After Gill and the fellas at HQ have had an absolute mare in the off season trying to outdo the Socceroos in their moment of glory and then the abomination now known as Gather Round, the AFL fraternity will be keen to get the footy underway. On to the footy side of things our friends at Elitebet have quite rightfully installed Geelong at the top of proceedings after their dominant Grand Final got them over the hump of falling just short for so many years, they arguable had one of the better trade and draft periods also so they are certainly casting a heavy shadow. Melbourne, Brisbane and Richmond are the chasing pack in the market and with some of these sides dramatically improving their lists in the off season it should make for a cracking top end battle.
RISING STAR: Elijah Hollands $13
Elijah Hollands is an interesting prospect, was super highly touted coming into the league with pick 7 to the Suns before his first season was cruelled with the dreaded ACL, the Suns really paced his recovery last year allowing him to flourish in the back half of last season. With a full pre-season under his belt in a side on the up I can see him being at the very worst the early favourite as the rookies take some time to get into their work. As soon as he is nominated his price will halve so get on early and enjoy watching him go to work.
PREMIERSHIP: RICHMOND TIGERS $8
Tarranto and Hopper are absolute Rolls Royce’s. To add them to a midfield group that is still getting reliable contributions from multiple dual premiership superstars whilst also taking the heat off the bodies of Martin, Cotchin and Prestia on paper looks like an absolute home run. Throw in Shai Bolton who is right up amongst the games elite players pinch hitting and I think only health can stop Richmond making a serious charge at the Flag in 2023.
LEAST WINS: HAWTHORN $5
Unfortunately for the Hawks, Clarko had one too many rolls of the dice with an ageing list to try and squeeze out another flag and came up with snake eyes on multiple 50/50 decisions. This is finally starting to really take its toll and after moving on Gunston, O’Meara and Mitchell in the off season this might be the season the young hawks bottom out in order to try and slingshot off the back of a few drafts under their new coach. This does however present an opportunity at the 3rd line of betting for punters to get some value.
