The third edition of the AFL‘s Gather Round has come and gone, with plenty of positive and not-nearly-as-positive performances to sink our teeth into.
From the Cats and Lions clawing their way to victory, to the questions being asked about a Day-less Hawthorn, here are our biggest take-outs from the weekend.
1 – Geelong will be at the pointy end…again.
For non-Cats supporters, the unfortunate reality is the blue and white hoops will undoubtedly be there when September rolls around. Again.
It’s what they do.
Chris Scott could lose half his list in any given off-season and still find a way to make his side competition both offensively and defensively.
After their incredible 19-point come-from-behind victory over the Crows in Gather Round, the Cats rank second for points scored (503) and fifth for defence (383) so far this season.
Bailey Smith led the charge again with a game-high 35 disposals, taking his season average to 30 and making his bird to the Crows’ faithful a mere blip on an otherwise perfect start to his career as a Cat.
While they’re dishing up some unpredictable performances early in the season, you get the feeling it’s all about to click and the consistency will come.
2 – Lions are back where they belong
It’s taken five rounds of winning, but the reigning premiers are back where they belong on the first line of betting in the 2025 premiership futures.
As was pointed out in this column multiple times over the past month, the Lions surprisingly found themselves at $6.50 and below the Hawks.
Not anymore.
After punching out a seriously impressive comeback victory over the Dogs on Saturday and making it five wins on the trot, Chris Fagan’s men launched into $5.50 and alongside the Giants at the top of the market.
While they’ve got room to improve defensively (what’s new?), it’s hard to see the Lions falling from the top of the tree again.
3 – No Day, no Hawks?
It’s a question, not a statement.
But the stats don’t lie; the Hawks are significantly less successful than when their star midfielder is available to play.
Day was last week diagnosed with another stress fracture in his foot and could miss up to four months of footy.
The loss of Day coincided with a disappointing performance against the Power on Sunday night, whereby the Hawks gave up 12 of the first 13 goals and eventually went down by 30 points.
Day missed the first six rounds of 2024 after suffering the same injury in the same foot, and the Hawks struggled accordingly with a 1-5 record.
We know they went on to win 13 of their next 17 and make an enthralling run to finals upon Day’s return, but they must learn from history and avoid a similar form slump this time around.
4 – SA’s not that bad, Higgo.
Low-hanging fruit, but it’s safe to say most are fans of Gather Round.
While Saints star Jack Higgins joked (was he joking though?) about preferring to play Call Of Duty in his hotel rather than hang out in Adelaide, there’s no doubt the city turned it on from the moment the Crows and Cats kicked things off Thursday night.
With the Norwood Food & Wine Festival, games at the Barossa, a state match and a record attendance of 260K+, it’s hard to see the round change venues after 2026.
5 – Giant Toby’s Back
Anyone who thought the 31-year-old Giants captain was done and dusted after his third All-Australian year in 2023, they were wrong.
Greene struggled for form through a large part of 2024, but still managed 41 goals alongside Coleman winner, Jesse Hogan (69).
He’s really bounced out of the gates this year, however, with 2.8 goals per game, 20.2 disposals and three tackles – all above last year’s numbers.
He was flawless over the weekend with five goals against the Saints after kicking three from 24 touches last week.
Another AA blazer with the C embroidered on it? At this rate, it looks very good.