St. Kilda are no doubt playing some of their best football in years. Their pressure around stoppages and improved ball skills has seen them soar to the top of the AFL ladder. No doubt that St. Kilda’s form has been the main contributor to their success however not taking anything away for the Saints; the AFL schedule has undoubtedly had an impact.

The AFL fixtures see the Saints playing 14 games at their home ground Etihad Stadium, which of course aren’t all home games. Between rounds 3 and 17 the Saints will play 11 games at the dome were they have won by an average of 50 points this year; which along with their current 8-0 record which without question help them to finish in the top two. They are not the only team with a good draw; as always the Magpies will play a lot of their games in Melbourne. Collingwood play only 11 homes games which is standard among other AFL teams, but play 14 games at the MCG - their home ground. The other team which is yet to take advantage of a favourable draw is North Melbourne. They play 8 home games in the first 11 rounds; however they will have to play a stretch of 4 consecutive away games between rounds 14 and 17.

Injuries are probably the only thing that stands between the Saints and a Grand Final appearance. At the moment the Saints only have three injuries; Jarryd Allen (hip), Xavier Clarke (knee) and Sean Dempster (knee) their returns are all listed as indefinite. If some of the Saints’ key players were to go down with injuries maybe they should look at what Geelong has done this year. Geelong has kept players with injuries on the side lines for an extra one or two weeks more than needed to ensure that they are fully fit when they make their returns. The cats first did it this year, when Tom Harley went down with injury; he is yet to return and Gary Ablett may also be rested further. The Cats have the ability to do this because of their depth and why wouldn’t you if your team was playing good footy and was undefeated.

Last week at a press conference, AFL President Andrew Demetrio granted the new Gold Coast club an official AFL license. This was great news for new club as it was accepted as the 17th AFL club; this again raised the question about where the next AFL club should be.

A lot people have been confused as to why the AFL persists with starting a new club in West Sydney as we were until last week. The popular decision would be to place the new team in Tasmania where there already is large supporter base and an AFL ready ground. In theory this seems to be the logical decision but the AFL see it differently.

AFL would rather put it’s efforts and money into West Sydney, where Rugby League currently dominates. Their plan is not for the short term but rather the long term. The AFL knows that their venture into West Sydney won’t be easy; they are aiming for in 20 years or so, the young supporters which they influence now in the first few years of the club will eventually become possible AFL recruits or hardcore supporters to sustain the club’s growth.

Tasmania’s fantastic support of the AFL is ultimately it’s own downfall. The AFL knows that it can postpone placing a new club in Tassie for a number of years and will still have the supporter base when they finally do. We are delighted that Andrew Demetrio last week announced that the next AFL club after West Sydney will be based in Tasmania.

Finally Tasmanians have something to look forward to.

Round one was full of debutantes wanting to make the mark on the game. The first rookie to put his hand up was Mitch Robinson from Carlton who is already becoming a cult figure at the club. Along with other Carlton rookies such as Jeff Garlett and Aaron Joseph, Robinson made an immediate impact; kicking three goals and accumulating 13 possessions in an impressive performance.

The most impressive group of youngsters for round one came from Adelaide who boasted three debutantes. Myke Cook and Jared Potrenko helped the Crows to a shock victory over the Pies; the other rookie Taylor Walker didn’t feature too much.

The other rookie to make a big splash on the AFL arena was West Australian Daniel Rich of the Brisbane Lions. A match winning third quarter performance by the youngster showed why many think he is an already-made AFL footballer. Rich amassed 21 possessions, 14 of which were kicks and eight inside 50; he also received the Rising Star nomination for round one.

There is no doubt that we will see more rookies emerge in the coming weeks along with the development of second year players.

Quote of the Week - Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin

“I am going to stay a one-man team, I never look like leaving ever, I love the club,” - when questioned about the possibilty of joing the new Gold Coast team.

The biggest story of the off season has been Ben Cousins and his return to the AFL. Richmond’s selection of Cousins was both surprising and exciting; Ben would have the opportunity to resume his AFL careers. The former Brownlow medalist and Premiership winner has the opportunity to rebuild his career; all that stands between him is the possibility of injuries and his own demons. As long as Ben stays healthy we have no doubt that he will return to his best and retain his Premiership winning form.

A new AFL rule was also a talking point during the pre-season; the rushed behind rule. This rule would see the attacking team receive a free kick directly in front of the goals if it was deemed that the defensive side had purposely knocked the football over the goal line. This rule has the potential to cause major controversy and damage in the AFL. Imagine if a team loses an AFL match due to an error with the rush behind rule; very similar to the situation which occurred between the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers in a practice match recently. The AFL could find itself in a position where a match’s result could be contested post-match and eventually result in the matter going to court; something no would want to see. We view the rule as being a little bit excessive and a knee-jerk reaction to last year’s Grand Final where Hawthorn walked in numerous rushed behinds. We would prefer that if it was deemed that the football was purposely rushed, the attacking team would receive three points opposed to a free kick which slows down the game and potentially awards the team six points.

Looking to the season ahead, we believe that there are a number of movers and shakers. Of course Geelong and Hawthorn will again dominate. It’s hard to say if Hawthorn can repeat the performance from last year and win back to back flags, but if they can stay healthy there is not much holding them back from doing so. Gary Lyon recently wrote an article opposing this, stating that the young Hawks may find it difficult to bounce back from last year’s victory. If Franklin can kick 100 goals plus again it would be hard to doubt a repeat, however Franklin has struggled when comes to the playing in the big finals matches and this is when the Hawks need their other members of the forward line to step up, such as Roughhead, Williams and Rioli.

Melbourne, Essendon, Sydney and North Melbourne we believe will struggle to win games this year. Sydney has taken a huge hit to their back line over the summer in particular the knee injury to Leo Barry, who has been placed on the long term injury list. North Melbourne never rank highly before the season and always seem to make or come close to making the eight; however we think that their luck will run out this year. St Kilda and Fremantle may be this years surprise packets. Both teams should have had some success over the last few years but they may be past their best and on the way down. We believe that these two sides have the potential to cause some havoc in season 09; especially the Dockers who have had a injection of youth into their side; if they could only kick the ball to Pavlich’s chest instead of over his head they would win a lot more games.

The Brownlow will be hotly contested again this year after Cooney’s surprising win last year. Chris Judd is our man to win the converted medal. As long as he can remain virtually injury free he could easily walk away with the medal after a huge preseason. Joel Selwood is our dark horse for the Brownlow. It’s hard to believe that this kid is only 20 years old and that he can already dominant AFL games. Unfortunately for G.Ablett, it seems that his team mates will continue to steal prestigious awards away from him.

Well we hope that you enjoyed reading our first post for season 2009.

See you next week.

This is a weekly blog about the happenings in the AFL and our opinions towards team.

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