The first game on Saturday for AFL Round 18 is between Gold Coast Suns and Carlton Blues. The match is to be played at Metricon Stadium with the opening bounce set to commence at 1:45PM local time with away team Carlton Blues currently holding favouritism in the market. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between Gold Coast Suns and Carlton Blues.
WHERE AND WHEN: Metricon Stadium, 1:45 PM July 27, 2013
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Opening odds comparison:
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| Gold Coast Suns | 2.60 | 2.65 | 2.70 | 2.65 | 2.60 | 2.65 |
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Carlton Blues
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1.48 | 1.48 | 1.46 | 1.48 | 1.48 | 1.50 |
Preview:
The Gold Coast take on Carlton on Saturday, 1.45pm at Metricon Stadium. The Blues will be expected to win here, although it wont be a walk in the park. The Suns have been performing well this season, and have youth and momentum on their side going into this encounter. The Blues also lost this match 11 months ago, in a game that led to the sacking of coach Brett Ratten. They will have to play well to avoid a similar result this year, with the Suns growing in confidence after a win over Collingwood last round. This looks like another fantastic match, and could go either way.
Teams:
Gold Coast Suns:
1 Jaeger O’Meara
3 Jared Brennan
4 Maverick Weller (INT)
5 Jarrod Harbrow
6 Alex Sexton (INT)
8 Luke Russell
9 Gary Ablett
10 Dion Prestia (INT)
11 Harley Bennell
12 Sam Day
13 Jacob Gillbee (EMG)
16 Rory Thompson
17 Steven May
18 Trent McKenzie
22 Tom Nicholls
23 Charlie Dixon
25 Danny Stanley
26 Matt Shaw (INT)
30 Campbell Brown
33 Aaron Hall
36 Greg Broughton
39 Timmy Sumner (EMG)
40 Andrew Boston
46 Josh Hall (EMG)
48 Sebastian Tape
In: Charlie Dixon
Out: Josh Hall (Omitted)
Carlton Blues:
1 Andrew Walker
2 Troy Menzel (EMG)
3 Marc Murphy
4 Bryce Gibbs
5 Chris Judd
6 Kade Simpson
8 Matthew Kreuzer
9 Kane Lucas (INT)
10 Matthew Watson
12 Mitch Robinson
13 Chris Yarran
14 Brock McLean
17 Sam Rowe
19 Eddie Betts
21 Josh Bootsma (INT)
23 Lachie Henderson
27 Dennis Armfield (INT)
29 Heath Scotland
35 Ed Curnow
37 Jaryd Cachia (EMG)
38 Jeff Garlett
40 Michael Jamison
41 Levi Casboult (EMG)
42 Zach Tuohy
44 Andrew Carrazzo (INT)
In: Mitch Robinson, Josh Bootsma
Out: Jaryd Cachia (Omitted), Andrew McInnes (Groin)
Ablett not Suns’ only AFL key: Malthouse
Carlton coach Mick Malthouse says it would be a horrible mistake to think restricting Gary Ablett will be enough to win the Blues Saturday’s AFL clash with Gold Coast.
The Suns’ superstar amassed 49 disposals and two goals in last round’s upset of Collingwood.
While Magpies coach Nathan Buckley has admitted he regrets not tagging Ablett, Malthouse is wary of the opposite danger of paying him too much attention.
Malthouse said the Suns had developed nicely under his former assistant Guy McKenna and were much more than a one-man team.
“We can’t lock ourselves into thinking stop Gary Ablett and we’re going to stop Gold Coast,” he said on Wednesday.
“That would be a horrible mistake.
“That would underestimate the value of other players within their team.”
But Malthouse said that didn’t mean Carlton would let Ablett run free, saying while they might not be able to stop him racking up touches, they had to limit the damage.
“If you say that he’s going to get 30-odd possessions it’s how and where he gets them and what he does with them,” Malthouse said.
“If you’re not going to be around him and let him please himself what he does with it, good luck.”
Malthouse said the Suns had plotted their development well, by recruiting quality experienced players like Ablett, Campbell Brown and Jarrod Harbrow to ease the pressure on their highly-rated youngsters in their early years.
In contrast, fellow expansion side Greater Western Sydney, who are winless this season, have focussed heavily on youth at the expense of recruiting established stars.
“You can view that any way you want,” Malthouse said.
“All I’m saying is I think (Gold Coast) have got a very good mix of players.
“I think that’s been well done to enhance them to grow, as opposed to they could have opted to just do it with kids.
“(Then) I think the progress gets slowed and some players get punished physically and you don’t know what you’ve got.”