A couple of top eight blockbusters bookend Round 8 as we kick things off on Thursday night with a good old-fashioned grudge match between the red-hot Hawks and an improving Collingwood outfit.
The Crows and Power headline Friday’s slate with finals aspirations on the line in The Showdown, before the ladder-leading Swans step out on the SCG on Sunday to take on a Melbourne side that has caught everyone off guard.
The Pies finally found their mojo in front of goal last week in an ANZAC Day blowout over the Bombers, and they’ll need plenty of more of that against a Hawthorn side that did an equal number on the Suns.
Hawthorn is averaging nearly five more goals a game compared to Collingwood, while they’ve also been much better at limiting turnovers and winning stoppages.
The Pies did well to apply solid forward half pressure against a young Bombers outfit last week, but this Hawks team has been the second-hardest to score against all year. We saw them pile on goals in a hurry twice last week when Gold Coast came back in the third term, the hallmark of a genuine Premiership contender.
These two sides put on a couple of blockbusters last year, the Dockers winning both meetings by a couple of goals.
Freo never really put the foot down last week in a 14-point home win over Carlton, although Justin Longmuir has to pleased with the way his side won the centre clearances and proceeded to get the ball inside 50.
The Dogs are wounded and potentially out of bark at this point, which was obvious last Thursday night when they faded after losing at quarter time to go on and lose by 66 points.
Worringly, the Dogs gave up a whopping 77 inside 50 entries to Sydney, which doesn’t bode well based on what was just mentioned about Freo’s ability to win the ball out of the centre.
It’s high stakes in the first Showdown of the year with both clubs looking to vault themselves back into finals contention.
Port built on a narrow loss to Hawthorn to put the Cats away by five goals last week, a spirited performance led by not only Zak Butters, but the in-form Jason Horne-Francis.
On the back of an emotional win over St Kilda the week prior, the Crows came crashing back to earth against the reigning premiers, surrendering a concerning 12 goals over the second and third quarters in what was Brisbane’s biggest win of the season.
There isn’t a great deal separating these two teams statistically, but the fact a loaded forward line like Adelaide’s ranks 12th in points per game is alarming for coach Matthew Nicks, alongside some of the turnover issues that continue to plague his side each week.
The Power have proven first starters in a number of games this year, while the Crows are struggling to find their legs (and points) in the fourth quarter.
All up, we might be in for another close one to similar Round 9’s encounter last year, but I’m leaning Port with a two-goal head start and their two top midfielders in serious All-Australian form.
What a difference a week in footy can make.
Things at the Hangar were looking up prior to last week’s 77-point belting at the hands of Collingwood, while the Lions quickly put a narrow loss to the Dees behind them with a Gabba romping against the Crows – a game that saw Charlie Cameron and Zac Bailey really get in on the action.
With a few injuries to overcome, Brisbane has cruising in third gear for the first two months and have still shown flashes of the killer instinct they’ve become famous for during their two-year reign.
To their credit, the Bombers have hung tough with the Lions in their two most recent meetings, and it’s probably worth noting these two haven’t met outside of Brisbane since 2022.
Back to full strength though and still sitting towards the top of the league in marks, points and clearances, this shapes as nothing more than a learning curve for a Bombers outfit that yet again needs to respond to some criticism.
Big spoon bowl vibes between two sides that have been woeful for most of the year.
Richmond gave fans something to get excited about in the first term last week against Melbourne, but ultimately fell away not long after in another disappointing 54-point loss that has heaped even more pressure on Adam Yze.
Likewise, after a bright start to the year, the Eagles have regressed in a big way losing three of their last four by nine goals or more – their last two defeats all seeing West Coast fail to register more than 50 points.
Richmond is yet to kick over 90 points in the game, so the Under is definitely the way to play this one with very little to get excited about offensively on either side.
Potentially the game of the round with North trending upward and the Cats looking to bounce back.
Even with usual suspects Bailey Smith and Jeremy Cameron touching plenty of the footy, the Cats suffered the upset of the round last week when they went down by a big margin to Port Adelaide – the biggest loss perhaps being veteran ruckmanMark Blicavs suffering a knee injury.
As they did a few weeks ago against the Lions, the Roos were right there when it counted against GWS, just falling victim to some of their own sloppy marking in defensive 50 with the Giants’ top forwards getting the better of them.
Backing Chris Scott’s side to bounce back from a previous loss has almost been free money for a number of years, but the Blicavs injury does give North an edge with Tristan Xerri securing 25 hit outs last week.
You have to rewind right back to 2015 to find North’s last win over the Cats, but with a four-goal head start, it’s easy to entertain them at the line with signs of real progression in their fourth year under Alastair Clarkson.
Last week’s 100-point demolition job over West Coast should have Saints fans feeling a little better after a slow start to the season.
Five goals from Jack Higgins and another improved game from Matias Phillipou has the Saints on the right track with a potential spot back in the Top 8 up for grabs on Sunday, and their game style should favour them heavily against a Carlton outfit that still can’t string together four quarters of footy.
To their credit, the Blues hung tough with a similar looking Fremantle outfit last week, showing some good pressure inside 50 despite never managing to lead the game at any point.
Like the Dockers, the Saints are a team built on high-pressure footy and hitting targets, which could put a lot of strain on a Blues team still trying develop its ball movement.
Given what we’ve seen from these two sides all year, a blowout hardly seems likely, but this should be a Saints win by at least two goals.
A serious Top 4 battle awaits on Sunday afternoon as we wait to learn if the Dees are a serious finals threat.
So far, they’ve given us no reason to doubt them with wins over Gold Coast and Brisbane, followed by last week’s 54-point mauling over the Tigers that again saw Kozzie Pickett remind us why he’s one of the top five best players in the league.
Facing this year’s Swans team is an entirely different test though on both sides of the ball.
Leading the comp with nearly 17 goals on average a game, the Swans are loaded with attacking weapons, which doesn’t bode well for a Dees back line that was swamped against the baby Bombers in the final term only a few weeks ago.
On the other side, Sydney has conceded an average of 65 points a game, so this is a big ask for the likes of Pickett and Brody Mihocek on a narrow ground like the SCG.
Easily a must-win game for the Suns after losing three of their last four.
Damien Hardwick’s side did well to come from a six-goal deficit and trim the margin early in the third term against the Hawks last week, but that did little to prevent another Hawthorn onslaught on their way to an eventual 49-point loss.
Glaring defensive issues are staring Dimma in the face, and there’s no getting around the fact his side missed a season-high 20 tackles last week.
For the Giants, this is also a serious test of where they are at.
Back to full health, they did well to disperse of a fesity Roos outfit last week, although it took the best efforts from Jesse Hogan and Toby Greene to get the job done.
A narrow victory over North is hardly confidence building, while the Suns can at least feel good knowing Christian Petracca and Noah Anderson had plenty of the Sherrin last week.
Really, this is the toughest game of the week to get a feel for, but back on their home deck and desperately needing to steady the ship, I think Dimma works some magic during the week to get the Suns back on track.