article being writing written, it’s on again! The Bombers avoided a huge bullet this week with confirmation that Conor McKenna and James Stewart, who hasn’t played a senior game in over two years, were the only Dons who had to self-isolate for a fortnight following McKenna’s positive coronavirus test (remarkably at the time of publication, McKenna was still an outside chance of playing if he produced another negative test). But on the back of the match against Melbourne being postponed, the bad news for the Bombers is that their record after a bye in the last five seasons is 2-5. Carlton is still struggling to put four quarters of footy together, but it did enough in three to escape with one of the biggest upset wins of recent times against Geelong last week. The Dons could welcome back Orazio Fantasia (quad) but the loss of captain Dyson Heppell to a broken ankle is huge. Both teams have shown improvement this year, but Essendon, which is yet to trail its opponent this season, should get home in a close one.
RONNY’S TIP: Essendon by 9 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Carlton by 2 points.

GOLD COAST v FREMANTLE (Metricon Stadium, Saturday 7.40pm local time)
The Suns are fast becoming the story of the season following another dominant performance last round. While they did start the year brightly in 2019 as well before losing 19 in a row, the enthusiasm that the 2020 group is exuding is palpable. Led by superstars-in-the-making such as Matt Rowell and Ben King, the former wooden spoon favourites’ hunger is back, and these kids just want more. The Dockers have been far from disgraced this season, but they’ve just lacked that extra bit of class and polish to break through for a win. Unfortunately for them, they’re probably going to have to wait a little longer before tasting victory. On a side note, it will be interesting to see how the Metricon Stadium surface holds up this weekend as it looked to be chopped up pretty badly by the end of last Sunday’s double-header it hosted.
RONNY’S TIP: Gold Coast by 23 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Fremantle by 4 points.

BRISBANE v ADELAIDE (Gabba, Sunday 1.05pm local time)
Whichever way you look at this game, even taking into account the wild form fluctuations and crazy results that 2020 has already dished up, it’s basically impossible to see how the Crows can win. After suffering another smashing, this time at the hands of perennial whipping boy Gold Coast, Adelaide is at the bottom of the ladder and at its lowest ebb since entering the competition in 1991. If it thought it would be afforded some respite this weekend, it had better think again, because the Lions are just starting to crank up their engines in season 2020, and on the back of their impressive showing against West Coast last week, don’t be surprised if they get close to registering the first 100-point victory of the 16-minute-quarter season.
RONNY’S TIP: Brisbane by 74 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Brisbane by 36 points.

MELBOURNE v GEELONG (MCG, Sunday 3.35pm local time)
Through no fault of their own, the Demons had the week off last round, but unlike Essendon, their recent record coming off a bye is a very healthy 3-1 in the past three seasons. But if they intend to account for an on-the-rebound Geelong side still smarting from its shock loss to Carlton, they had better not produce another Jekyll-and-Hyde performance like they did against the Blues in round two. Melbourne’s best is fantastic to watch, but its worst is absolutely deplorable. It’s hard to get a handle on Geelong for the time being, but it very rarely puts in two horrid performances in a row, so it can be expected to resemble something more like the team that played in the final quarter last week, as opposed to the one that was getting bossed around in the first three.
RONNY’S TIP: Geelong by 15 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Geelong by 26 points.

HAWTHORN v NORTH MELBOURNE (Marvel Stadium, Sunday 6.05pm local time)
Hawthorn has already taken two big scalps this year – Brisbane and Richmond – and based on how comprehensive both victories were, at this rate it looks like master coach Alastair Clarkson is on course for another finals campaign. The Hawks take on an unpredictable opponent this week which, on its day, can be one of the toughest sides to play against. But as the Swans showed last week, North Melbourne can be sliced up quite easily – especially without gun midfielder Ben Cunnington. The Kangaroos will be hoping like hell that he returns from a back complaint this week. The 2020 season has been a yo-yo for many teams so far, and while Hawthorn seems to be in better nick at the moment, it would be surprising if North Melbourne didn’t produce a strong performance in response to its poor showing last week.
RONNY’S TIP: North Melbourne by 11 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Hawthorn by 18 points.

RONNY’S SEASON TOTAL: 13
ROCO’S SEASON TOTAL: 14