Australian Football

Round 2

Premiership Season 2017 - Round 2 Review

Total Crowd 322,042 (Avg 35,782)

We're only two rounds into the 2017 season but it's already given us two matches that are going to be hard to better as spectacles and a ladder the likes of which we have never seen before. Both Friday night's Grand Final rematch and Sunday's thriller between Geelong and North Melbourne were pulsating affairs full of highlights and they bode well for an exciting and high-scoring season. The end of the round saw eight teams with a 2-0 record and eight sitting on 'zero and two', something never before seen in V/AFL history.

Thursday night footy kicked off round two, with Richmond hosting Collingwood at the MCG. The Tigers held swat for much of the night, although Collingwood did threaten to take the game away from them in the third term. A run of five goals in a row of either side of three-quarter time saw Richmond home, though, the final margin 19 points.

In the world of movies, the sequel is rarely as good as the original but there were no such problems for Friday night's Grand Final rematch between the Western Bulldogs and Sydney. The match was a cracker. The Dogs were slow to start, perhaps distracted by the pre-game unfurling of their premiership flag. The Swans kicked the first four goals of the match before the Bulldogs hit back and gradually got on top. 

But Buddy Franklin produced the sort of magic that only he can and the Swans turned a 27-point third-quarter deficit into a three-point lead midway through the final term. The Bulldogs showed their class after that, though, lifting a gear and kicking the last four goals of a match to win by 23 points, one more than their Grand Final winning margin.

Hawthorn finds itself in unusual territory after round two, having lost to Adelaide at the MCG o Saturday. The Hawks jumped away to a early lead and looked hellbent on avenging their round one loss to Adelaide in the first term, but the Crows were all over them after quarter time, and went on to win by 24 points.

While the Hawks may be in a bit a of trouble after two rounds, their situation is rosy compared to Gold Coast. The Suns were handed an absolute thrashing by GWS, the Giants winning  by 102 points. For GWS, it was a heartening response to its unexpected 56-point loss to Adelaide in round one. For Gold Coast, the loss was a one-way ticket to guaranteed public speculation about the future of its coach, Rodney Eade.

At Subiaco on Saturday night, West Coast was expected to record a routine win over St Kilda and while the Eagles got the win, it was by no means routine. St Kilda jumped them early and controlled the match for most of the night before a late surge saw West Coast claim the lead in time on of the last quarter and sneak home for a 19-point win. Some suggested the Saints were cruelled by the umpires, but their poor kicking for goal - they finished with 13.19 - cost them as much as any other factor.

Saturday night's other match saw round winners Brisbane and Essendon meet at the Gabba. The match fluctuated wildly, the Bombers getting out to a 42-point lead before the Lions mowed them down to hit the front early in the final term. The Dons rallied late, though and eked out a 27-point win in the end. Despite the loss, Brisbane looks a much improved side under new coach Chris Fagan.

Sunday's first game produced the closest encounter of the year so far, a high-scoring shoot-out that ended with Geelong and North Melbourne separated by only one point. The Cast were the victors in the end but North had led by more than five goals late in the third term, and the Roos' capitulation would have brought back bad memories of the 2013 season, one which saw them lose a host of close matches after holding a good lead in each of them.

The next Sunday game was everything the Geelong-North Melbourne game wasn't. At the MCG Melbourne and Carlton played out a dour affair that never hit any great heights. The lowest-scoring encounter of the year saw the Demons do just enough to win, 13.8 to 9.10. 

By the time round two's final match was over, the winner - Port Adelaide - was on top of the ladder, and the losers - the Fremantle Dockers - on the bottom, courtesy of the 89-point thrashing dished out by the Power to the Dockers. While Port looks like being a better team this year than many anticipated, Fremantle is showing no signs of bouncing back from its lowly 2016 season.

Round three will bring with it the first top of the table clash with Port hosting the Adelaide Crows in the year's first Showdown. It promises to be a rip-roaring affair. 

R-2, Ladder