As the first round of byes rolled through, there were still some big Aussie Rules results that continued to shape the top eight.
A potential Rising Star favourite sees his hopes of winning the award vanish, the Dees return to early 2010s form and the umpiring is as per usual, stirring the pot.
So with all that chaos and confusion we witnessed we’ve put together a five-leg multi of hindsight in a little package we like to call AFL 5 Lessons Learned.
1. Captain Carlton
Patrick Cripps continues to fly the flag for the Navy Blues, and in a tightly contested affair on a ground they’d never beaten the Power at, he took the game by the scruff of the neck.
The Blues kicked eight final quarter goals to storm home against the Power to win by 36 points, now sitting outside the top four only on percentage.
It was all kickstarted by two early goals in the final quarter from Cripps, who quickly took the margin out to 19 points.
Some last-quarter brilliance from the likes of Zac Williams and Alex Cincotta quickly put the result beyond doubt.
Port Adelaide’s record against top sides at the Adelaide Oval continues to plummet below 50% since 2020, and at the end of this round, it doesn’t seem fitting to see them in the top four.
With losses against Melbourne, Collingwood, Adelaide, and Carlton, the general theme of big-time games doesn’t associate with the Power.
With a trip to Sydney to face the Giants next week, they will most likely slip out of the top four, with another loss continuing to place the pressure on Hinkley.
For the Blues, it was the type of win that spurs on a season, and with one of the hardest mid-season fixtures, they’re setting themselves up nicely for a push for the top four.
Next up, the Bombers at the MCG on King’s Birthday Eve, the biggest clash between the two since the 2011 Elimination Final?
2. The Crows are flying in the wrong direction
The true comparison between genuine hype and false hype was on display at the MCG, as the Crows were once again no shows at the MCG.
The Hawks were daring and aggressive in transition, continually giving their forwards good looks, which got the margin out to 48 points early in the third quarter.
Adelaide has been left wanting many times this year, and it’s been their inability to expand their game style from last year that has made them so predictable.
Whilst they’re known for their transition off turnover, there seems no alternative, especially when they can’t restrict their opposition’s uncontested ball movement.
Dylan Moore had a career-best performance, punishing the Crows around the ground and inside 50 with five goals from 27 disposals.
Hawks legend Jack Gunston kicked three goals in his 250th game, and Jack Ginnivan did Ginni things with a spectacular finish to end the third quarter.
There’s accountability within the Hawks system, which makes their rebuild so much more effective than the Crows.
The Hawks had nine individual goal-kickers and were always able to find different avenues to goal, whilst the Crows seemed hopeful a forward would produce a moment inside 50.
Hawthorn still isn’t finals bound yet, but their system and development are sustainable.
The Crows need to reassess where they’re at, if they’re unable to do it out of Adelaide and win in different ways, they will keep living off the hope they had in 2023.
On the bright side, they might finish with a top-five draft pick in a draft stacked with midfielders and bolster their midfield.
3. Rising Star Race Reopens
Sam Darcy and Harley Reid have had weeks to forget, finding themselves in trouble with the MRO, with two-week suspensions each for a bad bump and tackle respectively.
Darcy went hard at Brayden Maynard in their 18-point win over Collingwood, which set off tempers early.
He went and made up for it, going on to kick three goals for the match along with a spectacular final goal snap that sealed the four points for the Dogs.
Reid was on fire in the first half for the Eagles, going into the main break with 17 disposals, but was quickly tagged by Marcus Windhager in the second half.
Fair to say it worked, and Harley was reduced to two touches in the third, reduced around the contest.
It was clear the anger and frustration set in, a lot more aggressiveness in his contest work, and with a few umpire calls going against him, it seemed to get the best of him.
The tackle has mixed opinions, but it did feel overly aggressive with the slam, as Reid did have enough control of Wilson to take him to the ground calmly.
As a result, it opens the door for the Rising Star.
The battle probably lies between Caleb Windsor and Colby McKercher, barring any spurt of form from Jed Walter or Ryley Sanders.
The class on both ends from those two are next level, both with elite work rates.
But who knows, maybe Harley will get off and the discussion will be a thing of the past…
4. Docker Demolition
It felt like the Demons were taken back to the early 2010s as the Dockers demolished them by 92 points in Alice Springs.
Maybe the writing was on the wall for the Dees, with a previous loss in the West and a 36-0 deficit against the Blues, it seemed to all fall apart.
After getting off to a 13-0 start, the Dockers went on to score the next five goals of the first quarter and ended up at half time with a 50-point lead.
It was exceptional the way the Dockers turned it on with their ball movement, and with questions surrounding their legitimacy in 2024, this was a statement performance.
There was a lot of versatility in their transition, switching angles and opening up the forward line with ease, they outworked the Demons in the middle all day.
The Dockers disposal efficiency was ridiculous at 80.2% and with a +25 win in the clearances, they executed to a tee.
It places the Demons in a weird spot because you’d suspect they have too much talent to fall off drastically, but they’re in no position to start dropping games.
Up against an injured Pies lineup on King’s Birthday, a loss practically sees the top four disappear, but with their last seven games against teams in the top 10, they might find it hard to make finals.
5. Should football be so confusing?
There’s nothing that gets us footy fans fired up more than indecision and inconsistency from the men in green.
After the AFL announced their amendments to the adjudication of the holding the ball rule, it was evident that every team was going to cop it one way or another.
The Power and Eagles got away with it the most, as the Blues had 75 tackles for only one holding the ball, after being pinned for some very questionable calls themselves.
The rules themself are not bad on the surface, it promotes quick ball use, less congestion, and more speed around the contest.
However, the rule dismisses prior opportunity, which left quite a few players dazed as they made no attempt to get rid of it as most do when they’re tackled immediately.
After we saw the Pies cop a costly free kick late against the Dockers last week for failing to return the ball to the umpire, the Bombers found themselves inserted in the category.
Laverde was penalised correctly, however, it’s a call that should never have happened in the context of the game.
When he picked the ball up the whistle had just been blown, he was running in the other direction, turned around, and gave it to the player walking towards him, which he probably assumed was the winner of the free kick.
It didn’t lose the Bombers the match, but some common sense is probably what we’re all crying out for.
The rules that are the most nit-picky get called in the worst times, whilst the rules we expect to be consistent, are barely called at all.
But that’s just our game.