The Roar
The Roar

AFL
Advertisement

Key talking points from Round 4

Roar Guru
27th April, 2015
Advertisement
Roar Guru
27th April, 2015
14
1317 Reads

Four rounds of the AFL season have passed and it’s starting to become clear who’s hot and who’s not in 2015.

Dees shine under Friday night lights
In their only Friday night match for the season, and first since Round 7, 2012, the Melbourne Demons justified their place in the AFL’s premium timeslot with an impressive 32-point win over Richmond which has lifted them to 2-2 for the season.

A series of heavy defeats, off-field issues and the like saw the Dees banished from the timeslot for three seasons, but some improvement in 2014 saw the club rewarded with one match in the Friday night timeslot this season, that being against Richmond, a team tipped for big things in 2015.

It was also Dees coach Paul Roos’ first Friday night premiership match as a coach since 2003, when he coached the Sydney Swans to a come-from-behind victory against the side he is currently rebuilding on and off the field.

The club relished playing on the big stage, blowing the Tigers wide open after half-time with Nathan Jones and Jesse Hogan both proving instrumental with two goals each for the game.

As always, there are two sides to the result. While the Dees’ win continues their improvement following a disastrous few seasons, the Tigers joined the Suns in being exposed as finals pretenders by the oldest club in the league.

Coach Damien Hardwick was fuming after the match, accusing the Tigers of not being hard enough. With fixtures against the Geelong Cats, North Melbourne, Collingwood, Port Adelaide, Essendon and Fremantle on the menu in the lead-up to their Round 11 bye, there is set to be some tough times ahead for the supporters.

Advertisement

Carlton breaks through in New Zealand
All the pressure had been on Mick Malthouse following Carlton’s 0-3 start to the season, the third consecutive year the club had started winless from three rounds since Malthouse took over from Brett Ratten at the end of 2012.

It looked set to get worse when the Saints, seeking their first win in Wellington after close defeats to the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions in previous years, got off to a flying start, despite being without veterans Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna.

The Saints led by 14 points at half-time and looked set to finally break their Wellington duck, before the Blues came back in the second half to win by 40 points and alleviate the pressure off Mick Malthouse ahead of his record-breaking 715th AFL game as a coach against his old side Collingwood on Friday night.

A review is about to begin into the Saints’ five-year Wellington deal with the club yet to break its duck in New Zealand. Despite this year’s edition featuring a traditional powerhouse in Carlton, the crowd of 12,125 was the lowest for the fixture since it was initiated in 2013, compared to the 22,546 that turned up to watch the Saints take on then-defending premiers the Sydney Swans two years ago.

However, the fixture has gained the support of Carlton coach Mick Malthouse who has stated that he will “always remember where he was when the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing was commemorated.”

Just which club is fixtured to face the Saints in next year’s edition will remain to be seen.

Collingwood continue Anzac Day dominance
It wasn’t pretty, but Collingwood continued their recent stranglehold on the Anzac Day clash with a 20-point win over Essendon in the biggest match of the regular season.

Advertisement

The unheralded Paul Seedsman was the star of the show, picking up 31 touches and 14 inside-50s en route to winning the Anzac Day Medal. In doing so he joined the likes of Mark McGough (for Collingwood in 2002) and Andrew Lovett (Essendon in 2005) as then-unknowns who shined on the biggest day of all.

It marked Collingwood’s eighth Anzac Day win from the last ten fixtures, with the only blemishes coming in 2009 (when David Zaharakis kicked the match winning goal for Essendon) and 2013 (when Zaharakis again starred for the Bombers).

Crucially, the Pies climbed to third on the ladder after the win, while the Bombers, coming off contrasting victories over Hawthorn and Carlton, slipped to 11th on the ladder and still with a lot of work to do if they are to go deeper this season.

A record Giant win
Twelve months ago, the Gold Coast Suns appeared well ahead of the GWS Giants as far as on-field development was concerned. The talk came after the Suns defeated the Giants by 40 points on the Gold Coast in Round 6 last year.

But now it seems the roles have been reversed; whereby the Giants are tracking well in their fourth season, the Suns, who were expected by many to take the next step up this season, appear to have gone backwards instead.

For the first time in their fledgling rivalry, the Giants started as favourites, just as they did against St Kilda and Melbourne in the opening two rounds, and justified it with a record 66-point victory which has left the Suns winless after four rounds.

Advertisement

It could have been more embarrassing for the Suns had the Giants kicked straighter, their return of 16.23 (119) from 39 scoring shots preventing the youngest club in the AFL from potentially winning by a triple-figure margin.

The Giants should enjoy their best ever start to a season as much as they can, because it will only get tougher from here. Their next fortnight will see them fly west to take on their regular bullies of the AFL, the West Coast Eagles, with a home date against two-time defending premiers Hawthorn to follow.

While it’s too early in the season to predict anything, the Suns’ QClash showdown against the Brisbane Lions next week could also serve as a potential wooden spoon showdown with the Lions also winless after four starts.

Hawks fall short as Port avenges preliminary final loss
When the draw was released last year, Port Adelaide fans kept a few dates in their diaries, with their preliminary final rematch against Hawthorn on Anzac Night being one of them.

The Power were out to avenge the loss against the team which defeated them in a gripping preliminary final by just three points. Given they have started this season rather slowly, nobody could have forecasted what happened in the first quarter.

Ken Hinkley’s men slammed on the first seven goals of the match, doing it slightly quicker than when they did it in their elimination final against Richmond last season. Such was their dominance that they were on track to hand the Hawks its heaviest defeat for quite some time.

At one stage in the second quarter, they led by 58 points before the Hawks threatened what would have been the biggest comeback since Essendon came from 69 points down to beat North Melbourne in 2001, despite losing Brian Lake and Paul Puopolo to injuries during the match.

Advertisement

In the end, the Hawks would be left to rue a poor opening quarter as they went down by just eight points. Despite slipping to 2-2 for the season, and seventh on the ladder as a result of the loss, they still remain favourites to capture a rare hat-trick of flags not achieved since the Brisbane Lions did it in 2001-2-3.

As for the Power, their season is now starting to gain momentum and with matches against the Adelaide Crows, West Coast Eagles, Brisbane Lions, Richmond, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs coming up, everything could finally be starting to come together for the club.

Straight-sets exit motivating Fremantle in 2015
Fremantle remains the only undefeated side this season after they defeated the Sydney Swans by 14 points in a gripping match in Perth to conclude the Anzac Day extravaganza.

An impressive first half saw the Dockers lead by 48 points at half-time, while at the same time restricting the usually heavy-scoring Swans to just one solitary goal.

But just as they did against the West Coast Eagles the previous week, the Dockers took their foot off the pedal and allowed the Swans to launch their comeback, to the point that they trailed by just three points midway through the final quarter.

However, two late goals to captain Matthew Pavlich and Chris Mayne, who assured victory with a minute left on the clock, saw the Dockers record their best ever start to an AFL season, having never previously won their first four matches of a season prior to now.

Advertisement

Many believed that the Dockers would be headed for a slide down the ladder this season, given their ageing playing list in addition to the club exiting last year’s AFL finals series in straight sets.

But it’s the latter which is driving the club to succeed this season. Knowing that this year could possibly be the final year for either or both of Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands, the Dockers are pulling out all the stops in their bid to land a maiden premiership in 2015.

With Melbourne (away), Essendon (home), the Western Bulldogs (away), North Melbourne (home), the Adelaide Crows (away), Richmond (home) and the Gold Coast Suns (away) to come in the next month and a half, it’s possible the club could be undefeated heading into their Round 12 bye.

That would, of course, set them up for another top four finish.

Eagles live up to their reputation as ‘flat-track bullies’
Since Adam Simpson took over as coach, the West Coast Eagles have developed a reputation for being the ‘flat-track bullies’ of the AFL.

Not surprisingly, the Eagles lived up to that nickname, thrashing the Brisbane Lions by 53 points at the Gabba and keeping the triple premiers from earlier this millennium rooted to the foot of the ladder.

It continued their recent impressive record in Queensland, the club having now won on five of their last six visits to the Sunshine State. It also came in the face of a growing injury toll, with Luke Shuey suffering a knee injury in the third quarter.

Advertisement

While the Eagles will look to their next match against the GWS Giants looking to boost their percentage, which currently is a very healthy 124.5%, it won’t come easy as many think it will.

The Giants sit second on the ladder with a percentage of 133.2%, but their three wins have come against sides which are expected to (in the case of St Kilda and Melbourne), or are appearing to (Gold Coast Suns), struggle in season 2015.

They have also added some more experience to their playing list and so will pose a different threat to the side that lost by 111 points in the corresponding match last year, when Eagle Josh Kennedy unloaded with 11 goals.

Just how the Eagles will look to the match will be an interesting talking point: will they seek another massive win, further highlighting their reputation as flat track bullies, or will they expect the Giants to be at their best this Saturday night?

Geelong Cats face the beginning of the end
After such a dominant era that included three flags from four Grand Finals, the production of two Brownlow Medallists in Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett, a win by a near-record margin and many more, the curtain could be drawing on the Geelong Cats’ period of dominance.

For the first time since 2004, the club has started the season with just one win from three losses and it appears obvious that the club’s celebrated successes, ageing playing list, and injury toll, among others, is clearly starting to catch up.

The 16-point loss to North Melbourne has left the club down in 16th on the ladder, only ahead of the winless Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions. It was their first loss to a Victorian club at the Cattery since suffering a loss to the same club by the same margin eight seasons ago.

Advertisement

It was that loss which preceded the Cats’ well-documented era of dominance, which as mentioned before delivered the club three flags, two Brownlow Medallists, multiple All-Australians and a very long period of sustained success.

But now it seems appropriate that the loss to the Kangaroos could signal an end to this wonderful era. That being said, all good things must come to an end so don’t be surprised to see the Cats fail to finish in the top four, maybe even top eight, at season’s end as some long-term pain starts to settle in for the club.

Bulldogs thrash Crows
The Western Bulldogs concluded the round by thrashing the previously unbeaten Adelaide Crows and continuing to prove that it has moved on from its most tumultuous off-season since it claimed the wooden spoon in 2003.

In the battle of the AFL’s two newest coaches (Luke Beveridge and Phil Walsh), the Crows were expected to continue on their merry run this season which had seen them win their opening three matches by an average of 43 points.

Instead, they were made to look second rate as Walsh suffered his first loss as head coach, seeing the Crows drop from top spot on the ladder to fifth.

The Bulldogs produced their best attacking performance in Beveridge’s fledgling coaching career, kicking 18 goals with Jake Stringer contributing a third of them before being substituted out of the game in the third quarter due to injury.

Advertisement

Former number one draft pick Tom Boyd also got in among the goals, kicking a pair on top of the three he kicked against Hawthorn last round. It’s a good sign that he may finally be living up to his price tag after struggling at GWS.

The 57-point win continues the Bulldogs’ impressive start to the season and sets them up well for their first visit to Sydney since 2012, where the Sydney Swans await this Saturday afternoon. With both sides on 3-1, and playing contrastingly good brands of football, it could be one of the matches of the round.

As for the Crows, it was a huge reality check for them and their coach Phil Walsh, but they will head home with a home Showdown against the surging Port Adelaide to look forward to.

Those were just some of the talking points from a huge Round 4 of the AFL. Fremantle, as the only undefeated side after as many rounds, tops the ladder, with the GWS Giants, Collingwood and the Sydney Swans rounding out the top four.

The Crows, Bulldogs, Hawthorn and West Coast Eagles make up the bottom half of the top eight, while the two Queensland sides, one of which will have their first win of the season (barring a draw) as they meet this Saturday afternoon in the QClash, are the only two sides yet to register a win for season 2015.

close