The 2009 NAB Cup is down to the final four. Essendon takes on Collingwood while Carlton meets Geelong in two all-Victorian semi-finals. In recent years, South Australian sides have dominated the competition so the high profile match-ups are good for the pre-season tournament.
AFL betting has Collingwood at 1.32 favorite to Essendon’s 3.7. Strangely the AFL odds are closer with the Geelong-Carlton semi-final. Contrary to what one may have thought Geelong is at 1.65 to the Blues’ 2.42.
As has been said previously with regards to these AFL results, it’s hard to read too much into them. All that matters is the AFL ladder heading into September and ultimately the AFL Grand Final. By the last Saturday in September, what happened in March would have been long forgotten, unless the two finalists meet again in the Premiership decider. It happened in 1985 and again in 1986.
With the Premiership season now just three weeks away, the preparations of all sides would be well under way. The phony war is just about over and everyone is determined to come out and start the season on the right foot with a win in Round one. Of course eight sides will do this and eight will be disappointed. That’s the nature of the beast.
David Wiseman is a sports journalist, who writes about all team sports for Betfair Australia . As well as the afl season, he is particularly looking forward to following some nrl betting.
