After eight rounds of season 2014 we know who the clear contenders are, with Port Adelaide, Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney deservedly occupying the top four places on the ladder.
Port reclaimed top spot on the ladder courtesy of their 18-point victory over Fremantle at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday, and remain undefeated at their new home ground.
Chad Wingard one of the most exciting forwards in the competition, and his five goals masterminded the Power’s seventh victory from eight starts – easily their best ever start to a season.
But it did not come easy against last year’s beaten grand finalists. Fremantle pushed them hard for three quarters and led by five points at the final change, but the Power stormed home with five goals to eventually win by 18 points.
Port will now rest up with the bye this week ahead of what will be the biggest game in Adelaide this year when they welcome 2013 premiers Hawthorn in Round 10.
The Hawks also have the bye this weekend, but they are coming off a disappointing loss against the Sydney Swans on Friday night in which they struggled to contain the Swans’ fast start in the first half.
Poor kicking from the Swans allowed the Hawks to stay in the contest. The visitors eventually took the lead in the third quarter and into the final change, before two final quarter goals from their former hero Lance Franklin won the game for his new club.
The 2013 premiers suffered a major blow before the match when Luke Hodge joined his predecessor as club captain, Sam Mitchell, and last year’s Norm Smith Medallist, Brian Lake, on the sidelines.
With the Swans finally unveiling their multi-million dollar forward line for the first time this season, the potential was there for a shoot-out for the ages. In the end Kurt Tippett and Lance Franklin combined for six goals, with Luke Breust and Jarryd Roughead kicking three each.
Roughead could join Mitchell, Hodge and Lake on the sidelines if he is suspended for a rough conduct charge on Ben McGlynn. As the Hawks have the bye this weekend he will not play for at least two weeks, so he’ll miss the top-of-the-table showdown against Port Adelaide.
After a slow start to the season in which they were as low as 13th, it’s finally all systems go for the Swans who finish the round in fourth spot.
The Swans will feature on Friday night again this weekend when they take on Essendon at Etihad Stadium. Franklin will be looking to continue his dominance of the Bombers, whereby he has averaged five goals in ten outings against them.
Speaking of the Bombers, their up-and-down season continued when they defeated the Brisbane Lions by only eight points on Saturday night. They have a lot of work to do if they are to shut down Buddy and the Swans on Friday night.
Mark Thompson’s men will almost certainly have to make do without Paul Chapman, who is facing suspension for a second-quarter incident involving Lion Jack Redden. Friday night’s match will also see Thompson and John Longmire oppose each other as head coaches for the first time.
At the other end of the ladder, the bye simply couldn’t come soon enough for the GWS Giants, whose month-long road trip around the country ended in a 111-point shellacking by the West Coast Eagles.
The horror loss in Perth follows on from a pair of defeats in their secondary home in Canberra, plus losses to the Crows in Adelaide and to the Suns on the Gold Coast.
After winning two of their first three matches for the year, the Giants have lost their last five. This has coincided with the continued absence of Shane Mumford, which has not helped their cause during their current winning drought.
Mumford and Jeremy Cameron, two of the most important players in their best side, both missed the massacre in Perth. Both will be welcomed back when the Giants return to Sydney for the first time since April against Richmond on May 24.
Sunday’s match saw the Eagles take their fourth win for the season, though all four wins so far have come against each of last year’s bottom four. Their score of 30.8 (188) was also the season’s best, while Josh Kennedy became the first player this year to kick ten or more goals in a game.
It was deja vu for the Giants, who were also on the wrong end of a Mother’s Day massacre last year. On that occasion, Adelaide won by 135 points and Tom Lynch kicked ten goals.
Melbourne may have lost again but hung in tough against the Western Bulldogs, losing by only 16 points and just avoiding conceding 100 points for only the second time this season.
Although the results aren’t there for all to see just yet, Paul Roos has made his mark on the team, tightening the team’s defence and using James Frawley as a forward to great success. There are also some exciting new names rising through the Dees’ ranks, including Jay Kennedy-Harris and Christian Salem to name a few.
Apart from their Round 2 loss to West Coast, Melbourne have been competitive in most of their matches so far and there is reason for their fans to believe after so many years in the doldrums. Dees fans can look forward to this weekend’s match against Richmond with high optimism.
The final match of the round saw Carlton notch up their third win for the season at the expense of St Kilda, whose inaccurate kicking cost them any chance of victory.
The victory also takes the pressure off Mick Malthouse as the Blues try to kick-start their season rather belatedly. The good news is that Chris Judd is set to return after the bye when the Blues welcome the Crows to the MCG in Round 10.
The Crows, Collingwood, Geelong, Gold Coast Suns, North Melbourne and Richmond all had the bye this weekend.
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