The best odds & bets for each AFL club in 2016 – the bottom sides

THE footy is almost back!

And with it comes the excitement of the rough and tumble of Aussie Rules.

And, of course, the chance of laying a bit of hard earned on futures markets to help keep your interest up throughout the season.

In our three part series, we’ll take a look at all 18 teams, where they sit in the betting odds, and hopefully unearth a bet or two to help you win some money for your long term investment.

We kick it off with our predictions for the clubs we think will finish from 13th-18th.

13th: St Kilda Saints

Last season: 14th

Premiership odds: $201 with CrownBet.com.au

Top four: $41 with Sportsbet.com.au

Top eight: $8 with Sportsbet.com.au

2016 win line: Over eight wins $1.90 with CrownBet.com.au

Coleman Medal favourite: Josh Bruce $41 with WilliamHill.com.au

Brownlow Medal favourite: David Armitage $51 with Sportsbet.com.au

Rising Star favourite: Hugh Goddard $15 with CrownBet.com.au

Our tip: Jack Steven for most AFL Fantasy Points in 2016 $12 with WilliamHill.com.au

The Saints are another side on the up, but aren’t quite there yet. They won six games last year, but their brigade of kids, led by the likes of Dunstan are bigger and better and should be able to conjure a couple more, even with the disappointment of boom recruit Jake Carlisle’s 12 month suspension for this involvement in the Essendon supplements saga. Coach Alan Richardson is one of the most respected men in the game and he will demand excellence from a young squad on the up. Would love to see Nick Riewoldt play finals one more time, in what might be his last season, but it looks beyond them in 2016. For the dream team players out there, Jack Steven is now an elite midfielder and while he has to contend with the likes of Ablett, Rockliff and Goldstein, he is a proven accumulator in the fantasy game and should give them a run for their money at double digit odds.

14th: Melbourne Demons

Premiership odds: $201 with CrownBet.com.au

Top four: $34 with Sportsbet.com.au

Top eight: $7 with Sportsbet.com.au

2016 win line: Over seven wins $1.80 with CrownBet.com.au

Coleman Medal favourite: Jesse Hogan $26 with WilliamHill.com.au

Brownlow Medal favourite: Nathan Jones $51 with Sportsbet.com.au

Rising Star favourite: Christian Petracca $6 with CrownBet.com.au

Our tip: Jesse Hogan to win the Coleman Medal, $26 with WilliamHill.com.au

That $26 about gun forward Jesse Hogan looks seriously juicy. Pendles reckons this kid is that talented he can kick 100 goals next season and we think this will be the last time you see him in double figures to win the Coleman. He bagged 44 goals last season and the Dees should improve even more, giving him more opportunities to kick big goal totals. Hogan will be the best forward in the game in a couple of years if his body holds up and is the brightest spot for the Demons in a season that should feature plenty. They won’t make the finals, but the likes of Christian Petracca, Billy Stretch, Angus Bradshaw, the list goes on, will continue to develop and hopefully lead this side to bigger and better things in the future.

15th: Gold Coast Suns

Last season: 16th

Premiership odds: $67 with WilliamHill.com.au

Top four: $11 with Sportsbet.com.au

Top eight: $3.45 with Sportsbet.com.au

2016 win line: Under 10.5 $2 with CrownBet.com.au

Coleman Medal favourite: Tom Lynch $17 with WilliamHill.com.au

Brownlow Medal favourite: Gary Ablett Junior $7 with Sportsbet.com.au

Rising Star favourite: Jarrod Garlett $26 with CrownBet.com.au

Our tip: Tom Lynch to lead the club’s goal kicking $1.40 with Sportsbet.com.au

Three words: Gary Ablett Junior. As the superstar enters the twilight of his career and rakes in his millions, he will be dreaming of taking his side to the finals. But we don’t think it is going to happen. There appears to be an endemic problem on the Gold Coast and you just feel like they are a long, long way away from visiting the post season. They lost one of their best players in Harley Bennell, after a controversial photograph of him was printed in media and while Ablett is back and the likes of Jaeger O’Meara, Dion Prestia and David Swallow will be along for the ride, we’re not convinced. With Dixon gone to Port, Tom Lynch should have little competition for leading goal kicker and, provided he stays healthy, the $1.40 is better than bank interest.

16th: Brisbane Lions

Last season: 17th

Premiership odds: $251 with WilliamHill.com.au

Top four: $67 with Sportsbet.com.au

Top eight: $12 with Sportsbet.com.au

2016 win line: Under 6 $2 with CrownBet.com.au

Coleman Medal favourite: Josh Green $151 with WilliamHill.com.au

Brownlow Medal favourite: Tom Rockliff $18 with Sportsbet.com.au

Rising Star favourite: Josh Schache $15 with CrownBet.com.au

Our tip: Josh Schache to kick more than 20.5 goals in 2016 $2.15 with Sportsbet.com.au

The poor old Lions simply have no fire power up forward and, despite a great midfield and more than serviceable back line, it is just hard to see them kicking a winning score. They might be 0-8 before they get a winnable one against the Demons in round nine, with Melbourne trips to Geelong and the Dogs added to cross country flights to Port Adelaide and the West Coast. All that makes for a nightmare start and not a lot to look forward to. Rockliff and Rich will need to be at their best just to get them close to the win mark, but again, we ask, where are the forwards? They only have one who could be a key man in Josh Schache, who should play enough games to eclipse the 20.5 mark set by Sportsbet.com.au

17th: Essendon Bombers

Last season: 15th

Premiership odds: $501 with WilliamHill.com.au

Top four: $67 with Sportsbet.com.au

Top eight: $12 with Sportsbet.com.au

2016 win line: N/A

Coleman Medal favourite: Joe Daniher $41 with WilliamHill.com.au

Brownlow Medal favourite: Brendon Goddard $101 with WilliamHill.com.au

Rising Star favourite: Darcy Parish $12 with CrownBet.com.au

Our tip: Darcy Parish to win the 2016 Rising Star award $12 with CrownBet.com.au

The poor Bombers have been destroyed by the supplements saga that has hung over the club’s head for nearly three years. Twelve of their best players will not be allowed to suit up this season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld WADA’s season long suspensions for taking banned substances and that has left the club in a dire situation. But, while there is obviously a dearth of talent out there, it has managed to sign several players with AFL experience who should be able to soften the blow slightly. Pick number five Darcy Parish has been touted as the best midfielder in the draft and at $12, looks overs for the Rising Star in a side where he should be a permanent fixture, given all the omissions in 2016.

18th: Carlton Blues

Last season: Wooden Spoon (18th)

Premiership odds: $501 with CrownBet.com.au

Top four: $101 with CrownBet.com.au

Top eight: $15 with Sportsbet.com.au

2016 win line: Under 4.5 wins $1.90 with CrownBet.com.au

Coleman Medal favourite: Liam Jones, Levi Casboult, $101 with WilliamHill.com.au

Brownlow Medal favourite: Marc Murphy $51 with Sportsbet.com.au

Rising Star favourite: Jacob Weitering $11 with CrownBet.com.au

Our tip: Least wins $3.45 with Sportsbet.com.au

The clean out at Carlton has begun under new coach Brendon Bolton. It’s a bit of a baptism of fire for the smiling former Hawks assistance, but we’ll see how long his grin lasts as the losses pile up. Patrick Cripps is the obvious one to watch for the Blues, but he needs more help from seasoned veterans Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs, who, by his own admission, had a poor 2015. Gun number one draft pick Jacob Weitering is the prized piece of the club’s off season, and he will be a walk up start in key defence. Adelaide running machine Sam Kerridge is the other bloke with big expectations, but their poor showing against the decimated Bombers in the NAB Challenge reduced our hopes even further for the Blues. It’s going to be another long season for the Blues, who will need to clutch onto some positive player improvements, rather than improvements, The $3.45 for least wins looks juicy, given Essendon, while having lost so many of its young guns, has recruited battle hardened talent that should be able to stand the test of a rigorous AFL season.