AFL - Round Five Preview

Well it was the weekend of upsets as Carlton, Richmond and Brisbane all accounted for their more fancied oppositions. Now it looks as if the Melbourne Demons are the only non-competitive team in the group of 16 teams and that is a credit to the AFL.

The Tigers and the Blues were expected to improve from last season, and after a very shaky start from both clubs the weekend will have a lot of supporters, officials and players breathing a huge sigh of relief. The impressive thing is that all the under dogs won well. They showed that they should be competitive throughout the season which again is a positive sign and will see the turn styles churning over as fans can expect close games week in week out.

The only real concern is for both of the Western Australian teams who have dropped to 1 win from 4 attempts. At the start of last year theses two teams were considered favourites for the competition. I for one thought that both of these clubs would be competitive this year but they have to turn it around very quickly to have any chance of playing in the finals. The Eagles have a young team and with a few injuries appear to be undermanned. It must be very disappointing that so many of the mid range players who looked promising a few years back have failed to take the next step. The Dockers who have an old list should simply be playing better. This is a franchise that feels they are ready to dominate now. If they fail to make the finals this year, they could have a long rebuilding period in front of them.

To this week's games. The St Kilda Saints will face Essendon on Friday night which is an important game for both sides. It pits two teams that are having very different starts to the season, with the Saints underachieving and the Bombers overachieving even though they both have a 50% winning record. I like the Saints to hit back and have a dominating victory against the Bombers. They will cover the line with plenty in hand and are my specials of the week.

The rest are all interesting and there should be a few fantastic games though very difficult to pick when it comes to handicap betting. I like the following teams but not with any conviction; Collingwood, Fremantle, Brisbane, Bulldogs, Carlton, West Coast and Geelong.

Good luck and good punting and remember when it comes to Aussie football the most competitive and comprehensive markets can be found at Sportsbet.

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