This is the first round in which every club has a body of work with which to assess them. So what conclusions can be drawn from each club?

This season has been consistently inconsistent, some weeks sides appear like premiership favourites and other weeks they’re catastrophically shambolic (looking at you Port Adelaide). This week the free-flowing football that has been prevalent throughout the first fortnight of the season was a thing of the past as ten sides kicked more points than goals, and it was grudge matches galore with the Showdown and the Derby.

18. West Coast Eagles (down 3):

The Eagles were the walking wounded on Sunday afternoon. By the final quarter, they had one left on the bench losing Alex Witherden (head knock), Jeremy McGovern (ankle), and Luke Shuey (hamstring) with other players carrying all sorts of niggles and injuries as the dam wall broke to allow the Dockers to pile on the hurt. Even with the frustrating toll of the brutal Derby match, the Eagles were able to take out some positives with Tim Kelly running out as the foremost midfielder in the Eagles outfit with 33 disposals, while Oscar Allen leaves West Coast fans optimistic about the future. The Eagles now face a resurgent Melbourne outfit at Optus Stadium.

17. Hawthorn Hawks (up one):

The Hawks won the Clarko-Mitchell Cup as the two maestros faced each other for the first time since Alastair Clarkson’s acrimonious departure from Hawthorn two years ago. Sam Mitchell would be thinking if he was to win any game this year this would be it – they’re still favourites for Harley Reid and pick one at the end of the year, but Sam Mitchell would be ecstatic to win one over his former mentor. The Hawks won this game by controlling the ball and dominating possession winning uncontested possession by 82, and getting their forwards’ first use with dominating clearances. In particular, I believe the anarchic ball use of Sam Frost out of the backline, and Will Day and Dylan Moore were huge in the midfield for the Hawks showing that the future is bright for the Hawks despite the early season pain.

16. Greater Western Sydney Giants (down four):

This match was extremely contentious marred by atrocious ball use and punctuated by some extremely controversial dissent calls and non-calls. The Giants deserved to lose this game as the superior Carlton midfield were able to control the ball at the coal face forcing the Giants to overuse the ball and butcher it heading forward. The Giants are left at the precipice of this season getting away from them and given the fickle nature of football supporters in Sydney, this could be an extremely ugly year for the team regardless of the intelligence of their rookie coach.

15. North Melbourne Kangaroos (down four):

The Kangaroos would have been hoping to beat their win total from last year this round, yet so goes the injury to Luke Davies-Uniacke and so goes the chances of them winning. Despite that there were positives to be taken from this game; Harry Sheezel continues to firm as the favourite for the rising star providing a cool head out of the backline with 26 disposals and 510 metres gain, while Cam Zurhaar appears to be relishing the new role in the guts providing a nuggety 20 disposals to go with his two goals. The Kangaroos are clearly substantially better for the addition of Clarkson as their head coach, as well as the shrewd acquisition of former Hawthorn players Daniel Howe and Liam Shiels to provide integral leadership to a young and budding North Melbourne group. They do go down because of the loss but they would not have lost too many fans.

(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

14. Brisbane Lions (down four):

This was not a good match for the Lions. They were awful, and it started primarily with their key forwards in Eric Hipwood (six disposals, one goal, one behind), and Joe Daniher (four behinds from seven disposals) it ramps up the pressure on Chris Fagan who was expected to be challenging the upper reaches of the eight this year. The one silver lining was the exemplary intercept defence of the Lions as they resisted multiple forward forays by the Western Bulldogs. Harris Andrews, in particular, gave a best-on-ground performance after a couple of lean years as the prime defender for the Lions. They need to break the tag of beating the sides they’re supposed to and losing to any side of similar quality to their own.

13. Geelong Cats (down four):

The Cats are the first reigning premier to go 0-3 since North Melbourne in 1976, admittedly that North Melbourne side rebounded to finish third with a win tally of 15. However, it was the scrappy manner in which they lost both to the Suns AFL side and the Suns VFL side (where they lost by 107 points). Now there are very few highlights outside of Jeremy Cameron which is the reason for their steep stark decline as their forward line is listless, their backline is depleted, and their midfield cannot win it without the leadership provided by Joel Selwood.

12. Western Bulldogs (up five):

Jamara Ugle-Hagan is already a superstar in my book. He kicked five goals on an exceptionally dour night despite being under the dome at Marvel Stadium and dragged his side over the line to give the Bulldogs their first win of the season, hopefully kickstarting another late September run for their under-pressure coach in Luke Beveridge. Oskar Baker is also proving to be a shrewd acquisition for the Bulldogs as he provides welcome relief and an outside run to a midfield that is a little too one-paced. Marcus Bontempelli continues to be one of the best captains in the league as he wore his heart on his sleeve to get the Bulldogs over the line.

11. Gold Coast Suns (up three):

That was one hell of a win, and against the reigning premiers no less. The Suns were able to deliver their first win of the season in emphatic fashion with a limping forward line lacking any influence from Ben King, while Jack Lukosius ably filled the void with five goals from all distances. The question that continues to remain is exactly how the Suns can fit King, Lukosius, Joel Jeffrey, Levi Casboult and Mabior Chol into the same forward line. The Suns were able to perform for David Swallow who has become representative of all the Suns should stand for playing his 200th game last weekend after being an inaugural Sun. I expect they will be on the edge of making finals this year, but they will be a fearsome opponent simply because you don’t know what footy they’re going to bring to bear.

(Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

10. Port Adelaide Power (down two):

Ken Hinkley is in trouble. The Power are 1-2 with a reasonably easy start to the season where they would have been hoping to go at least 2-1. They are still lacking in key defenders to tackle the AFL’s best key forwards as they were stretched by the potent Adelaide forward line. Additionally, the defensive effort of their midfielders left a lot to be desired exacerbating the pressure the Power backline was under, allowing the Crows to run out relatively comfortable 31-point winners. It was not all doom and gloom however with Sam Powell-Pepper providing three goals from his 15 possessions, while Charlie Dixon continues to show that age is just a number with a further three goals. I am left questioning where Port Adelaide will end up at the end of the year with an increasingly precarious situation for Hinkley.

9. Adelaide Crows (up 7):

Is it a little excessive to have the Crows up by this much? Yes, yes it is. However, I underrated them last week when they actually over-performed against a strong-ish Tigers outfit. In particular, the Crows would escalate with the performance of Izak Rankine with eight score involvements and four goals, while Riley Thilthorpe continued to show why he’s a valuable key forward with another five goals. The Crows have finally developed a potent midfield that can provide run and dare in the ranks of their high half-forwards ably assisting the blue-collar midfielders that have dominated the Crows’ sides of the past.

8. Fremantle Dockers (up five):

The Dockers are finally off the board. The highlight of this match is not a football one, but a celebratory one of Michael Frederick’s celebratory backflip, as well as kicking two goals to go with 17 disposals. The Dockers were finally playing a faster-attacking brand of football that is in vogue at the moment. This is the Dockers that were expected at the start of the year – there are still numerous questions surrounding them like how they will perform away from home, but they assuaged some of the concerns and quietened the jungle drums of the punditocracy.

7. Essendon Bombers (down three):

Is it a false dawn for the Bombers? The argument is fair, but the opposition they faced was comparatively weak and out of form – they were two games that the Bombers should have won. Disappointingly, they were exploited by small forwards conceding eight goals to Dan Butler and Jack Higgins. Additionally, they seem to have fundamentally miscast Jake Kelly’s role as he was an offensive half back which takes away his best attribute as a nullifying shut-down half-back where he is able to bully the opposition and shut down their best attribute. I think Essendon will still outperform the pre-season expectations, but they will be on the edge of the eight still firmly ensconced in the bottom ten.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

6. Richmond Tigers (no change):

The Tigers were undermanned and had their backs against the wall facing a fearsome Collingwood outfit. To break even with the inform Magpies is an achievement in itself; the game may have appeared dour and turgid in the frigid Melbourne environment as the Tigers managed to desperately hold on for a small loss of 14 points. To only lose by that amount when the Magpies had a domination of the inside fifty stat with the Tigers going down by 19, they also enabled the Magpies to run and gun off half back losing the turnover statistic and allowing the Magpies to easily win the handballs (-34).

5. Sydney Swans (down three):

Now the Swans have appeared to somewhat reverse the trend of history in that they have not had a poor start to this season beating an insipid Hawthorn and a poor Gold Coast. However, it was all for naught on a warm Sunday at the ‘G where they went down to a high-flying Demons outfit by 50 points. This can be attributed to the latent effects of losing the Grand Final by over 80 points last year, but it remains to be seen if it will be a lasting trend that will affect the entirety of their season. They were able to score a reasonable amount (84 points) despite losing by a significant margin, but they were completely unable to push through the complex defensive web that Melbourne have built their game around.

4. Carlton Blues (down two):

This was a dour game with very little to write home about as Blues literally one by the number of behinds they kicked. With the exception of if this was the Blues of yesteryear, they would have lost this game and the media would be talking about their inability to maximise their potential against a considerably weaker opposition. What stuck out watching this game was the Blues’ inefficiencies going forward; they may have two Coleman Medallists in Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow but they failed to maximise the potency of their scoring power with each forward interfering with one another. It is looking more and more likely that the Blues will play finals this year, however, I think they’re still currently a yard off the pace to be a true challenger.

3. Melbourne Demons (up four):

The Demons have swung the magnets and it has worked. Harrison Petty and Jacob Van Rooynen were able to hold down the key posts in a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ sort of situation. Additionally, the 21 disposals reached by Brodie Grundy shows that he can easily hold down the number-one ruck position when playing his unique style as a big midfielder. The other thing that helped Melbourne was their mosquito fleet with Kade Chandler and Bailey Fritsch combining for six goals easily alleviating the suspension-induced absence of Kysaiah Pickett. Melbourne have shown that Steven May is their most important player as he provides a vital anchor with which to allow the entire lineup to shape itself around. The Demons will not be the easy beats of last year where their entire season derailed after a midseason scandal -they’re clearly eager to win a premiership in front of their home fans.

 (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

2. Collingwood Magpies (down one):

I think Richmond were able to do a really good job of dragging the Magpies down to their level. They grimly defended for almost the entire night and were able to keep the Magpies close and fighting a war of attrition. It was a brutal game where the smooth-moving running and dangerous wingmen came to the forefront, and it was their use of the forward handpass to keep the ball rapidly moving through the corridor. Typically this would lead to the high scoring free flowing football that has defined the Collingwood season to this date. However, the reason I have them down is two-fold; Collingwood Magpies are still a side reliant on the individual brilliance of their players rather than any structural nuance, and the news has broken that Darcy Cameron has injured his hamstring as a result of this match leaving their midfield reeling for a viable replacement given the absences of Aiden Begg and Mason Cox.

1. St Kilda (up three):

If you were to say the Saints were to be undefeated after three rounds while they were missing Max King and Tim Membrey, it would be a bold tipster tempting fate. They are playing with a confidence in their structure enabling every player to play their role, while it does not allow too much creativity it does allow players to increase their average output. All one needs to do is look at the efforts of Jack Higgins and Dan Butler who combined for eight goals and managed to use their superior mobility with which to embarrass the Bombers backline on Saturday night. While Mason Wood has a new lease on life playing as a taller wingman at 192 cm, playing a vital conduit role with which to transfer the ball from the inside to the outside where players like Brad Hill can canter up and down the wing. I was not expecting the Saints to be this good, however, they are continuing to defy the odds and Ross Lyon is a (very) early favourite to take out coach of the year.

Well, there you have it folks. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments and I will do my best to respond. As usual thanks for reading and I will see you all next week.