Three weeks of footy down and the picture becomes ever so clearer on who is living up to the hype and who’s struggling to meet the mark.
The Saints finally got their first Spud’s game win against the Pies, who now face the harrowing prospect of a 0-4 start up at the Gabba this week.
The Cats have sent the Crows into early crisis mode at the Adelaide Oval, Hawthorn are reminded they’re on the rebuild path still, and the Dogs reminded us their best can compete with anyone.
As always, we put together five legs of hindsight and bring you 5 Lessons Learned – AFL Round 2
1. The story is about the Saints, not the Pies.
Whilst the talk surrounded Collingwood’s third loss of the season to send them 0-3, not enough is being said about how good that win was for the Saints.
Going in as underdogs, never winning a Spud’s game up to that point, and playing the Pies at the MCG as the home side, it was a win against the odds.
We’ve seen glimpses of potential from the likes of Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Marcus Windhager, but they were unearthed as genuine threats in the competition on Thursday night.
Windhager brought the pressure and defensive intensity with his shutdown roles through the midfield, and Wanganeen-Milera was electric on the outside with his speed and delivery inside 50.
Max King capitalised on his opportunities, three goals straight, and Jack Higgins turned it on with four goals and a possible goal-of-the-year contender.
It was shocking to see Mason Wood go down in the fashion he did, along with Liam Henry who unsuspectingly has been ruled out for six weeks with a high-grade left hamstring strain.
Whilst the midfield lacks depth for the Saints, they’re quite sound across the ground, and under Ross Lyon, they’ve got a tactical advantage over most.
The Saints haven’t regressed like most expected, and with a win like that, they’ve proven they’re still in contention.
2. Natural improvement isn’t a given.
The Crows put together another lacklustre performance on Friday night, going down to the Cats who executed effectively to shut down Adelaide’s rebounding offense.
When the Crows can’t generate drive through the middle and capitalise on turnover, they’re simply not built for slower contested build-ups.
Tom Stewart had a field day in defence with ten intercept marks, and with their neat setup, they turned the tables on the Crows and beat them in transition with their run and carry.
Last week proved the Crows still can’t take it up to quality opposition out of Adelaide, which wasn’t of much concern given their efficiency in Adelaide.
But a concerning loss at the Oval where they banked their wins last year raises questions about how serious this team is.
For all the talk of top four and finals, it looks like a team who believed it would simply happen for them, maybe not accounting for the fact that other teams improve with you.
We learned early in 2023 with Carlton that just missing out on finals the year before doesn’t guarantee you a spot the next year, with their drastic fall sending them to 15th in Round 13 until their late-season turnaround.
Will these adjustments come for the Crows, or will they be left with another season of ifs and buts?
3. Could the Goal of the Year technically not be a goal?
2023 left us with a sour taste of how goal-line technology can severely impact a game and finals chances.
In 2024, boundary-line technology seems to be the new desperately needed resource for the AFL to invest in.
Jack Higgins’ beauty of a kick from 45 pushed against the boundary was exceptional, but some replay angles suggest that the ball may have been over the line.
Whilst the game was pretty much done and dusted, it was a tight affair that any earlier in the contest, may have had a significant impact on the outcome.
Similarly, Saturday night saw Kyle Langford try his luck, playing on from a mark, outside the boundary line, play on called, eventuating in a goal from his inside 50 entry.
Human error is natural and expected, but is it time for the AFL to step in here with technology that erases human error in an easily fixable area?
We’ve seen in world soccer the use of balls with microchips inside of them to communicate with the referee’s watch whether the ball crosses the line.
All grounds are different in the AFL which might not help the case here, but in this day and age, there is no excuse to make these errors, which luckily weren’t costly.
4. Gold Coast of old are back in town, or maybe they never left?
The Suns had every opportunity to finally take a step in a new direction.
Up against a vulnerable Bulldogs side who have been on the ropes for a considerable amount of time, not just this year, they squandered another opportunity to make a statement interstate.
The Suns were outworked and outclassed by the Bulldogs in Ballarat, who sized up the conditions well and won it in the first quarter with nine goals.
In their entire existence, the Suns have a 17.8% winning percentage away from the Gold Coast, which speaks to the volume of their reoccurring issue.
They don’t lack talent, even bolstered this week by the inclusion of ready-made AFL footballer Jed Walter out of their Academy.
But a team who simply doesn’t have the traveling presence supporter-wise most teams do, they don’t answer to the call, lacking momentum or spark in their movement.
They’ve almost perfected the Gold Coast, but they’re incapable of taking scalps interstate.
Their top eight aspirations will continue to be on hold until they break the mould.
5. Cats and Continuation
Premiers in 2022, missing finals in 2023, surely the downward trend continues?
Well, if we haven’t learned our lesson before, we will soon again, as the Cats have executed terrific well to start 2024.
They fought it out with the Saints, who certainly aren’t easy beats this year, and went over to Adelaide and beat the Crows at their own game.
When you have the class of Tom Stewart, Patrick Dangerfield, Jeremy Cameron, and Tom Hawkins, regardless of age, you’re always in with a chance.
Their energy off the rebound was polished, and whilst they were dominated statistically in most areas of the game, they’re tactically one of the best at supressing opposition possession.
Maybe the premiership hangover took over the Cats ambition in 2023, but it’s a new year, and with a few of their veterans likely on the exit come the end of the year, maybe a premiership push is still on the cards.
Hawks on Easter Monday, Bulldogs in Adelaide, and North in Geelong, the Cats could have some breathing space in the eight very early on.