Essendon’s Michael Hurley and North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell when the Dons and Roos clashed last year. Photo: AFL MEDIA

GEELONG v BRISBANE (SCG, Thursday 7.40pm local time)
The weird and wacky beast that is season 2020 continues this week with not one team playing at its home venue for the first time since 1952. In fact, it’s only the second time that’s ever happened in the 124-year history of the VFL/AFL. Strange times indeed! But fixture quirks aside, round six begins with a beauty as rampaging Brisbane tackles the veteran heavyweight Geelong, in Sydney of all places! Apart from their win over Hawthorn, the Cats just haven’t seemed to get going meaningfully at all this year as they curiously employ a relatively conservative game style. Conversely, Brisbane has been electric since the restart, winning four games in a row and making a couple of statements along the way against West Coast and Port Adelaide. With captain Dayne Zorko set to return as well, it’s hard to see the Lions being denied a fifth victory on the trot.
RONNY’S TIP: Brisbane by 25 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Brisbane by 22 points.

COLLINGWOOD v HAWTHORN (Giants Stadium, Friday 7.50pm local time)
This is a genuine coin flip game. All of a sudden the Magpies are in a serious rut having won just one game since the restart and contending with two huge off-field distractions which threaten to derail yet another premiership tilt. Meanwhile, Hawthorn’s form line is hardly reliable either, and quite simply you don’t know which team wearing brown-and-gold is going to front up on a week-to-week basis. But with three of their best players missing in Jordan De Goey, Steele Sidebottom and Jeremy Howe, the Pies look vulnerable, and if they dish up the passive, deflated brand of footy they played against Essendon after the first 15 minutes last week, then it’ll be three losses in a row for them for the first time since 2017. The Hawks should regain Jon Patton (foot), and with 12 of their last 13 meetings with Collingwood ending in victory, they won’t be short on confidence to return to the winners’ circle.
RONNY’S TIP: Hawthorn by 10 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Collingwood by 2 points.

FREMANTLE v ST KILDA (Metricon Stadium, Saturday 12.35pm local time)
The Saints are slowly but surely grabbing the attention of the footy world with their high-octane brand strongly suggesting that they could be the bolter from outside the top eight in 2020. Their last two wins against Richmond and Carlton, to go with their performance against the Bulldogs in round two, have been clinical, and it would be a brave punter to suggest they won’t record three wins in a row for the first time in three years. All of a sudden St Kilda is one of the most attractive teams to watch in the competition with its dashing take-the-game-on attitude, and the Saints are likely to regain a key piece of that game style this week in Zak Jones (hamstring), which would soften the blow of the loss of Dan Hannebery (hamstring). Full credit to Fremantle which, despite winning only one game so far this year, has had a decent crack in each of its matches, but Brett Ratten’s men look to be a superior outfit with so many threats in attack complementing their exciting midfield group, especially if Nat Fyfe (hamstring) misses again for the Dockers, who will also be without Reece Conca (hamstring), Jesse Hogan (calf) and Griffin Logue (toe).
RONNY’S TIP: St Kilda by 23 points.
ROCO’S TIP: St Kilda by 28 points.

WEST COAST v ADELAIDE (Gabba, Saturday 3.05pm local time)
Could last week prove to be the catalyst for getting West Coast’s spluttering 2020 campaign back on track? This writer wouldn’t be betting against it. The Eagles looked a lot more like the Eagles of 2018 as they steamrolled the Swans after a slow start and now head into their contest against bottom-placed Adelaide with their confidence at its highest level since round one. With West Coast’s mojo back, it promises to be another long day at the office for Matthew Nicks’ men, who look destined to slump to the club’s equal-worst start to a season of 0-6.
RONNY’S TIP: West Coast by 52 points.
ROCO’S TIP: West Coast by 40 points.

MELBOURNE v GOLD COAST (Giants Stadium, Saturday 6.05pm local time)
What a mouth-watering contest this promises to be. The Suns certainly lost no admirers last week as they gallantly pinched the lead from the Cats in Geelong in the third quarter despite the absence of Matt Rowell (shoulder), before eventually losing by six goals. They showed a lot of ticker and maturity, which is definitely something we’re not used to seeing from Gold Coast sides in recent times. Meanwhile, the Demons’ game plan still looks like a dog’s breakfast after 16 months. Their decision making, their skill level and the way they deliver the ball inside 50 continues to be downright appalling at times. The Suns might be without Rowell, but they’re still capable of taking care of the Demons.
RONNY’S TIP: Gold Coast by 17 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 4 points.

ESSENDON v NORTH MELBOURNE (Metricon Stadium, Saturday 7.40pm local time)
Riding high on the back of their best win in a couple of years against Collingwood, the Bombers really shouldn’t have too many issues in accounting for the Kangaroos, whose season is all of a sudden precariously placed on the back of three consecutive losses following a bright start. Like the Hawks, the Dons are a very hard team to get a read on, but if they replicate the same effort they brought against the Magpies – a stark improvement on their first three games – then North Melbourne will have few answers, especially with Ben Cunnington (back/leg), Shaun Higgins (knee), Tarryn Thomas (concussion) and Jack Ziebell (hamstring) all under clouds. Essendon will be missing Jake Stringer (ankle), Dyson Heppell (ankle) and Patrick Ambrose (foot), but will recall Zach Merrett from suspension, and he could very well be joined in the team by Conor McKenna and Aaron Francis (back) as the Bombers eye off five consecutive wins against North for the first time in 19 years.
RONNY’S TIP: Essendon by 21 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Essendon by 12 points.

PORT ADELAIDE v GWS (Metricon Stadium, Sunday 1.05pm local time)
The Power don’t have to wait long to undergo another stern test of their top-four bona fides. After a comprehensive defeat at the hands of premiership fancy Brisbane last week, Ken Hinkley’s men front up against another side tipped to be there when the whips are cracking at the end of the season in GWS. The Giants look like they’ve turned the corner in recent weeks with impressive wins over Collingwood and Hawthorn, and could be boosted by the surprise inclusion of Tim Taranto, who has come on in leaps and bounds in his recovery from a shoulder reconstruction. After getting an idea of where Port Adelaide sits in the pecking order last week, we’ll get a much clearer understanding of it this week and it won’t be surprising if the end result suggests that the Power might not be as much of a flag threat as the early-season hype may have indicated.
RONNY’S TIP: GWS by 18 points.
ROCO’S TIP: GWS by 26 points.

RICHMOND v SYDNEY (Gabba, Sunday 3.35pm local time)
It is mighty tempting to tip against the Tigers this week given they will be missing Trent Cotchin (hamstring), Shane Edwards (personal reasons), Dion Prestia (ankle), Bachar Houli (personal reasons), David Astbury (knee) and Toby Nankervis (ankle), while Tom Lynch (hand) is touch and go as well, and even if he plays, you wouldn’t expect him to be close to 100 per cent. But one can’t help but think back to round four last year when Richmond travelled to the Adelaide Oval with similar personnel issues and got the job done against the Power. This is, after all, the team that has won two of the last three flags – you don’t foster a culture of mental softness if you’re consistently achieving at such a high level. The Swans have a crack, no doubt, but they too are missing quite a few key players this week, and that should be enough to tip the result in Richmond’s favour.
RONNY’S TIP: Richmond by 22 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Richmond by 18 points.

CARLTON v WESTERN BULLDOGS (Metricon Stadium, Sunday 6.45pm local time)
In the words of Frank Costanza – the Bulldogs are back, baby! Their third win on the trot was their most impressive of the lot. Yes, they gutsed it out admirably against the Giants a fortnight ago, but their total domination of the Kangaroos last week was ruthless. And if Bailey Smith fails to recover from concussion, Lachie Hunter will be a more-than-competent replacement following the completion of his four-week club-imposed suspension. The Blues aren’t a four-quarter team and they’re still guilty of committing too many costly, high-risk mistakes. The Saints showed last week that if you can shut down their prime playmakers, the Blues struggle. With their tails in the air and their late 2019 form close to being fully recaptured, the Doggies should be too strong.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 25 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 8 points.

RONNY’S SEASON TOTAL: 27
ROCO’S SEASON TOTAL: 28