The First Quarter of Season 2025
Rounds 1 to 6, or “Week 7” of the Season
By Disco Monagle
The First Quarter of the Season is Done and Dusted – ALMOST
It has been a very even start to the season, with every team losing at least one game, while the poor old Eagles are the only team not to be on the scoreboard for season 2025.
For this series of articles, each team is reviewed for their start of the year with an eye on games to come. I have broken the season into four quarters:
First Quarter – Round Zero to Round 6
Second Quarter – Round 7 to Round 11 (before the byes start)
Third Quarter – Round 12 to Round 18
Final Quarter – Round 19 to Round 24 and the anomaly of the Suns and Bombers
My Rant – The Craziness of the Opening Round
The Gold Coast and Essendon Wash Out
Both the Gold Coast and Essendon play the last game of the season over the bye weekend between the home and away season and the finals. It is possible both teams could be playing for positions in the finals during that week, and that plain and simply sucks.
It doesn’t matter which way you look at it, it is unfair.
Further, there will be a question mark over the make-up of the ladder all year as both the Suns and the Bombers will have played one less game than their counterparts.
Mistakes from 2024
Sometimes a writer is made to eat their own words, and in my case, my first quarter reviews of the 2024 Lions and Hawks came to back to haunt me and then some, last year. I literally stated the season was over for both teams.
How could I be so wrong?
Lesson learned, and apart from the Eagles, I am not writing off any team off as this stage of the season.
The Formula
All teams, apart from the Gold Coast and Essendon, have played six games. I will discuss their win/loss record as well as percentage and the expectations the club had before the season started. For example, some had Richmond not winning a game this year, but they have had two victories and their overall mark for the first quarter would be ‘B’, while the Swans who has expectations of making amends for last year’s granny, also have two wins, but their mark for the season to date is ‘D’.
The First Quarter of the Season and More
Adelaide Crows – 5th (132%)
1st Quarter grade (4 wins) B+
Average score 108.6 for and 82.3 against
Three straight wins to start the season had many at West Lakes believing the curse of 2017 and the Magical Bus Tour had finally been exorcised, however a bad umpiring decision or two against the Suns saw the Crows loss their first game for the season, and their fans were again feeling that the whole world hated Adelaide.
To their credit, the Crows didn’t wallow in the mire for too long with an honourable loss to the Cats followed by a solid win over the Giants.
Even the harshest of critics would have to agree that four wins, one daylight robbery and an honourable loss constitutes a good, solid start to the season for the Crows. The Crows would expect to win at least three of their upcoming five matches, which would have them in good position at the halfway mark of the season.
The Crows next 5 games:
Fremantle (Optus), Carlton (Adelaide Oval), Port Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), Collingwood (MCG), West Coast Eagles (Adelaide Oval)
Brisbane Lions – 2nd (105.7%)
1st Quarter grade (5 wins) A-
Average score 89.8 for and 85 against
Before Round Six, the Lions had won ten games straight, including a memorable Grand Final success. For reasons of finding a story out of nothing the media went on a feeding frenzy after the Lions lost to Collingwood in Round 6. David ‘Hindsight’ King and others dissected the Lions back to their bare bones and then questioned their ability to back up again this year.
Overkill, fellas.
I have a theory that because of travel, all interstate teams are doing exceptionally well if they can win five out of six games. The wear and tear of travel just takes its toll after a while. Brisbane, the reigning Premier, won five games to finish the season 2024, and have five wins to start the season this year – super effort.
Excellent start to start the season for the Bears of old, especially considering last year they struggled for the first half of the season.
The Lions next 5 games:
St Kilda (Marvel), Gold Coast (Gabba), North Melbourne (Ninja), Melbourne (Gabba), Hawthorn (MCG)
Carlton Blues – 12th (122.1%)
1st Quarter grade (2 wins) C-
Average score 87.3 for and 71.5 against
A shock loss to Richmond in the first round rocked the very foundations of the Blues and there was a lot of fan and media attention eagerly waiting to write the Blues off after only one game. The Richmond loss was a shaky start to the season, and it wasn’t helped by then dropping their next three games against the Hawks, the Pies and the Doggies, but it was the end of the world.
At four nil, the jungle drums were beating and in true Carlton style fans were bemoaning the start to the year and calling for Voss’ head. In very Non-Carlton fashion, the Board got around Voss and backed him in.
In rounds five and six, the Blues took advantage of a soft couple of games and re-established their season with two straight wins over the hapless Eagles and Roos. Convincing wins, but until Carlton take a few higher ranked scalps they will be considered downhill skiers.
We will know a lot more about Carlton after their next five matches.
The Blues next 5 games:
Geelong (MCG), Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), St Kilda (MCG), Sydney (SCG), Greater Western Sydney (Marvel)
Collingwood Magpies – 1st (136.6%)
1st Quarter grade (5 wins) A
Average score 90.1 for and 66 against
The difference between Collingwood and Brisbane, who sit one and two on the ladder, is the Pies have banked some vitally important percentage early in the season.
Apart from a blip in Opening Round when the Giants got hold the Pies, their form has been impeccable ever since. The Pies have now strung five solid wins together and they sit happily on top of the perch after the first quarter of the season, and in a rich vein of form.
A bit like the Cats in 2022, there are questions about the age of the Collingwood list and whether the list will last out the year. Thus far the Pies look strong, and their ageing legs are standing up well.
Unlike a lot of pundits, I am not getting carried away with the Pies early season form, but on the other hand, it has been impressive.
More will be revealed.
The Pies next 5 games:
Essendon (MCG), Geelong (MCG), Fremantle (MCG), Adelaide (MCG), North Melbourne (Marvel)
Essendon Bombers – 11th (97.7%)
1st Quarter grade (3 wins from 5 games) B-
Average score 85 for and 92.8 against
Essendon, who are you?
What do you stand for?
Essendon frustrates more than any other team in the league (I’ll get to Freo later). It feels like it has been Groundhog Day now for well over ten years at Windy Hill.
The Bombers are permanently stuck in midtable purgatory. They never go up, and they never down as they dance their supporters three times around the same dance floor only finish up back at the same spot.
Post Traumatic Essendon Supporters Syndrome – a recognised medical condition suffered by all who adore everything red and black and live on the hope each year that this is the year, only to be let down in a pit of misery come season’s end.
I reserve judgement on the Bombers until after Round 24, and if again they are in AFL purgatory, the end of season review will be harsh.
The Bomber next 5 games:
Collingwood (MCG), North Melbourne (Marvel), Sydney (Marvel), Bulldogs (Marvel), Richmond (MCG)
Fremantle Dockers – 9th (104.6%)
1st Quarter grade (3 wins) C
Average score 90.3 for and 86.3 against
Once upon a time there was a club who were called the Purple Haze and they promised so much, yet those who followed the great Purple Haze would always get their hearts broken.
Most of the writers at The Mongrel Punt have Fremantle as their second team, and the team they want to see rise up and legitimately become Flagmantle one day soon, but the belief in the Dockers to take the steps necessary to win a Premiership fades every time the Haze drops a game they are expected win.
Inconsistency is the Dockers consistency.
Fremantle are on the precipice of success, but the penny needs to drop soon, or they will just be another team that didn’t quite live up to their potential.
The Dockers next 5 games:
Adelaide (Optus), St Kilda (Marvel), Collingwood (Optus), Giants (Engie), Port Adelaide (Optus)
Geelong Cats – 6th (127.5%)
1st Quarter grade (4 wins) B+
Average score 98.1 for and 77 against
For the first time in my life, I heard the Cats alternative theme song today, Cat Attack, and I am still trying to stop my ears from bleeding. It is deadliest noise pollution of the highest magnitude, and the EPA should by contacted in if they dare play that song at games.
Since the departure of Gary ‘Bloody’ Rohan I can again watch Geelong matches and not feel nauseated. My therapist has suggested I review as many Geelong games as possible to get over my aversion to the blue and white hoops.
Geelong supporters know they are going well, as does the rest of the competition, and I concur.
The match against Hawthorn on Easter Monday was one of the best home and away matches I have seen in a long while, and on that form both teams should there at the pointy end of the season
The Cats next 5 games:
Carlton (MCG), Collingwood (MCG), Giants (GMHBA), Port Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), West Coast (GMHBA)
Gold Coast Suns – 3rd (150.5%)
1st Quarter grade (4 wins from 5 games) A+
Average score 111.4 for and 74 against
How good are the Suns travelling, four wins from five games, a massive percentage, and a backline capable of restricting teams to low scores. It is a great time for Suns supporter’s to be on the Gold Coast and to be loud and proud in the latest AFL pink or orange Gold Coast colours.
Even allowing that the Suns lost their last match, it is hard to identify any concerning negatives about the Suns. The Suns are finally a legitimate better than average team on an upwards trajectory.
Enjoy the ride Suns and celebrate the wins and learn from the losses. Dimma’s once 80 percent team is slowly getting closer to the on-field perfection he is aiming for.
The Suns next 5 games:
Sydney (People First Stadium), Brisbane (Gabba), Bulldogs (People First Stadium), Hawthorn (TIO), St Kilda (Marvel)
Greater Western Sydney Giants – 4th (134.6%)
1st Quarter grade (4 wins) B+
Average score 86.3 for and 65.4 against
The Giants sit in a really good place at the moment, not quite playing at one hundred percent, but chalking up wins while restricting the scoring power of the opposition. Restricting the scoring of the opposition is often underrated in an era where every stat possible is thrown up by Kingy and his mates, but in my considered opinion, it is the most important of all stats.
The Giants are following a very simple philosophy of defence first and rebounding to score more than the opposition. I read two reports this week that said a team should have won because they dominated all the key criteria indicators, but the ultimate key criteria indicator of success must be being in front when the siren sounds – the rest is bullshit if you don’t win.
If the Giants continue to hold teams to under 11 goals each week, they will win more games than they lose and they will be there at the pointy end of the season.
I like where the Big Big Sound is at.
The Giants next 5 games:
Bulldogs (Manuka), Sydney (SCG), Geelong (GMHBA), Fremantle (Engie), Carlton (Marvel)
Hawthorn Hawks – 7th (108.3%)
1st Quarter grade (4 wins) B+
Average score 88.8 for and 82 against
What can I say about Hawthorn that they aren’t already said themselves?
Hawthorn has been and always will be an arrogant team. It is inherent in the DNA of the club from the President down to the new babe in arms receiving their first Hawthorn onesie.
Is arrogance a good thing, or is it a bad thing? Well, it works for the Hawks, and who am I to argue.
Like the Cats, the Hawks know they have had a good start to the year, so I concur.
The Hawks next 5 games:
West Coast (Marvel), Richmond (MCG), Melbourne (MCG), Gold Coast (TIO), Brisbane (MCG)
Melbourne Demons – 17th (68.7%)
1st Quarter grade (1 win) D-
Average score 68.6 for and 100 against
The biggest concern I have for Melbourne is not their win/loss scenario, but rather their once solid defence is leaking an average of 100 points per game, which would be reasonable if they had a functioning forward line, but they don’t.
Melbourne is losing games by an average of just over five goals each week, and that is huge for a club which believed at the beginning of the year they were still a contender.
The Dees have been bitten hard by reality, and I will watch with interest how the club and the players respond in the coming weeks.
The Demons next 5 games:
Richmond (MCG), West Coast (Optus), Hawthorn (MCG), Brisbane (Gabba), Sydney (MCG)
North Melbourne Kangaroos – 16th (72.7%)
1st Quarter grade (1 win) D-
Average score 85.3 for and 117.7 against
Roll over Beethoven, the Kangaroos are easy beats.
Putting the win/loss ratio to one side, the Roos average of 117.7 points against for the first six rounds is deplorable. It is utter rubbish what they are they dishing up each weekend.
This was meant to be the year of improvement? Wasn’t it?
I feel for Kanga supporters as they believe the crap and false hope the club is feeding them, and ye faithful Roos go along for the ride with fingers crossed hoping this will be the day we change, only to be left sitting in hell again by games end.
The positive for the Roos is the Hawks started very similarly last year, and they made the finals. It is possible that we’ll see improvement this year, but the first job is to stop the haemorrhaging in the back line.
The Kangaroos next 5 games:
Port Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), Essendon (Marvel), Brisbane (Ninja), Richmond (MCG), Collingwood (Marvel)
Port Adelaide Power – 10th (98.1%)
1st Quarter grade (3 wins) C
Average score 87.1 for and 88.8 against
In a game devoid of characters, Kenny stands out as the lovable ageing coach who most want to see him end his career at the Power on a high. Like I said, most – with the exception being Hawthorn Football Club and their supporters
For the last couple of years, the Power have been the bridesmaid, and not the first bridesmaid in line, but the second or third bridesmaid. The power is the forgettable appetiser you eat before the main meal, until the next day when the appetiser makes you feel green around the gills.
This is the season the Power need to be more than just thereabouts, as their window for glory might shut before they know it. At this point of the season the Power have had a reasonable but forgettable 3/3 start the season.
It’s now or never, Power.
The Power’s next 5 games:
North Melbourne (Adelaide Oval), Bulldogs (Mars), Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), Geelong (Adelaide Oval), Fremantle (Optus)
Richmond – 16th (65.7%)
1st Quarter grade (2 win) B+
Average score 70 for and 106.5 against
The Tigers were tipped by many to not win a game this season, but lo and behold they have won two of their first six games. Goodness gracious me.
Bravo Tigers, you stuck it up em!
I have many a friend who support yellow and black and they are very happy with the progress the Tiges are making this year, and it is doubtful that a truck load of manure will dumped out the front of the club this year.
For the Tigers Board not having to clean up horse shit from their driveway means the club is making progress in the right direction,
The Tigers next 5 games:
Melbourne (MCG), Hawthorn (MCG), West Coast (MCG), North Melbourne (MCG), Essendon (MCG)
St Kilda Saints – 16th (90.5%)
1st Quarter grade (3 wins) C
Average score 88.6 for and 98 against
Dionne Warwick released a song penned by the brothers Gibb, titled Heartbreaker, with the following lyrics:
Why do you have to be a heartbreaker?
When I was being what you want me to be?
Suddenly everything I ever wanted
Has passed me by
This world may end
Not you and I…….
The lyrics of Dionne Warwick’s 1980’s classic about co-dependency should be the St Kilda Football Club’s alternative club theme song (it is a lot better than Cat Attack). A child born and raised a Sainter will live their whole life with the eternal hope of ‘one year soon’. They will support, love and dedicate their life to the dream one day their unreciprocated love of the Aints will be reciprocated, but deep down they know, it is just a dream.
At three wins, three losses, and a below average percentage, Ross Lyon and his men are living in the purgatory of the midtable again, while their supporters hope against hope, this will be the year.
The Saints next 5 games:
Brisbane (Marvel), Fremantle (Marvel), Carlton (MCG), West Coast (Optus), Gold Coast (Marvel)
Sydney Swans – 14th (101%)
1st Quarter grade (2 wins) D-
Average score 83 for and 82.1 against
How about trying something different this year Sydney and rebound from a Grand Final disaster with redemption and retribution as the driving force, instead of slinking away to the corner like you did in 2015, 2017 and 2023 after losing the big one the year before?
I’ve read the media sites pertaining to the Swans, and they are full self-pity and misery. In a perfect world, the Swans would have no injuries, but they do, and the test of character is not the injuries, but rather finding a way through a trying period, both within and outside the club.
Last year when Sydney was riding high on a ten-game winning streak and the Swans media sites were abuzz how much better the team will be when Mills and Parker come back into the team. I now ask the question; how did that work out? For the hard of hearing, I will answer that question – it was the beginning of the end.
Unlike a lot of Swans supporters, I like what Cox is doing, and I see it as a sustainable game plan and given the chance I reckon it would stand up in the September heat. Further, it is great to see some of the fringe players becoming bona fide AFL players with the game time they are getting.
The Swans next 5 games:
Gold Coast (People First Stadium), Giants (SCG), Essendon (Marvel), Carlton (SCG), Melbourne (MCG)
West Coast Eagles – 16th (55.3%)
1st Quarter grade (0 wins) E
Average score 61.3 for and 111 against
Most clubs and their supporters generally show an understanding when their team is struggling, but they still want to see the basic fundamentals being adhered too. Things like, being fit enough to get through an entire match, going the hard ball and not dropping heads are the bare minimum most expect from their team.
The Eagles supporters, who still turn up en-masse each second week, are entitled to be livid, not because their team hasn’t registered a win, but because blind Freddie could tell some of their marquee players were in a good paddock over the summer, while other players seem to be playing for their own personal reasons, maybe for higher contracts in the next year or two.
The positive for the Eagles Corporation is there is only 18 more weeks before it is holiday time again.
The Eagles next 5 games:
Hawthorn (Marvel), Melbourne (Optus), Richmond (MCG), St Kilda (Optus), Adelaide (Adelaide Oval)
Western Bulldogs – 8th (110%)
1st Quarter grade (3 wins) B+
Average score 95.1 for and 86.5 against
The term, you don’t need to be dead to be stiff, certainly applies to Western Bulldogs this year.
The sense of relief the entire club must have felt when the Bont returned after injury was soured by the injury to Sam Darcy on the same night, but to the club’s credit they went on to torch the Saints.
There is a lot to like about the Doggies this year, especially their resolve to overcome any adversity that comes their way. It may be Bevo’s last year in charge, and it is clear to see he wants to leave the club in a good condition.
The Bulldogs next 5 games:
Giants (Manuka Oval), West Coast (Mars), Gold Coast (TIO), Essendon (Marvel), Geelong (GMHBA)
