Why Essendon is the only team Brendon Bolton has the wood over
Bookies expected the punters to steer clear of the Carlton v Essendon mockbuster but, with the speculation around the futures of coaches Brendon Bolton and John Worsfold, it is the most popular betting match of the week.
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As Carlton coach Brendon Bolton fights for his coaching life, there is one stat that he can take solace in — and it will terrify fellow embattled coach John Worsfold.
The under fire Blues coach owns a winning record against only two of the competition’s 18 clubs.
One of those is the team he now coaches, Carlton — one win from one match as caretaker coach of Hawthorn in Round 13, 2014.
The other?
Essendon.
Since Bolton took the reigns at Ikon Park in 2016, Carlton owns a 3-2 win-loss record against the Dons, despite finishing 14th, 16th and then last.
And the punters have taken notice, making the mockbuster the most popular betting match with TAB.com.au early this week.
The Bombers, at 4-6 after 10 rounds, opened on Monday as red-hot $1.33 favourites to beat the bottom-of-the-table 1-9 Blues, who were $3.30.
But it seems punters have a soft spot for Bolton’s Blues, a steady stream of money crunching them in to $2.45, with almost no interest in Woosha’s Bombers, who have drifted to $1.55.
Tab.com.au’s Gerard Daffy said the betting interest in the match was strange.
“If you had to have a pick which is the most popular betting game at this point in time, that would be the last,” Daffy said.
“Both sides are in the news because of the coaches and there’s a bit of history between them anyway.
“It’s not Essendon and Carlton, it’s Worsfold and Bolton. Bolton’s a loveable character and maybe people are just backing Carlton in the hope they can turn it around.
“There’s just a constant stream of bets for Carlton as opposed to the lack of interest in Essendon so, all of a sudden, maybe Carlton will get win No.2 if you believe the money.”
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With Brad Scott tipped out at North Melbourne on the weekend — the first coaching domino to fall in 2019 — pressure is now even more amplified on Bolton and Worsfold.
“If the Bombers were to lose this week, the blowtorch moves on to Worsfold,” Daffy said.
“It’s an intriguing match — Considering the win loss ratio of the two sides, it’s going to be one of the highlights of the weekend.
“There’s a lot at stake for both coaches and maybe that’s why the interest is there.”
The Bombers’ inability to live up to the pre-season hype is indicated by the drift in its premiership price.
They opened ninth in the betting for the flag at $15, but have now blown out to $81. By contrast, the Blues were $251 and are now $1.50 to run last.
“At the start of the season, most people would have pencilled this in as a definite win for Essendon, but that’s not the case only a couple of days out,” Daffy said.
Originally published as Why Essendon is the only team Brendon Bolton has the wood over
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