AFL tips 2017: The experts' view on round one
AFL tipping – a new season means hope springs eternal for all tipsters. Here at Wide World of Sports we’re helping you with your AFL tips and predictions over each of the 22 rounds.
The tips will come straight from the experts on Nine’s AFL Footy Show.
Footy Show host Rebecca Maddern and panel members Sam Newman, Craig Hutchison, Billy Brownless, Shane Crawford and David Hughes have delivered some interesting tipping patterns ahead of the opening round that starts with Richmond meeting Carlton at the MCG on Thursday night.
While that match that resulted in a 50-50 split among panel members, another opening round fixture that ended 3-3 came as somewhat of a shock.
Less than six months after beating the Sydney Swans to claim the club’s first AFL premiership in 62 years, just three of the six panel members are tipping them to beat Collingwood in round one.
Hutchison, Crawford and Hughes stuck with the Bulldogs, while Maddern, Newman and Hutchison backed the Pies.
''Dogs to win, for me they will finish in the top three or four, so they get their season underway,'' Crawford said
Another opening round match that attracted an interesting mix of tips was Saturday night’s Hawthorn-Essendon showdown.
Maddern, Hutchison and Hughes have each backed the Bombers to mark the official return of their previously-banned players with a win.
Crawford is sticking with the men in brown and gold: ''Welcome back to all the Bombers, but the Hawks for me will get the job done''.
In the two matches that weren’t in any doubt among the panellists, both the Sydney Swans and Gold Coast Suns are expected to be too strong for Port Adelaide and Brisbane, respectively.
AFL experts' tip for round 1:
Rebecca Maddern
Richmond
Collingwood
Sydney Swans
St. Kilda
Gold Coast Suns
Essendon
West Coast Eagles
GWS Giants
Geelong Cats
Sam Newman
Carlton
Collingwood
Sydney Swans
St. Kilda
Gold Coast Suns
Hawthorn
West Coast Eagles
Adelaide Crows
Fremantle
Craig Hutchison
Carlton
Collingwood
Sydney Swans
Melbourne
Gold Coast Suns
Essendon
North Melbourne
GWS Giants
Geelong Cats
Billy Brownless
Richmond
Western Bulldogs
Sydney Swans
Melbourne
Gold Coast Suns
Hawthorn
West Coast Eagles
GWS Giants
Geelong Cats
Shane Crawford
Richmond
Western Bulldogs
Sydney Swans
Melbourne
Gold Coast Suns
Hawthorn
West Coast Eagles
GWS Giants
Geelong Cats
Dave Hughes
Carlton
Western Bulldogs
Sydney Swans
St.Kilda
Gold Coast Suns
Essendon
North Melbourne
Adelaide Crows
Fremantle
