Saturday first AFL Round 18 match is between Gold Coast Suns and Carlton Blues with the game to be played at Metricon Stadium. The opening bounce is set to commence at 1:45PM local time with away team Carlton Blues currently holding favouritism. 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:

Gold Coast Suns	2.60	2.65	2.70	2.65	2.60	2.65
Carlton Blues	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)

AFL players can be fragile: Malthouse

Carlton coach Mick Malthouse says a neck fracture to Blues defender Simon White is a reminder of the fragility of footballers and the importance of AFL rules protecting them.

White will wear a neck brace for the next eight weeks after fracturing a vertebrae in his neck while playing in the VFL on the weekend.

He’s expected to return next season and Malthouse said given White heard a crunch or crack when the incident occurred, the outcome could have been worse.

He referred to former Geelong VFL player Casey Tutungi, who has been diagnosed a quadriplegic as a result of an incident in June in the Geelong Football League.

“These are the sort of injuries we dread,” Malthouse said.

“Simon’s semi-lucky, I guess, it could have been worse but fortunately in a club environment like this we’re able to look at it and get him right.

“He’ll be right for next year.”

Malthouse said White was likely to spend the coming weeks thinking about what might have been.

“It’s a real reminder how fragile (players are) sometimes. We think we’re big and strong and we see the players they do weights and they’ve got size about them,” Malthouse said.

“Hit in the wrong area at the wrong time and these things can have a very very poor prognosis.

“In this case he’s going to come up okay.”