Jack Riewoldt & Travis Cloke AFL Friday Magpies vs Tigers betting

Ladder position
Collingwood Magpies: 17th
Richmond Tigers: Seventh

Season record
Collingwood Magpies: 0-1
Richmond Tigers: 1-0

Head-to-head odds
Collingwood Magpies: $2.25
Richmond Tigers: $1.65

Line betting
Collingwood Magpies: +7.5 ($1.91)
Richmond Tigers: -7.5 ($1.91) with WilliamHill.com.au

THE old enemies Richmond and Collingwood go head-to-head under the bright Friday night lights.

And while the Tigers didn’t exactly shower themselves in glory in a win over lowly Carlton last Thursday night, they are sitting pretty compared to woeful Collingwood.

The Magpies lost Dane Swan to a season – and possibly career – ending leg injury and then produced a disgusting effort against a fired up Sydney, losing by 80 points, 18.25 (133) to 7.11 (53).

It could have been far, far worse, with the Swans missing a host of easy chances.

It was hard to find a winner on the ground for the Magpies, with perhaps only former Greater Western Sydney young gun Adam Treloar, with 34 disposals and a goal in his Collingwood debut, able to hold his head high.

Things will have to change and change very quickly if they are to be any chance against the Tigers.

Richmond did just enough to beat the plucky Blues, 14.8 (92) to 12.11 (83), fighting back from a nine point three quarter time deficit to boot four goals to one in the final term.

Young buck Kane Lambert might be coming of age, leading the way for the Tigers with 28 disposals, eight marks and seven tackles, while Dustin Martin seemed to have a quiet game, but still racked up 24 touches, along with half back Bachar Houli.

With no Brett Deledio providing the cream, captain Trent Cotchin was below his best with 21.

Big man Ty Vickery was the leading goal kicker for the Tigers with three.

It is difficult to see the Magpies recovering from such a shellacking and, with the longer break, the Tigers should be able to handle this one comfortably.

The key word is should, because the Tigers, despite their improvement, can still be a bit of a Jeckyl and Hyde team and it wouldn’t surprise if they rolled out a stinker.

Tigers by six goals for us – they’re paying $1.65 at WilliamHill.com.au

Clash of the titans in first goal betting

First goal scorer

Jack Riewoldt: $5 with WilliamHill.com.au

Travis Cloke: $8 with WilliamHill.com.au

Both of these sides have power forwards that are the envy of many other clubs in the AFL.

Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt is a svelte machine who can take his defender one on one or drag him up the ground and cause damage.

Travis Cloke is the traditional hulking behemoth for the Magpies, unbeatable in one on one contests, but equally adept on the lead.

Riewoldt had a solid start to his 2016 campaign, amassing 18 disposals and six marks, and you would usually expect those sort of numbers to translate to a decent bag.

But he did only kick two goals and will be hoping to hit the scoreboard more often against the Pies.

And, with the star forward champing at the bit to get a crack at the Pies, he will be fired up early.

He is a perennial first goal kicker, hence the reason he is favourite in this one, and he always provides plenty of value, with the Tigers mids tending to send the ball his way whenever they get it out of the guts.

Judging by his comments on AFL 360 this week, he is ready for the challenge and should provide good value as the $5 favourite with WilliamHill.com.au to kick the first goal of the match.

“We’re really excited to play against a side that’s obviously going to be hurting after a sub-par performance, as they’ve said, last week. So, they’ll come out firing,” Riewoldt said.

“What better stage for a traditional blockbuster than Friday night footy at the MCG!

“It’s bloody exciting.

“Everyone’s going to be watching . . . it’s certainly going to be electric.

“It’s two of the traditional sides playing against each other.

“We’ve had a bit of history over the past few years, for a long time, leading back to a lot of grand finals.

“It’s great playing in these big blockbuster games on the big stage, when everyone’s watching at home on Friday night, or at the ground.

“For us, it’s going to be good for some of our young guys to get in there and play on the biggest stage.”

Cloke is well and truly under the pump, having kicked off the season without a goal and with just seven disposals and one mark, in perhaps one of his worst performances for the club.

He did not have a stat in the first half and his coach Nathan Buckley has called on him to respond.

“Clokey’s been a bit quiet through the early stages of the year and he’ll be looking to have a big one,’’ Buckley said.

“I don’t think he’s in good form.

“There’s only one way to get your way out of that and that’s hard work and having a real crack.

“If we could give him a bit more supply it would be handy, off the back of the last four quarters of evidence.”

“There is a lot of focus on Clokey. Let’s see how he goes on Friday night.”

Cloke, 29, has the luxury of a five year contract, believed to be worth $4 million, and some are saying he has put the cue in the rack.

But not us.

While we don’t think the Magpies are going to be any good this season. Cloke is too talented not to break out of his form slump – if he actually wants to.

And he would be well served to do so against the old enemy Richmond on Friday night.

Back him in to boot the first goal at $8 with WilliamHill.com.au