Geelong’s Luke Dahlhaus lays a strong tackle during the Cats’ 69-point win over the Dockers last year. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

WEST COAST v RICHMOND (Optus Stadium, Friday 6.10pm local time)
The wheels have fallen off the Eagles’ season in a hurry and they now look like a team in freefall. The positivity surrounding their stirring road win over Collingwood in Round 4 has quickly evaporated after back-to-back thumping losses to Sydney and Port Adelaide. So uncompetitive was West Coast in those two games that it was outscored by a combined 101 points in the first half. And it didn’t get much better for Adam Simpson’s men by the time the final siren sounded as they lost the two games by 63 and 84 points respectively, taking their average losing margin for the year already to eight goals. The defeat to Sydney was the Eagles’ worst at home in nine years, and they registered their lowest ever score against the Power. These aren’t landmarks you want to be racking up with such regularity so early into a campaign. The return of Jeremy McGovern is huge, but there’s only so much one man can do, and West Coast will have to do without Elliot Yeo (concussion) again. Although they are still hit hard by injury, the COVID disruption cannot be used as an excuse anymore. Richmond might not be what it once was, but the Tigers are not disgracing themselves like West Coast has been on a routine basis. The returns of Dylan Grimes and Kane Lambert are huge as well.
RONNY’S TIP: Richmond by 20 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Richmond by 20 points.

GEELONG v FREMANTLE (Kardinia Park, Saturday 1.45pm local time)
Fremantle has been one of the surprise packets of season 2022 and after six rounds and five wins, the Dockers are sitting pretty in second spot. But Justin Longmuir’s side is set to undergo the biggest test of its fairytale campaign to date – the Cats in Geelong. The Dockers have been very impressive in the manner in which they’ve put away Adelaide, West Coast, GWS, Essendon and Carlton, and critics denigrating the quality of those opponents clearly don’t understand how tight the modern-day competition is with upsets frequent and more-fancied teams paying the price for being a couple of per cent off their game. However, there’s no doubt that Geelong is a big step up in quality, especially down on its dung heap which has provided the biggest home-ground advantage to any team of the past 20 years. The losses of Matt Taberner (hamstring) and Sean Darcy (concussion) only make this task even more difficult for Freo.
RONNY’S TIP: Geelong by 27 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Geelong by 27 points.

ADELAIDE v GWS (Adelaide Oval, Saturday 1.40pm local time)
There is something brewing at West Lakes, and the Adelaide faithful are loving it. The gritty Crows have been quietly building towards something big under third-year coach Matthew Nicks, and they finally made the casual footy fans sit up and take notice last weekend when they claimed the highly-sought after scalp of the Western Bulldogs. That effort squared their 2022 ledger at 3-3 and they are quickly earning the reputation as one of the league’s toughest teams to beat with four of their games this year already decided by a combined 20 points – they are 2-2 in such games. No longer are Nicks’ Crows a bunch of easybeats, they’ve morphed into a highly competitive, uncompromising footy team. The Giants took a step in the right direction last week with a gallant loss to St Kilda, but at the moment they don’t appear to possess the inner fortitude required to take down Adelaide, especially at Adelaide Oval.
RONNY’S TIP: Adelaide by 21 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Adelaide by 10 points.

MELBOURNE v HAWTHORN (MCG, Saturday 4.35pm local time)
The rampaging Demons might be missing star quartet Luke Jackson, Kysaiah Pickett, Harrison Petty and Tom Sparrow, as well as coach Simon Goodwin, due to COVID protocols this week, but they regain a pretty handy trio in Jack Viney, Jake Lever and Tom McDonald. In Goodwin’s stead, Adem Yze will take the reins, becoming the fifth caretaker coach of the season and he’ll be aiming to improve their unblemished record to 6-0. The Hawks have definitely taken some strides under new coach Sam Mitchell this year, and will even take some confidence from the fact they pushed Melbourne to a draw in their last meeting. But the Demons are in spectacular form at the moment and, as the clear benchmark of the competition, it’s going to take a significant performance for Hawthorn to hand them their first loss of the year.
RONNY’S TIP: Melbourne by 33 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 36 points.

ST KILDA v PORT ADELAIDE (Cairns, Saturday 7.25pm local time)
The Power finally broke through for their first win last week against a hapless West Coast outfit, but they would want to have switched their focus pretty quickly thereafter because their next opponent is vying with the Dockers for the title of ‘bolter of the season’. After losing their first game to Collingwood, the Saints have been seriously impressive, stringing together five wins in a row for the first time since 2011, and making their best start to a year since 2010 (we all know what happened that year). The emergence of St Kilda’s midfield this year has been as stunning as it has been commendable. They now have the confidence that they can match it with any on-ball division in the league, and although they do lose Rowan Marshall (quad) and Jack Hayes (knee), the timely return of Paddy Ryder from suspension will go a long way to ensuring their losses aren’t felt too keenly.
RONNY’S TIP: St Kilda by 19 points.
ROCO’S TIP: St Kilda by 22 points.

CARLTON v NORTH MELBOURNE (Marvel Stadium, Saturday 7.25pm local time)
After showing a few glimpses of promise, season 2022 is quickly spiralling out of control for the Kangaroos who are fresh from their third smashing in just six games. North’s average losing margin is already 53 points this year, and if it’s not careful, that figure might not change too much by 10pm on Saturday. The Blues seem like a team that would love an easy kill, and after a six-goal drubbing at the hands of Freo, what better way to recover from that than with a match against the bottom-placed team. If Carlton’s rejuvenated midfield, further bolstered by Matthew Kennedy’s return, routinely bombards North’s undersized backline with repeat forward entries, star Carlton forwards Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow could end up with 10 goals between them.
RONNY’S TIP: Carlton by 42 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Carlton by 18 points.

COLLINGWOOD v GOLD COAST (MCG, Sunday 1.10pm local time)
From a structural perspective, the losses of Brodie Grundy (knee) and Nathan Kreuger (shoulder) definitely bring the Magpies back to the pack in this game. It means Gold Coast ruckman Jarrod Witts could have a huge say on proceedings. And let’s not forget, it was on this very weekend 12 months ago that the Suns downed Collingwood at this venue. So Stuart Dew’s men will hold no fears heading back down to the hallowed turf of the MCG. The problem with Gold Coast is that, as it has been for the majority of its 12 years, it continues to be way too inconsistent. The Suns’ last performance against Brisbane was lamentable. The Pies, on the other hand, have been a much more reliable quantity this year – over the first six weeks, you more or less know what to expect from them. Injuries to Josh Corbett (hip) and Wil Powell (hamstring) don’t help Gold Coast’s cause either.
RONNY’S TIP: Collingwood by 25 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Collingwood by 38 points.

WESTERN BULLDOGS v ESSENDON (Marvel Stadium, Sunday 3.20pm local time)
If the Bulldogs looked at Essendon’s win-loss record (1-5) and thought to themselves that the Dons present a perfect opportunity for them to try and kickstart their faltering season, they would want to think again. This match looms as a massive danger game for the Dogs, and if they’re not careful, they could experience a similar result to the one they copped in Round 21 last year with Peter Wright, again, wreaking havoc. The losses of Tim English and Alex Keath to hamstring injuries are hugely significant. In the first case, Essendon ruckman Sam Draper heads into this game having just produced the best game of his fledging career on Anzac Day, while in the second case, an undermanned Dogs backline could pave the way for Wright going close to matching his seven-goal haul from late last year. With Zach Merrett and Jake Stringer back in the line-up, and Darcy Parish back to producing club record numbers, the Bombers have the capability of matching it with the Dogs’ underperforming midfield. It’s a cliche, but the midfield battle is so important in this game, because if the Bulldogs get on top, then Aaron Naughton could easily run riot against Essendon’s similarly poor backline. Whoever can protect their shoddy defence better will come out on top.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 2 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 12 points.

SYDNEY v BRISBANE (SCG, Sunday 4.40pm local time)
This round has definitely saved its best for last with the standout clash between the Swans and Lions rounding out the weekend. This heavyweight encounter is worthy of the Friday night slot, but instead it finds itself in the dreaded Sunday twilight zone. Both of these flag fancies already find themselves in the top four with 5-1 records and have shown on more than one occasion inside the first six rounds just how potent they both can be. Almost nothing separates them defensively, but the Lions have the Swans’ measure offensively by about a goal per week. Sydney loses key bookends Logan McDonald and Paddy McCartin to concussion, but finally regains the electrifying Tom Papley who has been named in the extended squad. This is such a tough game to pick because both sides have been so very impressive this year. Swans in a coin flip.
RONNY’S TIP: Sydney by 4 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Sydney by 6 points.

RONNY’S SEASON TOTAL: 37
ROCO’S SEASON TOTAL: 37