Friday’s only AFL Round 16 match is between Collingwood Magpies and Adelaide Crows. The opening bounce is set to commence at 7:50pm local time with the game to be played at MCG. The home team Collingwood Magpies are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Collingwood Magpies and Adelaide Crows.
Round: Round 16 7:50 PM July 12, 2013
Stadium: MCG
Weather: 16° Cloudy
Featured Bookmakers:
Collingwood Magpies $1.21 vs Adelaide Crows $4.40 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Collingwood Magpies $1.20 vs Adelaide Crows $4.50 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:
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| Collingwood Magpies | 1.21 | 1.20 | 1.20 | 1.20 | 1.21 | 1.22 |
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Adelaide Crows
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4.40 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 4.50 | 4.40 | 4.40 |
Preview:
This first game of round 16 sees Collingwood, who are looking to register their fifth win in the past six weeks, up against Adelaide who are coming off a heartbreaking loss to West Coast last week.
Collingwood, after an indifferent start to the season, have been able to build some momentum in the past two months with wins over teams placed in the bottom half of the competition and have entered the eight, sitting in seventh spot.
With Gold Coast and GWS to follow, before a tough run into the finals that includes matches against Sydney, Hawthorn and Essendon, the Pies need this win.
It was a strong performance last week, particularly from some of the younger Collingwood players and they’re filling with confidence at the right time of year.
Adelaide led West Coast deep into the final quarter last week but three late majors by the Eagles saw them victorious.
It was Adelaide’s fourth loss in the past five weeks with their only win coming over Gold Coast in Round 14.
Collingwood have won the past five encounters between the two clubs, the most recent two by margins of 43 and 26.
Adelaide have won 2 of their last three games away from home (Gold Coast and North) but a repeat of last week’s respective performances should result in a comfortable victory to Collingwood.
Teams:
Collingwood Magpies:
B: Nathan Brown, Nick Maxwell, Ben Reid
HB: Clinton Young, 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, Jarryd Blair
Int: Andrew Krakouer, Ben Sinclair, Paul Seedsman, Sam Dwyer
Emerg: Ben Kennedy, Tyson Goldsack, Lachlan Keeffe
In: D.Beams
Out: B.Kennedy
Adelaide Crows:
B: Ricky Henderson, Ben Rutten, Luke Brown
HB: Brodie Smith, Daniel Talia, Rory Laird
C: Nathan van Berlo, Patrick Dangerfield, Bernie Vince
HF: Matthew Wright, Thomas Lynch, Richard Douglas
F: Jason Porplyzia, Josh Jenkins, Brad Crouch
Foll: Sam Jacobs, Rory Sloane, Scott Thompson
Int: Jarryd Lyons, David Mackay, Matthew Jaensch, Andrew Otten
Emerg: Mitchell Grigg, Ian Callinan, Luke Thompson
In: D.Mackay, J.Lyons
Out: S.McKernan (suspension), A.Riley (leg)
O’Brien has support of union, teammates
The AFL players’ union says it was aware of Collingwood defender Harry O’Brien’s personal issues before he revealed them publicly.
And it has backed Collingwood’s leaders to help O’Brien deal with his demons and return to the field at the right time.
O’Brien says he has been wading through serious issues related to depression, sexual abuse and suicide.
The revelations emerged several days after O’Brien did not play in the Pies’ victory over Carlton.
He had been involved in a disagreement with coach Nathan Buckley, while the club said he also had an ankle injury.
AFL Players’ Association (AFLPA) chief executive Matt Finnis said his organisation had been helping the 26-year-old before the events of recent days.
O’Brien’s Magpies teammate Luke Ball is president of the AFLPA.
“They weren’t a shock because I’ve been aware that Harry’s had some personal issues he’s been dealing with for some time now,” Finnis said on Wednesday.
“Our association’s been supporting him with that … players are not immune from any of the vulnerabilities and fallibilities that you or I might suffer in society.
“What’s best for Harry will be worked out between Harry and the experts around him and the footy club.
“One thing I am very confident of is that in a person like Nathan Buckley as coach, with peers like Luke Ball and (Magpies captain) Nick Maxwell, I’m sure Harry will get the support around him to make sure he’s best placed to both deal with the issues off the field and get back to playing the great footy he has been.”
Buckley and the Magpies have expressed their support for O’Brien and he has stepped down from the club’s leadership group – with no firm date set for him to return to playing football.
O’Brien will not play in Collingwood’s clash with Adelaide at the MCG on Friday night.
Magpies star Scott Pendlebury said all at the club were behind O’Brien as he battled his personal demons, and hinted a return in a fortnight for the backman was a possibility.
“He’s got a week of training (next week) and hopefully, that Gold Coast game in two weeks, he can get back and be ready for,” Pendlebury said.
“We know Harry is a person first and a footballer second.
“I think everyone now understands that you’ve got to respect him and give him his space. He’s going through some pretty serious stuff.”
Victoria’s police chief says there have been no requests from Brazil to probe O’Brien over one of his revelations – that he witnessed a murder there.
However Chief Commissioner Ken Lay says police will probably have a talk with Collingwood about claims O’Brien watched a man die in Rio de Janeiro two years ago.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 and MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.