In round 16 of the 2022 AFL season, the grimace turned grimmer in North Melbourne as two Top 4 hopefuls let a huge opportunity slip.
Here’s what it looked like to gamblers:
rock bottom
If you start out with a 66.5 point lead in line markets prior to the first bounce, and that handicap is given up for three-quarters of a time, you know there are serious, serious problems with your football club. A week after they became the first VFL/AFL squad to suffer 10 consecutive defeats of more than 40 points, North Melbourne was unsurprisingly hammered on Saturday night by a dominant Cats outfit (which, unsurprisingly, also started at $1.01). . The 112 point final margin represents another dark chapter of what has been a horrendous season thus far. Despite being just one win short of West Coast, North remains heavy $1.08 favorites in Palermbet’s ‘Least Wins’ market.
“They’re witch hats at the moment.”
The damning stat that shows how historically poor the Rose has been this season, if @barrettdamian says there is now no chance of David Noble surviving in North Melbourne.#9AFLSFS † View on @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/jbYe0WLXZQ
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) July 3, 2022
Opportunity is going to beg
After St Kilda’s horror run of three consecutive defeats, Carlton ($1.60 favorites) was expected to do business over the Saints Friday night. Four extra points would also propel them back into the AFL Top 4. But Michael Voss’ side didn’t come close to their best at Marvel Stadium in what turned out to be a crucial 15 point loss and, with a tough run home, could prove crucial in their Top 4 hopes.
That defeat left the door open for Sydney to skip the Blues and even launch themselves on the double chances. The Swans were even more preferable ($1.39) for doing business over Essendon. And after getting a handy early buffer, they were expected to romp it home at the MCG – a venue where they beat AFL Premiership favorites Melbourne in their final encounter. But Sydney proved even more clumsy than Carlton in a nine-point loss and – now two games outside the Top 4 (and out to $3.25) – will likely have to make do with (at best) an elimination final in 2022.
There was a time when Sydney was a reliable outfit with few shape swings.
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) July 2, 2022
The last six games Sydney has given up:
9-goal quarter v Carlton
Quarters with 5 and 6 goals against Richmond
5-goal quarter v Melbourne
6-goal quarter v Port Adelaide
Quarters with 5 and 6 goals v Essendon
PS: and a match with 4 goals against St Kilda#AFLDonsSwans— Andrew Wu (@wutube) July 2, 2022
The sun is setting on the Gold Coast
Two heartbreaking losses in a row mean Gold Coast’s season — and their tilt for a first-ever AFL Finals berth — is likely over. The latter, a five-point loss to the Pies after starting fringe favorites of $1.71 (after last week’s two-point loss to Port Adelaide) was particularly tough. Stuart Dew’s men are now two games outside the Top 8 and will have to win at least five of their last seven games and rely on other results creeping their way in. That now seems like a bridge too far. And that is reflected in the markets, the Suns now have $4.00 Top 8 odds. Will Hoskin-Elliot may have just put the final nail in their coffin for 2022.
HOSKIN-ELLIOTT TO PUT THE PIES IN THE FRONT pic.twitter.com/d9rhnSezEv
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) July 3, 2022
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