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Opinion
Round 3 of the AFL is headlined by two grand final rematches from yesteryear, and it starts on Thursday night with a huge clash between the Western Bulldogs and Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium followed by Melbourne facing Essendon at the MCG on Friday night.
The Swans head south to Melbourne for their first game in Victoria this season fresh off a momentous five-goal win over the Geelong Cats in which Lance Franklin achieved AFL immortality by kicking his 1000th career goal, becoming just the sixth man in the game’s history to do so.
In scenes that we will likely not see again for as long as we live, over 30,000 fans stormed the SCG to congratulate the game’s greatest forward of the modern era, with play suspended for over half an hour as security looked to clear the playing field.
The reason we will never see another 1000-goal forward is that Buddy has kicked just under 300 more goals than the next-best active forward, Jack Riewoldt, who is sidelined with injury and is likely to call time on his playing career at the end of this season, if not the next.
It was the first mid-match pitch invasion since Buddy kicked his 100th goal for the season against Carlton at Telstra Dome in 2008, and it was the first time that any AFL player had reached four figures since 1996, when Gary Ablett Sr did so against Fremantle at Kardinia Park.
Buddy’s milestone aside, a five-goal haul by Isaac Heeney and another impressive performance by defender Paddy McCartin were also highlights as the Swans started a season 2-0 for the second consecutive year.
Their impressive resurgence after two years in the finals wilderness, during which their western Sydney neighbours the Giants reached a grand final in 2019, has led many to suggest that they are serious flag contenders in 2022.
And with the Giants currently a shadow of their dominant selves from previous years, here lies the opportunity for the Swans to reclaim its mantle as the number one AFL side in the Harbour City.
The lure to win a flag with Buddy currently in the final year of the nine-year mega-contract he signed with the club back in 2013 also looms large, but even if the Swans don’t claim the flag during his time here, their investment in him won’t be deemed a failure or a success.
One of the reasons he was brought to the club was to enhance their market value, as happened when Tony Lockett joined the club from St Kilda in 1995, with Barry Hall doing likewise in 2002 and leading them to a drought-ending flag victory three years later.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
For the Western Bulldogs, it’s crunch time, with the club staring down the barrel of an 0-3 start to the season after having dropped their opening two matches against Melbourne and Carlton.
Against the Blues last week they were kept on the back foot for nearly the whole match and despite a valiant fourth-quarter fightback went down by just two goals, leaving more questions to be asked than answered of the side’s premiership credentials.
While they are 0-2 to start the season, it’s not yet panic stations at the Whitten Oval, with the side having recovered from a poor start to reach the finals in 2020. Three teams – the Brisbane, GWS and Essendon – also did likewise last year.
In a boost for Luke Beveridge’s side, Bailey Smith is set to return from a hip injury, while Aaron Naughton is in doubt after suffering a calf injury in the loss to the Blues last Thursday night.
Of course many AFL fans will never forget the Western Bulldogs’ stunning win against the Swans in the 2016 grand final, in which the club smashed a 62-year premiership drought and claimed just their second flag in club history.
The current crop of sons from the west will be drawing on that inspirational win from five and a half years ago to get their season going, while the Swans have the opportunity to make it 3-0 for the second year in a row.
(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The following night, Melbourne will start hot favourites to make it a 3-0 start to the season and ten wins in a row dating back to Round 20 last year, when they face the under-siege Essendon at the MCG.
Simon Goodwin’s side have picked up where they left off last year, defeating the Bulldogs and Gold Coast Suns to get their premiership defence off to a brilliant start, with Jack Bowey picking up a second Rising Star nomination in the process.
The 19-year-old picked up 34 disposals against the Suns on the Gold Coast and in nine AFL games has yet to taste defeat, and judging by the Bombers’ current form, it is likely his undefeated streak will continue.
Christian Petracca has enhanced his standing as the game’s best player with over 40 disposals against the Suns, and off the back of his best-on-ground performance against the Western Bulldogs in Round 1, he should be leading the Brownlow Medal after two rounds.
Having picked up around 120 disposals in each of his past three games, including in last year’s grand final, the brains trust at Essendon are contemplating whether to apply a hard tag to stop him from running riot this Friday night, as they had failed to do with Lachie Neale.
(Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
After copping it from the media following their 11-goal Round 1 thrashing at the hands of Geelong, the Bombers appeared to turn a corner when they led the Brisbane Lions by 22 points at quarter-time last Saturday night.
However, they would be on the receiving end of a masterclass by 2020 Brownlow Medallist Neale, who ran riot with 41 disposals to lead his side to a 22-point win and leave Ben Rutten’s side reeling at 0-2 for a second consecutive year.
They now face the prospect of an 0-3 start for the first time since 1967 and for just the second time ever when they face the red-hot Dees, who seem to be showing no signs of letting up as they potentially build towards a dynasty that has been predicted by many AFL experts.
But if Bombers fans want any hope, it’s that the last time their side faced a reigning premier on April Fools Day they defeated 2005 premiers the Sydney Swans by 27 points at Telstra Dome, with newly appointed captain Matthew Lloyd kicking eight goals, in Round 1, 2006.
Unfortunately their season turned sour thereafter, as they then lost their next 14 games in succession and won only twice more to finish 15th on the ladder ahead of Carlton on percentage.
Therefore Melbourne will be hoping not to be April fooled by a struggling Bombers side, for which a win could prove to be a morale-booster as they attempt to belatedly kick-start their season.
This match-up has also had the tendency in recent years to cause the odd upset, such as those by the then-struggling Dees in 2011, 2012 and 2014, while there were upset wins for the Bombers in 2015 and 2016.
It is also 22 years since the clubs last met in a grand final, where the all-conquering Essendon machine coached by Kevin Sheedy capped off a phenomenal season of dominance with a ten-goal thumping of the Dees in the grand final.
Last year’s Round 15 match-up saw the heavily favoured Dees win by 11 points on a Saturday night at the MCG in what turned out to be the final match for Dees stalwart Nathan Jones, who was named as the medical substitute and ultimately was not required to play.
While Melbourne will start favourites on Friday night, all Essendon fans will want is for their side to be competitive as they try to take it right up to the AFL’s premier team in the game’s premium time slot.
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