What are the key takeaways and observations relating to your club in Round 8?
We have dissected each of the matches and offered a number of talking points for all 18 clubs.
The following will not apply to each club every week but form the basis of our views.
The Key Takeaway
The Undroppables
The Overreaction
The Positive
The Negative
What no one is talking about
What they need to tweak for next week
What they need to tweak for next week: Unsociable Crows need to make a return
Saturday was a big chance for the Crows to right a wrong after squandering the Round 7 game against Collingwood. But Matthew Nicks’ men might have missed a chance with a drop in pressure.
Geelong had more disposals but still laid more tackles than the Crows, while Chris Scott’s side also dominated contested possession.
The Crows have undoubtedly got an added layer of class in 2023, but blue-collar pressure has been the defining element of Nicks’ side since he took over.
Adelaide is sixth for contested footy in 2023 and ninth for tackles, both above Geelong. Round 8 could serve as a mini wake up call in that department.
The Positive: Matt Crouch makes his return
Crouch hadn’t featured at the top level since Round 17 last year, but the 28-year-old midfielder made a triumphant return as Saturday’s substitute.
He gathered 12 disposals in a half of footy when replacing Nick Murray and didn’t look out of place at the top level. At the very least, it’s a sign that Nicks wants to reward the form of Crouch’s strong SANFL campaign earlier this year, while it could also indicate Crouch isn’t far away from earning his best 22 spot back.
Either way, after the events of the last 10 months, it’s good to see Crouch back at the top level.
The Negative: Might be time to give Josh Rachele a spell
Rachele has been a bona fide star in 2023, but the 20-year-old looked tired against the Cats. Coming off a quieter game last week, he gathered eight touches from just under 70 per cent time on ground.
He did attend less centre bounces, but eight disposals isn’t a reflection of Rachele’s talents and what he achieved earlier in the year.
One week in the SANFL or even a week off to get the freshness back in his legs could be on the cards because if Adelaide is to make a finals charge in 2023, Rachele will play a big part.
Seb Mottram
The Positive: Harris Andrews is back
Harris Andrews is back to his 2019/2020 form.
Albeit a dual All-Australian in his own right, there’s no doubt his form dropped away significantly in the last few years.
He lacked confidence, he made silly mistakes and he looked a shell of the player he once was. But he’s back.
Andrews this season has rated above average for disposals (15.6), metres gained (227.7), intercept possessions (7.5), spoils (8.1) and is ranked eighth in the competition for marks (8.1).
The way he played Harry McKay on Friday night was a lesson for any young defenders.
If he continues to play like this, he looks set for a third All-Australian blazer.
The key takeaway: Jack Payne is a jet
While we’re on the topic of key defenders, let’s give some love to Jack Payne.
Lining up on arguably the best player in the game in Charlie Curnow, Payne proved to the AFL world that he’s a bona fide AFL defender.
He kept Curnow to ten disposals, six marks and one goal whilst having 13 touches and nine marks himself.
Payne and Andrews are having terrific seasons.
The Overreaction: The Lions don’t perform in Melbourne.
The AFL media have this narrative in their heads that the Lions can’t play in Melbourne, it’s just not true.
I think it’s time we put this myth to bed that the Lions can’t play in Victoria (myself included).
The next time they play down here it’ll be against Hawthorn at the MCG, you can lock that win in and see their record in Melbourne grow to five on the trot.
Hugh Fitzpatrick
The Overreaction: Carlton is staring down the barrel of five straight losses
This clash with the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night looms as Carlton’s most winnable match in the next month, with Collingwood, Sydney (away) and Melbourne to follow.
Given what we saw from the Blues on Friday night, they are not up to the level of the top eight sides and will struggle to pinch a victory from those four games.
Assuming the worst, that Round 13 clash with Essendon looms as one hell of a litmus test for Michael Voss and his future at the helm.
What no one is talking about: Blues too tall in defence
The decision to sub Lewis Young out in the third quarter highlighted this.
The Blues played Young, Jacob Weitering, Brodie Kemp and Mitch McGovern and while it worked fine against West Coast, the Blues must’ve felt like they lacked run against Brisbane, hence subbing one out.
Kemp doesn’t deserve to lose his spot in the senior side, but he may need to be given a different role, with someone like Jordan Boyd replacing him in defence to add some speed and ball use.
The Positive: Alex Cincotta
Alex Cincotta spent a year in Carlton’s VFL system in 2022 and caught the eye of the club’s recruiting staff.
He was re-signed for 2023 before earning the last spot on the club’s list following the season-ending injury suffered by Zac Williams.
Cincotta has slotted in seamlessly at AFL level in the last fortnight playing across half back, highlights a great full process of talent identification, development and execution at AFL level.
Nic Negrepontis
The Key Takeaway: They found a way on a tough day
It wasn’t pretty, but Collingwood found a way to get the job done.
Looking at the stat sheet, there weren’t any standouts from the Magpies apart from Brody Mihocek who kicked a career-high five goals.
While the side is littered with stars, Collingwood will be pleased to know they can win – and in a reasonably comfortable fashion – without any of their big guns putting in a big performance.
Knowing that they have a strong base of effort, intensity and structure means the Magpies will be even more dangerous if only some of their better players have good days.
It’s a sign of where this side is at as the fixture begins to open up for them across the next month.
The Undroppables: Jack Ginnivan
While he wasn’t technically dropped, Jack Ginnivan is going to be hard to leave out of the best 22 next week after starting as the sub against the Swans.
After coming on late in the third quarter for Bobby Hill, a player whose spot he may be eyeing off, Ginnivan was crucial with six disposals, one goal, three tackles and four score involvements … and he probably could have won a free kick or two in other circumstances.
In a game where Collingwood were struggling forward of centre, there’s no shock that Ginnivan’s inclusion coincided with the Magpies stringing goals together as his smarts and skills came to the fore.
There is a view that he might be an ideal sub given his attributes, but surely Ginnivan has earned a start for next Sunday’s clash against GWS.
What no one is talking about: Mason Cox’s return
While he didn’t have his best game, Mason Cox immediately made Collingwood look better structurally in his first game back from internal bleeding.
Cox finished with seven disposals, four score involvements, four marks and 14 hitouts, and probably should have kicked a goal in the fourth term after taking a strong mark inside 50.
Having only just been reintroduced to contact at training late last week, Cox will be better for the run with the Magpies now having a genuine bail-out option down the line if they are forced to go slow and long.
If he gets some more fitness under his belt, the number one ruck role could be his before Darcy Cameron returns, allowing Billy Frampton to head back if matchups dictate that necessity.
The Pies will be pleased to have his magnet available at selection meetings going forward.
Lachlan Geleit
The Key Takeaway: Essendon needs to bolster their key position stocks
The Bombers are in the midst of their toughest stretch of matches this season, so the last thing they would’ve wanted on the road against Port Adelaide was to lose arguably their most important defender in Jordan Ridley through concussion.
After Jayden Laverde went down against Collingwood a fortnight ago, Essendon’s key positions issues are being shown up against some of the best sides in the competition.
While they went mighty close to pulling off an upset against the Power, what the last few weeks have shown is they’ll be sweating on injury-prone top draft pick Zach Reid fulfilling position.
But they also need to invest in the future and look to make it a at focus at the upcoming draft. Brad Scott is using this year as one of exploration and the areas of improvement are becoming evident.
The Positive: More competitive than expected
A game on the road against a red hot Port Adelaide could’ve spelled danger, but Essendon were more than competitive considering their injury issues at present and the fact they lost Ridley during the match.
Essendon’s performances against the very best teams in the last few weeks have largely rested on winning the ball at the source – when they’ve done that they’ve been able to score freely but once it drops off, they tend to struggle.
As the draw opens up post their clash against Brisbane at the Gabba next Saturday, they should be able to convert these brave losses into more points.
Laurence Rosen
The Key Takeaway: A win to get some momentum going
Should we read too much into this win?
Big wins over the bottom three teams are nice for percentage, but ultimately haven’t led to a whole heap of momentum for other teams.
The Dockers beating Sydney at the SCG next weekend however would be the catapult their season has been searching for.
The Positive: Season best effort from Andrew Brayshaw
It’s been a leaner season the reigning AFLPA MVP, but Andrew Brayshaw stuffed the stat sheet against Hawthorn.
The star on-baller finished with two goals, 34 disposals, nine marks, eight tackles and seven score involvements in the dominant victory.
Significantly up from his average of 27 disposals across the opening two months of the season.
The Overreaction: Nathan Fyfe is ready to cook
Nathan Fyfe looked great in just over a quarter of action for the Dockers on the weekend.
It was a nice way to reintegrate him back into this Freo side and get some run into his legs after more injury issues.
While it may be a slow burn to get him cooking over four quarters, Fyfe having an impact is exactly what Fremantle needs to push back up the ladder.
Nic Negrepontis
The Negative: Danger’s hamstring
The Cats have now confirmed Patrick Dangerfield is set to miss a few weeks with a left hamstring he suffered late in the second term.
The Geelong captain was best-on-ground in the first half before being subbed off and now seems likely to miss games against Richmond, Fremantle and GWS.
Given his blistering start to the season, it’s a major blow for the Cats. Can the inside midfield hold up without him?
What no one is talking about: Ratugolea’s 10 votes
10 coaches votes in your eighth game as a full-time defender? That’s a performance worthy of some serious praise.
Eight intercept possessions, eight contested possessions and three contested marks paint the picture of a very adept defender. Considering he did it against one of the league’s best forwards in Taylor Walker, he should undoubtedly be spending more time in the headlines.
The Positive: Holmes flourishing before our eyes
Quickly turning into one of the Cats' best, Max Holmes again starred on Saturday afternoon.
21 disposals, five clearances and a goal don’t tell the story of Holmes’ ball use and creativity that was pivotal in plenty of forays forward.
Patrick Dangerfield last year compared him to Chris Judd. If Holmes can start finding more of the footy, the Cats will be licking their lips.
Seb Mottram
The Positive: Noah Anderson
This was one of the performances of the season and Anderson almost dragged the Suns over the line.
The 22-year-old stuffed the stats sheet in gathering 37 possessions (17 contested), 10 clearances and a goal but was pivotal in everything the Suns did out of the middle.
Undoubtedly, it played a big role in dominating a stacked Demons’ midfield in contested possessions and also winning clearances.
The Key Takeaway: Gold Coast’s best can go close
The last two minutes of this clash was unbelievable. Gold Coast’s will to win would have beaten most if not all AFL teams, but only a desperate Melbourne outfit and an inaccurate Darcy Macpherson saw the Demons emerge triumphant.
If the Suns bring that intensity, they’re a top eight team. But are they still building or is that the peak?
It’d be great for footy to see Gold Coast keep putting up these kinds of efforts.
Regardless, the Suns’ loss still had the club gaining momentum, momentum which should continue to grow this weekend against West Coast.
Seb Mottram
The Key Takeaway: Tom Green is a future captain
After captain Toby Greene was a late exclusion due to an ankle injury, it was up to one of the Giants’ leaders to step up in a big way. Tom Green has had excellent performances before but he carried GWS on his back with his effort on Saturday night.
Green finished with 38 disposals, 10 score involvements, nine tackles, eight clearances, 634 metres gained and 3.1. At just 22 years of age, GWS have a genuine superstar on their hands and a player to build a future around.
The positive: Jesse Hogan’s performance
It had been a tough start to the season for the key forward but Jesse Hogan easily had his best showing of the year in a losing effort.
Hogan collected 17 possessions including nine marks and even had six hitouts. Despite kicking an inaccurate 2.3, the 28-year-old found himself in the thick of the action on plenty of occasions and contributed with nine score involvements.
The negative: Cadman struggling to find his feet
After finding himself subbed out of the Sydney derby, number one draft pick Aaron Cadman was again substituted off midway through the third quarter. After only collecting four touches last week, Cadman could only manage the three before being replaced with James Peatling.
Charles Goodsir
The Key Takeaway: Tough run ahead
Despite some competitive recent performances, it’s going to be a loooonnnnnnng season for the young Hawks.
We are only seven rounds into the campaign and the Hawks are 1-7 with a percentage of just 61. The cold weather is about to hit and the Hawks will be travelling every second week over the next eight weeks with a brutal stretch of games.
West Coast in Tassie in Round 10 looks to be their only winnable game in the next eight weeks.
Next up is Melbourne, then the Eagles, and then St Kilda, Port Adelaide and Brisbane…
The Positive: Conor Nash and Seamus Mitchell
Over the past month, Nash has become the Hawks’ second best midfielder behind Will Day.
On Saturday night, he played a selfless role on Caleb Serong, keeping the Dockers gun to just nine touches in the first half.
Nash himself finished with 26 touches at 85 per cent efficiency, eight clearances and eight tackles.
Youngster Seamus Mitchell has also been a positive.
Since debuting in Round 5, Mitchell has slotted into Hawthorn’s back six seamlessly and is playing his role perfectly.
He had another excellent game against the Dockers, blanketing Michael Walters.
The Negative: James Sicily
Whilst he has had a few good games in 2023, Sicily is having a questionable season as captain.
Sicily had just nine kicks amongst his 21 touches and just didn’t quite seem himself.
Once again on Saturday night his body language was poor, which is happening far too often this season
Brad Klibansky
The Key Takeaway: Take the four points and run
Melbourne extended their winning streak against Gold Coast to 11 games, but it wasn’t as easy as they would have hoped.
Running out 85-90 winners, the Demons will simply be bad that they avoided a banana peel.
In a game that could have gone either way, Melbourne will know they were nowhere near their best and should put the result behind them.
Given how good they can look when they’re firing, you’d expect Melbourne to simply put the result behind them and move on to Round 9.
Four points, nothing more, nothing less.
The Negative: Van Rooyen’s ban
For the sake of the code, it was disappointing to see Melbourne forward Jacob Van Rooyen suspended for his spoil gone wrong on Charlie Ballard.
Clearly, Ballard’s health is the first priority, but you don’t like seeing players banned for an accidental football act without any malice.
Van Rooyen clearly collected Ballard high, but it was with the inside of his arm as he went to spoil, as opposed to a fist or elbow to the head.
The MRO saw the incident differently than most, describing the action as a strike with Nathan Buckley urging the Demons to take the ban to the Tribunal.
Kane Cornes also added that he found it “ridiculous” that a player could miss games for such an act, and you’d imagine Melbourne fans would feel the same.
Here’s hoping that Van Rooyen gets off and is free to play on Saturday when Melbourne faces Hawthorn at the MCG.
What they need to tweak for next week: Tall forward options
Melbourne probably don’t need to tweak much to beat Hawthorn on Saturday, but you’d have to imagine selectors would be considering bringing in a genuine tall forward.
Obviously, the Demons kicked enough goals to beat the Suns, but they again went in without a traditional tall forward as the forward line instead included the likes of Van Rooyen, Kysaiah Pickett, Kade Chandler, Alex Neal-Bullen, Bayley Fritsch and a resting ruckman.
With Ben Brown again having a strong game in the VFL, booting three goals, he’s certainly doing enough to press his case for a senior recall.
The Demons might see it differently internally, but you just wonder if having a Brown type in the team will help them fire on all cylinders again.
Lachlan Geleit
The Negative: Let an opportunity slip
Yes, St Kilda equally could have put the Roos away with accurate goal kicking.
No, that doesn’t change the fact that the Kangaroos could have pinched this one with accurate goal kicking of their own.
0.7 at half time and missed opportunities late from Cam Zurhaar and Luke Davies-Uniacke allowed St Kilda to maintain control of the game.
The Overreaction: Does Ben Cunnington need a rest?
Ben Cunnington was substituted out for a second time this season.
His seven-disposal, one-clearance effort clearly did not impress coach Alastair Clarkson, who has sent a message to the whole team by subbing out a big name once again.
The Roos should potentially consider resting the veteran on-baller in order to preserve him across the season.
The Undroppables: Blake Drury
North Melbourne rookie Blake Drury made his debut against St Kilda and looked at home at AFL level.
He only found the 13 disposals, but he fit in nicely and will surely now get an extended run in the senior side.
Nic Negrepontis
The Key Takeaway: Crunch time specialists
Port Adelaide’s work in fourth quarters has been phenomenal this year.
Of their current five-game win streak, the Power have trailed heading into the final term multiple times before putting in their best effort in the dying stages to claim the win.
While the Power weren’t trailing when headed into the fourth quarter against the Bombers on Sunday, their one-point lead after the third term wasn’t exactly comfortable.
Port had controlled much of the clash with Essendon but didn’t see much result on the scoreboard, yet they made a huge effort to step up their game when it came down to the wire.
The ability to close out games has become an incredibly valuable strength in today’s AFL, with the current poster child being the seemingly unkillable Magpies.
Port may not be as feared in the final term as Collingwood, but they are well on their way if they can keep this up.
The Positive: Didn’t let inaccuracy get in their head
There was a dangerous feeling that the Power were going to be victims of their own inaccuracy in this one.
At the half, Port trailed Essendon by 14 points, despite having six more scoring shots, having put themselves in a hole with a rough scoreline of 5.11.
It would have been easy for the Power to succumb to frustration and mentally check out of the contest, however they did nothing of the sort.
While Port didn’t exactly solve their goalkicking issues – kicking another nine behinds in the match – their overall attack stepped up a notch, overwhelming an Essendon defence that looked outmatched at times.
The mental aspect of the game was an underrated aspect of this impressive win.
The Negative: Junior Rioli’s bump
Junior Rioli looks set for a spell on the sidelines after the off-ball hit he laid on Jordan Ridley.
While the play didn’t seem too noteworthy at the time, the incident resulted in Ridley being concussed and subbed out of the game, landing Rioli in hot water.
With the solid stretch the electric small forward has put together as of late, losing Rioli looks set to be a huge blow.
What they need to tweak for next week: Goalkicking
Port Adelaide’s next training session should consist of eight straight hours of set shot practice.
Ken Hinkley wouldn’t be overly happy with a 20-behind performance, and will be expecting a significant improvement in kicking accuracy when they take on North Melbourne.
Jack Makeham
The Key Takeaway: Much-needed, hard-working win
It took some time, but Richmond eventually out-worked a plucky West Coast outfit at the MCG on Saturday.
Damien Hardwick’s side was made to work hard for a first win since Round 2. It wasn’t easy, but that’s exactly what they needed as opposed to a dominant thrashing.
In the end they opened the shoulders in the second half, kicking 10.6 to 4.5, and finished with +22 inside 50s and +11 scoring shots in a comfortable 46-point win.
It was a much-needed result and now gives them a chance to reset and reload.
The Positive: Bolton, Prestia and Dusty finding form
Shai Bolton has been below his best in 2023, but found form against the Eagles on Saturday.
The 2022 All-Australian lit up the ‘G with 31 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 13 score involvements, eight marks, seven clearances, two goal assists and three goals.
It’s a great sign ahead of this Friday night’s clash with Geelong.
Similarly, Dion Prestia was dangerous in a slightly altered role which saw him spend a little bit more time forward.
He kicked an equal career-high three goals - all in a row in a third-quarter meatball avalanche - had 13 score involvements (a game-high alongside Bolton) and two goal assists
Dustin Martin also tuned up for the Cats with 27 touches and indeed looked sharp.
The Negative: Quiet Cumberland
There is no doubting Noah Cumberland’s natural and raw ability as a forward.
He has a knack of kicking goals out of nothing and turning it on when the Tigers need a spark.
After kicking three goals in the opening quarter against Melbourne in Round 6, Cumberland has gone off the boil.
He had his moments early in the Gold Coast loss, but shanked his two first-quarter shots at goal, before dropping right off.
On Saturday, he had just two handballs before he was subbed out for Rhyan Mansell in the third term.
While Cumberland possesses some of the tools required to succeed at the elite level, he just needs to bridge the gap between his worst and best. A lot of that is between the ears.
Hopefully Hardwick can find a way to get more out of him because he can be a more than handy player in attack for the Tigers.
What they need to tweak for next week: Bring full effort and intent
The Tigers took a while to start purring against the Eagles and cannot afford a similar tardy beginning against Geelong on Friday night.
The Cats have returned to winning form with five in a row, but opposition sides have shown that you can at times stymy them with pressure, effort and intent.
If Richmond bring anything less than that in Round 9, then it won’t end well.
Andrew Slevison
The Positive: Max King is back!
St Kilda fans rejoiced on Sunday night when it was confirmed by Ross Lyon that Max King will be playing competitive football this weekend.
Despite not making it clear where King will be playing whether it be for the senior side or Sandringham, it’s great for the game to have this young star back amongst it.
The last two weeks have made it abundantly clear how much the Saints need him. Too often the Saints are bombing it on the heads of Jack Higgins, Mattaes Phillipou, Tim Membrey and even Dan Butler to a lesser extent.
Forget about the freakish stuff King does, it’s his importance to St Kilda’s structure that is what they’re missing.
Giddy up Saints fans.
What they need to tweak for next week: Is it time to give Phillipou a rest?
This isn’t a dig at Mattaes Phillipou, but rather acknowledging the youngster has been relatively quiet and might just need a spell.
Now whether or not he plays for Sandringham or just has a weekend off completely is up to the coaching staff, but with Max King and Anthony Caminiti available for selection against Adelaide this week, this looks like a perfect time to give him a break.
It’s a long season and what we’ve seen from Phillipou gives you the feeling he’s going to be a player, but that doesn’t mean you just keep picking him based off talent.
Think it’ll be a good move in the long run.
The undroppables: The whole back six
St Kilda’s back six is unreal.
Albeit playing North Melbourne, who have so many onfield issues it’s not funny, St Kilda was able to keep a team goalless in the first half.
The rise of this backline has been so rapid.
Josh Battle continues to improve each week, Liam Stocker is living up to his draft pick (albeit not for the team that drafted him, that must hurt, Carlton fans?), Callum Wilkie looks set to be a dual All-Australian and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera looks at home in defence.
What Ross Lyon and Corey Enright (backline coach) have been able to do with this defence has been superb and is the reason they’re sitting third on the ladder with the second-best per centage in the competition.
This week will be another big test against Adelaide’s dynamic forward line.
Hugh Fitzpatrick
The Overreaction: The Swans' bullying tactics backfired
The Swans sole focus on Sunday afternoon was to hurt Nick Daicos and whilst it made for an exciting contest in the opening few minutes, it backfired on them spectacularly. In the same way Fremantle were completely transfixed on Rory Lobb, the Swans were solely focused on nullifying Daicos’ influence that they lost track of players such as Scott Pendlebury, Isaac Quaynor and Josh Daicos who all starred in Collingwood’s win.
For all the pushing and shoving and then to ultimately lose the way they did is an embarrassment for Sydney.
The Negative: Set shot goal kicking
The Swans would have easily been in a position to win the match against Collingwood if not for their deplorable kicking for goal. Peter Ladhams had a shocking miss from straight in front right on the quarter time siren. Aaron Francis had two simple set shots that faded right in the third quarter and Will Hayward kicked an easy shot out on the full to continue his horrendous set shot kicking in 2023.
If the Swans had capitalised on these easy opportunities, it may have been a completely different game in the final quarter.
The Positive: Errol Gulden
The 20-year-old led the way across both teams with 37 disposals, 13 marks, seven clearances, four tackles and 658 total metres gained. The next best was his teammate Nick Blakey with 435 metres gained. He was by far the best player on the ground for both sides.
What they need to tweak on: Get back to basics
Next week’s match against Fremantle is a chance for Sydney to get back to their winning ways. It is clear they are missing Dane Rampe and Paddy McCartin in defence but despite this, they are a good enough side to beat the Dockers at home on Saturday afternoon.
Charles Goodsir
The Key Takeaway: Adam Simpson has still got some tricks
With the ravaged list and complete lack of direction at the club, it’s incredibly difficult for West Coast to be competitive right now.
Nobody knows that like Adam Simpson, having to go into every single match trying to figure out a way to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
Well, early on against the Tigers, it looked like Simpson had snatched up that rabbit.
Despite being significantly outmatched talent-wise, West Coast went head-to-head with Richmond in the early goings in what was a war being waged between the coaches’ boxes.
Simpson’s game plan for the Eagles proved to be quite effective early on, limiting any real attack the Tigers could muster, and managing some of the best ball movement the Eagles have displayed this season.
West Coast couldn’t sustain it for a full four quarters, but it was the best this struggling squad has looked in weeks.
The Positive: The Eagles were leading!
In a rough season like this, you have to take the little wins when you can get them.
For West Coast, that comes in the form of the score worm.
The first term against the Tigers marked just the eighth quarter this season that the Eagles had won, an unflattering statistic that emphasises exactly how starved West Coast fans are for something to be positive about.
Yet this wasn’t the only time the Eagles were leading in the clash, continuing to battle through into the third quarter to briefly take back the lead.
Even though it ended up as another unflattering scoreline, the Eagles can take solace in the fact they gave the Tigers faithful a huge fright.
The Negative: Jai Culley’s injury
West Coast cannot catch a break.
Rising star hopeful Jai Culley was standing out as one of the few bright spots of this season for the Eagles, establishing himself as a piece for the future with impressive midfield play.
However against the Tigers, Culley fell awkwardly in a marking contest, with scans confirming the 20-year-old will miss the rest of the season with an ACL rupture.
The Eagles will be hoping the young gun undergoes a speedy recovery and gets back to his best next season.
Jack Makeham
The Key Takeaway: The Bulldogs look very Bulldogs-ish
Final quarter surge from the Giants aside, Saturday’s match against GWS was the blueprint for how the Bulldogs want to play this year.
The Dogs were stellar through the middle, dominating the contest ball in the wet with Marcus Bontempelli leading the way, as he has done time after time.
This was matched by strong showings at either end of the ground, something that has been absent from the Dogs this year.
The trio of Aaron Naughton, Rory Lobb and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was firing, combining for six majors in the type of performance Dogs fans have been asking for every week.
Luke Beveridge will be looking to replicate this complete performance in every game for the remainder of the season.
The Overreaction: The Bont repels water
Was it raining in Canberra on Saturday night?
Clearly nobody told Marcus Bontempelli.
The Dogs skipper dominated the midfield battle, picking up a slippery football as though it was bone-dry, resulting in a ludicrous 15 contested possessions and 10 clearances.
It was a truly incredible performance, and a perfect example of how dominant the Bont can be when he hits his stride.
What no one is talking about: Arthur Jones
It wasn’t a game-breaking performance, but Arthur Jones quietly put together the best game of his young career against the Giants.
The small forward snagged two goals in the wet, the first time he has ever kicked multiple majors in a game, as well as matching his career high with 12 disposals.
Jones has improved every game since making his debut in Round 3, providing a good amount of tackling pressure in the Dogs’ forward group.
Jack Makeham