Essendon’s Archie Perkins is tackled by North Melbourne’s Luke Davies-Uniacke in Round 10 last year. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
ESSENDON v NORTH MELBOURNE (Marvel Stadium, Thursday 7:30pm)
This reeks of a huge danger game for the Bombers. While Essendon won three in a row before being taken back to school by Collingwood last week, their form was scratchy to say the least in two of those victories against Port Adelaide and West Coast. Now, of course, the Kangaroos are hardly world beaters. After all, they’ve only won 16 games in six seasons and for most of this campaign they’ve looked every bit the cellar dweller that they have been since the end of 2019. However, there was marked improvement in their game last week against the Power in Adelaide, which should cause some optimism for them. The only issue is they have lost two critical players in Paul Curtis (suspension) and George Wardlaw (hamstring) so they may struggle to avoid a 12th consecutive defeat to the Bombers. Watch out for Essendon forward Peter Wright who was best on ground last time these two sides played with four goals.
RONNY’S TIP: Essendon by 15 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Essendon by 16 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Essendon by 27 points.
ST KILDA v FREMANTLE (Marvel Stadium, Friday 7:40pm)
The wheels look like they’ve fallen off pretty quickly at the Saints. After making such a bright start to the year, they’ve now lost their last three games by an average of eight goals. Granted, they’ve come up against some pretty stiff opposition in GWS, the Bulldogs and Brisbane, but the worrying thing is how uncompetitive they’ve been for large parts of all three games. They take on Fremantle who had a morale-boosting win over Adelaide last week, but the Dockers are certainly capable of losing these types of games, as evidenced by upset defeats against Sydney and Melbourne they’ve suffered already this year. Mason Wood (concussion) will be unavailable for the Saints while Luke Jackson (hamstring) looks set to return for Fremantle. This is going to be a big test of the Dockers’ mental fortitude and it just feels like they’re going to slip on another banana peel.
RONNY’S TIP: St Kilda by 8 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Fremantle by 24 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Fremantle by 11 points.
WESTERN BULLDOGS v PORT ADELAIDE (Ballarat, Saturday 1:20pm)
The Bulldogs’ ability to get to this point of the season with a 4-3 record given all the adversity they’ve come up against is nothing short of sensational. After thumping the Giants up in Canberra last week, their confidence is sky high, and things seem to only be getting better for the Dogs with Adam Treloar (calf) on the verge of a return. Lachie McNeil (hamstring) and Nick Coffield (hamstring) might also be back this week. The Power have stabilised their season with three wins on the trot to also be 4-3, but their last performance against lowly North at home was not very convincing. Given the form the Dogs are in, and their strong record in Ballarat (9-4), it’s hard to envisage them losing this week.
RONNY’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 21 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 22 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Western Bulldogs by 15 points.
ADELAIDE v CARLTON (Adelaide Oval, Saturday 3:45pm)
The Crows are another team who started the year strongly, but are enduring a sobering four-game stretch which has only featured one victory (albeit an impressive one against GWS). This week they come up against a Carlton team which has seemingly rediscovered its mojo, having now won three matches on the trot, including the scalp of flag contender Geelong last week, after making a horrible 0-4 start. While the Crows will lose defender Nick Murray (knee), Darcy Fogarty (shoulder) should return to bolster their forward line. Meanwhile, the Blues will be without key defender Jack Silvagni (hand) and Zac Williams (calf) will also make way. Adelaide should be good enough, but don’t be surprised if this is a nailbiter.
RONNY’S TIP: Adelaide by 10 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Adelaide by 6 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Adelaide by 9 points.
COLLINGWOOD v GEELONG (MCG, Saturday 7:35pm)
It’s a toss of the coin between this game and the Q-Clash for match-of-the-round honours. The Magpies are flying high, having now won six in a row as they occupy top spot on the ladder. And although the Cats stumbled last week against a team that has recently given them plenty of problems in Carlton, don’t forget they won their previous three games, including matches against the Crows in Adelaide and Hawthorn. Dan McStay (knee) is a big loss for the Pies, but Darcy Moore (ear) and Lachie Schultz (hamstring) are closing in on selection. Having won five of their last seven encounters, the Cats know how to match up on Collingwood. It would be surprising to see Geelong produce two bad games in a row, and it might just have what it takes to bring about the Magpies’ downfall again.
RONNY’S TIP: Geelong by 3 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Geelong by 2 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Collingwood by 13 points.
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WEST COAST v MELBOURNE (Optus Stadium, Saturday 5:35pm)
Like the Bombers and Dockers, the Demons have to be wary of this one. While they’ve managed to stop the bleeding for the time-being with back-to-back wins after losing their first five games, they are up against an Eagles outfit that might be still winless after seven matches, but produced their best performance of the year last time they were at home when they fell to Essendon by just two points in a thriller. Jake Melksham (leg) and Daniel Turner (concussion) could both reinforce Melbourne’s forward line, while Tim Kelly (toe) is a good chance of coming back for West Coast. The Demons should probably win this one, especially if they replicate their pressure and speed on the ball they’ve displayed in the past fortnight. But West Coast is capable of making it a tough night.
RONNY’S TIP: Melbourne by 8 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Melbourne by 20 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Melbourne by 29 points.
SYDNEY v GWS (SCG, Sunday 1:10pm)
Both the Swans and Giants head into the 30th Sydney derby in pretty scratchy form and in search of a much-needed win. Sydney is enduring a really tough time having now lost its last three games to slump to 2-5 and 14th on the ladder. And it hasn’t exactly been a picnic either for GWS which has dropped two games in a row it was expected to win against Adelaide and the Bulldogs. But the major issue for the Swans has been their personnel this season, and with Errol Gulden (ankle), Tom Papley (foot), Callum Mills (foot), Harry Cunningham (foot), Joel Amartey (hamstring), Robbie Fox (calf), Taylor Adams (hamstring) and Logan McDonald (ankle) all still unavailable, it would take a hell of an effort from them to take down their cross-town rivals.
RONNY’S TIP: GWS by 26 points.
ROCO’S TIP: GWS by 28 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: GWS by 7 points.
HAWTHORN v RICHMOND (MCG, Sunday 3:20pm)
The Hawks were able to get back on track last week with a comfortable win over easybeat West Coast, following a down fortnight, and they should be able to fill their boots again this week against the young, but erratic, Tigers. Richmond has certainly turned out to be a much more competitive force in 2025 than many predicted and have exceeded basically everyone’s expectations by already winning two games to this point of the season. However, one of their major issues, as coach Adem Yze has highlighted multiple times, is their ability to sustain their effort for long periods of matches. Noah Balta should return for Richmond this week, after a court-imposed curfew ruled him out last game, while Hawthorn will lose important defenders Jack Scrimshaw and Karl Amon due to concussion.
RONNY’S TIP: Hawthorn by 31 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Hawthorn by 42 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Hawthorn by 35 points.
BRISBANE v GOLD COAST (Gabba, Sunday 7:20pm)
Based purely on ladder positions, this would have to be the match of the round, and therefore we are about to witness the biggest match in Q-Clash history. The Lions and Suns have won a combined 11 games out of 13 to be two of the league’s form teams and so the best has been saved for last this weekend. The beauty about this game is that both teams are very close to full strength with Jack Payne (illness) almost certainly available again for the Lions. This is going to be one hell of a contest between two of the league’s best midfields. In one corner, we have Brisbane’s engine room featuring Lachie Neale, the Ashcroft boys, Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage, and in the other corner, Noah Anderson, Touk Miller, Matt Rowell and Sam Flanders will be doing the heavy lifting for Gold Coast. The game will go a long way to be decided based on the winner of that heavyweight clash in the middle. It promises to be a blockbuster encounter, but at home, and with a bit more experience and star power, the Lions should get the chocolates.
RONNY’S TIP: Brisbane by 12 points.
ROCO’S TIP: Brisbane by 10 points.
ROCKET’S TIP: Brisbane by 11 points.
SEASON TOTALS
ROCO 49
ROCKET 42
RONNY 40
*all times are local