Round 7 started with a one-sided game, with the Eagles all at sea. They put in a performance that’s bad for footy from the perspective of a neutral spectator, because they didn’t have a go. Questions need to be asked about the coach as they didn’t seem to have a plan.

Thankfully, there were close games that were extremely exciting viewing.

Fortunately, the story of the round should be the Dockers, who worked hard to claim a win in an utterly entertaining game against the Cats. Despite not winning, Hawthorn deserves an honourable mention for the brand of footy they played.

There were three goal of the year contenders in one round of footy, with Nathan O’Driscoll of the Dockers, Jack Ginnivan of the Magpies and Lance Franklin of the Swans all in the running for goal of the year!

There was a sixth AFL assistant coach that took charge of a team due to the senior coach being unavailable to coach due to HS Protocols; in Round 7 it was Adam Yze of the Demons. He kept the record of no losses by an assistant coach taking charge in season 2022.

It’s time to focus on the positives for the most part!

Adelaide Crows – Didn’t see this result coming

The Crows have played some good footy in season 2022, but were clearly not prepared for a ruthless Giants outfit that arrived in Adelaide on a mission. The Crows took their opposition too lightly. The scoreboard flattered them as they could’ve lost by much more than 59 points.

Is Matthew Nicks a good coach? It’s tough to say, as they clearly have deficiencies that were exposed by the Giants. The Giants had exactly double the amount of scoring shots with 28 to the Crows 14. Despite that, the Giants only had seven more inside 50s than the Crows. The Giants had 17 more hit-outs than the Crows and 27 more contested possessions than them.

This is a wake-up call for the Crows, as the three games they’ve won have been narrow wins!

Brisbane Lions – They went to Sydney on a mission

The Lions deserve to be premiership contenders as they won a game against the Swans in Sydney. At quarter-time the scores were level at nine points each. After quarter-time, the Lions kicked 16 goals.

They did so without Joe Daniher kicking a goal as he was subbed off due to a shoulder injury at halftime.

Dayne Zorko kicked two goals in a row in the second quarter! Lachie Neale, who’s in scintillating form, finished with 37 disposals, a goal and nine tackles.

They are definitely in the conversation when it comes to contenders as they won a tough game on the road, without their leading goal kicker in season 2022 kicking a goal.

Darcy Fort has now kicked a record 12 goals and no behinds to start his career. The most pleasing part for their coach, Chris Fagan would be that they had no passengers. They managed to weather the storm; Buddy kicked four goals in ten minutes in the third quarter.

Carlton Blues – The best form of defence is attack

The Blues played an attacking brand of footy that meant they defeated the Kangaroos by 50 points. It was great to see a debutant for the Blues with Jack Carrol amassing 19 disposals on debut. They would be pleased to have won their first third quarter of the season, with the margin being 32 points in their favour.

Despite that, they have to look back at the second quarter and still have aspects of their game to work on, as they lost it by nine points, even though they had six scoring shots to the Kangaroos’ five. The Blues responded well in the third quarter. It was 29 scoring shots to 14 in favour of the Blues for the game. The two key forwards combined for seven goals. They had ten different goal kickers.

Collingwood Magpies – They were made to work for the win

The Magpies played against a hungry Suns team that never gave up. Fortunately, the Magpies were up to the challenge. They kicked seven goals in a row after the Suns kicked the first two goals of the game. A concern would be that the Suns’ two key forwards, Levi Casboult and Mabior Chol, combined for seven goals. It was an attacking performance once again by the Magpies as they kicked 100 points or more on the third occasion in season 2022.

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They did miss Brodie Grundy from a hit-out perspective as they had 33 fewer hit-outs than the Suns. Despite that, they didn’t miss him from a structural and system perspective with Darcy Cameron kicking two goals. It also meant that they could blood a youngster in Aiden Begg, who played his first game of AFL footy.

Jack Ginnivan kicked a goal of the year contender as he broke through three Suns players who endeavoured to tackle him. He needs to keep his feet on the ground, but it’s great to see his youthful exuberance.

Essendon Bombers – Simply beaten by a better team

The Bombers can hold their heads up high as they had a go. The game was lost to the Bulldogs effectively in the third quarter, which is known as the premiership quarter; they had seven goals to the Bombers’ three. They didn’t get blown away in any of the key statistical indicators and finished the game with 21 scoring shots to the Bulldogs’ 23.

Jordan Ridley did a brilliant job curtailing the influence of Aaron Naughton, keeping the star forward goalless. Coming into this game, if you’d said that the Bombers would’ve had three less contested possessions than the Bulldogs, then the Bombers would’ve taken that. There’s plenty to take out of the game for Essendon, despite not getting the four points.

Fremantle Dockers – Kept fighting till the end

The Dockers conceded the opening 18 points of the game, but all it did was spur them on to put in a team-first effort. They played for each other. Speaking during the week, their coach Justin Longmuir said: “There’s no ceiling on this group,” and their performance showed that statement was right on the money.

Andrew Brayshaw continues to impress, while Blake Acres proved what a quality player he is. Rory Lobb provided a target as he was pivotal to their structure. They did it all without Matt Taberner, Sean Darcy and Nat Fyfe.

They also have youthful exuberance; Nathan O’Driscoll kicked a goal of the year contender in the first quarter that cut the deficit for the Dockers to 11 points. It’s only early in season 2022, but they are contenders based on the first seven games. Their game is built around ruthless defence.

Geelong Cats – Gave up an early lead

The Cats started the game well, with three goals before the Dockers even scored. From then on, the Dockers took control of the game. Tom Stewart and Cameron Guthrie were prolific, with 75 disposals between them. They had seven more inside 50s than the Dockers, they also had eight more hit-outs and one more centre clearance than them.

Along with that, the Cats had five more marks inside 50 and 15 more contested marks than the Dockers. They didn’t have the same dominance from their two key forwards with Tom Hawkins kicking two goals and Jeremy Cameron failing to hit the scoreboard; this was due to the Dockers excellent defence.

Gold Coast Suns – The collective effort was tremendous, led by their co-captains

The Suns may have lost by 25 points, but their effort was there for all to see. They may have made errors as they had 15 more turnovers than Collingwood, but that’s to be expected from a developing team. Jarrod Witts did a tremendous job in the ruck as he finished the game with 20 disposals and 44 hit-outs.

Touk Miller was inspirational as he never stopped working, amassing 36 disposals, two goals and six tackles. Noah Anderson continues to contribute as he finished the game with 32 disposals and five tackles. Levi Casboult kicked four goals, but missed four too, but he can hold his head up high along with the majority of his teammates. Mabior Chol kicked three goals in arguably his best contribution for the Suns.

GWS Giants – The first half is what they can produce

The Giants put in a performance that should boost their morale. The brand of footy they played was fantastic to watch. The team was led in a do-or-die battle by their three co-captains; Josh Kelly finished with 41 disposals, Toby Greene four goals and Stephen Coniglio three goals.

The right moves were made with Lachie Whitfield kicking three goals. They would be disappointed with the scores being level at 39 points each for both teams in the second half, as they could’ve really obliterated the Crows. They’ll want to become more ruthless if they are to be in contention for playing finals in season 2022.

Hawthorn – That’s what you call having a go

Hawthorn won’t die wondering; Sam Mitchell has given the players a license to take the game on and risk losing the ball through turnover. The players did what they felt was right, whether it be switching the play or going through the corridor. They threw in some youth with first gamer Jackson Callow getting his first shot at playing AFL footy.

There was also a milestone for captain James Sicily, who played his 100th game. Once again, they would be disappointed they started well but to no avail; they kicked the first two goals of the game. The final deficit of ten points was the narrowest loss any team has had against the Demons in season 2022.

It was a performance to savour as they were willing to turn the ball over if it meant it gave them a better chance of kicking a goal by taking the risky option.

Melbourne Demons – Their closest win of the season

The Demons were tested as they made five changes due to HS Protocol. Every player in their team is selfless with the exception of perhaps Tom McDonald, who took a mark on the line from a James Harmes kick that would’ve been a goal. Both the Demons and Hawthorn finished the game with 26 scoring shots and despite winning, the Demons would need to work on their goal kicking as they missed some elementary goals.

They were well led by Max Gawn, while Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca lifted in key moments and Ben Brown was outstanding with four goals. Angus Brayshaw and Steven May also performed admirably. Despite that, it was the collective; they step up when needed.

North Melbourne Kangaroos – It wasn’t a four-quarter display

The Kangaroos showed endeavour at times, but it wasn’t enough. It was great to see former Tigers player Callum Coleman-Jones kick his first goal for North. He finished the game with 12 disposals and 20 hit-outs. It baffles me why he has been playing in the VFL and great to see him get an opportunity at AFL level.

They battled manfully in the second and fourth quarter, as they lost those two quarters by a combined total of just one point. They do have quality players, but everything is left to the likes of Jy Simpkin, James Horne-Francis and Nick Larkey as well as Bailey Scott for the most part. Despite that, they lost the first and third quarters by a combined total of 49 points, which isn’t good enough.

Port Adelaide Power – They ground out a win

The Power kicked just one goal in the first half against a wayward kicking Saints team. Thankfully for the Power they kicked four goals to the Saints’ one in the second half. It doesn’t matter that the Power were lucky to win due to the Saints inaccuracy, the Power displayed plenty of character to claim the four points.

They may have had five fewer inside 50s and 25 fewer hit-outs, four fewer clearances and 24 fewer contested possessions than the Saints, but the only stat that matters is that Port are 2-5 after being 0-5, which means their chance of featuring in finals in season 2022 may still be alive!

Richmond Tigers – Their endeavour never wavered

The Tigers put in a four-quarter performance; they kicked at least five goals in each quarter. They played well in a game that should give them confidence that they can feature in finals in season 2022. They obliterated the Eagles as the 109-point margin substantiates.

There were no passengers. Tom J. Lynch kicked seven goals and reached 400 goals at AFL level in his 200th game. It was great to see Kane Lambert back and positional changes made by the coach, with Jayden Short playing in the midfield and Noah Balta shifted to defence. Shai Bolton was exceptional.

They had an even contribution in the absence of Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and perhaps Robbie Tarrant, if they can find a spot for him in the team. Even in such a one-sided game there are still areas for the Tigers to improve on; Lynch should’ve kicked at least ten goals.

St Kilda Saints – Bad goal kicking cost them the four points

The Saints only have themselves to blame for not being 6-1; they kicked two goals and 15 behinds after quarter time. They only had three goal kickers finishing the game, with an unacceptable total of four goals. Despite having 22 scoring shots to the Power’s 18 the Saints lost by a point.

Sydney Swans – Buddy show not enough in a respectable loss

The Swans are a good team with plenty of players, but they can’t say that they’re contenders at this stage after losing a game against the Lions that was level at nine points at quarter time on their home deck. They had five different goal kickers compared with the Lions’ ten!

Three of those five Swans players kicked 11 of their 13 goals with Buddy kicking six, Isaac Heeney three and Errol Gulden two. The star of the show was Buddy, who kicked a goal of the year contender in the third quarter. They simply played a team that played at their optimum level, in the Lions and would’ve probably beaten any team in the competition, possibly even the Demons!

West Coast Eagles – It’s a trainwreck!

The Eagles put in an extremely disrespectful performance to their fans as they were annihilated by the Tigers.

There’s no excuse for the manner in which they played. Even so, there were a couple of positives, somehow, as Josh J. Kennedy kicked his 700th goal in the AFL and four goals in the game. In his first AFL game, Greg Clark had 24 disposals as well as six tackles.

Despite that, it was a disgraceful display, as they looked devoid of a system or a plan and the coach that deserves to be criticised, as most of the players looked like they didn’t care.

Western Bulldogs – They’re getting back to the best, as there was a test of depth

The Bulldogs won against the Bombers by 32 points, despite the fact that Aaron Naughton failed to kick a goal. The Bulldogs were once again without one of their most important players in Tim English and it showed as they had 18 fewer hit-outs than the Bombers.

Despite that, the Bulldogs had five more clearances than the Bombers as well as one more centre clearance and four more stoppage clearances than them. Bailey Smith kicked his first goal in season 2022. Josh Dunkley kicked his 50th goal in his 100th game of AFL footy. The Bulldogs did well to share the goals around as they had ten different goal kickers!