Demons have excuses

Rohan Connolly The most noteworthy reaction by Melbourne to another heavy defeat was the determination not to use its lengthy injury list as an excuse.

Blues overrun limp Demons

Rohan Connolly Carlton's 47-point win over Melbourne won't be rushing off the shelves of the ''Name A Game'' video guys any time soon.

Bombers rue Demons' day

Rohan Connolly There was a consensus at half-time that Essendon had things under control.

Saints axe three, name Winmar for clash with Demons

Martin Boulton, Rohan Connolly St Kilda's fifth loss forces the pace of change at the club with Nicholas Winmar becoming its seventh debutant of the year.

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Undermanned Hawks brush sloppy Demons aside

Rohan Connolly The word around the traps was that Melbourne gave itself a pretty decent chance of knocking off Hawthorn.

Inspired Demons prey on feeble Eagles

Rohan Connolly Even a team anchored to the bottom of the ladder with just one win to its name can occasionally smell the chance of victory.

Plenty to like about AFL discards

Rohan Connolly Players without a home for 2012 still have much to offer a willing club.

Draw no joke for Magpies

Rohan Connolly Perennial critics will have to sing a song other than the usual ''Collingwood has it easy''.

Soaring Eagles catch many out

Rohan Connolly The most noteworthy effort out of the finals series' first salvos didn't even come from one of the victors.

Disgraced Dees lack on-field leadership

Rohan Connolly Demons' disgraceful lack of effort against the Cats is more damning than ever.

Let's get this straight

Rohan Connolly AFL coaches taking back control of one crucial element - kicking for goal.

Dockers and Swans just don't have what it takes

Rohan Connolly Fremantle again played a less-talented team at the MCG and got smashed.

Scorebored

Rohan Connolly Are new clubs and the substitute rule causing more AFL games to turn into unengaging routs?

A day with the whistleblowers

Rohan Connolly Rohan Connolly is given rare matchday access behind the scenes with the umpires.

Dogs feast at picnic

Rohan Connolly In the end, it was a picnic. Actually, in the beginning it was a picnic, too.

Interstate battlers need to stand up

Rohan Connolly Fremantle used to stand for flaky. Now it's beginning to stand for foot.

Essendon slides on bye

Rohan Connolly It's becoming apparent that the event of a bye is something to be treated with utmost caution.

Dogs stay alive as Saints snuffed out

Rohan Connolly Two former top teams in big trouble both made bright starts, then were seriously challenged.

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Doggies know the score

Rohan Connolly Clubs have found it difficult to get a handle on exactly how they're going this year.

Essendon maintains faith in Ryder

Rohan Connolly Essendon continues to stand by out-of-sorts big man Paddy Ryder, last night dumping No.1 ruckman Tom Bellchambers instead for a second time in three weeks.

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