Opinion AFL 2025 Round 1 - Weekend Wrap & Liked, Learnt, Hated

[Cmarsh]

Finally our first full round of games, and it was a round of some gargantuan blowouts with a few thrilling finishes sprinkled in. Let’s go wrapping…

Tigers v Blues, Thursday night: Pity the poor old Blues fans that saw their team was 7 goals up and figured it was safe enough to switch off and go grab dinner in Lygon street. Powered by Dusty 2.0 the Tigers were unstoppable from midway through the second quarter. So good to see a rebuilding team give 100% effort and get splendidly rewarded for it. But where to for the Blues from here? They now only have wins against North and West Coast from their last 10 games of footy dating back to mid last year. Ouch.

Hawks v Bombers, Friday night: The marauding Hawks left the Dons shellshocked early in the game, and despite the odd scare they were never really threatened after that. Thought Essendon stuck to their guns pretty well against a pretty hot footy side though; all is not lost for 2025 just yet.

Cats v Dockers, Saturday arvo: Lucky Freo played so vanilla in the Indigenous All Stars match and didn’t give their game plan away. It was really worth the wait. The Cats were warm favourites down at Unfair Advantage Stadium, but I don’t think anybody saw THAT kind of margin coming. Were they really really good or were Fremantle really really bad? Bit of both I reckon.

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Swans v Lions, Saturday twilight: This was a funny old scrap played in Saharan conditions. The Swans pinched an early break but it felt like the Lions just had marginally better of the arm wrestle for the rest of the afternoon - no mean feat given they lost a few players during the game and Lachie Neale was well blanketed. 0-2 for Sydney and just quietly I reckon there’s worse to come yet.

Dogs v Roos, Saturday night: Looks like North are on the right track to bag a few wins this year, but the Doggies held them at arm’s length all night. No idea if Bevo’s men will be a contender in season 2025 or just another middle of the road side; guess we’ll find out when they get some players back from that hefty injury list. As usual they’ve got a lot of the key ingredients, but something you can’t quite put your finger on always seems to be missing.

Pies v Port, Saturday night: Port’s last 3 visits to the MCG to play Collingwood have resulted in a 71 point loss, a 42 point loss (after they led by 30), and now a 91 point loss. Time the AFL introduced a forfeit rule because there’s clearly no point showing up to this fixture. Remember this was a Collingwood side that got their pants comprehensively pulled down at the hands of an injury hit opponent last week, so it wasn’t like Port were playing world beaters. Long year ahead for them.

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Crows v Saints, Sunday arvo: Another blowout, although this one was a little easier to see coming. The injury-riddled and underdone Saints were no match for an inspired Adelaide. Sure they didn’t beat much, but there are very different vibes around the Crows than there were this time last year. They had to win and win big and that’s exactly what they did. Might finally be going places.

Demons v Giants, Sunday arvo: The official AFL figures say there were 23,000 at this game. The MCG must be even bigger than I thought then, because it sure as heck didn’t look like that many. Still, it was played in Noah’s Ark conditions so maybe Dees supporters that had prepaid tickets opted for a hot chocolate in their lounge rooms instead of a trip in the Range Rover to watch the game live. Anyway, I digress… Reckon this loss will sting a bit for Melbourne because it felt like they were the better team for lengthy patches. Still, it was a plucky performance from a side that I thought looked fairly short on improvement this year. Their new kids looked great! For the Giants it’s another early season win with a few key personnel missing, and those are as valuable as your great Gran’s antique necklace.

Eagles v Suns, Sunday twilight: Loved this from the Suns. Loved it! Yes, it was ‘only’ the young Eagles. Yes it was a game they should be fully expected to win, but it was exactly the sort of game they would (and did) drop last year. A big away win was just what they needed to start the year and they delivered handsomely. Bravo.

Don’t forget to post your Liked, Learnt, Hated below… along with any other thoughts you had about Round 1!

In regards to your comment on the MCG crowd for Demons vs GWS. It is always explained the cricket crowds for test matches are "in the bars" or "out the back" to explain all the empty seats, even when the sold out sign is apparently up.
Can't footy crowds, especially when it's wet, be also explained this way?

 

[Dirty Bird]

Liked that footy's back

Hated that the Rd 1 fixture is becoming even more Vic bias

Learnt that Port need to sack Carr and Re-sign Hinkley to rebuild the trust between the club and playing group so they can compete.

 

[GWT6]

Hated - Simon Goodwin letting Toby Green run around by himselt in the last qauter shows what an absolute muppet he is.

The bloke clearly can not coach. Got lucky inheriting a premiership side from Roos. and has squandered what could have been a dynasty with poor coaching and poor character.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Liked: Geelong of course, though not getting carried away, as Murphy Reid's third quarter explosion highlighted that a healthy Walters and Bolton could have given us some headaches. The absence of Darcy also meant that de Koning didn't come up against the type of ruckman who I expect to cause problems for him.

Nevertheless SDK had a blinder, some of those freakishly clean (for someone 6'8) pickups in general play that he showed regularly in 2022. Bailey Smith, of course. And I could see Dangerfield playing a quasi sub role in 2025: taking Gary Rohan's spot as the medium marking option in the forward line for three quarters, then just getting unleashed in the middle for the last quarter.

Learnt: Zero margins greater than 50 points in Opening Round/Round 1, 2024 (14 games). The most was 50 exactly, with only a couple of others creeping out to the six goal range.

Five margins greater than 50 points in Opening Round/Round 1, 2025 (11 games). Yikes...

Hated: My two 'please, anyone but them' picks for the 2025 premiership have both looked incredibly impressive in their wins so far.

Oh and looks like Round 2 for Geelong will be the annual St Kilda at Marvel clash, with no-one giving them any chance. Oh, goodie... that always goes well.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

Liked: Lalor lighting up the MCG and little Lalor popping his head out to see what all the fuss was about.

Hated: That little Lalor looked like Jerard Whateley's nose.

 

[jakson68]

It has been an emotional week.
Liked - Richmond beating Carlton
Liked - Collingwood once again smashing the pretenders

Learnt - Harley Reid would rather look good and finish second. Has been reading his own publicity.
Learnt - Sam Walsh goes missing very often when needed. And he isn't alone in that team. Downhill skier in the highest order.
Learnt - It is going to be a long year for Sy Kilda.
Learnt - You could have Norm Smith, Jock McHale, Barassi, Mathews and Sheedy all team up to coach Power and they would not do better than what ken can do with that insipid list.

Hated - Piastri spinning off the track.

 

[Toump Ass]

In regards to your comment on the MCG crowd for Demons vs GWS. It is always explained the cricket crowds for test matches are "in the bars" or "out the back" to explain all the empty seats, even when the sold out sign is apparently up.
Can't footy crowds, especially when it's wet, be also explained this way?

The ground cameras are the same side as the MCC, where most of our members sit, and the seats which are visible on TV are directly under rain.

23k is not that bad given we have an older supporter base, the weather, and the fact the formula 1 was on (which also made travel to the venue difficult) but it's an easy thing to have a crack at a team about.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

The ground cameras are the same side as the MCC, where most of our members sit, and the seats which are visible on TV are directly under rain.

23k is not that bad given we have an older supporter base, the weather, and the fact the formula 1 was on (which also made travel to the venue difficult) but it's an easy thing to have a crack at a team about.

Yeah it was a throwback to about 12-15 years ago, when I reckon there were a few Dees games I went to, where it looked like well over half of the people there were in the MCC.

I only really watched the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes and in the latter, there were a few camera shots where you could see the bulk of the attendees in the back rows of level 2. In conditions like that, if you're not taking anyone else's seat and security won't pull you up, why would you choose to sit out in the rain, when the back half of level 2 and all of level 3-4 is covered?

 

[Viceregal]

Learnt
The Geelong juggernaut will continue beyond even the heat death of the universe..

Just before which the leading inter-galactic teams in Andromeda are complaining that the grand final is contractually obligated to be in the Milky Way as 'the home of football' for the next 5 millenia...

 

[piranha1]

LIKED the Tiger Cubs, and Murphy Reid
LEARNT - dont get too depressed after just one game, after all look at Collingwood
HATED - nothing it’s round 1

 

[MisterMarcus]

LIKED:

• Strong Cats win with some good performances by our younger brigade.
• A few close exciting games: Melb v GWS, Syd v Brisbane. To a slightly lesser extent, Haw v Essendon and Doggies v North. Plus of course....
• The epic comeback against Carlton.
• A few high draft picks looking like they already belong.

HATED:

• Some utterly uncompetitive blowout games - great way to sell hope to your fans in 2025, guys.
• Our bizarre low-effort lapse in the 3rd quarter.
• Harley Reid gobbing off and flopping when he's barely touched it. Hope someone gets in his ear to tell him to just play footy.

LEARNED:
It's Round 1, so I won't make too many definitive statements yet. But let's just say: a few clubs will be desperately hoping the opening game was just a Mulligan that will be laughed off at the end of the season.

 

[peetoo]

Big Max Gawn did the old ruck to defence but didn’t prevent mark and goal…after missing a shot himself just earlier

 

[Dazb86]

Liked - Richmond's upset win, seriously entertaining watching that unfold.

Learnt - GWS are the real deal this year, should be top 4.

Hated - Sick of North losing, wasn't our worst performance but our 1st qtr sucked and getting back Into the game just to leak dumb goals was frustrating.

I don't think North were that bad tbh. Just some blatant errors lead to goals. Was the difference in the end.

 

[TheKanga]

I don't think North were that bad tbh. Just some blatant errors lead to goals. Was the difference in the end.

Giving up three goals to start the last qtr was all she wrote.
Even Sheezel let his man run on and kick a running goal.

We would have to be 100pts up in the last qtr for me to feel confident of a win haha.

 

[Handsuper47]

Liked - TIGERS WIN
GIANTS COMEBACK
SUNS SLAUGHTER

Learnt - DOCKERS WERE STILL IN PRE-SEASON
DEMONS CAN'T HOLD A LEAD
ST KILDA ARE STILL IN NO MAN'S LAND

Hated - OPENING ROUND
TEAMS ARE ALREADY HAVING BYES
THAT GOLD COAST GUERNSEY

 

[Sttew]

Learned: Football is everything; Cats aren't missing Tom Hawkins, but he is a nice addition to the Fox team; There is no such things as a certain win Carlton

Liked: Bailey Smith's debut at Geelong.

Hated: Not much this week

 

[Rotayjay]

Liked
Winning in Round 1 for once, and having some hope of a good season.
Port losing badly on the same weekend - always a nice bonus.

Hated
Nothing.

Learnt
The Suns are coming - watch out.
This Fremantle team under Longmuir are an 'almost' side.

 

[PerthBoy86]

The ground cameras are the same side as the MCC, where most of our members sit, and the seats which are visible on TV are directly under rain.

23k is not that bad given we have an older supporter base, the weather, and the fact the formula 1 was on (which also made travel to the venue difficult) but it's an easy thing to have a crack at a team about.

I think the same fixture least year had a similar crowd. Also raining if I recall.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Liked the unlikely upset, Crows in scintillating form, plucky Giants holding on. Obviously really hated how bad we were, worst case scenario. Gonna he another long year. Learnt that Carlton and Port in particular may be even worse than expected. Still early days though.

 

[Toump Ass]

I think the same fixture least year had a similar crowd. Also raining if I recall.

Last year we drew 18k on a Saturday night at the G against GWS, round 20.
In 2018 when we were about to make finals for the first time in a thousand years, we drew just over 30k against GWS.

GWS averaged 45k last year for Home and Away, that's when they're looking like one of the best teams in it.

23k is a decent turnout under the circumstances.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Last year we drew 18k on a Saturday night at the G against GWS, round 20.
In 2018 when we were about to make finals for the first time in a thousand years, we drew just over 30k against GWS.

GWS averaged 45k last year for Home and Away, that's when they're looking like one of the best teams in it.

23k is a decent turnout under the circumstances.

Dunno, it was expected to be competitive too. I guess if it was dry you'd expect 35-40.

 

[Toump Ass]

Dunno, it was expected to be competitive too. I guess if it was dry you'd expect 35-40.

Bullshit. GWS were a bee's dick from playing off in a grand final last year, and we missed finals completely. Who expected it to be competitive?

GWS averaged 27k away from home last year, as if they're getting 40k against Melbourne (of all clubs) at 3pm on a Sunday directly against the Formula 1 in Melbourne lmao.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Bullshit. GWS were a bee's dick from playing off in a grand final last year, and we missed finals completely. Who expected it to be competitive?

GWS averaged 27k away from home last year, as if they're getting 40k against Melbourne (of all clubs) at 3pm on a Sunday directly against the Formula 1 in Melbourne lmao.

Many were giving Melbourne a chance.

But yeah fair enough given their general Melbourne crowds are that low.

Should play that fixture at Marvel though.

 

[Toump Ass]

Morons were giving Melbourne a chance.

Petracca's first game after we almost killed him, 4 AFL debutants, a trash forward line missing Kozzie Picket, against the team that smashed Collingwood the week before? Ok.

Should play that fixture at Marvel though.

How about get ****ed? The MCG is our home ground, why would we move our games to a smaller stadium?

I'm sure GWS would love to lose their only MCG home and away fixture for the year as well

 

[PerthBoy86]

Petracca's first game after we almost killed him, 4 AFL debutants, a trash forward line missing Kozzie Picket, against the team that smashed Collingwood the week before? Ok.


How about get ****ed? The MCG is our home ground, why would we move our games to a smaller stadium?

I'm sure GWS would love to lose their only MCG home and away fixture for the year as well

Well you did nearly win, didn't you? Not so moronic after all.