Gather Round is underway, with Adelaide and Carlton launching this new festival of football on Thursday night.
Now, 2023 underperformers Fremantle and Gold Coast will take to Norwood Oval in pursuit of a second win.
These teams have played in some low-scoring encounters over the last few years, so we could well see another tough slog on Friday evening!
We bring you our preview, best bet and value Same Game Multi below!
Also, we're going to be providing previews and best bets for every game of the 2023 season, so make sure to check out our AFL Tips page regularly to stay up to date.
AFL Round 5 Preview & Betting Tips
Fremantle vs Gold Coast
Friday 5:10pm AEST, April 14th, Norwood Oval
Fremantle and Gold Coast have been two of the more disappointing teams this season, each registering just one win in the first month.
Fresh off an exciting year capped off by a finals appearance in 2022, the Dockers have been a shell of themselves in the opening few rounds of 2023. Slow ball movement, poor scoring and an impotent midfield have characterised Fremantle’s poor start, and it’s hard to see how the latter two issues will resolve themselves with the same personnel. That being said, the Dockers played some electric football not so long ago, so it may be too early to write them off. Injuries certainly haven’t helped – Nat Fyfe has been missing for a few weeks now and fresh concerns surround Matt Taberner and Luke Ryan, two key members of this side. As such, more weight will fall on the shoulders of young stars Caleb Serong, Andrew Brayshaw, Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson. All four have started the season in decent fashion, but expect them to top the stat sheets if Freo are to get the job done on Friday.
For Gold Coast, the first month of 2023 has been all too familiar – promise and moments of brilliance followed by mediocrity and disappointment. The Suns are also 1-3, with their sole victory coming against a woefully out-of-form Geelong side, and it’s hard to see their first elusive finals appearance coming this year. Gold Coast have been solid in the middle, led by Jarrod Witts, Noah Anderson, Touk Miller and Matt Rowell, but they have conceded three 100+ scores and are yet to crack 80 points themselves, pointing to struggles at each end of the field. The return of Ben King hasn’t gone to plan so far, with the key forward barely making an impact, and a slew of injuries to small defenders has left the Suns lacking in the backline. While some reinforcements have returned, the Suns still look unlikely to qualify for September football at this point.
The Suns have matched up well against the Dockers in recent years, recording victories in 2020 and 2022. Both of those games were low scoring slogs, and given the inclement weather that is set to descend on Adelaide this week, I can see this contest going the same way. Fremantle have cleared 72 points just once, and as previously mentioned Gold Coast are yet to top 80, so instead of taking a risk on the H2H market in this one, I’m going to put my money on the unders in the total points market.
Under 160.5 Total Points
$1.86 (3 Units)
Same Game Multi
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Sean Darcy 15+ Disposals – Sean ‘Shrek’ Darcy has had a mixed start to this campaign, but he has managed to hit 15 disposals in 3/4 games. With a likely matchup against second gamer Moyle, Darcy should dominate in this scrappy affair.
Hayden Young 20+ Disposals – If Ryan misses, it can only mean good things for fellow rebounding defender Hayden Young. The rising talent has struggled since accumulating 30 disposals in Round 1, but GC are traditionally a good matchup for defenders so I’m backing him to hit 20 here.
Under 158.5 Total Points – Even at the lower line available for SGMs, I love the total points unders here. Neither team has been able to score and Freo generally defend well. If the rain comes down, that’s a bonus.
Same Game Multi odds - $3.90