1 – SURELY GOLD COAST PLAY FINALS THIS YEAR
You could’ve been forgiven for thinking that Gold Coast’s bright start to this season was courtesy of a favourable draw, especially after the shock loss to Richmond back in Round Six. In fact, up until Round Eight where they lost to Brisbane, four of their five wins were against teams that are no higher on the ladder than 12th, with their other win coming against the Crows by one point at home. The last two weeks have revealed a little more about the character of this group, and they’ve beaten two sides that look all but certain to play finals this year in a red hot Bulldogs and the Hawks.
It is still early, and there’ll always be those who will question their ability to maintain the current standard they’re playing at, but as it stands right now, they have all the hallmarks of a Top Four team. The Suns were in this position after Round Ten way back in 2014. They were third on the ladder with seven wins from nine games played and had a percentage of 112.9. They went on to win just three more games that season.
This year’s team is loaded with talent on every line and will surely win a minimum of six more games that will get them into the eight. I imagine it’ll be a few more than that, and their current percentage of 132.0 is a good indication of how much better they are compared to the Suns of 2014.
One small element I believe that makes the Suns are a more potent force this season is the year that Ben Long is having. We can talk about Ben King of course, but King is doing what he has been doing for most of his career. The beauty of Long is he will bob up and cause headaches for the opposition who invariably put more time in trying to quell the influence of King, and this game demonstrated that perfectly. King was held to just two goals while Long ended up booting four majors to boost his side’s chances of a win. It’s a testament to this guy who is now truly making the most of his move from St Kilda at the end of 2022.
Best buddies in the midfield in Rowell and Anderson were very busy with 29 and 25 touches respectively, but the real surprise is the form of Noble from half-back providing a lot of drive with 36 touches for the match. There’s certainly plenty to like, and in the past fortnight, not only have they taken two genuine scalps, but they did so after being challenged late in those games. You can already see the Hardwick influence in the manner they were able to keep their nerve when the game got tight, and they’ll need that and more when they go to Marvel Stadium next week to face St Kilda. Will the Hardwick Marvel curse be broken?
The Hawks were a little slow out of the blocks in the first half and looked set to go on to lose by a fair margin. As good teams do, they fought their way back into the contest and actually led by three points at the last break. They’ll be disappointed that they couldn’t go on with it, and as much as it is crucial to manage your older players as the season wears on, if Jack Gunston was fit to play, he should’ve been out there. His form suggests that his presence might have been enough to bridge that eight-point gap. I guess with the Brisbane game coming next week, it may have been the main reason why he was on managed. Better players for Hawthorn included Amon with 30 touches and Newcombe with 29. Up forward, Mabior Chol was the best of them with three goals including an absolute contender for goal of the year late in the game.
The Hawks are still well-placed but would be a tad concerned over losing three games in the past six matches with their three wins essentially coming against teams in the bottom four. The Brisbane game looms as a pivotal game for the Hawthorn Football Club.
2 – THE BLUES REVIVAL WAS SHORT-LIVED
It wasn’t just Carlton supporters who got excited after they won against the Cats. It was the entire football world. Some commentators were even suggesting they’d repeat the efforts of 2023 and charge into the finals, but the last few weeks have shown that talks of finals for the Blues is both fanciful and premature. What the Swans revealed on Friday night was the very thing missing at Carlton.
Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney are two players who can genuinely influence the outcome of a game. When that final term started, Carlton enjoyed a five-point lead and had led the match from the start. Within the first minute, that lead was gone courtesy of a Grundy goal, and from that point on, the midfield battle was dominated by Heeney and Warner who simply decided they were not going to lose this one, while the Blues were relegated to mere spectators as yet another fadeout unfolded. These fadeouts have been all too common during the Voss era.
Whilst this game was a fairly tight contest, we’ve seen the Blues surrender substantial leads a little more than one would find acceptable these past four seasons, and it doesn’t look as though that’s changing any time soon. The players obviously need to take responsibility for the fact that Heeney and Warner were kept in check for three quarters, so why not four? But, as I have already mentioned, under Voss, we’ve seen it with monotonous regularity, and there are no solutions on offer it would seem.
This was a huge win for Sydney who have so far proven to be one of the biggest sliders of the year. One gets the feeling that, not only did Heeney and Warner ignite the team in this contest, it may go on to prove it to be for the whole season. The belief gained from a win like this is incalculable, and it may prove to be why Sydney can still play a role this year. At quarter time, Heeney had only manged five disposals and was looking out of sorts. He went on to finish with 38 touches and the only negative being an inaccurate tally of 2.5. Chad Warner also booted two goals from his 30 touches, and so much of what he does really hurts the opposition. Joel Amartey also kicked a couple and the rest were shared around in singles.
Sydney’s season now has a pulse, and that duo who I have mentioned probably more times than I should have may lead the charge to September, or maybe other sides will have looked on and formulated a plan to stop them. What will be will be, but if I was a betting man, I’m backing them in. Although, on what we’ve seen this year, they’re just as likely to go down to the MCG and lose to the Demons next week and we’d be back to square one. Although, I don’t reckon that’s going to happen…
The Blues, if anything, seem to be going in the opposite direction despite being in the same predicament as the Swans with a 4-6 record. Carlton had some good players on the night. Cerra had 34 touches and Hewett continued his strong season with 27 touches. But even though those numbers are solid and comparable to their Sydney counterparts, these two boys don’t tend to hit the scoreboard anywhere near as much as the likes of Heeney and Warner. Between those two we saw a total of nine scoring shots resulting in 4.5. Meanwhile, Cerra and Hewett failed to trouble the scorers at all. Patrick Cripps is the closest thing Carlton have to a matchwinner. He had a big night kicking two goals early and had 26 possessions, but in that last quarter he was not able to have a huge impact on proceedings. Charlie Curnow kicked three but also had a couple of moments he won’t want to watch back. Harry McKay was solid taking plenty of grabs and kicking truly on two occasions. But all comers were quiet when the whips started cracking, and it happens all too often. This week sees Carlton against the Giants at Marvel Stadium. A loss to either team could spell disaster, but both are not exactly world-beaters right now.
3 – DOES COLLINGWOOD HAVE GREAT DEPTH OR JUST A BETTER SYSTEM?
Collingwood clearly has a lot of depth in the list as it seems quite clear that they will go into games with a few key players unavailable, yet not a lot seems to change in terms of any deficiencies being exposed. And regardless of who they bring into the team, those second-tier players seem to slot in quite well and make a contribution. Having a defender like Darcy Moore missing against a forward set-up like the Crows have would’ve seemed a problem, and although Fogarty snagged four majors, Walker and Thilthorpe only had the one between them, so clearly the Pies defence stood up quite well without the skipper’s presence. As much as we talk of depth, I believe it’s more about their system and how each player knows their role and doesn’t enter the team without a clear set of tasks to follow.
Most clubs have a certain amount of depth because you have to be a decent player to make it onto those lists. The talent one may have might go by the wayside if you come into a team unsure of what is required from you. I’m certain that the Pies have got this area more than covered under McRae.
Adelaide has troubled Collingwood in recent times. The games are often close affairs and this one was no different. However, as even as the two teams seem to be, it’s remarkable to think that Adelaide has not beaten Collingwood since 2017. The first half was very tight, and it wasn’t until the third quarter that Collingwood opened up a three goal gap. The Pies started the last quarter well and jumped out to a four-goal lead before Adelaide gave them a mild scare with a couple of late goals. The final margin of ten points was fitting. The Crows would’ve been worthy winners had they got across the line, but the professionalism of the Pies continues to confound detractors while pleasing their fans.
The Daicos brothers featured prominently as always. The scoring duties were spread across the team with only Hoskin-Elliott scoring multiple goals, with two. Maynard came back from a week off and had an impact, as did the future games record holder (I’m calling it now) in Pendlebury. After Brisbane’s shock loss to Melbourne, Collingwood now sits on top of the ladder with eight wins, and rightly so. North Melbourne will give it their all next week, but I don’t think this team will be troubled at any stage.
Adelaide won’t be too disappointed with where they’re at. They are playing at the level required of a finalist, and it would be a huge disappointment if they missed out. They are playing good football and have a few genuine stars on their list. Dawson was fantastic on Saturday with 27 touches and a goal. Laird also had 27 while another star in Rankine was very good with 26 disposals and the one major. Jake Soligo booted two goals and I already mentioned Darcy Fogarty’s four earlier. I suspect that Adelaide will be far too good for the West Coast Eagles at home next week despite the Eagles finally tasting victory.
4 – IS THIS WILLIE RIOLI THING DERAILING PORT ADELAIDE’S YEAR?
Nobody likes the idea of racist taunts or anything of that nature coming onto a football field, or anywhere for that matter. Nobody in this day and age worth their salt would deem it acceptable. I would just like to make the point that it seems to be a major focus for the club right now, and judging by a few of their efforts this year, they may want to spend time trying to rectify their onfield issues.
The Rioli incident in question is alleged to have taken place when they played the Bulldogs in Ballarat, and even as recently as yesterday you had newspapers reporting on Luke Beveridge’s thoughts which was then followed up with another quote or two from Hinkley. By all means, if wrong was done, deal with it and take whatever action is needed, but when you’re going out and getting smashed every other week by 12 or 15 goals, I’d say the last thing the club needs is more distractions from football. Make of that what you will, and some of you may think I am downplaying the racism issue because I might somehow in twisted minds be condoning it. Far from it. But isn’t anyone else a little sick of the hand-wringing that drags out for weeks on the back of one moron’s idiotic choice of words? As they say in America, “Play ball!’
And speaking of that, let’s talk about this game. It all seemed to be going OK up to half time. It was a dour contest with just eight goals scored and the Cats in front by a modest nine points at the long break. Things changed dramatically after half time. Geelong were merciless, kicking 12 goals while the Power could only manage two. Jeremy Cameron was unstoppable booting seven goals for the match. Bailey Smith topped Geelong’s possession count yet again with 30 touches and was closely followed by O’Connor (28) and Miers (27).
The Cats are a strange proposition for mine. Just when you think they’re a Top 4 side they drop games you think they might win. Well, they have a daunting prospect facing them as they take on the rampaging Western Bulldogs. They won’t want to lose another game at home, but they haven’t strung two wins together a great deal this season.
What would you say as a coach to the playing group after an effort like that? Conor Rozee gave his all for 32 touches and Wines had 28. Powell-Pepper fought hard finishing with 2.3 from 23 touches. The team overall had more or less the same number of disposals for the game, but clearly what they were doing with those kicks and handballs was largely ineffective. The Power have played a few good games but have put in some of the biggest stinkers in comparison to any team this year. Already, one suspects, the club can’t wait for this season to end. This will be talked about for years to come as other clubs don’t make the same mistake of telling a coach it’s his last year before a ball is bounced in anger. It has to be a factor. They can’t be as bad as they have been at times. But, at the same time, they could head over to Perth next week and have a win over the Dockers. Maybe, or maybe the Dockers will take full advantage of a club that’s in disarray.
5 – SOMETHING ISN’T RIGHT WITH THE GIANTS
The Giants are escaping scrutiny by virtue of being a Sydney team and perhaps not as newsworthy as a few of the clubs in Melbourne. The reality is, they should’ve made the Preliminary Final last year and could’ve easily gone on to take out the big prize, but we all know how that ended. This year was going to be their year, or so many thought. They were going along nicely early on, but now at 5-5, they’re looking like a side barely worthy of playing finals, let alone enjoying premiership favouritism as they did early on. The ingredients are all there, but for some reason, we’ve seen a lot of games where they just can’t post a decent score.
In their past five weeks they’ve suffered four losses, and in those losses they’ve averaged just 62 points per game which is deplorable when you consider their forward stocks. In all those games they’ve had more possessions in three and only ten down in this week’s game. So they are getting their hands on the ball, but with all those big options up forward, they’re possibly going sideways, and perhaps the tsunami has gone down to a choppy bayside beach.
Shai Bolton has been up and down this year, but this would’ve been his best for the Dockers. He had 24 touches and finished with three majors in a best on ground performance. Michael Frederick also booted three goals. Serong and Brayshaw were back to their best which suggests none of the GWS midfield paid them their due respect. Serong had 36 touches and Brayshaw had 30. It was a huge win in the context of their season. A loss would’ve put them way out of contention, but all of a sudden they can still consider themselves a chance to feature in September, and winning on the road like this won’t hurt their cause. Freo should be too good for Port next week, but you just don’t know which of these two teams can be capable of playing worse at times.
If you can keep Jesse Hogan and Toby Greene to one goal each, you’re going to win more games than you lose against the Giants. The only multiple goal scorers were Brown and Jones with two apiece. The midfield battle was clearly won by the Dockers, but Lachie Ash still managed 29 touches while Whitfield and Green had 25 apiece. Two teams that are in a similar boat are the Giants and the Blues who play each other on Saturday at Marvel Stadium. Games like that one are a simple case of which of the two teams will turn up switched on or not. It seems both clubs came into the season with huge expectations and the burden of it may be proving too much.
6 – JUST WHEN YOU START TO THINK ESSENDON WERE GOOD..
I have egg on my face after suggesting Essendon might be a team worth giving a little respect to last week, but I’m not the only one. Plenty of others were sucked in as well. We could all see that the teams they had beaten were at the lower end of the scale, and in some cases they only just fell across the line, but the 5-3 record looked almost too good to ignore, so from this point on I think I will be paying it no attention.
This was always going to be a test. I thought of the Bombers as a determined outfit eager to gain the respect of the football world, and even though I expected the Bulldogs would be too strong, what unfolded was embarrassing to say the least. I just happened to be in the vicinity of Marvel Stadium on Saturday night. At one stage I had to look at my phone to see what time it was when I saw Essendon supporters streaming out of the venue looking a tad glum. I was thinking it seemed early for the game to be over, and a quick look at my AFL app confirmed that it was just eight minutes into the final term. And there wasn’t just a handful of disgruntled Bombers fans. No, it was a large contingent. I even saw a few Doggies fans leaving knowing they had it in the bag and would opt for an early exit to get home to watch it again on telly, I might surmise.
The stat sheet looks farcical. When a team has 21 marks inside 50, you know those entries were devoid of any real pressure. And Bailey Dale was just one shy of 50 touches. I’d say that’s a fair indication that he had the better of whichever poor sap was his opponent on Saturday night. Liberatore and Kennedy also had 30+ touches and did plenty of damage. As a Carlton fan, I’m very pleased for Matthew Kennedy, but the club continues to get it wrong time and time again. Rhylee West continued his good form with four majors, while Khamis seems to be enjoying his time as a forward, kicking three. Richards is having a massive season as well. He had 27 touches and booted two goals while evergreen skipper Bontempelli kicked two from 24 touches.
The Dogs are looking like putting together something special and might be one to watch. This week’s Geelong game will be interesting, if for no other reason but to see what treatment they mete out to Bailey Smith.
What can one say about Essendon’s performance? They were described as “witches’ hats” by some scribes, which isn’t terribly kind. But when you’re ten goals down by half time with 1.3 on the board, you’re hardly praiseworthy. Archie Roberts was Essendon’s highest possession winner with 29, while Redman had 27. These boys battled hard. Nate Caddy was completely shut out and there were several Essendon players who really found the going tough. Even Zach Merrett had a downer with 20 touches. He often gets well into the 30’s and is having a little bit of a quiet patch by his normally lofty standards, with only 19 last week. It’s going to be a rough week on the track for the Dons who take on the Tigers next week. They’d want to put in a better performance or the Tigers might do the unthinkable.
7 – NORTH WON, BUT THEY STILL DON’T KNOW HOW TO WIN
North Melbourne did everything they could to lose this game on the weekend. After a blistering first quarter, where they led by 23 points, you could only look on and see their lead being eroded. By half time it was just a five-point lead, and they actually led by the same margin at the final break. The last quarter saw countless errors by the Kangaroos which could’ve handed the game over to Richmond, but the Tigers are probably no more adept at the art of winning than the Kangaroos. The end result was a four-point win in a game akin to a session of hot potato.
Çameron Zuurhar is in pretty good form these days. He booted four goals for the game while Darling and Larkey kicked two each. Davies-Uniacke stood up with a goal from his 27 touches while Caleb Daniel finished with 25. Tristan Xerri was very impressive with 51 hitouts and an amazing 12 tackles for the game to go along with 19 touches. North will take the win, but there’s clearly a lot of work to do. They’ll find the going pretty tough against the Pies this week, but they’ve certainly matched up well in recent times against the ladder leader and hopefully will do the same next week.
The Tigers had a ton of chances late in the game but they just couldn’t make the Roos pay for the litany of errors they produced. Still, this was a side many thought could go winless this year, and a fourth win from ten games was almost unfathomable. The midfield pairing in Taranto and Hopper had 30 touches and 27 respectively. Up forward, the honours went to Seth Campbell who has been impressive this season. He kicked three majors while Rising Star nominee Sam Lalor booted two, as did Lynch and McIntosh. Put whatever spin you would like on it, but I think the Tigers have already exceeded expectations, and it wouldn’t be a complete shock if they got over the Bombers next week. But, oh boy, could you imagine the fallout if that happened?
8 – BRISBANE’S RECORD AGAINST THE BOTTOM FOUR TEAMS IS PRETTY DISMAL
Coming into this round, the Demons were sitting in 15th place and they would be the fourth and final team from the bottom four that Brisbane have played against this year. The results from these four games thus far are not befitting of a team that was on top of the ladder. It started with the Eagles in Round Two at the GABBA where the visitors piled on the first five goals. The Lions took three quarters to reel them in before winning by 19 points, and we all know what most sides were doing to West Coast early on. Then they came down to Melbourne to play the struggling Tigers and won by a modest 28 point margin. So they got the wins, albeit not at the level expected, however, this past fortnight against North Melbourne and Melbourne has yielded just two premiership points with a drawn game against North followed by this defeat in Brisbane courtesy of the Demons. So, where many other teams have cashed in when playing the lower placed teams, Brisbane have suffered a loss, a draw, and two modest victories. They’re still well placed, but it will be interesting to see how they bounce back from this mini-slump they’re in and if they will pay a price for giving up games they really should have won.
Melbourne’s season would’ve been well and truly gone if they suffered a loss to Brisbane, and virtually nobody connected to AFL football gave them any chance of winning. They were competitive for the first three quarters and trailed by just 14 points at the final break, but it did look like it was going to go Brisbane’s way, especially considering Melbourne’s poor record in last quarters this year. Somehow, that trend was overturned this week with the Demons dominating play in the final term kicking 4.8 to a fairly disappointing 1.1 to the Lions handing the visitors an unlikely 11 point win.
Petracca stood out with 31 touches while Langdon (25), Rivers (24), Oliver (23) and Bowey (22) all had an impact. Jake Melksham had a fun night getting in Harris Andrews’ face, while helping himself to four majors, while Pickett booted two goals to go along with his very handy 21 possessions.
It was an incredible win in what has been a pretty torrid season for the Dees, but this win might be the spark that sees them make a charge for finals action. They have won four of their last five so they are in pretty decent form, and now they have a scalp and some self-belief. They’ll need all that self-belief against the Swans next week.
Brisbane are facing a major challenge this coming week. Most footy followers would’ve had Brisbane coming into Round 11 with nine wins and a game clear on top of the ladder. Instead they’ve slipped to second following a draw and a loss to much less fancied opponents, and another loss may even see them remarkably fall out of the Top Four. Lachie Neale was his usual prodigious self picking up 30 touches alongside Will Ashcroft. Darcy Gardiner booted four goals and Logan Morris kicked three. Can they shake off this lull in form enough to beat the Hawks? Both sides go into the game on Saturday at the MCG with a questionable run of form.
9 – THE WEST COAST WIN WAS THE CERTAINTY OF THE ROUND
People laughed at me last week when I said West Coast will beat St Kilda comfortably, and that was even before the untimely passing of their premiership star in Adam Selwood that might’ve provided some inspiration for the win. There were a number of other factors as well, namely West Coast have been closing in on a win with some close results not going their way in recent weeks. No side ever goes through a season winless, so I knew a win or two will eventually happen, and I thought it was due. You also had the home ground advantage which certainly assists them, but if we’re being honest, the Saints have been very ordinary after a good start to the year. They’ve lost five of their last six games now, and their one win was against a Fremantle side that put up their worst performance in years. So I tipped the Eagles with total confidence and nominated a six-goal margin. The margin was 28 points in the end, so it was a close enough call and I saw it as predictable as can be.
So what is the problem with St Kilda? They do seem to lack bona fide A-Graders in that team. There certainly isn’t the five or six you need as a nucleus for a team in contention. But are we looking on the right side of the fence? From the outside looking in, Ross Lyon does not seem capable of lifting this group up to the levels required to be in that top echelon, and at the end of the season the club needs to decide if the Lyon experiment is worth continuing. Each week seems to produce the same old story. Jack Sinclair got 38 touches in a great performance, while Macrae and Wanganeen-Milera had 27 each. Rowan Marshall also had a big night with 27 touches and a goal. Jack Higgins staked his claim for a Coleman, moving into second place just one behind Ben King with a bag of five goals in the loss.
Yep! That could’ve been the write-up from any week. Those players often feature prominently, while others rarely get a mention. It’s often a case of them being competitive in a loss, a smashing here and there and a few surprise wins along the way. They are stuck in a holding pattern, and Ross Lyon doesn’t seem keen to dramatically change course either.
In what was an incredibly sad week for the Eagles, the boys went out there with one goal in mind and they’ll be breathing a collective sigh of relief today as they’ve finally enjoyed a victory in 2025. It was obvious early that the Eagles were on. By half time they lead by 19 points which stretched out to 28 by the final break. The Saints threatened in the last term before the Eagles reasserted themselves after a quick three-goal burst to put the game out of reach. A bunch of Eagles kicked two goals each in Reid, Allen, Waterman, Ryan and Williams. Brady Hough topped the possession count for West Coast with 24 while Maric was prominent with 22. All in all, it was a pleasing day for the club.
Andrew McQualter finally got to enjoy a win as head coach, and you couldn’t have asked for more from them in honouring the loss of one of the club’s former players. Often when one win finally comes, others follow. I’m not sure if they’ll have much luck against the Crows in Adelaide next week, but at least they won’t be running out onto the field with a monkey on their back.