Three rounds in, I look at the AFL’s clubs for another week, and rank how they’re travelling in my power rankings.
1. Fremantle Dockers (3-0) (LW: 1)
Positive: Another weekend, another brilliant performance from the Dockers. I’ll admit that I was one of the many who had the Dockers falling away this season, and I’m happy to admit that I was very wrong.
Negative: The game was already won, but the last quarter wasn’t great from the Dockers. I know they’d switched off by that stage, but form is a dangerous thing to play with.
2. Sydney Swans (3-0) (LW: 2)
Positive: Isaac Heeney. If there’s been a more AFL-Ready kid in the last 10 years, I’d like to meet him. Four goals on the weekend continued Heeney’s ridiculous early season form, and if this man doesn’t have the Rising Star medal around his neck at season’s end, something has gone terribly wrong.
Negative: Not a huge deal, but they did lose the contested possessions on the weekend. With the Dockers on the schedule in Round 4, the Swans may have to work on their effort around the stoppages.
3. Adelaide Crows (3-0) (LW: 3)
Positive: Tackling Pressure. The Crows went over 100 tackles on the weekend, with four players picking up 10 or more (Rory Sloane, David Mackay, Scott Thompson and Jake Kelly).
Negative: Are the Crows coming back down to earth? The Demons matched (and maybe even beat) them across the ground on Saturday Afternoon, and it was only their inaccuracy that kept the Crows in front.
4. Hawthorn Hawks (2-1) (LW: 4)
Positive: Jarryd Roughead. Seven goals for the Hawks key-forward, and Roughead once again looms as a very important player in their bid for a three-peat.
Negative: Ben McEvoy. The hitouts with Will Minson were a wash, but the Bulldogs ruckman killed McEvoy around the ground. With a potential matchup with Matthew Lobbe (one of the hardest working ruckmen in the comp) in Round 4, McEvoy has to up his workrate.
5. Essendon Bombers (2-1) (LW: 5)
Positive: Jobe Watson. The captain was brilliant again on Saturday, picking up 36 disposals and a goal in the win over Carlton. The Bombers midfielders are in ominous form so far this season, with Watson leading ably from the front.
Negative: The last quarter. It’s been an issue so far this season, but once again the Bombers were run down (somewhat) in the last quarter. If Carlton hadn’t been inaccurate in the last frame (4.6), this game could have had a completely different result.
6. GWS Giants (2-1) (LW: 6)
Positive: Apart from the clearances, the Giants actually matched the Swans in all the major statistics, beating them in total disposals and contested possessions.
Negative: Inaccuracy. The Giants were 3.13 at half time, and managed to get back to within 21 points of the Swans. Even a 6.10 or 7.9 scoreline at half time could have got them over the line.
7. Richmond Tigers (2-1) (LW: 10)
Positive: Trent Cotchin. It seems like the Tigers are kind of flying under the radar at the moment, and the captain is relishing the lack of media spotlight. He had 37 up in Brisbane to go with a goal, and with Brett Deledio still out injured, performances like this will go a long way to keeping the Tigers in the Top 8.
Negative: Chris Knights injury. It was the feel good story of Round 3 that ended with a hamstring tendon injury and another three months on the sideline. The former Crow has had terrible luck with injuries so far in his career, only having played 101 games since 2005.
8. Port Adelaide Power (1-2) (LW: 11)
Positive: After playing arguably the game-of-the-year so far, the Power finally have a win on the board. If you think that this team has no chance of beating the Hawks on ANZAC Day, you are sorely mistaken.
Negative: Ollie Wines injury. Matthew Lobbe is a chance to return this weekend, but the loss of Wines for 4-6 weeks will hurt the Power. Wines is arguably the best young midfielder in the comp (with the exception of Nat Fyfe), and the Power really rely on his grunt on the inside.
9. Collingwood Magpies (2-1) (LW: 13)
Positive: Despite some questionable kicking in front of goal, Travis Cloke finally looked like breaking out. He kicked 5 goals on Friday Night, and his work inside attacking 50 was important for the Magpies.
Negative: The start was fairly poor on Friday Night. The Magpies let the Saints kick the first three goals of the game, and they went to first break trailing by a point.
10. North Melbourne Kangaroos (1-2) (LW: 8)
Positive: The Kangaroos matched the Power across the ground on Saturday Night, and they should take a lot of confidence out of their performance. They’ve backed up their terrible Round 1 showing with two very good performances.
Negative: Injuries. The midfield is starting to look a little threadbare on Arden Street, with the offseason loss of Levi Greenwood compounded by the loss of Daniel Wells and Nick Dal Santo. Now Jack Ziebell is no certainty to play next weekend.
11. Geelong Cats (1-2) (LW: 14)
Positive: Joel Selwood. The Cats’ captain had a blinder on Sunday, picking up 38 disposals on a day where they really needed a good performance out of him.
Negative: Jimmy Bartel injury. The Brownlow Medallist was the victim of a medial knee injury on the weekend, and he will now miss up to two months. With Tom Lonergan also going off with an injury, the Cats veteran stocks are looking thin.
12. Western Bulldogs (2-1) (LW: 7)
Positive: Michael Talia. The man who was thrown on the scrapheap last year may be finally realising his potential. Another solid game on the weekend repaid Luke Beveridge’s faith in him.
Negative: Injuries. They lost Marcus Bontempelli and Matthew Boyd in the leadup to the game, and then Mitch Wallis and Dale Morris went down in the first quarter. They were already facing a tough task in Hawthorn, so the injuries certainly didn’t help.
13. Melbourne Demons (1-2) (LW: 12)
Positive: After last weekend’s debacle against the Giants, the Demons needed to respond with a solid performance, and they put that in against the Crows.
Negative: Sam Frost injury. He was a fairly unheralded pick up this offseason, but Sam Frost had been pretty good for the Demons before his toe injury. He’ll miss 6 weeks now, and the Demons will really miss his pace and athleticism.
14. West Coast Eagles (1-2) (LW: 9)
Positive: Mark LeCras. On a day where everyone in an Eagles’ jersey was smashed, at least LeCras showed a little bit of fight. 18 disposals and 5 goals made LeCras the most valuable Eagle on the day.
Negative: Where to begin? They gave up the first 11 goals of the game, they were trailing by 79 points in the third quarter, they looked complete uncompetitive for three quarters of football. You pick.
15. Gold Coast Suns (0-3) (LW: 17)
Positive: They were much better. After two straight disappointing performances, the Suns came out and showed a lot of spirit against the Cats. Geelong in Geelong is still no easy task, so the Suns did a great job to be within striking distance.
Negative: They still couldn’t win. They lacked the killer instinct in the end, after getting the margin down to three twice in the last quarter.
16. St Kilda Saints (1-2) (LW: 15)
Positive: Their start against the Magpies was fantastic, and it showed that Allan Richardson does have some talent to work with at St. Kilda. David Armitage led the way early, and he finished with 33 disposals in a losing side.
Negative: They lost the inside 50 count by 35. That’s not a typo. You can’t give your opponent 35 extra attacking opportunities and expect to be competitive.
17. Carlton Blues (0-3) (LW: 16)
Positive: They smashed the Bombers on the inside on Saturday, winning the contested possessions by 43. Despite the lack of results, at least the Blues are still willing to work hard around the contest.
Negative: Chris Yarran. At a time where your football club is really struggling to put wins on the board, taking a three-match suspension for a sucker punch just comes across as selfish.
18. Brisbane Lions (0-3) (LW: 18)
Positive: Stefan Martin. The Lions’ ruckman has actually been ok this season for the Lions, and his 20 disposal, 34 hit-out game on Saturday Night made him one of the rare winners for Brisbane.
Negative: Everything else. They’re stuck on the bottom of the ladder with a percentage of 51.4%. They’ve scored the least amount of points, and given up the most. Nothing is going right for the Lions so far in 2015.
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