Both the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle will be out to continue their impressive starts to season 2014 when they take on St Kilda and Hawthorn respectively in high-stakes Round 3 matches.
Hawthorn versus Fremantle, MCG, Friday night
In 2013 Fremantle surged from pretenders to contenders under the tutelage of Ross Lyon, who is without doubt the best coach in the AFL to have not won a premiership. Lyon has so far been head coach in four unsuccessful grand finals (three at St Kilda and one with Fremantle), though he was an assistant coach at the Sydney Swans when they ended their 72-year premiership drought in 2005.
If it had not been for his rather controversial appointment in September 2011, Fremantle would probably still be languishing at the bottom half of the ladder.
But after reaching (and losing) their maiden grand final against Hawthorn last September, Lyon and the Dockers are well placed to go one better this year, the club having won its first two matches by a combined total of 118 points.
Their first real acid test will come on Friday night against the Hawks, who are also 2-0 to start the season, proving there is life after Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.
The club backed up their undefeated pre-season by defeating the Brisbane Lions and Essendon by 48 and 4 points respectively to start their premiership defence.
The premiers could be without Luke Hodge, who was subbed off in the third quarter last Friday night with a groin injury; it almost turned into a disaster for the Hawks as they fell behind before eventually escaping with victory.
The Dockers have their own worries, with Nat Fyfe and Zac Dawson both ruled out after they were suspended for incidents arising from their win over the Gold Coast Suns. Fyfe’s suspension has rendered him ineligible for this year’s Brownlow Medal, having been Fremantle’s best hope of landing the club their first such individual achievement.
Hawthorn will once again enter this match as favourites, the club having not lost to Fremantle since 2010, not in Melbourne since 2001 and not against a side coached by Ross Lyon since 2009.
Eagles versus Saints, Patersons Stadium, Saturday
Both the Eagles and Saints were tipped to slide down the ladder in 2014, but under the tutelages of new coaches in Adam Simpson and Alan Richardson respectively, both have been outstanding.
The Eagles backed up their 65-point demolition of the Western Bulldogs by inflicting a 93-point thrashing on Melbourne, whose coach Paul Roos had never previously experienced a loss of 73 points or greater (ironically, that loss was against Melbourne in 2010 when he was coaching the Sydney Swans).
The Eagles will have a good chance to continue their unbeaten run against another side yet to lose in 2014 so far in St Kilda, who have notched up two seemingly unexpected victories to start the new era under Alan Richardson.
Like the Eagles, the Saints did not expect to start the new season so well, but wins against the only two sides to finish below them in 2013 (Melbourne by 17 points and Greater Western Sydney by 7 points) have fans optimistic about a return to better times.
Against the Giants, Nick Riewoldt was influential in kicking five goals and again the Saints will rely on him to lead the way. The match-up between Riewoldt and his Eagles counterpart Darren Glass will potentially decide who remains unbeaten in 2014.
It’s possible that by the end of this round, both the Western Australia teams could sit atop the ladder.
Taking a quick look at the other Round 3 matches:
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