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Opinion
This week we had a resurgent North Melbourne fall agonisingly short against flag fancy Sydney, the Bulldogs couldn’t hit the side of a barn and the Eagles surprised everyone with a come-from-behind victory over Collingwood.
18. Port Adelaide Power (down two)
The Power were atrocious on Thursday evening. Eager to get their season off to a start, it was all they could do to staunch the bleeding as they went down to the reigning premiers by 32 points. A goalless first half for the first time in their history, the match was closer to a Benny Hill skit than a professional sport. Repeatedly denied by brain fades on the goal line – for example, Dan Houston punching Jake Bowey – or sheer incompetence, like Mitch Georgiades streaming in on an open goal, the Power are a deserved 18th place in this week’s rankings.
17. North Melbourne Kangaroos (up one)
The efforts of the Roos were considerably better this week against a red-hot Sydney outfit, but I suppose pretty much anything would have been better than going down by over 108 points. Jack Ziebell led from the front, equalling his career-high five goals before a quiet fourth quarter left the Kangaroos listless in the wet cauldron of the SCG. Roos faithful would be ecstatic with the return to form of their prized first draft pick, Jason Horne-Francis, who racked up 23 disposals, six clearances and five tackles.
16. Greater Western Sydney (down six)
The big, big sound is faltering. There’s the news Leon Cameron is putting his contract negotiations on hold, and the Giants were unable to fire a shot against the rampaging Fremantle. The more parochial fans may point to the free kick count (42-16), but this is largely explained by the poor discipline of the Giants. GWS lost the possession count by 62 and also lost the tackle count by 11, which is a testament to their unwillingness to run without the ball in hand. The Giants were lucky to lose by only 34 points.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
15. Adelaide Crows (down two)
This was a considerably better effort from the Crows at Marvel Stadium. They have put their nightmarish performance in 2021 behind them with a 64-point turnaround against a desperate Bombers outfit. Tex Walker was back leading from the front with four goals as the Crows fell just short. Moreover, the Crows won the contested possession count by 21 as they tried to convert the game into trench warfare so their big midfielders could dominate the smaller Essendon midfielders. The other aspect of their game was accuracy, as the Crows made the most of their opportunities against the depleted Essendon.
14. West Coast Eagles (up three)
I’m not going to lie, I expected West Coast would mimic the record of the Fitzroy Lions in 1964 and go through the season winless. However, as has become apparent across four rounds, the Eagles have the core of a good side even if they need to adopt half a WAFL side to play every round. The Eagles defenders were superstars of the day. They lost the inside-50 count by 19, but thanks to the intercepting heroics of Tom Barass and Jeremy McGovern (18 intercept possessions between them) the Magpies forwards were impotent.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
13. Essendon Bombers (up one)
The Bombers are finally off the bottom of the ladder and have their first win on the board. I am not going to lie: the Bombers’ performance to date has been extremely disappointing, particularly given they were considered by many to be on the way up. However, I am an optimistic fan and I’m enjoying the performances of Peter Wright adding another three goals and Nic Martin shaping up as one of the shrewdest selections outside Western Australia this side of Tim Kelly. The important part is the Bombers are off the ground and go into next week eager to repeat their antics against a Fremantle outfit they’ve had the wood on in recent years.
12. Collingwood Magpies (down one)
It looks like it’s no longer smooth sailing in Magpie land. They have a worrying trend of fourth-quarter fade-outs as if they’re unable to maintain their frenetic forward press across each stanza of a match. However, the brothers Daicos continue to form a deadly pairing in the Magpies midfield, combining for 60 disposals as Nick Daicos already has one hand on the rising star award. I believe the Pies are further along in their rebuild than was previously expected, but they will need to rectify the fourth-quarter fades.
11. Gold Coast Suns (up four)
The Suns are a bipolar team at the moment. I’m uncertain whether this is the good form that has typified their early seasons in years past or a harbinger of a more functional change for Stuart Dew’s men. There was an element of luck to their win, as the Suns exploited the poor discipline of the Blues to maximum effect. Noah Anderson is fast becoming a leader of the club, with 35 disposals, along with Lachie Weller, who is relishing his new role on the outside with 31 disposals of his own. I do have questions about their ability going forward, but Dew has got his charges playing a good brand of footy.
10. Hawthorn Hawks (down three)
The Hawks have run into the classic problem that affects sides that have built from the back, and that is that when you construct a dynamic and skilful backline, your offence is generated there, and as a result it is leaving the Hawks feeling a little bit flat-footed. Furthermore, despite losing the possession count by 78 disposals, they lost the tackle count by 12 and allowed the Saints free reign over their defensive 50, allowing them to score three-quarters of the times they went in there.
(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
9. Western Bulldogs (down one)
While I don’t normally subscribe to breaking down matches to one single statistic I’m going to break that rule for the Bulldogs this week. They kicked seven goals and 19 behinds in an extremely inaccurate display that allowed the Tigers to gain the ascendancy. The worst offenders were Marcus Bontempelli and Aaron Naughton, who kicked three behinds each. Moreover, the Bulldogs were able to dominate possession, winning the overall disposal count by 51. Despite that, they were easily defeated by the dramatically more efficient Tigers.
8. Fremantle Dockers (up four)
I probably rated the Dockers a little lowly last week if I am being honest. But the recruitment of Jordan Clarke and Will Brodie has been an underrated aspect of the changes that have occurred with the Dockers this year. It was in full swing on Saturday evening, with Will Brodie collecting 38 disposals and six clearances, while the evergreen David Mundy continued to put together another solid season. I expect that the Dockers will be close to making the eight this year, as they’re stronger away from home and continue to have good form at Optus Stadium.
(Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
7. Carlton Blues (down four)
Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a Blues supporter. It’s very much a ‘woe is me’ proposition, as they dropped a golden opportunity to increase their percentage. Not only that, but injuries to Patrick Cripps and Marc Pittonet will only make matters worse, as the Carlton game style has been built from their inside dominance, with the talismanic captaincy of Cripps enabling them to feed the ball out to the outside, where the speedy flankers can blast it into the waiting hands of their exemplary key forwards.
6. Richmond Tigers (up three)
The Tigers are being a bit like Katy Perry this year: one week they’re hot, the next they’re cold. They’re feeling the advancing age of star players like Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin and Jack Riewoldt, while the young talent just isn’t there to replace them. The conflagration they experienced during the week would be enough to force any side to improve dramatically, though it wasn’t all doom and gloom, as Tom Lynch kicked more than three goals for the first time in 41 games.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
5. St Kilda Saints (up two)
Is Max King the best key forward in the competition? At the moment I would say he is, with his ability to turn games in under a quarter. However, they had a pretty equitable distribution of goal kickers, with Brad Hill, Max King, Tim Membrey and Jade Gresham kicking four goals each. Additionally, the Saints would be extremely happy with the high score they kicked (second in the league to this point) as well as accuracy, which had been a problem in the past. Furthermore, the Saints also fielded their fourth debutant this year: Marcus Windhager, coming after Jack Hayes, Mitch Owens and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. The Saints would be extremely happy with their output thus far and will seek to replicate their efforts going forward.
4. Sydney Swans (up one)
They didn’t lose. However, any Swans supporter would have pencilled in this game as an important percentage booster. Making matters worse was the loss of Lance Franklin to a fractured finger midway through the third quarter. Thanks to the heroics of Isaac Heeney and Justin McInerney, the Swans were able to avert disaster, but to date their reliance on their efficiency is not a system that lends itself to winning many games, particularly when a winning plan is grounded on forward half turn overs.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
3. Brisbane Lions (down one)
This was the battle of the big men, as has been the trend in the early part of this season, with Dan McStay and Joe Daniher combining for six of Brisbane’s 11 goals. The Lions are a professional outfit, so they’re never going to lose a game by a large margin, but Chris Fagan would be disappointed that he allowed Geelong to dominate possession and shut the Lions out of large sections of the game.
2. Geelong Cats (up two)
Contentious free kicks notwithstanding, this was an exceptionally good performance by the Geelong Football Club. The Cats should have won by more – they were up ten for scoring shots, up 18 for inside 50s and up 44 for disposals. It was only the brutal efficiency of the Lions forward line that enabled them to keep pace. The Cats appear to be far more creative and willing to use the forward handball, with Jeremy Cameron bringing a mercurial presence to centre bounces as well. It appears rumours of the Cats falling off a cliff have been greatly exaggerated.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
1. Melbourne Demons (up one)
The Demons were brutally efficient against the Power. Port Adelaide were completely unable to work the ball past Steven May, Jake Lever and Max Gawn, who combined for 21 intercept possessions between them. The lead may have been only32 points, but at no point did it feel like the Power were in any danger of damaging Melbourne’s exemplary intercepting defenders.
What do you think? Am I being fair or harsh? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I will try to respond.
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