Qualifying Final - Geelong v St Kilda

[adam]

Discuss the clash between Geelong and St Kilda here. Any betting tips or match previews should be posted here.

Qualifying Final
Geelong v St Kilda
MCG, Friday 7:45pm

Odds (Centrebet)
Geelong $1.38
St Kilda $3.07

Next Week
For those wondering, the loser of this match will go on to face the winner of the Fremantle v Hawthorn match, while the winner will have a weeks rest and go straight through to the Preliminary Final.

[Jnr202]

geelong comfortably...36 points.

[adam]

Match Preview
Geelong face St Kilda at the MCG on Friday night in a replay of last year’s Grand Final where the Cats prevailed by 12 points, the winner will take the week off while the loser will face the daunting task of making the Grand Final the hard way.

Geelong defeated the Eagles last week by 44 points despite a lack luster start but importantly for the Cats Gary Ablett was back to his brilliant best with 33 disposals and 4 goals. The Cats will regain Joel Selwood, Corey Enright and Shannon Byrnes but will be without their most dominant tall James Podsiadly. In recent times the Cats hold a narrow 3-2 advantage in their last five encounters but more importantly the Cats have beaten the Saints twice in finals in recent seasons including last year’s Grand Final, hence their short odds of $1.37.

St Kilda suffered a minor hiccup last week going down against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and has some minor concerns with defender Sam Fisher seemingly injuring his hamstring. Stephen Mile will return while Steven Baker will push to return with Cats forward Steve Johnson on his radar. Despite trailing in their last five encounters the Saints defeated the Cats at the MCG in round 13 but more importantly they restricted the Cats to just three points in the second half. Despite being $3.10 they are more than capable of upsetting the Cats.

Verdict
With an expected crowd of eighty thousand fans you would expect nothing less than an arm wrestle, the Cats are seemingly better positioned but the Saints will have the emotions of last year’s Grand Final defeat fresh in their memories. Geelong should win but it’s by no means a safe bet.

My Tip – Geelong by 9 points

[GameTipper]

Geelong v St Kilda

The Gut Call...
I'm tipping Geelong by 27pts

GameTipper Blind Betting... *hicup*
Head2Head: $1.37 [X]
Win Margin 39.5: 1-39 @ $2.13 [X]
Win Margin 100: 20-29 @ $7.70 [X]
Q/Q/Q/Q Tip: Gee/Gee/Gee/Gee @ $2.00 [X]
1st Scoring Play: Geelong Goal @ $3.30 [X]
Odds sourced from Centrebet

[Ned]

What a win by the saints! Up by 34 in the 3rd term before Geelong kicked 5 unanswered goals to come within thingernail distance but some how they held on. Geelong looked set to win before Cam Mooney tackled James Gwilt in the back and Ling kicked a goal. Goal wasn't allowed and the free was paid to Gwilt.
Sensational win

Getting ready for hopefully a Geelong v Hawthorn elimination final

[GameTipper]

Yup, a wipe-out game for me... Was a great game too, pitty about some of the umpiring but a well deserved win for the Saints. Makes things very interesting for the finals race. I had a dream yesterday of a St Kilda v Western Bulldogs grand final - but didn't think much about actually putting it on! No matter.

To those Geelong fans who are winging about the free in the back, all I'll say is watch the replay over and over again... it was there, it was fair. What you should be jumping up and down about is the wrong player took the free kick! Saints fans - you should feel lucky the 5 or so out of bounds deliberatly wern't paid!

Looking forward to next weeks Geelong v Freo/Haw game - you'd never want to face a Geelong side on the rebound... could be a 40+ margin in the making!

[Ned]

You sure about that Game Tipper, Geelong looked half as good last night with poor kicking effiency and it looked as though they cracked under pressure in the first half.
If Hawthorn win today it'll be two high pressure and physical encounters for the cats against two of their Grand Final opponents.
Gee I'd love to see Geelong get eliminated, it'd make my day
No offence to Geelong supporters