The teams are not yet finalised, but TAB is already up with one of the most popular bet types on the AFL Grand Final – the first goalscorer.
Ben Brown, Bayley Fritsch and Aaron Naughton are joint $10 favourites but there are some players at much bigger prices who have demonstrated an ability to score early, including the player who has kicked the first goal of the match this year more times than any other Grand Final participant.
The Bulldogs’ Tom Liberatore has been first goalscorer three times, the most recent of which came in the semi-final, and is at $26.
- The only other Bulldogs to kick the first goal of the match more than once are Bailey Smith ($21), who scored first in the Preliminary Final, and Marcus Bontempelli ($17) with two each
- Bayley Fritsch has kicked the first goal of the match twice but not since Rd 12, while Ben Brown’s two first goals came in Rd 21 and the Qualifying Final
- James Harmes ($34), Alex Neale-Bullen ($26) and Kysaiah Pickett ($15) are the other Demons to kick the first goal of the match twice
- Bulldogs Lachie Hunter and Caleb Daniel are $41 chances who have been first goalkicker.
- Harmes kicked the first goal of the match the first time the Demons played the Bulldogs, in Rd 11, while Marcus Bontempelli was the first goalkicker in the return bout in Rd 19
- Melbourne has kicked the first goal in 17 of its 24 matches, the Western Bulldogs 17 of 25
TAB has a suite of goalkicker options available on the Grand Final with Brown the $4 favourite to kick the most goals for the match, ahead of Naughton ($4.25) and Fritsch ($4.50).
Melbourne retains favouritism in Grand Final head-to-head betting at $1.65 with the Bulldogs $2.25.
MELBOURNE FIRST GOALSCORERS: 2 – Bayley Fritsch, Ben Brown, Kysaiah Pickett, Alex Neale-Bullen, James Harmes; 1 – Jack Viney, Christian Petracca, Tom McDonald, Ed Langdon, Luke Jackson, Jayden Hunt, Jake Melksham.
BULLDOGS FIRST GOALSCORERS: 3 – Tom Liberatore; 2 – Josh Bruce, Bailey Smith, Marcus Bontempelli; 1 – Laitham Vandermeer, Caleb Daniel, Lachie Hunter, Easton Wood, Anthony Scott, Jordon Sweet, Cody Weightman, Aaron Naughton.
TAB ODDS – AFL GRAND FINAL FIRST GOALKICKER
$10 Ben Brown, Bayley Fritsch, Aaron Naughton
$13 Tim English, Cody Weightman
$15 Tom McDonald, Christian Petracca, Kysaiah Pickett
$17 Marcus Bontempelli
$21 Max Gawn, Charlie Spargo, Mitch Hannan, Josh Schache, Bailey Smith
$26 Luke Jackson, Alex Neale-Bullen, Tom Liberatore, Adam Treloar, Laitham Vandermeer
$34 James Harmes, Ed Langdon
$41 All other players, including Lachie Hunter, Jack Viney and Caleb Daniel
