AFL TIPS: Geelong v Essendon

Friday, August 8 – 7.40 PM AEST – Venue: GMHBA Stadium

The Cats have a key finals spot to play for and will dominate the Bombers on Friday night on their home deck. Cameron after his haul of 11 goals and six goals in the last two weeks, will be keen to get another bag against the undermanned Bombers defence, as he strives to get 100 goals for the season.

Shannon Neale and Tyson Stengle will be potent up forward, and Jack Martin could get a bagful of goals too. The Cats are fourth but will be looking to win their final three games to get them into the top two, so they don’t have to play interstate during the finals.

Disappointingly the Bombers can’t even do the basics well, like tackling! They miss more tackles than any other side has done in league history, although they were much tougher around the contest last week against Sydney and won the tackle count 50 to 44.  Ridley is out with a hamstring again and it could give first year forward/ruck Kayle Gerreyn an opportunity to come in as he has been in good form in defence in the VFL. Vigo Visentini played well in the VFL and should come back in rather than playing Todd Goldstein.

Bailey Smith is in career best form racking up stats, as are Holmes, Miers and Atkins. They will give their forwards plenty of opportunity to kick a winning score. The Cats are in the fortunate position to have almost a full list of players to pick from with Mitch Duncan, Cam Guthrie, Jake Kolodjashnij and Oli Wiltshire all available for selection this week. 

Geelong by 78 points

There’s something deeply satisfying about watching Geelong cut loose on the scoreboard remember that brutal Round 14 showing at the MCG where they slammed Essendon by a whopping 95 points (151 to 56)? The Cats booted fourteen unanswered second-half goals, turning what could’ve been a tight contest into a runaway from the first bounce.

Fast-forward to Round 22 at GMHBA Stadium, and Geelong again outpaced the Bombers, this time winning 109–65 in a consistent display of power and precision. It’s clear their offense is firing on all cylinders, while Essendon continues to flounder near the bottom of the 2025 ladder a position that’s been hard to budge.

Given Geelong’s dynamic attacking spread and Essendon’s ongoing struggles, keeping an eye on up-to-date AFL Betting Tips makes sense for anyone keen on shrewd AFL Tips. A strong AFL Prediction based on these results leans toward Geelong’s high scoring, especially if Essendon can’t reset their form quickly. It’s not about guarantees just following the flow of what’s playing out on the field, logically and plainly.