The AFLW season is in full swing and the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Fremantle Dockers currently sit atop the ladder with three wins from their three games! There are five great matchups on the schedule in Round 4 and we take a look at all of them and give our betting tips below.
AFLW Round 4 Betting Tips
Geelong Cats vs Carlton Blues (Saturday 23 February - 4:45pm)
Round 4 of the AFLW season begins in Geelong with the 1-2 Cats hosting the 1-2 Blues. Despite losing records, they're actually both atop the weak Conference B and that makes this a must win for the top spot. Geelong was handled by the experienced Crows last week as expected in a 29 point loss. So I'm not sure they can turn things around against the buoyant Blues. After a long year, Carlton finally has a win on the board after scoring a huge 65-36 win over the Giants in Sydney. Their forward line woes seem to be fixed at the moment as they've scored 109 total points in their last 2 games after scoring 16 points in Round 1. There's also the fact that Tayla Harris is free to play after beating the Tribunal during the week. So on form, Carlton should win this and well.
Western Bulldogs vs Brisbane Lions (Saturday 23 February - 7:10pm)
The Grand Final re-match takes place at Whitten Oval on Saturday night with the Dogs up against the Lions. Both sides are looking a bit off the pace at the moment after finishing top two in 2018. Despite winning 2 of 3, the Bulldogs find themselves at the bottom of Conference A and that makes this an absolute must-win game. The problem at the moment for the Dogs is finding scoring options. They're ranked 2nd last for goals scored behind Collingwood and getting the ball inside 50 has been a challenge. So the question is whether they can take advantage of the Lions defence at the moment. In back to back losses, Brisbane has allowed 60 points against Melbourne and 67 against Fremantle. But the good news is they're still placed 3rd in Conference B and sit equal points with the leaders. They've made 2 straight Grand Final appearances so I'm confident they can turn things around defensively against the struggling Bulldogs forward line. So that should see a close affair between two similar sides and either team to win by under 15.5 points seems the best bet. The GF matchup last year was a 6 point margin and the last regular season clash saw a 9 point margin.
Either team by under 15.5
$1.82
Adelaide Crows vs Fremantle Dockers (Saturday 23 February - 9:35pm)
Arguably the game of the round will be the Crows and Dockers playing at TIO Stadium. Both sides are playing free-flowing footy at the moment and that should mean an entertaining clash for the NT to enjoy. After kicking 1.11 in Round 1, the Crows have found their mojo with back to back wins and scoring 50+ points. Ebony Marinoff is dominating in the midfield along with Anne Hatchard as their best ball-winners. Meanwhile, Erin Phillips is starting to find form. Fremantle is in hot-form as well after a 3-0 start. They haven't fired in the first 2 AFLW seasons so it's good to see them playing with confidence. Last week, they belted the Pies 51-18 and previously beat the Lions by 27 points. In the end, this a matchup between the two top inside-50 teams in AFLW so this should be a high scoring battle. But also a close one because they can both kick a score of over 50 points. So once again, the either team bet is a good play.
Either team by under 15.5
$1.85
Collingwood Magpies vs GWS Giants (Sunday 24 February - 2:05pm)
On Sunday, the two remaining winless sides will face off in Morwell. The Giants have been the poorer of the two after three disappointing losses. Their defence was a concern coming into 2019 and it showed last week as the Blues piled on 10 goals. Collingwood was always going to struggle with the amount of talent missing in 2019 and scoring points is a big issue. In total, they've kicked 6 goals in 3 games and rank last for inside 50 entries. They're also well behind the competition in disposals, which says they're second to the ball a lot (2nd best tackling side). In the end, the Giants should and need to win this, but they're completing untrustworthy at the moment. Happy to let this game play out.
No Bet
Melbourne Demons vs North Melbourne Kangaroos (Sunday 24 February - 4:05pm)
Round 4 concludes with a cracking clash between the Demons and Kangaroos. Melbourne is coming off a thumping 60-21 win over the Lions in QLD. The good news continued during the week as Tegan Cunningham beat a 2-week charge at the Tribunal. Meanwhile, the Kangaroos are sitting pretty atop Conference A after three impressive wins. Last week alone, they took down the premiers by 31 points as Courteney Munn kicked 4 goals in her 2019 debut. Thus far, the Kangaroos have been a great bet at the line as sides have struggled to stop their potent forward line. However, Melbourne is a side that can stop them in my opinion. They play Casey Fields well and they'll look to use that to their advantage. There's also extra motivation for the home side considering they're 3rd in the Conference and desperate to finish top two. Especially after missing out of the Grand Final in back to back seasons where they've finished 3rd. Demons at the line in a close contest.
