Jesse Hogan specials and JLT Week 3 tips – Melbourne vs. St Kilda

By Nathan Marotta

Thursday, 8th March, 2018, 7:05 PM AEST, Casey Fields VFL ground, Watch on Fox Footy.

Casey Fields will play host to an interesting pre-season encounter between the Demons and the Saints on Thursday night.

This will be the second bout for both teams in the third and final week of the JLT series. The Demons are strong favourites against the Saints, who were underwhelming to say the least last week.

Melbourne’s swift and direct ball movement stunned the inexperienced Kangaroos in its previous hit out. The return of All Australian ruckman Max Gawn was phenomenal. He dominated hit outs and found the footy at ground level, signalling a big season ahead. The development of Christian Petracca was evident and he too looks like he’s ready to take the competition by storm. The Demons have been public in their goal to take the pre-season seriously and they already look a better side than the one that ultimately disappointed in 2017.

St Kilda had more intensity in its intra-club game than in last week’s JLT match against Carlton. The Blues made Alan Richardson’s men look second rate, even though they fielded a less-experienced team.

Saints highlights included Paddy McCartin not concussing himself in the opening quarter, Shane savage knocking out Paddy Dow’s front tooth and prized 2017 first round draft picks getting game time. Both Hunter Clark and Nicholas Coffield looked the goods when the Blues provided serious pressure. The Saints really need to up the ante if they’re to compete against the Demons at Casey Fields and excite fans about the season ahead.

Let’s take a look at some of the interesting betting markets for the match.

Melbourne Demons vs St Kilda Saints JLT Most Goals Tips

Melbourne Demons
Jesse Hogan +210 @ Sportsbet

After one of the hardest years of his short life – including the death of his father and testicular
cancer – Jesse Hogan has come back this year and put all the external issues behind him. Jake ‘The
step ladder’ Carlisle, will attempt to quell this beast of a forward, but we’re tipping Jesse will still find his fair share of opportunities from a classy midfield and signal a big year ahead.

St Kilda Saints
Tim Membrey $5.50 @ Sportsbet

After coming from absolutely nowhere these couple of seasons, Membrey has become one of the competition’s danger men. Tim flies under the radar of most clubs and is often matched up with the second or third best defender, when in reality, he can go toe to toe with the best in the air. Expect plenty of high marks inside 50 and an accurate conversion rate. He’s value at $5.50.

Melbourne Demons vs. St Kilda Saints JLT Big Win Little Win Tips

Melbourne Demons
1-39 +120 @ Sportsbet

We previously mentioned about the advantages that the Demons have over the Saints, but we haven’t touched on their flaws. If they get too excited, this young group can be prone to complacency.

After playing so hard and fast last week, some players will be given limited game time to condition their bodies – so if Melbourne do win, we’re not expecting a blow-out, making the 1-39 margin our favoured tip.

St Kilda Saints
1-39 $3.00 @ Sportsbet

St Kilda has the artillery to fire its way into the top eight this year.

While they were disappointing last week, the Saints had some of its best players – such as Jack Billings and Josh Bruce – miss the match. These players have the capacity to be match-winners. For this encounter we should see both of them named and ready to perform at the elite level.

St Kilda is going to play faster and harder this week in an attempt to get the win – they couldn’t play much worse than last week. Look for a real tune up and much more competitive hit-out. Like the Demons, if the Saints win, we don’t expect a blow-out either way, so the 1-39 margin is firmly in play.

Melbourne Demons vs. St Kilda Saints JLT match predictions

Match result: Melbourne to win @ $1.52 with Sportsbet
Line Betting: Melbourne -12 @ -111.11 with Sportsbet

We’re tipping that this heavenly match-up might result in a hellish outcome for St Kilda.

The Demons are the more equipped side in this match – all things being even from what we’ve seen thus far, a five-to-six-goal Melbourne victory is what we’re betting on.