Round 10 in the 2024 AFL season is Sir Doug Nicholls Round and it all gets underway on Thursday night when the Gold Coast Suns take on the Geelong Cats at TIO Stadium in Darwin. As always, we have you covered with a full game preview, best bet, and Same Game Multi for the clash here!
Also, Before You Bet will be providing free previews and betting tips for EVERY game in the 2024 AFL season, so make sure to head over to out our AFL Tips regularly to keep up to date with all of our free content.
2024 AFL Round 10 Preview & Betting Tips
Gold Coast vs Geelong
Thursday 7:30pm AEST, May 16th, TIO Stadium
Somewhat hard to place a marker on under Damian Hardwick’s tenure to date, Gold Coast enter Sir Doug Nicholls Round with a 5-4 record. They’ve shown both glimpses of the now and towards the future with some of their young guns, but have also shown the capability of dishing up a head-scratching poor performance now and then.
However, the Suns will be full of confidence after putting their recent opposition in North Melbourne to the sword. Yes, they’re one of the easy beats in the competition, but they put in a fantastic four quarter performance when winning all four quarters by at least a goal (120-52).
Hardwick’s Suns are a young team and are coming off a five-day break, so it’s unsurprising to see they’ve opted to rotate a couple of pieces for Thursday night’s clash. Headlining the outs in ruckman Jarrod Witts, while youngsters Jake Rogers and Jed Walter have also been rested. Veteran David Swallow will come in to add some of the leadership they lose in Witts’ absence.
Meanwhile, Geelong’s impressive start to the season has come to a halt after losing back-to-back games. They began the year 7-0 but have recently lost to top eight and potential contenders in the Demons (66-74) and most recently the Power (95-101).
Last Friday night’s loss to the Power was certainly the most surprisingly of their two defeats and perhaps served as a bit of a wakeup call for the Cats. They were at their fortress in Geelong with the home support behind them, and the Power were without their skipper in Connor Rozee as well as their first and second choice ruckman. The Cats were jumped early and rallied home hard, but ultimately came up short.
Also not surprising after a couple of disappointing losses coupled with the six-day turnaround is the Cats decision to make four changes at selection. One of those changes was forced with superstar Jeremy Cameron entering concussion protocols, but the others see the veteran trio of Tom Hawkins, Mitch Duncan, and Rhys Stanley all managed.
Match Prediction: These clubs generally only meet once per season and last year’s clash was at People First Stadium where the Suns ran home 19-point winners in front of their home fans (73-54). They trailed at quarter time in that one but took control thereafter to secure one of their better wins of the season.
A lot has changed both on and off the field for both teams since they last met, particularly for the Suns who have had a lot of squad turnover, as well as a change in coach with Hardwick taking the reins from Stuart Dew.
As mentioned above, both teams are without some of their stars, but it’s the Cats who I feel are most shorthanded. They’ll be without Dangerfield, Cameron, Hawkins, Duncan, and their first-choice ruck in Stanley, which leaves a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of their young brigade.
And although the Cats have clearly had the better start to 2024, I feel the Suns have the cattle to get the better of their undermanned and seemingly out of form opposition.
Gold Coast to Win
$2.08 (1 Unit)
Same Game Multi
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Jack Bowes 20+ Disposals – A utility that will be needed in the midfield this week. He can find the ball and has the extra incentive playing against his old club that were happy to let him walk.
Zach Guthrie 20+ Disposals – One of the most improved players in the comp and is enjoying a purple patch. I expect the younger Guthrie to get to 20 again here.
Gryan Miers Anytime Goal Scorer – Loves an assist but will need to be less selfless with the likes of Hawkins and Cameron absent. Expecting at least one goal from him.
SGM Odds: $3.40 at BoomBet
