Brisbane v Melbourne

Well I wouldn’t expect this match to be the highlight of the Sunday matches this week. It should be a pretty one-sided affair as the Demons are still not really showing much while Brisbane are just about a finals side with not many injuries at home and motivated for a win as they are 2-3 after losing at home last week to the Hawks.

Melbourne’s season just gets worse as it goes with news Captain Neitz will miss most of the season with a back injury while Matthew Whelan has been suspended and he was one of the only ones last week that showed some run and purpose. Brad Miller returns but his football future is in doubt unless he can regain some sort of form for the remainder of the year. For the rest of the season Dean Bailey will be working towards sorting out the players that can take the club forward in essence the rebuilding has began. The loss of Neitz may also be a good thing for the team as others will now have to step up and kick more goals and take on more responsibility so hopefully this process unearths someone that will help them in the future.

Last week the Demons fought out the match against Carlton to their credit, but Carlton are not used to winning and closing out matches strongly will not be a common occurrence for them this year when they have the lead. Brisbane are a different unit and will relish the opportunity to gain some ground on the top teams with a big win.

Last week’s match against the Hawks was one of the better matches of the season so far and the Lions were gallant until the end, but the Hawks are far and away the second best team in the comp and their win against Brisbane last week shows why they are. Bradshaw is in hot form and should kick another bag in this game with his likely opponent being either Nathan Carroll or James Frawley with Jared Rivers getting the job on big JB. At this stage young James Frawley is not up to standard (though I think he will be with more matches under his belt) and neither is Carroll, Bell, Jamar, Wheatley, Moloney, Garland, Dunn and Morton. Jones, McLean, Sylvia, McDonald, Bartram, Miller and Wonaemirri are all second rate still and would all incl. McLean struggle to break into Hawthorn’s or Geelong’s side. That leaves us with Rivers who I rate, Green and Bruce who don’t win the hard balls but are capable players, Davey and Robertson who try hard but must feel they are on a hiding to nothing with the way the ball is delivered to them up forward whenever their midfield can actually win it and don’t turn it over further up the ground, while Jeff White is running around trying to get his head around the fact he’ll never play in an AFL premiership. And this is Melbourne’s team for this match.

So the margin is the only thing of importance here and at sportingbet we can get 1.80 for a 40+ win that will be taken though the 2.90 for a 60+ win is mighty tempting.



Pick : Brisbane 40+
Odds : 1.80
Stake : 9 / 10
Bookmaker : SportingBet
Date : 2008-04-27
Match Result : 137-85
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor:

Viewed 124 times.