AFL Good Friday Kangaroos vs. Bulldogs, Ziebell and Stringer tips

Friday, April 15, 2017, 4.20 pm AEST, Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Watch live on Channel 7 and Fox Footy.

After years of debate and discourse, the AFL debuts on Good Friday.

Thank God.

The Western Bulldogs and the North Melbourne Kangaroos will kick off the showpiece event at Etihad Stadium.

The Kangaroos’ 2017 is a direct contrast to their blistering start of last season. A loss on Friday would be their ninth straight loss in regular and post season games and their fourth straight defeat this season.

The Bulldogs need to bounce back after a disappointing loss to the Dockers at Domain Stadium. The Dogs battled on manfully, but were out-worked by an opponent who were prepared to take risks and hit the man and the ball hard.

The result looks like a foregone conclusion on paper given the Dogs are paying just $1.29, so we decided to look at the player markets and find some value away from the overall result.

Jack Ziebell predictions

The Kangaroo captain needs to lift his output this season after three quiet games, and Friday night for a fixture his club wants to make its own presents perfect opportunity to do so.

The former top-10 draft pick has had no problems finding the ball so far, averaging 24.3 touches in the opening three games, but his impact has been fleeting. Ordinarily if Jack gets his hands on the ball something good happens.

There is every chance the Dogs let Ziebell off the leash on Friday, which gives the captain the chance to collect bulk possessions. His career-best disposal game came against the reigning premiers, so we know he has no trouble breaking the tag against the sons of the west.

We are backing the Skipper in on Friday to get 30 or more touches.

Tip: Jack Ziebell to collect 30 or more disposals ($3.75 with Sportsbet.com.au)

Jake Stringer predictions

By his lofty standards Jake “The Package” Stringer has been relatively subdued in 2017. The explosive midfielder/forward has only managed five goals this season and is averaging just over 15 disposals per game.

We think in round four that will change.

We think the $10 on offer for the Package to boot the first goal of the game is tremendous value, but we are looking at his overall impact on Good Friday.

The Package looks set for a big one, and given there is no obvious match up in the Roo outfit we think he can match his entire goal output for 2017 on Friday afternoon.

It is Stringer’s time to shine – and we are backing BT’s love child in.

Tip: Jake Stringer to kick five or more goals ($9 at WilliamHill.com.au)

Bonus Combination Bet

Like the look of a Jack and Jake show on Friday afternoon? Why not combine the two in a single bet?

WilliamHill.com.au offer a 30 disposals, three goals bet on AFL games and one of the options is Jack Ziebell to collect 30 or more into Jake Stringer to boot three majors.

Punters who think we are on to a good thing here can get $9 on an investment on this bet.