1. The Blues can’t kick and the Hawks can’t count
Thursday night at the MCG saw two teams playing a contrasting style of football. One side had sublime foot skills and were able to spread from the contest. The other team was Carlton, with a supposedly elite midfield group that has a kicking efficiency of just over 50%. All of a sudden it looks like a team fancied to contend for the flag by some is now looking like the bottom four team they’ve been in recent years.
As good as Cripps is, he’s as guilty of the kicking woes as any of his colleagues. The Blues forwards have little to no chance with the level of service they’re getting. The coach is insisting on the crash and bash style he was famous for, but what that means is you will rarely see a sustained four quarter effort from Carlton, and the likelihood of injuries is high. The simple fact is that the Blues’ season is already on the brink of collapse, as is the coach’s tenure now in his fourth season. A loss against the Bulldogs this coming Friday won’t sit well with Blues fans who will no doubt be baying for blood should they start the 2025 campaign with three straight losses after closing out 2024 with just two wins from the last nine games.
And then there’s Hawthorn, who were pressured for periods of the match from what was a better effort from the Blues after their Round One disaster. However, although the Hawks were down at half-time, the writing was on the wall as you could see that the Blues had thrown everything they had at them while they were barely out of second gear. In the final term, the Hawks booted three goals to none to eventually win by 20 points, and it was obvious that their opponents were out on their feet to everybody except their coach who strangely believes that his players ran out the game well.
Maybe Hawthorn’s fitness is superior to that of the Blues, or maybe they had an extra player out on the ground for a bit longer than we thought? How a thing like that could be missed by the interchange stewards is mindblowing stuff, but the AFL are known for glossing these kinds of things over.
When you get a chance, take a look at the way James Sicily carries himself out on the field. His demeanour is that of a supremely confident leader who knows that his Hawthorn mates are more likely than not going to get the job done. A lot can happen between now and September of course, but something tells me that their mission is clear and they’re all on the same page.
2. Collingwood still like to win the close ones
Here we are approaching Round Three, and already we see Collingwood win in another close one. It’s that sense of déjà vu that comes with such a result that makes one just shake their head wondering how they keep finding ways to be in front when the siren goes in tight affairs. The Bulldogs will feel unlucky, but it’s hard to call it luck when the Pies keep doing it. The key takeaways from this game are that Sam Darcy is well on his way to being a superstar of the competition and will probably end up eclipsing his father as the best AFL player in that family, while Nick Daicos might not have the mercurial tricks of his old man, but he will probably also be the best of his family as well.
The other takeaway is that blue rinse in your hair may cause excessive aggression as we saw when Rory Lobb took down fellow giant Mason Cox. I get that the Doggies were celebrating their centenary, but when Rory Lobb took the field, I couldn’t help but think he was a giant pencil. Collingwood have the week off next week and will be feeling much better about their prospects after their horror opening round encounter with the Giants. It looks like Collingwood are going to possibly be in finals contention yet again, especially if they keep winning the close ones.
It’s really hard to get a read on the Dogs this season. Things would’ve been so much brighter with a win here, but it wasn’t to be despite a strong four-goal effort from Sam Darcy. Dale, Richards and Liberatore did get plenty of the football once again, but it just wasn’t quite enough. Not having their champion skipper in the side is a big loss, and one could only imagine that a fit Bontompelli out on the park may have produced a different result. Make no mistake, the coach of this club is under supreme pressure, and the game coming up against Carlton could have serious consequences for whichever coach finds themselves in the loser’s camp. Luke Beveridge has had a tricky off-season with players leaving and the whole Ugle-Hagan saga seems to have been handled less than brilliantly. Only wins will keep the naysayers off his back, so he’ll be hoping for a big response from his players. Blues fans can only look on in hope as to which version of their team will show up.
3. Are the Crows that good or are the Bombers that bad?
There’s almost no doubt in my mind that Adelaide have definitely got something going on right now. Any time a Crows outfit comes to Melbourne and wins handsomely, you have to take notice. Scoring 25 goals on the road is a rare feat, and the spread of goalkickers is phenomenal. Leading the goalkicking with four apiece was Ben Keays and Josh Rachele. We can talk about the player that Keays has become since joining the Crows, but I’m sure Crows fans would’ve loved to see Rachele in this kind of form. Fogarty and Thilthorpe also pitched in with three each and look likely to be prolific in front of goals this year. It’s certainly the brightest start they’ve seen to a season in a while, and when they start winning games away from home, you know they’ll end up winning enough games to feature in September. And despite North’s strong showing against the Demons on Sunday, at home I imagine the Crows will be too strong for them and start the year with three straight wins.
The other side of the coin regarding this match is what do we take away from this result for Essendon. It was a ten goal loss against an interstate team at home. Their defence was powerless to stop a rampant Adelaide scoring a whopping 161 points. Looking at the numbers, the midfield trio of Dawson, Crouch and Soligo dominated their Essendon counterparts and pushed forward relentlessly for the entire match. Essendon fans could only look on in disbelief in the knowledge that their gutsy captain Zach Merrett is really the only genuine A-grader in the red and black. He had a big night with four goals from 36 touches. Edwards kicked three, as did Draper from the ruck, but the great white hope in Nathan Caddy is yet to materialise, and at the other end in defence you might be starting to question the value of Ben McKay’s big contract. I don’t know what Brad Scott can do to get this side back into relevancy once again, but no finals wins for over 20 years is not looking likely to come to an end based on the start they’ve had.
4. Port got to play the embattled Tigers just when they needed it
It might seem to be a rude kind of comment, but after the poor showing by the Power in Round One against Collingwood, there’s nothing like playing a struggling team of youngsters after such a horrible loss to play a team back into form. And even though Richmond enjoyed a great win in Round 1, it’s clear that they will face some heavy losses throughout this season. AFL players play on confidence quite often a couple of bad games in a row really does mess with the psyche. Players like Georgiadis, Powell-Pepper and Rioli who were barely sighted in Round 1 finished the match with ten goals between them and will go into Round 3 with a bit more swagger. Rozee was actually pretty good in the first game, and he continued that form with another 39 possessions. They had plenty of good players all over the park, and their next game against the struggling Bombers this coming Thursday shapes up as very interesting. Should the Bombers bounce back and take the points, it could spell disaster for the Power and their prospects this season. One gets the feeling they might be too good, but it’s hard not to feel that if they played a stronger team this week and lost, not only would we be asking questions of their credentials, but they’d be asking themselves the same questions.
It was always a tough assignment for the young Tigers to head across to Adelaide to face the Power who would’ve been absolutely desperate to put on a better showing for their home crowd than they did the previous week. It’s a reality check for the group that they would no doubt have all but expected, but there’s always a few silver linings at the early stages of a rebuild. The Tiger team has a bit of go in them. Despite being soundly beaten in big numbers in the possession count, they actually won the contested footy count. Hopper has missed a fair bit of football in recent years, so it’s good to see him among the Tigers’ best and stringing together a couple games in a row. The Tigers may have fancied themselves as an outside chance against St Kilda next week, but after the Saints knocked off the Cats in an upset on Saturday night, it looks like they might have their work cut out for them. All they can do for their fans each week is show up and give it their all. It sounds a bit odd to talk this way about a team that won just a week ago, but if you saw the way their opponents played after half time in that match, you would understand why I still believe wins will be few and far between. That said, they do get to play the Blueas again this year, so there’s that…
5. The Saints caught the Cats napping
Put whatever spin you want on it, but Geelong showed up late to their match against St Kilda. All credit to the Saints, but it wasn’t until the underdogs had a 40 point lead that the more fancied Geelong team started making a late charge. They almost pulled it off as well. The Brad Close review might’ve been the saviour. Originally called a goal, that decision was overturned by the DRS. That would’ve put the Cats to within a kick with several minutes still on the clock. The Saints were good enough to take their good fortune and hold on for a nail-biting seven point win. Their loss to the Crows in Round One looked ugly, and after the Cats made light work of the Dockers down at Kardinia Park, it would’ve been an almighty brave tipster to back in Ross Lyon’s boys.
All of a sudden Lyon has a new spring in his step. This season was looking like a long and challenging one, but after beating a side many fancy as contenders, who knows how things play out? You’d expect St Kilda to be too strong for Richmond next week,so it might just give them some much needed belief. Macrae is loving life as a Saint with another big 30+ possession game, while Rowan Marshall continued on from his huge year in 2024. Higgins booted four and really hurt the Geelong defence.
The Cats came out flat, and they paid a huge price. And when the whips were cracking late in the game they had several attempts at goal that went astray. So in spite of being dominated for three quarters, they still had every chance to win but just couldn’t get it there. And, ladies and gentleman, that meant the result was fair and just. The Saints were all over them for most of the game, so a loss would’ve been a travesty. Unfortunately, for the Cats, they have a tough assignment against the Lions in Brisbane next week, so they could find themselves with just one win from their opening three games unless they can find their best form at the GABBA. Alarmingly for the Cats, they were soundly beaten in the middle. Their top possession getter in Humphries had just 22 touches. For the best part of three quarters they could barely get their hands on the ball, and it showed on the scoreboard. Jeremy Cameron only managed one goal. I’d say Ross Lyon might’ve got the match-ups pretty right too. The Lions at home is a daunting prospect, but if their game against the Eagles this round is any indication, Geelong shouldn’t go up there thinking that it is anything less than winnable.
6. West Coast lose the game but win back some credibility
The Eagles came flying out of the box in Sunday’s match at the GABBA against a slow-starting Brisbane Lions kicking the first five goals of the match before Brisbane finally worked their way into the contest, eventually winning by a modest 19 points against a team that lost to the Suns at home in Round 1 by a whopping 87 points. Andrew McQualter, despite losing the game, will be breathing a little easier today knowing that his team are capable of much more than they showed in their season opener. Liam Baker looked very good playing in the midfield finishing with 24 touches in only his second game at the club after being lured away from Tigerland. Tim Kelly was back to somewhere near his consistent best with 29 possessions. Liam Ryan booted three majors in a solid performance. Eagles fans will be hoping for more of this kind of effort from this point on. There were times in 2024 that it looked as though their darkest days were behind them, but Round 1’s demolition suggested otherwise. Next week’s Western Derby is now going to be a do or die battle with both teams yet to chalk up a win.
Lions veteran, Dayne Zorko, was clearly not happy at quarter time as the Lions trailed by four goals. The Eagles would retain this lead at the half-time break before the Lions would go on to score ten goals to three in the second half. Callum Ah Chee played a role in his side’s revival kicking three goals all in the third quarter. Lachie Neale looks likely to have three votes for his 35 touches and a goal. Logan Morris also booted three and looks to be enjoying life as a Brisbane forward. The Lions were a little flat to start this game and may want to be sure to switch on earlier against the Cats this coming week who will be breathing fire after their unexpected loss to the Saints. Tom Stewart will be a huge loss for the Cats who will not want to start this season 1-2. The Lions would love to be undefeated after three games in their premiership defence, but the Eagles did show that they are gettable at the GABBA.
7. Tristan Xerri has Max Gawn’s measure
There’s obviously plenty to like for North fans when it comes to the Sunday smashing of the more fancied Demons at Marvel Stadium. Aside from the six goal burst in six minutes to set up a ten goal win, there was Cam Zuurhar’s four-goal haul and even Caleb Daniel’s 31 touches, but it was the ruck contest between Xerri and Gawn that would be where a lot of North Melbourne fans are really excited.
It’s not all that often that Max Gawn is beaten by his opponent. The best most ruckmen playing on the Melbourne skipper can hope for is to break even with him and nullify his influence. Tristan Xerri has been a good player for a while now but many might not have noticed with his team usually battling for wins and sometimes being blown away. Xerri was slightly ahead of big Max in the hitouts which is a feat unto itself, but he had almost twice as many possessions with 20 to 11 and kicked a goal. Max is rarely beaten around the ground, but Tristan won that contest hands down in a game that sees the 26 year old coming of age as he announces himself as the premier ruckman in waiting. It might seem a big call, but as I said earlier, he’s been very good for quite some time without getting any real recognition. I imagine that all changes now, and opposition coaches will be doing their homework on the 202cm big man. And who knows? After a win like that, Xerri might get rewarded for sticking fat with his struggling club all these years with a surge up the ladder. Hopefully, for the Kangaroos, Sunday’s dismantling of the Demons wasn’t one out of the box.
Where to from here for the Demons? Last year was a season that saw them miss finals, but many thought this year might see them back in the mix for a finals spot, but you’d be forgiven for thinking they might miss out again. Simon Goodwin will also find himself under some serious pressure as well if they do find themselves out of touch with the eight. Oliver was one of Melbourne’s best with 36 touches and Chandler kicked three goals from 25 possessions in a solid game. But once again the Melbourne forward line could only manage nine goals while the Kangaroos blew them away kicking 19 for the match that included 8 in the last quarter. Petracca battled hard but couldn’t really have an influence late in the game. The North defence were rabid in their attack on the ball as Petracca would find himself being gang-tackled any time he got his hands on the ball, particularly late in the game. And as much as the Gold Coast Suns may well be a strong team in 2025, a loss against them in Melbourne next week may have all sorts of ramifications for the club.
8. The Swans win away but can’t win at home
It’s definitely a fine line, as all of Sydney’s games so far have been decided by margins that could’ve gone either way, but it’s highly unusual to see them lose twice in a row at home to start the season. A loss in Perth would’ve seen them slump to 0-3 to begin their campaign following on from yet another poor showing in last year’s Grand Final. As is often the case when playing the Dockers in Perth, scoring proved difficult. Sydney didn’t do their cause any good with just five behinds on the board at quarter time. In the second quarter they finally kicked truly and were down by just 9 points at half time. From that point on it was your typical Optus Stadium arm wrestle against Fremantle. And, when the siren sounded, Sydney just so happened to be three points ahead as Amiss took a mark maybe a second too late that otherwise could have seen him liming up to win the game from around 40m.
The Swans were unlucky against the Lions last week, so this week it was their turn. Chad Warner topped the possession count for Sydney with 28 touches and a goal. McLean kicked two goals for Sydney as did Joel Amartey which included the matchwinner with 1:26 remaining on the clock. Sydney get a week off next week and can rest a little easier having finally opened their account for 2025.
Fremantle were out to as much as a 9 point lead midway through the final quarter before Riley Bice scored in the 19th minute followed by Amartey in the 26th. As I mentioned earlier, if the siren went a mere second later we could have been having a very different conversation about this game, but as it stands now, Freo are winless from their two opening games and need to get some wins on the board if they are to be any chance of playing finals this year.
Jaeger O’Mearer has continued his bright start to the year with 32 touches while Josh Treacy impressed with his four-goal haul. The Swans won the battle in the midfield with the normally prolific Brayshaw and Serong both finishing with just 19 touches each. Justin Longmuir will be bitterly disappointed with this loss, but now it’s time to focus on their upcoming Derby with the Eagles. Perth will no doubt be in a frenzy this week, and after the Eagles’ improved effort against the Lions, the Dockers won’t be flirting with their form in this contest. It could be a cracker with both sides yet to have a win and looking to make a statement.
