Round 7 of the AFL season gets underway on Friday night with West Coast taking on Richmond at Optus Stadium from 8.10pm. Andy Rosos is back with his full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
Remember to head to our AFL Tips page for betting tips on every game across Round 7 of the season.
West Coast vs Richmond Betting Tips
Optus Stadium, Friday 29th April, 8.10pm (AEST)
West Coast
Injuries: Nic Naitanui, Dom Sheed, Tom Cole, Elliot Yeo, Oscar Allen (Out) Hugh Dixon, Andrew Gaff, Jeremy McGovern (Test)
The Eagles are still battered and bruised, with star midfielder Elliot Yeo being the latest to hit the casualty list after being concussed on the weekend. The good news is that both Jeremy McGovern and Andrew Gaff could make their return to the line-up on Friday night.
It's been a horror season so far for the Eagles. They have been ravaged by injury and COVID and now find themselves in 17th place on the ladder with a 1-5 record. They missed defender Jeremy McGovern mightily on the weekend as Port Adelaide key forwards Todd Marshall and Jeremy Finlayson booted 10 goals between them.
With games against the Lions and Demons following this Friday night clash, the road ahead for the Eagles is looking incredibly tough. They still have a bunch of key players out of the line-up and even more that are clearly playing underdone.
Richmond
Injuries: Josh Caddy, Trent Cotchin, Marlion Pickett, Hugo Ralphsmith, Robbie Tarrant, Dustin Martin (Out) Noah Cumberland, Thomas Dow, Dylan Grimes, Kane Lambert, Ican Soldo (Test)
The Tigers will make the trip West without skipper Trent Cotchin and Robbie Tarrant as the pair of veterans are being managed this week. Key players Kane Lambert and Dylan Grimes will both need to pass fitness tests to play Friday night.
The Tigers were competitive for portions of the game against Melbourne on Sunday night. They led at HT but failed to hold on, allowing six goals to just three in the 2nd half to lose by 22 points. There were certainly some promising signs for the Tigers, who were lead by defenders Nick Vlastuin, Jayden Short and youngster Josh Gibcus.
The Tigers are around the mark, but you just feel without their star midfielder Dustin Martin, they are lacking that top end talent that could push them into the contender category. It's still unknown as to when Martin will return, although rumours have been swirling over the last week that he is now back training with the team.
Match Prediction
While there was a brief perios earlier in the season where I was still holding out hope for the Eagles, it's evident now that we have a big enough sample size to understand that they are not going to be very competitive until they are at full strength. Even as they get key players back into the line-up, the majority of them are so underdone from an interuppted pre-season that they have little to no influence on games.
McGovern is the big one for the Eagles. With him back in the side, they at least have the ability to play some sort of structured defence. I think his potential inclusion in the line-up this week is why this line is starting at just 6.5 point favourites in favour of the Tigers and not 15-20.
I still think the Tigers will be too good here. They have plenty to play for, as a win would keep them in the top eight conversation. Back them to win by 1-39.
Richmond 1-39
$2.20 (1 Unit)
Prop Bets
Each of the last four games between the Tigers and Eagles has gone over on total points but I think this one bucks the trend. The Eagles have found it incredibly tough to score so far this season, putting up just 58 and 33 points in their last two games. Only 2 of their 6 games so far this season have gone over 162.5
Under 162.5 ($1.90 at Ladbrokes)
Jayden Short has been the Tigers most prolific accumulator this season. He had 30 against the Demons on the weekend, his fourth time racking up at least 30 this season in just six games. Had 26 and 15 marks the last time he faced the Eagles for 122 fantasy points.
Short 100+ Fantasy Points ($1.90 at Ladbrokes)
