It’s easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole of negativity when it comes to the AFL.
Hell, let’s face it – there is plenty to be negative about. The standard of umpiring, the way the MRO assesses things, the crap goal line technology, the incessant whining of journalists with a barrow to push… it can get a bit much.
I know it can for me.
And it is with this in mind that I embark on a column highlighting some of the best stories of the season to date. I reckon there is simply not enough done to celebrate the good stuff happening in the game – maybe this’ll change it, even just a little bit.
HUGO GARCIA WINS A RISING STAR NOD.
This time last week, pearl clutching journos were up in arms, devastated that St Kilda coach, Ross Lyon, would have the audacity to both dress down, and substitute a young player out of the game.
I mean, what was he doing, right? How dare he take control of the team and hold a player to account!
Well, it turns out that Ross Lyon knew exactly what buttons to press with Hugo Garcia, and the proof is in the pudding, with the young fella grabbing the Rising Star nomination just days after being made to be the victim by the footy media.
He wasn’t the victim.
He didn’t want or need to be the victim, and it is an indictment on some segments of the footy media that they tried to make him out as such.
Hugo Garcia is made of tougher stuff than any of them, and he responded in the manner both Lyon, and St Kilda supporters, would have loved to see.
And where are those journos/critics this week?
Pretty bloody quiet, aren’t they?
Good. Hope they stay that way.
THE RISE OF THE NEW BLOOD AT THE WHITTEN OVAL
So much attention has gone onto the injury to Sam Darcy and the absence of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, but if that’s all you’re noticing, you’re missing out. There is so much more to the Western Bulldogs in 2025, and the emerging talent is front and centre.
Sam Davidson has come from nowhere to claim a spot on the wing. As of the end of Round Seven, he was ranked third overall in our Robbie Flower Wingman of the Year Award.
Ryley Sanders is demonstrating a maturity to his game, slotting into the Dogs’ midfield as required, and doing a hell of a lot more defensive running in his game than he did last season.
And Joel Freijah is making a lot of teams that passed him over in the 2023 Draft look a little silly, as he crashes and bashes his way into the hearts of the Doggies’ faithful. I really like this kid – the Dogs have found a gem with a pick in the 40s.
I love good footy, and the Dogs are playing plenty of it – seeing some of the names above taking the game on… they’re in good hands, going forward.
THE CROWS DEFENCE RISING TO THE OCCASION
People are starting to take notice.
A few weeks back, everyone was talking about the Crows defence not being up to scratch, but suddenly, their tune is changing. They’re starting to see what I saw at the start of the season – this Adelaide team bats deeeeep.
All the injuries they’ve covered over the last couple of seasons has left them with a cohort of defenders ready, willing, and able to step in and pick up the slack when required.
Josh Worrell is taking the next step, but Max Michalanney is starting to really assert himself, as well.
As for depth, I look at Brodie Smith, Jordon Butts, James Borlase, Chayce Jones, adding to names like Nick Murray, Mark Keane, Mitch Hinge, Rory Laird, and Wayne Milera… they ooze talent.
Do not sleep on this defence. As the season progresses and players start to fall all over the league, Adelaide are best positioned to make the necessary adjustments. The pain in 2023/24 has prepared them for some big gains this season.
THIS KID NAMED GINBEY
The Eagles are hurting, and when you’re in this predicament, you need to look for signs. You need to know there is a roadmap, and the team knows where it is going.
Players like Harley Reid and Elijah Hewett will be instrumental in getting them there, but for me… I like the mongrel of Reuben Ginbey, and he is getting better every time I see him.
He was tried as a midfielder before being sent to defence, and whilst I am not sure that is the right spot for him, what I like seeing is when he gets a bit of “screw this!” about him, and tucks the footy under his arm, taking the game on.
I watched him do it live against the Hawks, and it was genuinely the only time the Eagles looked threatening. And I saw him do it again this week.
He may end up playing a more expansive role than he currently is, but he has that down and dirty mongrel aspect to his game, and you can just tell he is itching to permit that aspect of his game to become more prevalent. He is one very good reason to watch West Coast games.
BIG MAX DEFYING FATHER TIME
The worm has definitely turned for Max Gawn. After a start to the season that had his coach citing personal problems, and many pundits believing we may have seen the best of him, the big fella has put together a month of footy for the ages.
Averaging over 25 disposals, 40 hit outs, and eight clearances, Gawn has monstered the opposition, and on the weekend, he highlighted another of West Coast’s glaring weaknesses, completely dominating Matt Flynn.
I had high hopes for Flynn. He was one of those players I openly wondered about, as to whether he just needed a clean run at it, and a period as the number one ruck, to flourish.
Well, Gawn kind of put it in perspective with a career-high 35 touches, eight clearances, and 47 hit outs.
Big Max is headed for an eighth All-Australian selection, and strengthening his case to be right at the top when we discuss all-time great rucks.
Where would you have him right now?
A BIT OF PERSONALITY AT THE CATTERY
I’ve already waxed lyrical about the magnitude of Patrick Dangerfield’s epic final quarter performance in two other columns over the past couple of days, but in doing so, I have neglected to give Bailey Smith the recognition he deserves.
Not only has Smith added grunt work, elite-level run and carry, and the type of second and third effort gut-runs that put most to shame, he has given the Cats a whole new persona.
Like him or loathe him, Smith has a bit of an aura, and he carries himself like he knows all eyes are on him. I was expecting him to take time to ease into the season, after coming back from an ACL, and having to adjust to a new club, new coach, and a new gameplan – nup, he hasn’t needed it. He has come out firing and is averaging over 30 touches per game, whilst not holding back on being both vocal, and using sign language for those a little hard of hearing.
The game needs characters.
The game needs villains.
The Cats have one – good on them.
THE TAGGER REIGNS AGAIN
We don’t give enough credit to a good tagger. It’s at the point where if a team gets the matchup wrong, it can be detrimental on a number of levels, as we saw in the Swans v GWS game this weekend.
The Giants sent Toby Bedford to Isaac Heeney, but the Swans were ready fro this, pushed Heeney forward, and took advantage of the skill set that makes Heeney such a weapon – his overhead marking.
In contrast, the Swans deployed Jordon on Lachie Whitfield. Now, here is where things get interesting.
The stats will tell you that Whitfield had 28 touches – just three below his usual average for 2025, but the impact he had was minimal, and a heft amount of those touches came when he was desperately trying to give the Giants something from defence in the last quarter. In doing this, he basically abandoned the defensive side of the game, and that left Jordon alone inside 50.
Whitfield ran away, got his ten touches for the quarter.
Jordan had six. And kicked two goals.
This is the beauty of a negating player who can hurt the opposition, and Jordon has hurt his opponents in almost all cases this season… Nick Daicos, aside.
Still, when it came to the battle of the league’s best stoppers, the Swans not only had a win on the scoreboard, they got a clear winner in this duel, as well.
A-GRADE LEVEL RECRUITS
Who is your recruit of the year, thus far?
The level of play of some of the blokes wearing new colours has been spectacular in 2025. I have already covered Bailey Smith, above, but what about Jack Macrae? There have been four recorded games where a player has compiled 30+ disposals, 20+ contested possessions, and 10+ clearances in a game this season.
Macrae owns two of them.
Josh Battle is tearing it up at the Hawks, loving life alongside James Sicily and Tom Barrass, whilst both Matt Kennedy and John Noble have made their new coaches ecstatic with what they’ve been able to produce.
We still have Shai Bolton lurking and threatening to tear a game apart, as well. Assessing who’s been the best is a good one to debate – who you got? And why?
THE BRISBANE DEFENCE – THEY’RE ELITE AND COULD GET BETTER!
I don’t like giving things away early, but I was crunching numbers and compiling the rankings for our Round Eight Defensive Player of the Year Award on Monday evening… and there were three Brisbane Lions in the top ten.
Yep, in a league with 18 teams, this was like a good zoo – Lions everywhere!
The thing is, they have players to come back into this side! Keidean Coleman is yet to return from his 2024 ACL injury, and Tom Doedee will do the same at some stage. We’re almost at the point where we forget how good these two blokes can be!
Big Daddy, Harris Andrews, continues to rule the roost, but the work of Jack Payne as his offsider has flown under the radar in 2025, and the big fella deserves some love.
Cannot wait to get stuck into writing the analysis for this week’s DPOY… Payne was incredible.
DEFYING FATHER TIME
I covered the game of Patrick Dangerfield elsewhere, but seriously, if you love good, tough footy, go and watch his last quarter of the game against the Pies – he could singlehandedly renew your faith in the game.
But Danger aside, have a look at some of the other old blokes hitting their straps this season.
Steele Sidebottom is partying like it’s 2018 again, providing the Pies with the type of output everyone thought was now beyond him.
Scott Pendlebury is steaming towards the games record, and continues to find the footy, and amazingly, still finds time, every time he gets his mitts on it.
Dane Rampe, at 34, just shut down Toby Greene in a wonderful defensive performance.
Jack Gunston is kicking goals like he is in a premiership team. Tom Liberatore is running down one of the quickest players in the league. And Callan Ward continues to play good footy out on the wing for the Giants.
These blokes have obviously looked after themselves, and made sure their bodies are right to go this season. They realise that their time in the game will not last forever (however, in Pendles’ case, it might!), and they are making the absolute most of their final seasons in the game.
And I love have the privilege of watching them.
A RECORD IN HIS SIGHTS
And I know it is early days, and there is a lot of water to flow under the bridge right now, but with 84 tacles in eight games, Tom Atkins is eyeing off the record set by Scott Selwood back in 2011 for the most tackles recorded in a season.
Selwood had 202 tackles from 25 games that season. That’s an average of 8.08.
Atkins is currently at 10.5 per game.
I love seeing history made, and will be barracking for Tom to keep the pressure on, week by week.
Got any positives of your own?
Or are you addicted to the doomscrolling nature of AFL Media, too?
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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