What a great round of footy! Did anyone really predict North Melbourne beating Fremantle in Perth? Because I seriously didn’t.
What about Port Adelaide sitting atop the ladder? But I digress. It’s a long season and we still have a bunch of games to go.
Here is what we know so far:
Carlton may not be the real deal, but they are far from the basket case everyone perceived them to be before last week’s win.
Two wins may not be much but they are one win out of the eight, with the next three games in Melbourne. Win two of the next three and the season is not so lost after all. Lose all three and the hounds will be back.
Hawthorn may still be losing to Geelong, but that’s about it. Apart from a narrow four-point victory over the Dons and the loss to Geelong, Hawthorn have not been troubled.
They destroyed the up and coming Gold Coast, tore apart Richmond and made Fremantle look second rate.
There is no premiership hangover this time, or a sense of missing Buddy Franklin. They take their footy week by week and do it very well. Next up is St Kilda, before a date with Sydney and their Buddy.
Port are the best finishers in the comp. That’s common knowledge, but they can run games out better than any team. In the modern game, that is such a valuable asset. Will they be able to maintain it for the rest of the season?
After the forty point victory over Geelong, there is no doubt they deserve to be in top-four calculations and will pretty confident in taking on GWS next week.
Hold your applause until the end with Port though. They fell away before and it is known that a tough damning pre-season can come back to hurt players.
Paul Roos does not work miracles. I don’t think that’s a secret to anyone but the point is Melbourne are going to be a very hard club to turn around.
The Demons did have a good win against Carlton, but they couldn’t back it up against the Coast or even have a decent showing against Sydney.
What does Melbourne need? They desperately need to re-sign James Frawley firstly. Decent key defenders are hard to come by.
They probably need to make a decent assessment of Jack Watts. The boy has been through hell with that club and he keeps teasing.
Against the Bulldogs last year he played arguably his best game, yet the next week he fell away. Sometimes he’s on fire other times he can’t be found.
Finally, North Melbourne can start playing mature footy. If they do or not remains to be seen but they’ve shown with decent wins against Port, Sydney and Freo (in Perth mind you) that something is different from last year.
Last year we all cringed as they dropped leads, couldn’t maintain possession and basically fell away after dominating in games. The Hawthorn thriller early on is a fine example.
Terrible stuff, but not now, has the acquisition of Nick Dal Santo helped them? It couldn’t have hurt either way. The man is an A-class midfielder and can only aid their cause.
The Western Bulldogs need a key defender. Some may not agree with this completely and consider the forward line the big problem, but the forward line is a work in progress.
I wrote earlier that Melbourne need to re-sign Frawley, but the Dogs need to chase him too.
Against Adelaide their undersized, inexperienced defence was exposed horribly. When Morris retires it will continue to happen.
It’s going to be a long season. The cream will always rise to the top, whether this happens for Sydney or Fremantle remains to be seen.
Freo came out firing against Collingwood and the Gold Coast before falling away horribly against Hawthorn, Sydney and North.
They had one win against the Bombers in between but can they recapture their best form? They are no longer in top-two calculations but Ross Lyon has proven before that he is a shrewd coach.
dockersfan
Guest
I still see Port dropping away like they did last year. North are way too inconsistent to be a top 4 force. They need to string 2 good games together before I'll be putting them in the top 4. So far the only top 4 certainties seem to be Hawks and Cats (surprise, surprise). Collingwood, Port, North, Freo, Swans, West Coast are all in the hunt in equal amounts I believe. You could make solid arguments for each depending on your bias.
Shouts Chen
Guest
Melbourne need to have a good finish to the end of 2014 AFL season if they can turn things around. Hawthorn are still in contention of a Top 2 finish.
Stan McCan
Guest
Reid is the tall marking option to sit beside Cloke Macca. Reckon it is more likely to be the small forwards to trouble the Pies.
Cat
Roar Guru
FWIW I think the Suns will be in finals contention up until the final weeks of the season, ultimately it will be there percentage that will hurt them, I think they are capable of matching the middle teams, beating the lower teams but will continue to be belted from time to time by the top sides.
macca
Guest
Avon - I think north will probably finish 4th and there win against Freo was good but Freo aren't in great form and North got belted by Collingwood the week before which indicates they aren't exactly consistent. I am really happy to see Cunnington do well, he played junior footy at my club and always looked like he would make. He played 3/4's of the year in the middle, was a bit crook one day and they put him at full forward and he kicked 10, they kept him down there for longer for the rest of the year and he basically won the league goal kicking in about 6 weeks.
Avon River
Guest
#Macca A tad unfair on Nth given the rolled Freo without Wells or Swallow or Thompson. Pretty well the 3 'A' graders. Given that Gibson & Cunnington & Ziebell were listed among the best was encouraging. Harvey was fed a tad and had 19 of his 29 stats in the 1st half. So while Geelong will profit from the return of a number of players after a trip to Adelaide and a 40 pt drubbing North too will regain strength after returning from Perth and a 3 goal win.
Berrlins
Guest
In all honesty I had a finishing statement that covered several clubs and it got edited
Cowboys
Guest
Is this some sort of Primary school test?
macca
Guest
I reckon you can trim that 7 down a bit more Brian - The Pies still lack a makeing target up forward to help out Cloke and their tall defenders have some question marks, North still need Boomer Harvey to win them games look short of the top few teams, Freo is in very ordinary form and is facing an up hill battle to get into the top 4 (which is where premierships are won) and teh Swans are all over the place. When you consider Geelong still have Mackie, Christensen, Motlop and Caddy out and the Hawks will get back there 2 best key defenders in Schoenmakers and Lake it looks like they are way out in front for top 2, Port should get 3rd, North, Freo & Sydney will fight it out for 4th but be a long way back and the rest will just be making up the numbers.
Brian
Guest
Flag race is down to 7 - Geelong, Port, Freo, Swans, Hawks, Pies, North. So we do know that Essendon, Carlton, Richmond, Adelaide, West Coastt have too many holes to go all the way. The other 6 we knew before any balls were bounced (Melbourne, GWS, GC, St Kilda, Brisbane, WB). Of those 7 Freo and Sydney have been poor and given themselves pretty high mountains if they don't want to travel for a preliminary. Cats and Hawks have already started planning for Finals.
Ash of Geelong
Guest
Try living in Geelong , a hell of a lot of front runners here.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
NM have a danger game vs GC. Perhaps an indicator of where GC really stand? Syd will surely come on as they get more blokes on deck. Will Tayls Walker be enough to get Adelaide in the 8 over the wobbley West Aussies? Could be the old fashioned logjam from 8-12.
macca
Guest
There is a big gap between the top and the middle.
Paul D
Roar Guru
What we've learned is that some teams are eminently forgettable.
Tyren Hones
Roar Rookie
That's what I wanted to know. Points like that.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The only clubs mentioned (not as opposition) are Carlton, Hawthorn, Port, Melbourne, North, Bulldogs and Freo. To mention all the clubs would make the article too long. The challenge is for us to fill in the blanks.
Lroy
Guest
Mate, when have Port fans been anything other than insufferable??
Avon River
Guest
North have been doing okay minus key players. On Fri w/o last 3 B&Fs in Swallow (c), Wells & Thompson. Ess in rnd 1 was soft. Coll in rnd 5 looked more like the impact 4 wks in of a 6 day break after a wet slog at the SCG. What was a pleasant surprise was the ability to rebound on another 6 day break flying ovet to Freo. The Suns towled Nth up at Metricon last year in the wet. Should be a ripper game this wk at Etihad. Will both Swallows be on the field?
macca
Guest
A lot of the top 8 are just making up the numbers - Hawthron and Geelong are well in front of everyone else at this point.
macca
Guest
Tyren Hones - Who have the Suns beaten that wasn't expected at the start of the year - RIchmond maybe but given the Suns record against the Tigers it was hardly the upset of the year. The Suns getting absolutely belted in their 2 losses is probably more surprising.