My four takeaways from Round 2

Round 2 had everything: a tight, low-scoring draw, a bad score review on Thursday and great wins by the Sun and Roos.

Score review: more negatives than positives
What is up with the score review, especially on Thursday night? Jack Higgins’ mark was not a mark. It is quite clear to the eye that it was a behind.

I can’t believe the AFL’s shiny new toy has failed already. It is something that looks good with the 4K TVs and multiple camera angles but as expected human error comes into it and has affected the course of the match, which turns out to be a draw.

If someone sitting on their couch can see it is a behind, then the AFL needs to fix this up before something else goes wrong in the system and costs another team a win.

North’s gusty win
North were brilliant against GWS in the early Sunday game. Their preparations were a bit crazy with flying up to Sydney at the crack of dawn with their arch-rivals in Essendon and then driving to Spotless Stadium about 40 minutes away from the airport. It was just pure North Melbourne shinboner spirit to just play out of their skins.

(Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

I like what they are building at North, especially with the likes Todd Goldstein, who was dominant against Sam Jacobs with 51 hit-outs, 19 disposals and one goal. He was quite brilliant for a ruckman.

Cam Zurhaar kicked three goals in the 20-point win. Also, Shaun Higgins was the game’s most influential midfielder with 28 disposals, which included six clearances.

With North undefeated in 2020, coach Rhyce Shaw will be quietly wanting to build momentum in this crazy season as they play Sydney at Marvel Stadium next Saturday, which could see them undefeated in the first three games of the season.

Gold Coast’s green shoots pop up in win against Eagles
How good were Gold Coast? They were just excellent against the Eagles. It was their first win in 19 games.

Gold Coast’s win was headlined by Matt Rowell, who in just his second game played a blinder with 25 disposals and two goals.

Matt Rowell. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Moreover, their green shoots just keep popping up with the likes of Noah Anderson and Jack Bowes, who also starred with 36 disposals between them in the win against a lazy Eagles side.

There will be much talk about this due to the Eagles’ disappointing performance but you can’t take anything away from the Suns. I hope this is not an illusion but is something that gets the Suns motivated to have a brilliant 2020 season. This young group showed they are no easy-beats this season.

Thursday night doozy
We waited three months and we get a doozy. Both teams looked slow and it was a bizarre match. It was a genuine slug-fest.

I will give credit to Collingwood’s game plan. It worked to perfection in stopping Richmond’s handball overlap, which normally generates goals.

Both coaches were scratching their heads after this match and both said it was a bizarre game.

Jeremy Howe had a night out down back, mitigating Richmond’s offence by keeping Jack Riewoldt quiet. Howe’s performance also included multiple intercept marks.

This match will not be one for the highlights but for both teams it was good to be back out on the field no matter the result.