Saturday third AFL Round 17 match is between Gold Coast Suns and Collingwood Magpies with the game to be played at Metricon Stadium. The opening bounce is set to commence at 4.40pm local time with away team Collingwood Magpies currently holding favouritism. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between Gold Coast Suns and Collingwood Magpies.

WHERE AND WHEN: Metricon Stadium, Saturday July 20, 4.40pm

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Opening odds comparison:

Gold Coast Suns	4.55	4.75	5.65	4.75	4.55	4.70
Collingwood Magpies	1.17	1.18	1.14	1.18	1.17	1.20

Preview:

The Gold Coast take on Collingwood in Saturday’s first real competition, kicking off at Metricon Stadium at 4.40pm. Saying that however, the Magpies should win this
relatively easy, even though the Suns have grown up a lot in 2013 and will be looking to improve once more in round 17. Despite their narrow loss last week to the Tigers, the Suns have proved they can trouble much better teams when they want to. Collingwood shouldn’t have too much trouble here though, defeating the Crows last week and continuing to improve at the right end of the season.

Teams:

Gold Coast Suns:
B: Trent McKenzie, Sam Day, Seb Tape
HB: Greg Broughton, Rory Thompson, Jarrod Harbrow
C: Matt Shaw, Gary Ablett, Luke Russell
HF: Andrew Boston, Steven May, Aaron Hall
F: Campbell Brown, Josh Hall, Jared Brennan
Foll: Tom Nicholls, Danny Stanley, Jaeger O’Meara
Int: Dion Prestia, Maverick Weller, Harley Bennell, Alex Sexton
Emerg: Jacob Gillbee, Tom Murphy, Joel Wilkinson

In: Weller Sexton
Out: Murphy Swallow (knee)

Collingwood Magpies:
B: Nathan Brown, Nick Maxwell, Ben Reid
HB: Tyson Goldsack, Heath Shaw, Marley Williams
C: Steele Sidebottom, Brent Macaffer, Luke Ball
HF: Jamie Elliott, Jarrod Witts, Dane Swan
F: Dayne Beams, Travis Cloke, Josh Thomas
Foll: Ben Hudson, Scott Pendlebury, Andrew Krakouer
Int: Ben Sinclair, Paul Seedsman, Sam Dwyer, Caolan Mooney
Emerg: Lachlan Keeffe, Ben Kennedy, Adam Oxley

In: Goldsack Mooney
Out: Young (hamstring) Blair (calf)

Magpies’ Johnson retires from AFL

Veteran Collingwood premiership defender Ben Johnson won’t play again for the AFL club he has supported all his life.

The 32-year-old, whose 235 games for the Magpies included their 2010 flag, has announced his immediate retirement.

Johnson, runner-up in the Magpies’ best and fairest in 2004 and 2006, hasn’t played an AFL game since round three and has given up on trying to work his way back, after being hampered by nagging injuries this season.

The latest is a calf complaint, for which the club’s injury list had Johnson slated to be sidelined for another one or two weeks.

While it was an anti-climactic career end, Johnson said his passion for the Magpies never waned.

“We enjoyed some great times, played some great footy and I’ve met some amazing people, including some of my best mates,” Johnson said.

“I just didn’t have anything left really. It was time.”

Coach Nathan Buckley, a former teammate who played alongside Johnson in Collingwood’s 2002-03 grand final losses, said passion was his hallmark.

“He wore his heart on sleeve and bled black and white for the best part of 14 years,” Buckley said.

“I think it’s fair to say that he was a great teammate, a great person to have on your side in the trenches.”

Magpies president Eddie McGuire said Johnson provided two of the more memorable highlights of the club’s recent history.

“His tackle on Peter Burgoyne in the qualifying final of 2002 was a match-winning moment that ended Collingwood’s long finals winning drought,” McGuire said.

“And the goal he slotted in the 2010 grand final, you could tell it meant as much to him as it did to every Collingwood supporter.”