The Last Word on round three
Umpires shut the door on priors, suffering Dees face further woes, wobbles out West and a near-ruckus for Richmond.
Umpires shut the door on priors, suffering Dees face further woes, wobbles out West and a near-ruckus for Richmond.
Carlton great Stephen Kernahan handed over the jumper to debutant Tom Williamson and with it a stirring message of what it means to play for Carlton and play with heart before the Blues set about upsetting old rival Essendon at the MCG.
Essendon coach John Worsfold says the Bombers' loss to arch rivals Carlton on Sunday highlighted issues that had already been apparent in the Bombers' wins in the first two rounds.
“Play the kids”. It’s an easy call when a side appears to be treading water then loses a few games badly. But even this early in 2017, we’re seeing plenty of obvious benefits of doing so.
End of an era looms after 86-point loss to the Gary Ablett-inspired Suns leaves the Hawks at the foot of the AFL ladder.
The news is worse than first thought for star Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn, with the All-Australian big man facing possible surgery after scans revealed his hamstring injury also affected his tendon.
St Kilda coach Alan Richardson conceded he did not like the look of Leigh Montagna's time-wasting effort when the veteran ran into an open goal midway through the last quarter of the 31-point win over the Brisbane Lions.
It was scrappy, sloppy affair - yes thoroughly engaging. Tight and tense throughout, Essendon's inaccuracy in front of goal proved costly.
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge wishes his side had as much bite as most of the other teams in the competition.
St Kilda have survived a scare from Brisbane to claim their first win of the AFL season, downing the Lions by 31 points at Etihad Stadium.
Danger match for Hawthorn? Certainly, they'll be desperate to secure their first win.
It's a miserable day at the MCG as the resurgent Bombers look to continue their unbeaten start to the season against lowly Carlton.
Adelaide and Port Power are sweating on the availability of key players after a pulsating Showdown.
An unexpected loss to Fremantle was one thing to deal with, but a surprise question about how the Western Bulldogs are dealing with their big man woes left coach Luke Beveridge stumped.
It's a pretty important game for St Kilda who will be desperate to avoid a disastrous 0-3 start to the season.
David Zaharakis was not entirely sure why he was there, but he went along anyway.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon's decision to wield the axe paid massive dividends as the Dockers notched a shock 16-point win over the Western Bulldogs in Saturday night's AFL clash at Domain Stadium.
Sport. It's not all about the dough. Pizza, that's another story. Sunday Age writer Timothy Boyle played for Hawthorn with Sam Mitchell. Here, in the first in a regular series of interviews they team up again to make pizza and talk football, strengths, limitations and comedy.
Adelaide move top of the AFL ladder after a thrilling win in Showdown XLII before a record crowd.
Melbourne's personnel issues took another huge hit on Saturday as ruckman Max Gawn injured his hamstring against Geelong.
Geelong and Melbourne turned on a fast-flowing and high-scoring contest. The result came down to accuracy.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was smiling after his side outlasted West Coast at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
"Rosebud." The last word to leave the lips of Charles Foster Kane, Orson Welles' fictional character from his landmark movie Citizen Kane, is also the name of seaside town. Should Gary Ablett retire from footy at season's end and return to Victoria, it would be an ideal place to call home.
It's round three of the AFL home-and-away season.
Carlton midfielder Nick Graham enhanced his hopes of a senior recall with an impressive performance in Saturday's VFL season opener against Port Melbourne.
For the third week in a row, North Melbourne tested one of the 2016 finalists. But just as happened in the opening two rounds against West Coast and Geelong, the Kangaroos ended Saturday on the wrong side of the ledger, held at arm's length by a wasteful but ultimately superior Greater Western Sydney side, who claimed their first ever win on Tasmanian soil.
While the Tigers had made an unbeaten start to the new season, they still faced questions about the quality of their opponents - Carlton and Collingwood. That's why the home clash on Saturday against the West Coast Eagles, tipped to be a serious top-four contender, was seen as an early litmus test.
Football fans have been warned that Melbourne Cricket Ground car park will be closed on Sunday due to forecast heavy rain.
There are two ways to look at Collingwood's win over the Swans.
Sydney must beat West Coast in Perth on Thursday, or face missing the AFL finals for the first time since 2009.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says that AFL coaches and players are confused with the interpretation of the holding the ball rule.
The cavalry isn't far away from helping out winless Sydney, but their many youngsters have been backed to perform in the AFL's version of the wild west.
Any AFL player considering moving mostly for money should heed this cautionary tale, writes Caroline Wilson.
Swans slump to third-straight defeat to start year, going down by a point to Magpies.
Collingwood crashed Lance Franklin’s milestone game and held on for a thrilling one-point AFL win over Sydney on Friday night.
Brendon Lade is returning to Port Adelaide after seven years as an assistant coach at AFL rivals Richmond.
The Western Bulldogs won't look back at their painful history of preliminary final losses in the lead up to their Saturday night clash with GWS Giants.
Melbourne great David Schwarz says the potential defection of Jesse Hogan would not be "as catastrophic" now as it would have been last year.
There’s two very contrasting narratives developing heading into the penultimate weekend of the AFL season. And sentimentally, they’re at opposite ends of the spectrum.
The thing that AFL fans love about the game is risk and the unknown outcome accompanying it: the risk players take when they commit to a physical contest, when they launch three deep in a pack to stand on someone's shoulders in a marking contest, when they have a shot from the boundary. All are weekly features on highlights reels.
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