North Melbourne v Sydney

Well this should be a close game at Telstra Dome, I expect the Swans to continue their strangling tactics while they miss Barry Hall. It is something a little foreign to them as Hall has always been a major part of their structure up forward and now an aging O’Loughlin must become the focal point that doesn’t suit him anymore. They were competitive for most of last week but much to my disappointment stopped playing with 5 minutes to go and let the Cats pile on 4 goals to ruin my under 39.5. But I don’t hold grudges.. There is very rarely ever a match where the Swans are not competitive and I expect them to be competitive once again in this one.

As always on paper North Melbourne look like they have a better team but as we know by now Sydney do not play conventional football. I was surprised early in the week when the odds were released that Sydney were the favourites and I was tempted early on to jump on the Kangaroos who as I mentioned last week are still being underrated by the bookmakers. They had a good fighting win against the Magpies last weekend and though they miss Pratt and Gibson in this match they regain Jess Sinclair for his first match of the season. I think Pratt is a big loss as he adds hardness to the defence and this match will be played in close where the harder bodies excel.

I’ve looked at this game from every angle and I’m struggling to find a winner. Like I said earlier the Kangaroos will come out on top if I do a player v player analysis, but the Swans teamwork and game plan allow them to stay competitive in just about every match. I’m also worried that the Swans dropped that match last week and will be looking to rebound – in particular Adam Goodes who I can just see tearing apart a complacent Roos team coming off 2 wins in a row. This match is a definite opportunity to end up with either team ahead by less than 24.5 at the final siren.

No Barry Hall is a big loss and I expect them to lose more than they win with him out of the team.

I think the Roos should win this match if they are switched on and I will probably be kicking myself for not taking them at the line but im not sure the Swans can be counted out… so I’ll take the close game option of either team by less than 24.5.



Pick : Either Team Under 24.5 Points
Odds : 1.89
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : SportingBet
Date : 2008-04-27
Match Result :
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