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Nine games every round are bound to deliver different storylines and many different threads to create debate and talk throughout the week.
Among all the stories and scuttlebutt and what is real and what is not, there are always questions that emerge from each game. In the start of what is hopefully a new series, we go through the games of the weekend and pull out the biggest questions.
1. Who is Sydney’s most important player?
There are so many of them. There’s the obvious case of Buddy Franklin and their ever-reliable skipper Josh Kennedy. There’s the evergreen Jarrad McVeigh and his right-hand man Heath Grundy as the key pillars down back. Dane Rampe sets ups their play from defence, Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery drive them from midfield and Isaac Heeney is a young superstar.
But lost in all of that is a bloke called George Hewett who is becoming one of the better taggers in the game. In the last month he has had jobs on names such as Lachie Whitfield, Tom Mitchell, Nat Fyfe and on Friday night he added Patrick Cripps to his list of scalps.
He managed to keep Cripps to just 17 touches, quelling his influence and gathering plenty of the ball himself including six clearances. This underrated Swan is becoming one of the competition’s most reliable players
2. How far have the Bulldogs fallen?
While the Melbourne train keeps on rolling on, it was incredibly hard to believe that the team they were playing on Saturday afternoon were up on the premiership dais 33 games ago.
In the past three weeks, the Bulldogs have scored a combined 4.14 (38) in second halves. Their trademark fearless play which took them to the promised land is non-existent. They are a young team, but are they playing that young team out of choice or necessity? How many premiership players have improved?
3. Is Shaun Burgoyne one of the best Indigenous players we have ever seen?
We’re spoilt for choice picking the best Indigenous players to play AFL. But right now there is a 35-year-old Shaun Burgoyne who is still doing it all. It begs the question, where does he sit among Polly Farmer, Andrew McLeod, Gavin Wanganeen, Nicky Winmar, Adam Goodes, Michael O’Loughlin, and Lance Franklin? He has the CV to match them all and the desire to get even better
(AAP Image/David Moir)
4. Weren’t things supposed to be better now?
The wandering Suns finally returned home to the Gold Coast only to be met by their old mate Gary Ablett. Admirably, the Suns have been fighting all throughout their travel-heavy first half of the year, notching a few wins and the thought that they would be fresh after the bye soon turned to grave fears about what the second half of the year will hold.
Not only did they get taught a football lesson by the Cats but the casualty list grew with significant injuries to Aaron Hall (pec), Aaron Hall (ankle) and co-captain Steven May (upper leg). With a growing injury list and battling depth, the Suns might finally be home, but Stuart Dew’s role is only going to get tougher.
5. What can the Saints salvage from this season?
At three quarter time, everyone was clocking off for the night but the final quarter from the Saints proved that there may be some life in their season. After an improved performance against the Tigers a week earlier, particularly in front of goals, the straight kicking continued this week, finishing with a flurry to close the gap to a couple of kicks.
There was a lot to like about the way they played the last quarter, particularly from their young kids and better players. Tim Membrey finally found form in front of the sticks, kicking six. Jade Gresham is playing some great footy. Jack Sinclair, Jack Steven and Seb Ross made their regular contributions and on top of that, they have found some good kids in Rowan Marshall, Logan Austin, Bailey Rice, Ed Phillips, Hunter Clark and Nick Coffield (who didn’t play on the weekend).
So there are some building blocks there, it’s just how they assemble them in the next few weeks leading up to and after the bye.
6. Is there still a clear favourite?
Yes. Yes, there is.
It was a brutal reality check for Essendon who got comprehensively belted by a rampaging Richmond side who are just a joy to watch. Damien Hardwick is coaching wonderfully at the moment, even finding room to trial a second tall option which they might have found in Callum Moore who proved he has a place at AFL level. Moore finished with 2.3 goals and presented well up the ground.
With some injury worries, the Tigers have been forced into actually using their entire list, but because the system is working so well, and the players that they bring in are playing excellently, it might give Dimma a few headaches come selection time in September.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
7. How far can North go?
They couldn’t make the top four, could they? It is a very real possibility. From predicted cellar dwellers, the Roos are flying high and firmly entrenched in the top eight.
All of their stars are playing really good footy but it has been the emergence of their second tier that has been the real improvement. Guys like Kayne Turner, Jed Anderson, Shaun Atley, Billy Hartung (who might just be in the conversation for recruit of the year, might I add), Trent Dumont and Jamie Macmillan, in particular, have all improved exponentially and have been a big part of the rise.
They too have also rolled out a number of good young kids in Ryan Clarke, Mason Wood, Luke Davie-Uniacke and Paul Ahern – the latter of whom was unveiled this weekend and boy can he play! The battle of the Scott brothers next week is tantalising.
8. Is the time right to turn the heat right up on Fremantle?
I don’t know where this team is at. Great young kids, some stars and plenty of ageing players who were this week left out of the team that got pulled apart by Collingwood. Ross Lyon is a fantastic coach and has the security of a long-term contract but will that be enough?
They are yet to win away from home this year, in fact, they have been poor every single time they have travelled and they look confused and frazzled when the game gets off their terms. I don’t think finals are a possibility even though it remains mathematically possible, and this team needs some regeneration.
9. Was that the Giants’ best win ever?
Undermanned, under siege, and the stakes really high given the nature of where they were playing and the narrative of the team they were playing against. That was a gutsy win by the Giants.
Up against an Adelaide squad hungry for revenge at a packed Adelaide Oval, enter Dylan Shiel and Jeremy Cameron. It was a cracking game of football, but it was those two gentleman, along with their magnificent co-skippers, who got their team over the line. It was a season-defining win which opens the top eight right up. All of a sudden, the Giants are relevant again.
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