Australian Football

Round 6

Premiership Season 2017 - Round 6 Review

Total Crowd 273,768 (Avg 30,419)

Round 6 was bookended by two matches that had the potential to be blockbusters. The first of those, a Friday night Canberra clash between last year's preliminary finalists GWS and the Western Bulldogs, lived up to its billing, the two sides putting on a show every bit as good as their last meeting. The second, an Adelaide Oval meeting between the undefeated Adelaide and Richmond, also matched the hype - but only for one quarter.

In between those two matches were a mix of thrashings and upsets, the upshot of all being a ladder that has Adelaide on top as the only undefeated side and Sydney - Grand Finalists last year - at the foot of the table without a win.

The first ever Friday night match to be played in Canberra kicked off the round. It was also the first Friday night match for the Giants, and they played out a titanic struggle with the Western Bulldogs. GWS held sway early but the Dogs got on top and would have been a long way ahead at half time but for inaccurate kicking. As it was they led by just nine points at the long break, which left the door ajar for the Giants, who rallied in the third and final terms to snatch a memorable two-point win.

Saturday saw Hawthorn host St Kilda at York Park. The Hawks were coming off a big win over West Coast and hadn't lost in Launceston since 2012, but they were blown away by a slick St Kilda outfit which made them look second-rate, not for the first time this year. The Saints powered to a 75-point win and are now within percentage of the top eight.

While Hawthorn was getting walloped, another long-time powerhouse, Sydney, was at the MCG, suffering its sixth defeat of the season at the hands of Carlton, leaving it the only team without a win. The Blues were impressive, but the swans are a mere shadow of the side that went very close to winning last year's premiership.

At the Gabba, Port Adelaide was doing its best to establish itself as a new AFL powerhouse. The Power made short work of Brisbane, defeating the Lions by 83 points, their second successive win of more than 13 goals. The victory lifted Port to fifth, and it looks a genuine top four prospect.

The first of the two Saturday night's matches saw the West Coast Eagles bounce back from last week's MCG loss to Hawthorn to record an easy win in the 45th Western Derby. The Eagles jumped Fremantle in the opening term and held the Dockers at bay for the remainder of the night to win by 41 points.

After opening the season with five losses - three by under a goal - North Melbourne finally broke through for a win, defeating dogged Gold Coast Suns at Docklands. With Gary Ablett back to his bat, the Suns threatened for much of the night but Ben Brown's six-goal haul saw the Kangaroos home by 13 points.

The next day - also at Docklands - Essendon and Melbourne played out a error-riddled first half to forget. Each side kicked just four goals, and the Bombers' Joe Daniher kicked five behinds in the second quarter alone. he finished with 1.6, while the Demons hit their straps in the second half to run away and win by 38 points.

At the MCG the previously undefeated Cats returned to Earth with a thud at the hands of Collingwood. The Magpies were inaccurate in front of goal, as they have been every week this year, but their 15.17 was more than enough to see off Geelong by 29 points. Levi Greenwood did a fine job of tagging Cats' skipper Joel Selwood, limiting him to just 17 possessions.

The round's final match looked like being a game for the ages, with Adelaide and Richmond engaging in a first-quarter shootout that saw the Tigers kick six goals to five before the first break. But while the Crows kept shooting after quarter time, Richmond's scoring power dried up in a hurry, and Adelaide skipped away to a 76-point win. It was a reality check for the Tigers, but they were not the first side, nor will they be the last, to suffer a thrashing while the Crows are playing so well.

After six rounds, Adelaide, GWS and the Bulldogs loom as the teams 'most likely', with Port Adelaide and perhaps Richmond and West Coast potential contenders. But, with 17 more rounds before we get to the finals, nothing is even close to being set in stone, and the Bulldogs taught us all last year that nothing can be taken for granted.

Leading goalkickers after round 6

22 - Josh Kennedy (WCo)
20 - Jeremy Cameron (GWS), Toby Greene (GWS), Eddie Betts (Adel)
19 - Tom Hawkins (Geel)
18 - Robbie Gray (Port), Taylor Walker (Adel)
17 - Tom Lynch (GCo), Ben Brown (NM)
16 - Jack Riewoldt (Rich), Orazio Fantasia (Ess),  

R-6, Ladder