1 – TALKS OF ESSENDON’S INJURY WOES WERE OVERHYPED
I read with interest during the week about the so-called “injury hit” Bombers, so I thought I would see how bad it was. I was expecting to see a long list of names. The first name that stood out to me was Jye Caldwell with a hamstring. He’s about a week away, and he’s had a huge start to the year, so that’s a loss. And, of course, their number one ruckman is gone for the season now which isn’t ideal. Darcy Parrish’s name popped up, but he hasn’t played all year, while Jayden Laverde is suspended. So, they’re basically missing four senior players including one through suspension, and that puts them in the category of injury-hit?
Let’s compare that to some other teams shall we?
The Blues have no less than six senior players currently on the sidelines, and you could make that seven if you add this year’s number three pick Jagga Smith. Even Collingwood have six recognised players on their injury list right now and they’re flying! Fremantle have a whopping nine players who have played senior football out of action, which could explain why the Dockers were soundly beaten by the Saints. Geelong has four or five, the Hawks four, St Kilda four, the Swans are in Freo territory, and the Dogs have five. Interestingly the two bottom teams seemingly have the healthiest lists in the competition would you believe. Although, North losing Paul Curtis to that ridiculous ruling on his tackle hurt them. He’s been in good touch and might’ve made a difference to that three point result. Just don’t tell me that the Bombers’ injury problems are that significant.
Now that I’ve addressed that little bugbear of mine, let’s talk about the game itself. You’d have to imagine that at quarter time, the Bombers would’ve been feeling good, leading by 22 points. Both sides could only manage one goal each in the second term and anybody who watched that quarter might want their time back. Essendon went into the half time break ahead by 25 points and looked like coasting to a comfortable win, but the third quarter saw the Kangaroos reduce that margin down to just one point, before we had to endure another painful final term with just two goals scored for what was one of the more boring contests ever decided by under a goal. Zach Merrett looks set for more Brownlow votes with his 35 possession game, while Perkins topped the scoring with 3 majors. We’re still sweating on Nate Caddy to have that breakout performance. Another 2.3 mirroring his previous effort. It’s coming. The Swans come to Melbourne to play the Bombers next week, and the way Sydney are travelling, Essendon might be a chance.
I almost feel sorry for North, but I don’t fully, because they continue to miss their chances when they come. I do feel sorry for their supporters who must be beside themselves when they lose close matches. To think that they were able to keep the Bombers to just three goals after quarter time and still lose is mindblowing. In terms of missed chances, it’s a little hard to be too harsh on the debutante Maley who took a mark 40m out late in the game but missed out on scoring goal that would’ve put his team ahead. Harry Sheezel starred yet again with another 30+ game while Davies-Uniacke was good with 28. Zuurhar, Larkey and Simpkin all kicked two each while Tristan Xerri dominated the ruck contest over former Kangaroo Todd Goldstein.
Where is North Melbourne’s next win coming from? Probably not next week against the Lions, I‘m guessing. My crystal ball says it might be Round 10. Unless they’ve completely forgotten how to win.
2 – FREO, WAY TO GO, PUT ÉM ON A PLANE AND THEY’RE LIKE PLAY-DOH
My apologies to Fremantle supporters, but it was only a week ago that this team took on a fairly competent Adelaide Crows and won quite easily in front of their parochial and adoring W.A. fans. Even with their extensive injury list, they dismantled the Crows for the first three quarters and looked like the finals aspirant many believed they were in the lead-up to this season. They also came up against a team who had just come off three-straight losses by an average of 48 points. A win here would have made them 5-3 and in the top eight. But an all too familiar tale of the travelling blues meant it wasn’t to be.
I daresay Ross Lyon knew that shutting down the midfield pair of Brayshaw and Serong was the key to victory. When was the last time you saw these two both get less than 20 touches? I imagine it’s probably never happened. When it comes to defensive tactics, we know Lyon is one of the best, and keeping those two quiet resulted in the Dockers only scoring a paltry 5.3 from just 34 forward 50 entries. The Saints’ pressure was relentless forcing the Dockers to make error after error. Nine Fremantle players had less than ten touches, including prize recruit Shal Bolton with just seven for the game. Just two players had more than 20 touches in Luke Ryan (24) and Matthew Johnson (21). Jye Amiss managed a couple of majors, but if we’re being honest, the less said about Fremantle’s performance in this game, the better. They’ve played in Melbourne three times this year and have lost them all, including handing Melbourne their first win after five losses to start the season. Fremantle host Collingwood in Perth this coming Thursday. They’re a lot better at home, and boy they’re going to need to be.
When you live in Melbourne’s CBD as I do, particularly down the Western End not far from Marvel Stadium, you get to a lot more games and also get to see a lot of football fans heading to and from games of football. I was unfortunate enough to attend St Kilda’s horrible loss to the Bulldogs in Round 6. I was out and about following St Kilda’s big loss to the Lions last week. I saw a lot of very quiet Saints fans sporting long faces with that look of resignation that comes with the knowledge that another year is wasted. I missed out on seeing the crowds after this affair, but I’m sure I would’ve seen a much happier looking bunch donning the red, white and black. They would’ve enjoyed Cooper Sharman’s game. He finished with four goals and Mitch Owens was good again with three. Former Dog Macrae was outstanding with 38 touches, while Wanganeen-Milera continued his great season with 28. St Kilda were all over the Dockers from beginning to end. But where has this been for the last three weeks? They’ll need to bring this back and then some when they play Carlton next week.
3 – PORT ADELAIDE WON’T BE BACK IN BALLARAT ANY TIME SOON
If you aren’t from Victoria you’ve probably never been to Ballarat. One thing about this place is that it can get pretty darn cold up there, and it’s often very windy as well. So, imagine playing at Mars Stadium for the very first time. Ballarat is just 110 kilometres from downtown Melbourne, but if you think that they experience the same sort of weather that you’ll see in Melbourne, you’d be wrong. It’s almost a given that whatever Melbourne’s maximum temperature is, you can take it for granted that it will be anywhere from two to five degrees lower making conditions really tricky for a visiting team to acclimatise well enough to play their best football. Conditions were tame by Ballarat standards, but it was clear that one end was heavily favoured when it came to scoring. Unfortunately for the Power, it was the end that the Bulldogs were kicking to.
I’m clearly being way too kind to Port Adelaide. For the second time this season, they’ve ventured into Victoria and been belted by 15 goals. I’m not sure why their best can demolish the Hawks while their worst sees them being blown off the park in embarrassing fashion, but this is where they find themselves now. The stat sheet does them no favours. They had 110 fewer disposals and looked lost after quarter time. Even with the midfield trio getting a fair share of possessions with Rozee (29), Butters (24) and Wines (22), they just weren’t able to finish off. Jordon Sweet may have won the hitouts, but his direct opponent had a field day kicking gthreeoals from 27 touches. This isn’t the formline they’d want coming into a showdown next week.
The Dogs are flying all of a sudden. After their two losses to Fremantle in Brisbane in Rounds 4 and 5 they’ve now won their past three games by an average of over ten goals and have an average score of 127. Funnily enough that also coincides with the return of Marcus Bontompelli. We know what a true champion the Bulldogs skipper is, but is he as good as the numbers suggest? Time will tell, and it’s only three weeks of great football, but right now they’re playing as well as any team. Once again the goalkicking duties were shared around with the top scorers in Naughton, English and Bontompelli all kicking three while Dale and Richards had 31 and 30 disposals respectively. Notably, forgotten man Adam Treloar played his first game for the year and showed no signs of rustiness with 27 touches. There’s plenty of firepower at the Dogs, but they do face a big challenge taking on the Suns on the Gold Coast next week.
4 – CARLTON ARE OFFICIALLY ADELAIDE’S BUNNY
Some sides just have it over certain teams, and I’m now becoming fully convinced that the Crows have got Carlton’s measure, especially at home. You need to go back 15 years since the Blues had a win over the Crows in front of a hostile S.A. crowd. Chris Judd was in his Brownlow year and Blues fans can only shake their heads at the unrealised potential of a bloke called Chris Yarran who was in his prime, kicking three goals. Carlton have only played the Crows in Adelaide a total of four times since their last win for some strange reason, but those four times have seen them go down by an average of 50 points. In fact, since 2015, Adelaide have beaten Carlton ten times and only lost on three occasions. The Crows also have formed a habit of ending Carlton’s winning streaks as well.
This was a comprehensive thumping in every department. Even without the likes of Crouch and Hinge in the side, the midfield battle was as one-sided as any with the normally contested ball beasts at Carlton lowering their colours to the tune of 30+ less than the home side. If not for the efforts of Cripps (24 disposals and 2 goals) and Weitering in defence, the margin could’ve reached triple digits. After such a spirited win against Geelong the previous week, Blues fans will lament this loss on the back of four losses to start the year. They must bounce back to regain any credibility against the Saints next Friday, but two consecutive six day breaks may be a factor.
It’s hard to know whether Adelaide were really good or if Carlton were really awful. Possibly a bit of both, but I’m sure even the Crows players would’ve been confused by the ease with which they took a ridiculous number of marks inside 50 or by their clearance numbers. I’m starting to think Dawson salivates at the idea of playing Carlton. He dominated yet again with three goals from 22 touches while Izak Rankine did as he pleased kicking 2 goals from 29. Even with the trio of talls in Fogarty, Walker and Thilthorpe only combining for four goals between them, there were plenty of other Crows hitting the scoreboard. The question is whether or not they can sustain this kind of form enough to play finals. Next week’s showdown against Port Adelaide is a game they could and must win.
5 – THE FOOTY GODS FINALLY GO AGAINST THE PIES
When Jack Bowes kicked a goal in the 28th minute of the final term, the Cats looked home with a lead of 17 points with a few minutes remaining on the clock. In what must have seemed an agonisingly long last quarter for Geelong fans, Brody Mihocek hit the scoreboard twice in the 33rd and 36th minute. Even then, however, after the second goal was scored there was just 20 seconds remaining. The unthinkable happened when Jack Crisp took a mark 45m out, and the football world held its collective breath in the belief that Collingwood would once again pinch a victory from nowhere.
On this occasion, however, it wasn’t meant to be as Crisp’s kick after the siren sailed a long way right of the target handing Geelong a very handy win. Crisp was playing in his record-breaking 245th consecutive game, so it seemed as though a fairytale was emerging, but the Pies have been to the well aplenty when it comes to snatching wins, and the Cats probably deserved that win after what was a great fourth quarter effort.
Bailey Smith was dazzling once again. Another 30+ possession game with a goal, while Dangerfield was herculean in his efforts to drag his team across the line with 29 touches and a goal. The only multiple goal scorers for the Cats were Mannagh, Henry and Dempsey with two each. It was a game that could’ve gone either way, and the Cats did find themselves 20 points down midway through the third term, but they worked hard knowing that a loss would put them in a precarious position with respect to finals aspirations, and like good sides do they found a way. The Giants head down to Geelong next week knowing they’ve beaten the Cats on their home deck the last three times they played there. Hopefully the footy gods pay the Cats another visit.
Collingwood led for much of this game but the Cats continually kept coming. It would’ve been a weird feeling for some of the players walking off the ground with a loss. They didn’t really do a lot wrong. The Daicos brothers had 60 touches between them. The veterans in Pendlebury and Sidebottom had 26 and 25 touches. Darcy Cameron is making his mark as more than just a ruckman with 23 touches and a goal. Mihocek was good kicking four goals including those final two that almost helped his side to a win. They’ll be disappointed with the loss, but they can put this one down as a “you can’t win them all” kind of scenario. They have a testing game this Thursday against the Dockers in Perth. The Dockers will be determined to improve on that dismal showing against the Saints, and they always play markedly better at home, so the Pies are no certainty, and two losses in a row would undo a lot of the great work the Pies have done so far in 2025.
6 – THE WEST COAST EAGLES ARE WELL AND TRULY GAWN
Not only is it highly unusual to see a ruckman finish with 35 touches and a goal, but when you consider he’s 33 years old, this becomes a bit of a freak show. In the earlier rounds, one could’ve been forgiven for thinking that there were signs that Max was heading down a slightly declining path after a terrific career. That’s all changed in his last three games, and he’s just managed to pull off career best numbers in a dominating performance that would’ve been a major reason why the Demons took the points in what was a danger game, and now find themselves with some chance of still making the eight. And let’s not forget that Max also had 47 hitouts. Other good players for Melbourne included Petracca with 29 touches and a goal. Chandler had 26 touches and also kicked a goal while the top scorer for Melbourne was Turner with three. Melbourne may find it difficult to pick up a fourth consecutive win against the Hawks next week, but with Gawn and Petracca both firing, Hawthorn will need to be on their game.
The Eagles were in the game until midway through the third quarter, but then the Demons put on six unanswered goals to put the game out of their reach. It’s these kinds of lapses that would no doubt drive McQualter and his crew crazy. Maric once again topped the possession count with 26 while Liam Baker was also prominent with 24. Jake Waterman is working his way back to his best finishing with 3.2 for the day while Elijah Hewett also kicked three. The Eagles head to Melbourne to play the Tigers next week. It’s definitely winnable for them, but not when the likes of Tim Kelly have just 14 touches, and the much hyped Harley Reid has just 13. These two in particular need to lift their numbers in order for the Eagles to even consider a victory.
7 – THE GIANTS WERE OVERRATED PRE-SEASON
I must say that I found it odd that the pundits were putting the Giants in the top bracket of premiership contenders before a ball had been bounced in anger. Their lacklustre finals showing in 2024 had me thinking they lacked something required to go all the way. They started the season promisingly, but now they’ve dropped their last three and look anything like what a flag favourite should look like. The Adelaide game showed an indirect style of play that resulted in a low score on that day, but the next two weeks are just as alarming when you consider that they lost both games after having considerably more possession than their opponents. Against the Bulldogs they had 42 more touches, and against the Swans it was 53. This tells me there’s something wrong with their ball movement.
The Swans took full toll of the slow-starting Giants kicking the first five goals of the game. Whilst the Giants threatened at times, the Swans led for the entirety of the game and were deserving winners. Chad Warner was adjudged best on ground with 24 possessions. James Jordon was given the job of curtailing the influence of Whitfield, and although his opponent got 28 touches for the match, Jordon had 18 and, more importantly, kicked two vital goals for the Swans late in the game to keep the Giants out of contention. Jordon was the only multiple goal scorer for Sydney. At 3-5, Sydney still have a mountain to climb in order to play finals, but if they can overcome the Bombers next week, then they’ll be well and truly alive in 2025.
The Giants have seemingly lost their way for the moment at least. Their forward group isn’t firing right now, not helped by the inaccuracy of Hogan and Jones who both could only manage 1.3 apiece. Stringer came on as the substitute after half time and finally found his kicking boots finishing with 3 goals straight, while Aaron Cadman showed some promise early with two goals. If I was in any way connected to the coaching at the club, I’d be analysing these last three losses and addressing the issue of indirect play and wasteful movement. Most teams now love teams who go sideways because they’ll intercept closer to goal than normal. But they’re the experts so I’m guessing Adam Kingsley knows better. A trip to Geelong is next for the Giants, and the chance of a fourth loss in a row looms large. If you see the Giants playing in a more direct fashion next week, you can put it down to Adam Kingsley reading this article. By the way Adam, you’re welcome.
8 – IT’S SAD THAT MOST CLUBS WOULD OVERLOOK A 170CM NICK WATSON
If you’ve seen any Hawthorn games, you would no doubt be aware that Nick Watson is a major part of their forward line and seems the type of player that inspires his teammates, as well as firing up crowds. He’s been phenomenal this year. He’s kicked 12 goals and scored a goal in every game except one. He’s a tackling machine and lightning fast. He was drafted with Hawthorn’s first pick at number 5 in the 2024 draft, so it’s a credit to the club that they backed him in. He’s now kicked 37 goals from 26 games and is fast becoming the premier small forward of the competition. I still imagine that some clubs would opt against drafting somebody of his stature, but he’s clearly a strong advocate for the short guy wanting to break into the AFL.
The Hawks made light work of the Tigers in predictable fashion. The Tigers were well below the class of Hawthorn who picked them apart mercilessly and ran out 65 point winners in a very one-sided affair. I’m still confounded by Jack Gunston who is now on 20 goals for the season after another three majors in this game. Watson also booted 3 goals from just 10 touches making the most of his opportunities. Josh Battle is definitely enjoying his move to Hawthorn. He topped the possession count with 33 while fellow defender Jiath made a welcome return to the team with 32 touches. Marcus D’Ámbrosio was red hot with 30 touches and two goals for the match. The Hawks should be too good for the Dees next week, but it’s a danger game nonetheless.
9 – BRISBANE SHOW GOLD COAST THAT THEY’RE NOT QUITE THERE YET
This was one of those games where the final margin doesn’t truly reflect what took place on the field. For all intents and purposes, the Lions put the Suns to the sword for much of the game and seemed way ahead of their local rivals. With just 4 goals on the board at three quarter time trailing by 34 points, yes the Suns were better in the final quarter kicking 3.2 to just 3 behinds, but it was obvious that Brisbane had more tricks up their sleeve. And it’s one thing when Will Ashcroft has 34 possessions and dominates, but lo and behold you have his younger brother getting 29 touches in just his sixth game of AFL football. You’d be loving the father-son rule if you’re a Lions fan right now. Callum Ah Chee booted three goals in another solid outing while Charlie Cameron also booted three in a welcome return to form. Brisbane now find themselves a game clear on top of the AFL ladder after what was a successful yet indifferent start to the season. Whilst they were winning games, they did look shaky. After that loss to Collingwood, they look like a serious team again, and they should win big against the Kangaroos next round.
There was a lot of hype around Gold Coast after they’d won their first four games. The loss to Richmond may have revealed a little more than we wanted to see, and this loss tells me that they are still a fair way off from giving the flag a genuine shake. Their wins have all been against sides who haven’t been top bracket teams. In fact, of all the teams they’ve beaten, only one sits in the eight. If they can start taking scalps, then maybe we can start taking them seriously. The Suns goals were all singles. Somehow, Ben King still has a three-goal lead in the Coleman race after adding one more this week. Miller and Anderson were busy with 29 and 27 touches. It’s an all too familiar tale I’m afraid. I was getting excited for the Suns, but I need to pull that back as I think we won’t really know if they’re anything remotely resembling a finalist until they can beat some of the better teams in the competition. And it could start from next week when they play the Bulldogs, but the way they’ve been going of late, I don’t think the Suns can beat them.
