AFL Round 7 begins with an Anzac Day Eve fixture between Richmond and Melbourne at the MCG. It’s a Wednesday night blockbuster with a bumper crowd expected to pack out the stadium, and we have you covered with our full betting preview for free below!
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 7 Preview & Betting Tips
Richmond vs Melbourne
Wednesday 7:25pm AEST, April 24th, MCG
If there was ever a team that was in need of a bye, it was Richmond in Round 6. They’ve been absolutely decimated by injuries in the early goings this campaign, and that culminated into a horror showing in their last outing where they were put to the sword by last year’s wooden spooners, the Eagles.
On the back of that loss, the Tigers find themselves sitting in 16th spot on the ladder with a 1-5 record. Their sole win came in Round 4 against one of the best teams in the competition in the Swans, which shows they can still compete with any team on their day regardless of their lengthy injury list.
There are some positives to come from their week off with a couple of key members of their best 22 set to return on Wednesday night. Big money recruit from a couple of seasons ago, Jacob Hopper has been named after missing a couple of games due to injury. Former captain Dylan Grimes is also a welcome addition after missing against the Eagles, while mature age recruit Sam Naismith will come in to play the back-up ruck/key forward role.
Similarly, Melbourne were poor in their most recent match and have had plenty of time to reflect due to their Round 6 bye. They went into their Round 5 fixture against the out-of-form Lions as the huge favourites but were stunned on their home deck by 22 points.
That loss snapped a four-game win streak although the Demons still sit pretty in sixth spot on the ladder. Importantly, they’ll welcome back dynamic small forward Kysaiah Pickett on Wednesday night after he missed last start due to yet another ban. The bad news is rebounding defender Christian Salem has been ruled out for 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury.
Another key to the Demons bouncing back in Round 7 is the likely improved performance of Clayton Oliver. He was clearly hindered by a finger injury in his last couple of games, but had successful surgery in the break and according to coach Simon Goodwin, the superstar midfielder should now be back to his damaging best.
Match prediction: The first month and a half of the 2024 has thrown up plenty of surprises and a number of major upsets; however, anything other than a relatively easy win for the Demons on Wednesday night seems extremely unlikely and the odds somewhat illustrate that (Tigers $4.90 vs Demons $1.17).
In saying that, the line has been set at only 27.5 points, and for the Tigers to avoid losing by more than that they’ll have to drastically improve from their last performance against the Eagles. Yes, the Tigers get a couple of key cogs back, but they’ll still be fielding a severely undermanned and inexperienced team in Round 7. So, with that said, I’m more than happy to have a decent crack at the Demons to win by 5+ goals.
Melbourne -27.5
$1.89 (2 Units)
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Melbourne H2H – We’ve seen some crazy upsets this season, but its extremely likely the Demons get the four points here.
Jacob Van Rooyen 2+ Goals – The Eagles key forwards got a hold of the Tigers last start and the Demons will be looking to do the same. JVR should be hitting the scoreboard here.
Clayton Oliver 25+ Disposals – By all reports he’s been training the house down and has gotten over his finger issue. He represents value in the disposal markets due to his shaky start.
Nick Vlastuin 20+ Disposals – No Jayden Short means Vlastuin will likely take responsibility of the kick-in duties. He’ll have plenty of chances to rack up big disposal numbers in defence.
SGM Odds: $5 at BoomBet
