Lest we forget.
Anzac Round is upon us, which means plenty of time to mourn our fallen heroes, reflect on the horrors of war… and do a little too much glorifying of the above two for my liking.
Plus of course, there’s the relentless corporitisation of the Anzac spirit, with just about every club now bringing out a commemorative guernsey for the weekend – but enough about that. For now.
From a tipping perspective, this seems far more straightforward than the hazards that Easter Round presented, where five was a genuinely good score.
Nine games feature nine clear favourites – but you can bet there will be at least one or two upsets, and picking them right could be extremely handy if you’re keen on rising up your tipping ladder.
Who takes the Anzac biscuit this weekend… and who will be left with naught but crumbs?
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Tim Miller
Melbourne, Collingwood, Fremantle, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, GWS, Gold Coast, Geelong, Hawthorn
If you think you had a bad round of tipping last week – I finished with a 3. Yep.
It seems every time I tip a line-ball game – Brisbane beating Collingwood or Sydney over Port Adelaide, for instance – I get it wrong, while my underdog tips – GWS over Adelaide and Hawthorn knocking over Geelong – also backfire.
So I urge you all to tip whatever I don’t this week. It’s the most helpful bit of advice I can give you.
On Thursday night, a suddenly back in business Melbourne take on perhaps the most surprising team of 2025 so far in Richmond in their traditional pre-Anzac Day clash. I’d have been picking the Dees even if they hadn’t got on the winners’ list last week, so naturally the Tigers will probably spring an upset.
On Anzac Day itself, Collingwood are humming beautiful and Essendon, while the wins are still ticking over, are down to their last ruckman standing. Fun fact: the last 20 years have seen the Bombers only win on this day for every fourth year: 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021. I fear me picking the Magpies will ensure this trend continues, so sorry everyone for costing you this tip – no one sane could possibly pick the Dons, right?
That evening is a genuinely tough one – Fremantle have been good at home but far too flaky of late, and I was truly impressed by Adelaide’s grittiness in an otherwise tough watch against GWS. In Perth, and for Len Hall, I’m backing the Dockers. I urge you all to tip the Crows.
I’m tipping Brisbane to win on Saturday, so St Kilda will probably have one of those weeks where they suddenly remember they’re a decent footy team; that evening, I’m trying to reverse-mozz my Bulldogs against GWS in Canberra by picking the Giants, mostly because losing Sam Darcy against a Sam Taylor-led backline feels like a recipe to barely score.
Here’s a fun fact, though: the Dogs have won seven of their last eight against the Giants dating back to the 2019 elimination final, with their one loss coming after blowing a five-goal lead.
Nestled in the middle, Port Adelaide will destroy North Melbourne for so many reasons – their current form, North’s defensive impotence and the fact they’ve never won at the Adelaide Oval before to name a few – that not even I could curse it.
Sunday is fascinating, not least because for some bizarre reason, the early and late games have been moved back by five minutes for… reasons?
It’s a big week to become a Gold Coast believer; the Suns should beat Sydney in their current state if they’re genuine. I’m tipping them, but wouldn’t be surprised at all if I get this one wrong too. Similarly, Geelong are just plain better than Carlton at the moment – however, just as I felt in 2023, I reckon the Blues are just one explosion away from getting right back on track. Who knows when that day will come.
And to finish the week, Hawthorn will demolish West Coast. I’m so confident in this that I won’t even urge you to not follow me in tipping them.
Jamie Elliott took a spectacular mark over Ben McKay in last year’s Anzac Day match. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Dem Panopoulos
Melbourne, Collingwood, Fremantle, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, GWS, Gold Coast, Geelong, Hawthorn
Just when you think you’ve figured the season out, along come a few more curveballs just to keep you on your toes.
For instance, not one person could have possibly thought that the Anzac Day Eve clash would be played between two sides coming off victories, yet here we are.
Melbourne’s win was arguably the most impressive win of last weekend given their complete change in ball movement and mentality. They should make it a couple in a row over Richmond.
The big Anzac Day clash is probably the second-best of Friday’s games, with significant concerns now arising at the Dockers given their defence just gave up triple figures to a Melbourne team that couldn’t kick a goal for weeks. Adelaide’s win over GWS got them four points, but boy was that game a reality check for both teams.
The Dockers missed the dynamism of Heath Chapman in defence, and another big in or two will go a long way. The home team to win.
It was surprising to learn that the Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games against the Giants, and that they’ve only played once in Victoria since 2020.
That’s not much of a rivalry, all things considered, although you’d think the Giants get a victory back in this clash – the absence of Sam Darcy is as shattering for us all as it is huge for the Dogs’ structure.
Gold Coast laughably lost to Richmond last week, yet to come away from that match with any concerns about their legitimacy is to have only seen the final result and not the game itself. They were pretty dominant in a lot of key areas and played the way they wanted to – their efficiency was just off.
On the flipside, last Friday I covered the Swans and their lack of identity, functioning without any strengths at the minute. They’re a real concern, particularly with Logan McDonald having gone down with another injury before his senior return. It’s a must-win for them and I’m not sure they have it in them.
Carlton have won big in the last fortnight, yet we can hardly believe that there has been any turn of form given they’ve only played West Coast and North Melbourne. If you thought they were underperforming, then this is the real test.
They’ve had an extra couple of days’ break on the Cats, who were in a hard contest on Easter Monday. My instinct says Geelong by plenty, with the margin depending on the fitness of Jacob Weitering.
Clayton Oliver. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Liam Salter
Melbourne, Collingwood, Adelaide, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, GWS, Gold Coast, Geelong, Hawthorn
Last week was fun, right?
Mine (and Dem’s) score of four seems pretty damn good, all things considered – I’m particularly proud of my tip of the Crows in what was almost the worst game of the past few years. Can’t wait to see how many seemingly easy tips backfire as we head into another long weekend of footy.
Sharing the limelight with Noah Balta (his curfew is objectively, genuinely very funny) is his club, who head into a traditional Anzac Eve clash against the Dees.
The good news for the Tigers is they’re headed into tonight as winners. The bad news is so are the Demons, who got their mojo back against Freo. It’s very simple: the Dees replicate last week, and this is (easily) theirs. They don’t, and Richmond has a very genuine chance. Tipping the former, hoping for the latter.
Moving to Friday, and if last week was quintessential Freo – of course they were going to lose to Melbourne, he says, with hindsight – this week’s fixture is even funnier: a rare primetime clash, but buried as the day’s second game.
In my eyes, off-Broadway suits, given their atrocious performance last week, and the Crows are a formidable opponent. I can’t see Freo matching them offensively, so expect a battle in the middle to dictate plenty. My faith in my club is wavering, so reverse psychology – Adelaide to win.
As for Friday’s more traditional clash – I wouldn’t expect anything less than the Bombers to put up a fight, but on raw talent and form, this’ll be Collingwood by a half dozen goals.
I can’t make up my mind on the Saints, but I do know I wouldn’t want to be them facing a Lions outfit frustrated by a loss at home last week – it’ll be, just quietly, a close run encounter, however.
Port are good, North are not, and not even a traditional fourth quarter fade-out (watch it happen, again) should trouble the Power.
Saturday evening’s encounter is a glorious rivalry. Footy’s a cruel game: this could have been Sam Darcy taking on Jesse Hogan if not for Darcy’s brutal knee injury. That alone automatically makes me lean towards the Giants, but the honest answer, knowing these two teams, is ‘who bloody knows’.
The Suns need to bounce back, the Swans just seem to be languishing. Gold Coast have become a bit of a frustration for the Swans over the last year or three, and need to show they’re mature enough to win this comfortably.
Losing Gryan Miers’ beautiful kicking is a blow for the Cats, but faith in Chris Scott’s magnet shuffling and – more simply, an opponent I continue to trust little – swings me right towards Geelong. If the Blues want to prove a point (or several), this is a must-win, but I trust the Cats more.
And it’s fair to say the Hawks need a stabilising win. Fortunately, they have the Eagles. Enough said.
| Round 7 | Tim | Dem | Liam | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEL vs RCH | MEL | MEL | MEL | ? |
| COL vs ESS | COL | COL | COL | ? |
| FRE vs ADE | FRE | FRE | ADE | ? |
| STK vs BL | BL | BL | BL | ? |
| PA vs NM | PA | PA | PA | ? |
| GWS vs WB | GWS | GWS | GWS | ? |
| GCS vs SYD | GCS | GCS | GCS | ? |
| CAR vs GEE | GEE | GEE | GEE | ? |
| HAW vs WCE | HAW | HAW | HAW | ? |
| LAST WEEK | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| ROLLING TOTAL | 32 | 38 | 35 | 40 |
