Five rounds of the AFL season have now passed and as expected, both the Geelong Cats and Hawthorn the key contenders for the flag. Their Easter Monday clash was a thriller, the modern-day rivals battling it out for more than two-and-a-half hours.
Eventually the Cats triumphed by 19 points, reviving their dominance against Hawthorn after the latter beat the Cats in last year’s preliminary final. Hawthorn’s win that day ended an 11-match losing streak against Geelong, dating back to the 2008 grand final.
More significantly, if you take away their grand final triumph and their preliminary final victory last year, the Hawks have not beaten the Cats in a regular-season match since Round 4, 2007, and not at the MCG since Round 7, 2002.
Paul Chapman, the initiator of the Cats’ vow “never to lose to Hawthorn again” after the defeat in 2008, was not there to inspire the Cats this time, but you get the feeling his vow will live on in the minds of Geelong players for years to come.
Although the Cats have now won 13 of their last 15 meetings dating back to mid-2008, the two victories by the Hawks were the 2008 grand final and last year’s preliminary final. It’s those two victories by the Hawks which vindicate Jeff Kennett’s pre-2009 comments about the Cats that “they’ve [Hawthorn] beaten them when it matters.” Those two victories matter, because on both occasions the Hawks went on to taste the ultimate glory.
Anyway, the Cats’ victory sees them start the season 5-0 for the fifth time in the last seven years.
There was another rematch of last year’s preliminary final held this round, in which Sydney overcame a poor first quarter to defeat Fremantle by 17 points at the SCG, registering their second victory for the season.
Coming off a goalless performance against North Melbourne last week, Lance Franklin appeared set for another tough day at the office until his four majors in the second half helped the Swans defeat the team that ended their premiership defence with one of the most brutal second quarters ever in last year’s preliminary final.
After their worst start to a season in eight years, suddenly the Swans appear to be playing the football that won them the club’s fifth premiership more than 18 months ago. Kurt Tippett made a successful return from injury in the reserves’ 100-point victory over the Gold Coast Suns in the curtain raiser, while Adam Goodes is also not far from returning after the longest injury layoff of his career.
Add two winnable matches against Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions to come in the next fortnight, and the Swans could enter their Round 8 showdown against Hawthorn with a 4-3 record, set up for another successful season.
Their opponents this Saturday night, the Demons, may be 1-4 to start the Paul Roos era but they are a far better side than the one that lacked any competitive spirit this time 12 months ago. The Dees lost the corresponding match against the Gold Coast Suns by ten goals last year but on Sunday they were far more competitive.
The Suns have now won twice at the home of football and will eye off their best-ever start to a season when they face off against fellow AFL infants the Greater Western Sydney Giants at home on Saturday afternoon.
The Giants’ 65-point loss to Adelaide at the Oval on Sunday was not helped by the loss of their co-captain Callan Ward in the second quarter. Ward was concussed in an off-the-ball shepherd from Richard Douglas, who has been sent directly to the tribunal for this act. Already without Shane Mumford, Heath Shaw, Lachie Whitfield and Rhys Palmer due to injuries, Ward’s substitution out of the game robbed the Giants of any experience in the second half. To their credit, GWS scored seven goals after half-time, having conceded that many to the Crows in the second quarter.
After a promising start to the season, which included 32-point victories over the Sydney Swans and Melbourne, as well as a narrow loss to St Kilda and a brave effort against the Western Bulldogs, Sunday’s loss marked the Giants’ first real thrashing of the season, costing them a place in the eight and putting a large dent in their percentage. With a trip to the Gold Coast this weekend, their hard work over the first four rounds of the season could fall apart right in front of their eyes.
As for the Crows, it would appear they are finally starting to realise their potential, having won their last two matches by a combined margin of 151 points after starting the season with three heavy losses.
Collingwood are another team starting to show some form, the Pies warming up for their ANZAC Day showdown against Essendon with a 35-point defeat of North Melbourne on Saturday at the MCG.
After keeping Buddy goalless in the Roos’ drought-ending victory in Sydney last week, Scott Thompson endured a rough day playing on Travis Cloke, the Pies’ go-to man enjoying his best match for the season, kicking four majors. If that wasn’t enough, Thompson was booked in the first quarter for striking Cloke, an incident that could lead to him being left out of the Roos’ trip to Perth on ANZAC Night to face Fremantle.
After two losses in their first three matches, it’s all systems go for the Pies and they will start favourites against the Bombers on the most important day of the AFL regular season calendar.
The Bombers endured a disappointing performance against St Kilda on Saturday night; after kicking five goals straight in the opening quarter, Mark Thompson’s men could manage only four more on the way to a 16-point defeat. It was the senior brigade, led by Nick Riewoldt, Lenny Hayes and Leigh Montagna leading the way for the Saints. If they had been able to kick straighter, they could have finished this round in the eight, at the expense of the Gold Coast Suns.
Still, they inspired the Saints to the upset of the season so far, against an Essendon side which has now slipped to 2-3 for the season, their 81-point thrashing of old enemy Carlton now a distant memory.
Speaking of the Blues, after their worst start to a season in a quarter of a century, which had their coach Mick Malthouse under the blowtorch, they finally registered their first victory for 2014 at the expense of the Western Bulldogs on Sunday night.
The match marked the return of Chris Judd, whose comeback from Achilles surgery lasted only six minutes before he suffered a hamstring injury, which will see him back on the sidelines for at least another month. The Blues cannot afford to be without their former skipper for another extended period of time, the club having sorely missed his influence during their four-match winless streak to start the season.
Still, they managed to get the job done against the Western Bulldogs, who, after consecutive victories over Richmond and the GWS Giants, now drop to 2-3 for the season.
Carlton’s victory leaves the Brisbane Lions as the only winless side in the AFL after five rounds, the Lions failing to lift for Jonathan Brown’s 250th match, losing to Richmond at home by 43 points to start the round.
What is it about Richmond and the Gabba? Their six-goal victory marked their sixth consecutive win at the ground, the club having now not lost in the Sunshine capital since July 3, 2004.
It’s comparable to Collingwood’s record at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, where the Pies have won nine of their last ten matches at the Sydney Olympic Games venue, the only blot being the 2012 preliminary final.
The match itself saw Richmond produce their best performance of the season, making up for their last trip to Queensland which ended in a three-goal loss to the Gold Coast Suns in Round 1. The Tigers now look forward to their Round 6 showdown against Hawthorn, a team they have dominated in their last two matches. Win that and Richmond’s finals aspirations are back on track.
Finally, Port Adelaide outlasted the Eagles in the west and they now occupy second place on the ladder. The Power have enjoyed a spike in performances on and off the field over the last 18 months, and the team remains on track to back up its semi-final appearance last year with another September berth this season.
As for the Eagles, poor goalkicking did not help their chances as they could only convert a third of their goalkicking shots (7.14). The Eagles will have the chance to get their season back on track when they face Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, while Port’s resurgence will face its biggest test when they welcome the undefeated Cats to Adelaide Oval the following day.
At the conclusion of Round 5:
The stage is set for a huge Round 6, which will see three matches take place on ANZAC Day, as well as the AFL’s two infants clashing on the Gold Coast.
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