Each week at The Mongrel Punt, we look at the best and the worst of the weekend’s footy.
And we name the winners and losers from each round. Here’s Round One’s offering.
THE WINNERS
JAGGA SMITH
After 27 touches on debut, Smith proved to be no flash in the pan, racking up 15 touches in the first quarter, as the Blues ran rampant through the midfield. He looked classy and composed with the ball in hand, and was about ten centimetres away from adding a goal to his numbers, as well.
He finished with 32 touches, and if any Carlton supporter says they’re not excited about watching him for the next decade or so, they’re lying.
CONNOR MACDONALD
Had his name dragged through the mud, and responded in the best possible. Dominated around half-forward, working up through the wings, and for periods in the middle, as well.
Finished with two goals and 12 score involvements from his 24 touches, and I had him as the most influential player on the park.
AARON NAUGHTON
This time last year, Naughton was struggling to have an impact, and many questioned his place in the Bulldogs’ team.
Seems like a long time ago, huh? With six snags to his name, and ten between him and Sam Darcy, the Dogs were up and about.
MARCUS BONTEMPELLI
A classic Bont game, with 33 touches and three goals, as he destroyed the GWS midfield. Adam Kingsley would have been off to check on the condition of Toby Bedford after witnessing how the Dogs’ captain went off. They need to find a way to put the brakes on performances like this.
SHANNON NEALE
In a forward line consisting of Jeremy Cameron and Patrick Dangerfield, it was Shannon Neale that made the difference.
Big contested grabs, a nice, fluent set shot routine, and a third quarter blast that made Cats fans miss Tom Hawkins a little less.
LUKE JACKSON
This bloke is an alien. There is nothing he cannot do.
Keeps his feet in the contest, kicks goals, win contested footy. Just a freak, and if the Dockers are to go places in 2026, it may well be the bloke who looks like a wet owl that takes them there.
TOM MCCARTIN
Key defenders don’t get a lot of love, outside Harris Andrews (and even that doesn’t extend to headlines) but McCartin’s game against the Lions was huge.
A career-high for disposals and ten big intercepts punctuated a night where he owned D50.
CALLUM MILLS
The captain owes this team, and if his performance in this one is any indication, he intends to pay up.
Mills made some big plays in the Swans’ back half, and made life miserable for any Brisbane player attempting to pierce their way through the defensive structure.
RYAN LESTER
Hard to take a lot of positives out of a loss like this, but Lester was fantastic against Charlie Curnow, and given the way the ball was coming in, deserves a heap of credit for his role.
WAYNE MILERA
A career-game from Milera, who was close to being written off a few years back.
He was a pillar of strength in the Crows’ back half, running through the middle, displaying great composure, and combined with Josh Worrell to thwart the Magpie attack on countless occasions.
ALEX NEAL-BULLEN
A difference-maker.
This is why the Crows recruited him. When the game was hot, he was the only one able to pause, assess, and make the right decisions.
With 26 touches and 12 score involvements playing the high half-forward role, he looked like the modern version of Robbie Gray.
DYLAN STEPHENS
Where did performance this come from?!?!
After a career most would describe as underwhelming to this point, Stephens was everywhere, collecting 29 touches and adding a goal to his name, as well. Can he repeat this form?
TOM BLAMIRES
Has slotted in at half-back like he has been a part of the side for years.
Clean hands, good decision-making, and fantastic repeat efforts… Blamires is exactly the type of player North have been missing, and his presence in this role helps free up some of their more damaging ball users. An inspired pick up.
JACOB VAN ROOYEN
Looked like the player the Dees have been waiting for him to be.
Led hard, took strong marks, kicked beautifully, and contributed to team success when he didn’t win the footy, himself. JvR… we’ve waited a long time for this – glad you made it.
MAX HALL
Picked up where he left off last season and continued to prove that gems can be found coming through the hard way.
Four goals to go with his 26 touches and 13 score involvements… this is about as good as it gets from a half-forward.
MAX GAWN
Was challenged by Tom De Koning, and in the first quarter, was beaten.
And then Max went to work.
By the end of the game, it was painfully apparent why Max Gawn is the best ruck of his generation, and one of the greatest ever. Just a wonderful rebound from the big fella, as he flat out refused to be beaten.
ALEX DAVIES
This bloke is in the team because Matt Rowell is not, and he made the most of this opportunity.
With 25 touches and ten score involvements, Davies made a strong case to remain in the team, however, his disposal could use a bit of cleaning up.
JARROD WITTS
A mountain nobody from the Eagles could scale. Continually gave the Suns first use as he compiled a massive 20 disposal/56 hit out game, and added a goal to his name, as well.
Getting on in years, but has a massive heart, and deserves to see some success at Gold Coast.
CHRISTIAN PETRACCA
Three goals in the first quarter and four for the game… Trac is loving his footy again, and looks like he fits this Gold Coast team like a glove.
14 score involvements demonstrate just how valuable he is.
THE LOSERS
TOM LYNCH
You can view Tom Lynch’s game one of two ways.
Firstly, he looked like the Lynch of old, as he led well, took grabs, and managed to find the footy 11 times inside 50.
Secondly, you can look at his game as the one that got away, as his wayward boot saw him finish with 2.7, which effectively killed the Tigers’ chances.
PETER WRIGHT
Am I the only one sick of seeing him trying to get goals out the back?
FFS, Peter, attack the contest and use that big body of yours, will ya?
KIEREN BRIGGS
Comprehensively beaten by Tim English, and was exposed on the outside. As a result, spent half the game riding the pine.
SEAN DARCY
Won hit outs, but every time he was involved in a passage of play, he seemed to be the one to bring it undone. A double-drag, or a fumble… and the momentum halted.
Gave the “you can’t play both” squad plenty of ammunition in this performance, especially when you consider what his teammate was doing out there.
BRAD CLOSE
I don’t know what is going on with him, but I flagged in the preseason that he did not look right, or as confident, as he usually was.
This was the second week in a row he has not looked like it – a watch, for sure.
OSCAR ALLEN
Looks a fair way off still. He is a talent, but you can tell by his body shape that he has made the transition from young mobile forward to big key forward, and I am not sure he has refined his game enough to do so.
A bit of patience is required, I know, but the Lions are a win-now team, so you have to factor that in.
TIM MEMBREY
Had his opponent completely disregard him as a threat for most of the game… largely because he was not being a threat.
Stood up for a brief moment in the last quarter, but that does not make up for an entire game of… nothing.
JASON HORNE-FRANCIS
He should be running through and over the opposition by this stage of his career.
12 touches and seven of them hit the target. Lift, son.
OLLIE LORD
I’m losing faith. Ollie is 24 and is running around like he’s lost.
Check out some of the other 24-year-olds in the league – it’ll give you a great indication of how far he has fallen behind.
COOPER SHARMAN
The new spokesperson for Western Star, as he has become a complete butter fingers.
The second week in a row that he put potential marks to ground, and given the position he dropped them, they hurt the Saints.
HARVEY LANGFORD
Is now out on the wing. Given what we know about the Melbourne reshuffle, Harvey should be in the guts and staking a claim on a regular midfield position. Instead, he is collecting nine touches.
The one downside of a great win.
WHOEVER HAS THE JOB OF WAKING UP THE WEST COAST EAGLES
You were about 80 minutes late.
The team finally woke up in the second half, but it was too little, too late. If they could somehow apply that pressure from the start of the game, we may see a far more competitive Eagles team.
As always, feel free to add your own to either list, or have a sook about someone I’ve chosen. Either way, I’m all good.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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