AFL Betting on St. Kilda vs. Melbourne
AFL Betting: While sports analysts are naysaying the future of the St. Kilda Saints for this season’s finals, AFL betting trends on the Saints’ upcoming match against the Melbourne Demons say the opposite.
Punters are placing their money in the belief that St. Kilda could return to the winner list by taking the win from Melbourne in this upcoming game at the Etihad Stadium, and AFL betting stations have certainly been kept busy by an onrush of bets for St. Kilda to win.
AFL Betting on this Game
The AFL betting odds opened at $1.50 for St. Kilda and $2.50 for Melbourne. As of press time, the AFL betting odds has drifted into St. Kilda $1.40 and Melbourne $2.80. As game time draws nearer, the difference is only expected to grow.
Apparently, the Saints’ previous season standings are keeping their AFL betting fans optimistic. With three grand finals in two years, punters probably figure that the St. Kilda Saints could reach into their reserves and pull through.
The St. Kilda Saints have already made drastic changes in their line-up in anticipation of the match against Melbourne. Tagger Steven Baker has been suspended ( critics are buzzing that the Saints and Coach Lyons ought to jettison him for good). Three senior players (Jason Gram, Ben McEvoy and Andrew McQualter) have been sent to the VFL.
The upcoming match will be the Saints’ ninth for this season. The previous eight games has been noticeably lacking in their previous brilliance. Out of the past eight matches, they have won only one. A contested match has been called a draw.
In order for the St. Kilda Saints to get into the final eight, they would have to win at least 11 of their remaining fifteen games for this season. They currently stand at a dismal 15th on the AFL ladder.
AFL Betting on St Kilda
As early as eight games into the season, the future intentions of coach Lyons has already been called into question. Rumors abound that the dismal performance and culture of the St Kilda players are pushing the coach into abandoning ship pretty soon. When directly questioned about it, Lyon answered in the negative, saying that he fully intends to honor his contract which is due to expire on 2012.
However, when pushed to verbalize how he intends to bring the St. Kilda Saints back from the pits, he remains vague and noncommittal. He cites that future decisions about whether or not he stays or goes depends upon the CEO and Board of the club, not on him. Speculators are taking such evasiveness as premonitions of a possible parting.