Expert
One of the many things that makes sport great is the fact that we keep score. There’s a definitive winner and loser at the end of each match, and each season.
But in a bigger-picture sense, winning one game isn’t always the same as being “better”, and the whole point of these rankings is to try to establish who is better.
Last week: 1
Ladder: 2
Had every excuse to toss Sunday’s game in the too-hard basket, but not these Giants. It showed a great deal of character for them to even be in the game into the final term, that they managed to overrun the Eagles showed a combination of grit, belief and talent that should frighten the rest of the competition. In their short history, the Giants have won 45 games, none of them were better than Sunday’s victory. Toby Greene is cold blooded.
Last week: 2
Ladder: 1
Made the Dockers look like a reserves side. Jake Lever continues his ascent towards becoming one of the league’s premier defenders.
Last week: 3
Ladder: 8
Lost a coin-toss game as the road team against a fellow top-four contender – there’s no shame in that. Paddy Ryder would be my All-Australian ruckman after 10 rounds.
Last week: 5
Ladder: 4
Their most convincing win of the season. For the first time since round one, the Dogs led at every break.
Last week: 6
Ladder: 3
Their home-ground advantage might have gotten them over the line, but that’s kind of the point of having a home-ground advantage.
Last week: 4
Ladder: 6
Should be as disappointed as the Giants are excited. Will be hoping the injury to Josh Kennedy isn’t as serious as it looked or the season could quickly slip away from them.
Last week: 9
Ladder: 9
Took a while for the Demons to get going, but finished all over the top of the Suns. They got a hell of a game from Jeff Garlett, who has been goalless only six times in his 49 games as a Demon.
Last week: 11
Ladder: 5
The Tigers should have had the Dreamtime game in hand by three-quarter time, but instead made their fans sweat until the dying minutes. Looks like they’ve found another handy player in Shai Bolton.
Last week: 7
Ladder: 10
For the second week in a row the Saints struggled to move the ball out of their defence against a organised defensive unit. The bye week might have come at the right time for them.
Last week: 8
Ladder: 7
It’s rare that a 100-point loss flatters a team, but that was the case on Saturday night. The Dockers were insipid.
Last week: 10
Lader: 11
Shot out of the blocks with three goals in the opening six minutes and had three by quarter-time but managed only four majors after that, and none of them came in the final term as they were strangled by the Tigers’ press.
Last week: 13
Ladder: 13
The Roos are a middling team and middling teams will play patches of good football and patches of bad football, often in the same game, sometimes in the same quarter.
Last week: 14
Ladder: 12
The Pies probably aren’t any good, but with four wins from 10 games and a percentage of better than 100, they’re a tough team to get a read on.
Last week: 17
Ladder: 14
Hawthorn headed to the SCG with a plan and they stuck to it. Lost the clearances 41-50 and the contested possessions 131-150, but the Hawks had 65 more marks than the Swans and 79 more kicks. It was like two teams playing different games and, as so often happens, Clarko’s game won.
Last week: 12
Ladder: 15
Could never really get the game on their terms. At 3-7, it’s going to take something pretty special for them to make top-eight push.
Last week: 15
Ladder: 17
The Blues lack of talent and experience across the field means they are going to lose most weeks, but it won’t often be due to absence of effort – this is a gritty, well-coached group who play for each other.
Last week: 16
Ladder: 16
The Suns are a just kind of… nothing.
Last week: 18
Ladder: 18
Played a couple of very decent quarters and definitely made the Pies work for it. Unfortunately for the Lions, when the floodgates open they are still too easy to score against. Eric Hipwood is special.