Round 3 of the 2021 AFL season is in the book.
The Easter weekend matches produced some shock results with Sydney stunning reigning premiers Richmond and Essendon thrashing 2020 finalist St Kilda.
Brisbane’s after-the-siren victory was also a highlight with Zac Bailey kicking truly to sink Collingwood.
Other Round 3 winners were the Western Bulldogs, Adelaide, West Coast, Carlton, Melbourne and Geelong.
We have selected one positive and one negative from every club’s Round 3 performance.
See our thoughts below:
Positive: Midfield clicking (and Tex again)
Rory Sloane and Rory Laird were both enormous in Adelaide’s hard-fought win over Gold Coast.
Between them they amassed 62 disposals (34 contested), 12 tackles (nine from Laird), 12 clearances, 15 score involvements and three goal assists. The pair were a driving force in the victory.
Throw in Brodie Smith (26 touches, seven inside 50s) and Ben Keays (26 disposals, four clearances) and the midfield brigade is really starting to click under Matthew Nicks.
It would be remiss not to again mention Taylor Walker. After 11 goals in the opening two games, ‘Tex’ turned it on once again with another bag of six to stamp his authority on the early Coleman Medal race.
Negative: Conceding inside 50s
It could be seen as nitpicking after winning twice in the opening three rounds, but the Crows are yet to be on the positive side of the inside 50 count.
They are getting enough of the ball up their attacking end but are allowing the opposition plenty of scoring opportunities down the other.
If the Crows are to mix it with the big boys as the season progresses, they may want to tighten up this side of their game by denying their opponent while giving themselves every conceivable hope of kicking a winning score the other way.
Andrew Slevison
Positive: Resilience
Chris Fagan’s side proved they could fight back after all the cards were stacked against them.
The Lions obviously endured an interrupted week due to the Brisbane lockdown and after the Magpies pulled away to a 25-point lead in the second term, it seemed as if the club’s circumstances had taken its toll on the playing group.
Brisbane would go on to kick the next four goals, bringing the margin back to two points before retaking the lead after the siren.
The Lions simply had to win to keep their top four hopes alive and they proved they're made of stern stuff.
Negative: Ruck dilemma
Oscar McInerney proved he may be one of the Lions’ most important players without stepping foot on Marvel Stadium last Thursday.
With Archie Smith sidelined and McInerney ruled out, Brisbane were forced to turn to a combination of Connor Ballenden and Tom Fullarton to face Brodie Grundy.
Grundy would go on to win 54 hitouts and collect 28 disposals.
While Brisbane ended up almost halving the midfield battle, they would be worried facing the Western Bulldogs this week if McInerney fails to get up.
Lachlan Geleit
Positive: Setting the blueprint
If you’re ever wondering what Carlton’s game plan is or how they want to play, just watch back Round 3’s win over Fremantle.
The Blues want to get on top around the stoppages, win the clearances and lock the ball in their forward half, with Liam Jones and Jacob Weitering setting the wall behind them.
Sam Walsh and Patrick Cripps dominated through the midfield and the fast ball movement gave Harry McKay every opportunity.
He ended up kicking 7.5 from 13 shots at goal as the Blues funnelled the ball his way.
Carlton ticked every box and will hope to recreate the performance against Gold Coast in Round 4.
Negative: Paddy Dow hasn’t yet made a fourth-year leap
Paddy Dow was the talk of the town in the pre-season following a dominant scratch match performance against Essendon.
He’d had his first uninterrupted summer and backed it up with strong pre-season form.
So far in 2021 he’s averaged 14 disposals per game and hasn’t had much of an impact.
Whether he makes it at AFL level long-term or not, it’s hard to see him maintaining his spot in the side performing at this level.
Nic Negrepontis
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Positive: Grundy's return to form
While he was expected to win last Thursday’s ruck battle, Brodie Grundy’s dominant performance against Brisbane could be the first step towards reaching the lofty standards he set in 2018 and 2019.
Grundy collected 28 disposals, 54 hitouts and five clearances in a best afield display in the loss to the Lions.
The Magpies will hope to start turning Grundy’s tap supremacy into high clearance numbers moving forward.
Negative: Struggling small forwards
The heat has been turned up on Collingwood forwards Will Hoskin-Elliott and Josh Thomas.
Despite describing their roles as “a footballer’s graveyard”, Kane Cornes thinks the pair would be “feeling the pinch” after poor starts to the season.
Both Hoskin-Elliot and Thomas have kicked just one goal from three games this year and have botched several opportunities inside 50.
The most frustrating aspect for Nathan Buckley would be their dramatic drop after kicking 80 combined goals in 2018.
They’ll need to recapture any semblance of that form if they’re to hold their spots.
Lachlan Geleit
Positive: The overall response
Essendon could not have looked any more uncompetitive against Port Adelaide in Round 2, but in the same respect the response against St Kilda could not have been more impressive.
The Bombers looked on right from the outset against the Saints on Saturday, with the intent to apply pressure and spread from the contest evident early.
In truth, the game was over very quickly, with the Bombers taking control and responding brilliantly after last week’s performance.
Ben Rutten has continued to preach defence-first and pressure footy, the big challenge for Essendon will be backing it up against the unbeaten Swans at the SCG this Thursday night.
Negative: Injuries continue to mount
The Bombers were the competition’s youngest side in Round 3, largely due to the club’s extensive injury list which continued to grow last week.
The club was forced to use their medical sub once again, with defender Mason Redman forced off with a hamstring strain.
Essendon can ill afford too many more injuries if they want to stay competitive throughout the season.
Laurence Rosen
Positive: Young small forwards have an impact
Nothing went right for the Dockers on Sunday afternoon. They were comprehensively smacked by Carlton.
If anything, the form of Michael Frederick and Sam Switkowski will please Freo fans.
The small forwards provide pressure and had scoring opportunities, combining for 2.6.
Michael Walters also got through his return game unscathed, kicking two goals.
Negative: Insipid midfield effort
The Dockers were thrashed in the midfield when the game was on the line and the absence of Nathan Fyfe was not an excuse.
Fyfe spent the first half of the GWS game in Round 2 forward before being substituted out and the Freo midfield rose to the occasion, beating the talented Giants group comfortably.
And yet the exact same group was no match for Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh, who did as they pleased on Sunday.
Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra had no influence, with the former held well by Ed Curnow.
Nic Negrepontis
Positive: They just keep finding a way
In an alternative universe, Geelong could very well be 0-3 and fighting to keep within touching distance of the top eight against Melbourne this week.
But as fate would have it, they managed to grind out a win in the most controversial of circumstances against Brisbane last week and saw off a fast-finishing Hawks on Easter Monday.
Chris Scott will know his side isn’t playing to their potential, but it’s a positive they’ve won two of their first three, even with star duo Jeremy Cameron and Patrick Dangerfield on the sidelines.
Negative: Fading in games
Geelong led Brisbane in Round 3 by as much as 26 points and Hawthorn by 30 points, before slowly being pegged back as those respective matches unfolded.
While it only represents a two-game trend at the moment, it’s something the Cats will be keen on fixing as the season wears on.
Scott’s game style largely comes from wanting to control large parts of games through slowing the game down and methodically working their way through matches.
But they’ll have to be wary moving forward about being overrun by sides who are more daring with their ball movement.
Laurence Rosen
Positive: Emerging stars shine
Gold Coast would be delighted with Ben King and Noah Anderson’s improvement.
The Suns youngsters were prominent in Friday night’s narrow loss to Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
King booted a career-high four goals while Anderson continued his prolific season with a team-high 26 disposals, seven clearances and five score involvements.
Anderson’s 18 contested possessions highlights his versatility after a positional switch late last year.
Negative: Witts injury
Gold Coast’s injuries are mounting.
The Suns suffered a major blow with co-captain and ruckman Jarrod Witts injuring his knee late in the third quarter against the Crows.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that Witts has ruptured his ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
With Zac Smith (knee), Sam Day (knee) and Matthew Conroy (knee) also sidelined, Gold Coast’s ruck stocks look extremely thin just three rounds in.
It's looking ominous for the Suns who are already without Matt Rowell (knee), Connor Budarick (knee) and Elijah Hollands (knee) for an extended period.
Alex Zaia
Positive: Youngsters gaining experience (and Toby again)
There aren’t too many positives for GWS just yet, but the performances of Lachlan Ash and Isaac Cumming stood out.
With less than 30 games’ experience between them, the dashing defenders showed plenty in the loss to Melbourne, picking up 24 and 29 disposals respectively.
Both players will take heart and gain some invaluable experience from that.
Take a bow Toby Greene. For the second week in a row he was the only Giant who delivered.
He kicked 5.2 of his side’s 11.2. Imagine, if like many of his teammates, he failed to show up.
Negative: Adding insult to injury
Just as things were getting bad, they quickly became worse for the Giants.
Captain Stephen Coniglio suffered a serious ankle injury, ex-skipper Phil Davis hurt his calf and Matt De Boer pinged a hamstring in the Demons defeat.
The already gaping hole they find themselves in has become a little deeper on the back of these injuries.
It’s safe to say their entire season hangs in the balance against Collingwood this coming weekend.
Andrew Slevison
Positive: The backline is (mostly) sorted
Between Changkuoth Jiath, Jarman Impey, Jack Scrimshaw and Blake Hardwick, the Hawks have a backline to build around.
Impey is back at his best after a year to find his feet, while Scrimshaw and Jiath took 20 marks between them in the loss to Geelong.
The only remaining question for them is the key position posts, but they drafted Denver Grainger-Barras to eventually fill that void.
The forward line has a lot of holes in it, but defensively the Hawks are on track.
Negative: What’s happened to James Worpel?
After winning Hawthorn’s best and fairest as a second-year player in 2019, James Worpel has taken a bit of a step backwards.
So far in 2021 the midfielder has averaged just 16 disposals per game, down on 19 from last year in shorter quarters, and is struggling to find the ball around the ground.
Worpel has been pushed out of the starting on-ball rotation, with Liam Shiels favoured on the inside alongside Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara.
Nic Negrepontis
Positive: Kossie Pickett continues to impress
There’s been plenty spoken about the emerging Melbourne star, who is already earning cult hero status.
But that’s selling Pickett short - he's much better than just a cult hero and looms as one of the competition’s most exciting small forwards.
The teenager has now kicked seven goals from three goals, adding an extra element to the Demons' forward line ahead of the expected returns of Sam Weideman and Ben Brown
Pickett is one of the hottest prospects in the game right now.
Negative: Tom McDonald’s quiet game
Tom McDonald’s start to the year has been solid, but he had a quieter game on the weekend and it’s something he won’t be able to afford with competition for spots set to heat up.
Just the eight touches and a behind against the injury-hit Giants wasn’t what he would’ve been after, even more so considering his recent good form.
He’s in no danger of losing his spot in the side for now, but with Brown and Weideman back from injury soon, he’ll be wanting to cement a spot in the coming weeks.
Laurence Rosen
Positive: Ben Cunnington is back
Look, when you lose by nearly 130 points it’s tough to come up with too many positives, but Ben Cunnington is still a damn good midfielder.
Cunnington has struggled with back and concussion issues across the last two seasons, but was back to his best and held his own against a dominant Bulldogs midfield.
He picked up 22 disposals, nine clearances, six score involvements and five tackles.
Negative: Well…
They lost a game of football on the Friday night stage by 128 points.
Nic Negrepontis
Positive: Xavier Duursma
Xavier Duursma’s spirited display was a positive on an otherwise forgettable night for Port Adelaide.
The Power youngster battled hard as the visitors struggled to contain a rampant West Coast outfit on their home deck in the first half.
Duursma, 20, was his side’s best finishing with 21 touches to go with six marks, seven intercepts and 13 pressure acts.
Trailing by as much as 58 points in the third quarter, Port limited the damage by winning the second half, cutting the final margin to 37 points.
Negative: Failed first big test
It was billed as Port Adelaide’s first big test of the season.
Ken Hinkley’s side were blown away by the Eagles in the first half with the home side dominating clearances (23-13), inside 50s (32-19), contested possessions (89-66) and uncontested possessions (141-97).
It’s a reality check for Port after easy wins over North Melbourne and Essendon to start the season.
Round 4 presents another challenge for the Power with reigning premiers Richmond in town for Friday night’s blockbuster at Adelaide Oval.
We’ll learn more about where they're at.
Alex Zaia
Positive: Chance to bounce back swiftly
The Tigers were cast aside by Sydney at the MCG on Saturday but thankfully they get the chance to bounce back quickly.
This Friday night they take on Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval in what presents a major test against a quality side also coming off a humbling defeat.
Damien Hardwick often describes a loss as a chance to learn and grow and that is exactly the case here with Richmond who will be keen to hit back on the road in a bid to avoid going 2-2.
It was Richmond’s third Round 3 defeat in as many years, indicating that it certainly isn’t panic stations.
Negative: Uncharacteristic performance
The performance against Sydney was quite out of character for a Richmond side.
Some players appeared lazy and were waiting for their teammates to do the hard work, which certainly is not a great habit. Just last week we were praising the Tigers for their hunger despite all the recent success, but this week the Swans were much more 'Richmond-like' and showed them up all over the park.
Hardwick said of the loss: “The score flattered us. It felt like it was a 10-goal loss. I thought they killed us in every facet of the game.”
Tigers fans will be hoping that sort of subpar display is merely just a one-off.
Andrew Slevison
Positive: Jack Steele
St Kilda co-captain Jack Steele did his best to pick up the slack in the face of an Essendon onslaught.
Steele was the only Saint to play anywhere their potential as his teammates surrendered meekly to a young and hungry Bombers outfit.
The 2020 All-Australian collected an equal game-high 35, seven clearances and a goal in his 100th AFL game.
He was badly let down with the next highest disposal winner for the Saints registering just 18.
Negative: Tackling pressure and overall effort
St Kilda’s 75-point thrashing was described by club great Nick Riewoldt as “soft” and “immature”.
He's not wrong.
11 tackles in a half of football is nothing short of insipid as Essendon punished the Saints by scoring a whopping 106 points from turnovers.
St Kilda totally underestimated the injury-hit Bombers with 15 players laying less than one tackle, highlighting their reluctance to apply defensive pressure.
Coach Brett Ratten must consider a selection shake-up with daunting matches against West Coast, Richmond and Port Adelaide to come.
To make matters worse, Jade Gresham (Achilles) will miss the rest of the season.
Alex Zaia
Positive: Proving their credentials
Sydney's shock win over Richmond proved their opening fortnight was no fluke.
The Swans are now firmly placed in finals calculations after the MCG victory, and many are wondering if 2021’s style of play could even allow them to make a deep September run.
Perhaps most importantly, the win took John Longmire’s side to 3-0 before the fixture opens up for them.
The Swans face Essendon on Thursday, before taking on GWS and Gold Coast thereafter.
There’s every chance Sydney find themselves at 6-0, and the bar will continue to rise with what they can achieve if they manage to extend this impressive run.
Negative: Selection dilemma
Lance Franklin looks set to make a return for this week's match against Essendon, but who makes way from a side that kicked 117 points against last year’s premiers?
Sam Reid and Hayden McLean are the options that come to mind, but their performances didn’t warrant a stint in the reserves.
We all know 'Buddy' will come back, and the fact that there’s no player obviously out of form for him to replace proves how well the Swans are currently going.
If the main negative is that you’re unsure who to drop after a dominant team performance, then you’re doing something right.
Lachlan Geleit
Positive: Andrew Gaff
A renowned accumulator, Gaff saw the ball just 32 times across the opening fortnight.
It was conceivable that his capacity to track the stoppages and provide an outlet had been undermined by the new paradigm, with the ball often traversing the ground in seconds.
On Saturday night however, the veteran returned to form with 36 disposals, 13 marks and 460 metres-gained.
Reporters speculated the 28-year-old had been instructed to move closer to the contest, but Eagles coach Adam Simpson said he had merely fought through the slump.
“We did nothing. He just played his normal role,” shrugged Simpson.
“It’s been two games, (so) we just let him do his thing. There wasn’t anything from an instructional point of view.”
Negative: Luke Shuey's hamstrings
Shuey provided a snapshot of his importance to the Eagles before succumbing to the hamstring injury that kept him out of the opening two rounds.
The West Coast skipper notched 28 disposals and seven clearances, and gave the Eagles’ engine room a balance that wasn’t discernible in the opening rounds.
“Luke’s awareness around the ball and stoppages… we saw 26-27 touches in 60 minutes, but what he did from an organisational point of view is what we missed last week,” Simpson explained.
“We need people to step up when he’s not there.”
Now, Shuey appears set for at least another three weeks on the sidelines, and the club isn’t sure where to turn.
“We’ve tried every different program under the sun. We’ll keep going back to the drawing board until we get it right,” the coach lamented.
“We’ve just got to dig a bit deeper. (I'm) not sure how much we can dig, we’ve dug pretty deep.”
Nathan John
Positive: Killer instinct
The Bulldogs sit at the summit of the competition through three rounds, with a percentage of 181.6 following their plundering of North Melbourne on Good Friday.
The figure will likely regress as the season progresses, but it represents a ruthless instinct the Dogs haven’t always possessed. On the four occasions they have qualified for the finals under Luke Beveridge, their percentage has never eclipsed 116.
To examine only the context of this game, the Roos were truly, deeply insipid, and the victors’ movement by hand and foot was ballistic and exciting, with room to mature too.
Zoom out, though, and the Bulldogs’ bloodthirsty, unsympathetic second half could be a ticket to the top four, while the compounding of their chemistry and understanding - particularly in the forward line - will be invaluable against sterner opposition.
Negative: Ryan Gardner’s setback
In the opening minute of the game, Dogs key defender Ryan Gardner ran onto a low Kangaroos entry and was cleaned up by twin tall Alex Keath, injuring his AC joint.
The 23-year-old will miss 6-8 weeks rehabilitating the shoulder, leaving the Dogs to select a replacement from Lewis Young, Zaine Cordy and medium defender Buku Khamis ahead of a date with Joe Daniher and Eric Hipwood.
Gardner’s position in the team was far from assured - though Beveridge may disagree - but the selection committee at Whitten Oval value continuity, and his job was set to get easier with premiership captain Easton Wood back in the frame.
It is a bitter blow for a player who, for his flaws and the slow pace of his growth, was evidently incorporating feedback into his game, and swelling in confidence.
Nathan John