Good evening all,

Here is my review of Round 1 of the AFL.  These will be posted after each round, so come back regularly and feel free to leave a comment.

Carlton v Richmond, MCG

Rarely can I remember a season opener as keenly anticipated as this one, with fierce rivals Richmond and Carlton playing in front of more than 86,000 people at the MCG on Thursday night. Of course, most of the anticipation in the lead up was focused on the return to AFL football of Ben Cousins, and the potential match-up with his former team-mate, Carlton captain Chris Judd.

In the end, the Cousins v Judd contest didn’t eventuate. In fact, the Richmond v Carlton contest didn’t exactly eventuate either, with the Blues jumping out to a quick 5-goal lead at quarter time and the Tigers never looking interested from that point on. Carlton won every quarter comfortably to trounce Richmond by 83 points.

And sadly, there was no fairytale comeback for Ben Cousins. His night ended with another hamstring tear, which will sideline him for about a month. Richmond’s decision to play Cousins once the game was lost (arguably 25 minutes into the first quarter) was a staggering one, given the obvious leg/hamstring issues he was having.

Carlton kicked their highest score since round 13, 2001 – and the winning margin of 83 points was their largest since round 10, 2001. With the emphatic victory, Carlton ended round 1 on top of the ladder – much to the pleasure of their success-starved supporters.

Hawthorn v Geelong, MCG

In a game more fitting of the anticipation and build-up from a night earlier, Hawthorn and Geelong met in a rematch of the 2008 Grand Final in front of almost 70,000. Geelong has had a faultless pre-season, culminating in another pre-season premiership, whilst the Hawks have been trying to manage multiple injuries to several of their big names but came into round 1 confident they could get the job done.

Much like last years Grand Final, Geelong were wasteful in front of goal, having 12 more scoring shots than the Hawks up to half time, yet they only led by 12 points.

The third quarter was a big one for the Cats, kicking 6 goals to 2, building a potential match winning lead and looking comfortable. Despite looking all but gone, the Hawks rallied in the last quarter, outscoring the Cats by almost 30 points – but Geelong did enough to hold on for the opening round victory, extracting just a small amount of revenge from last year’s premiership defeat in the process.

Collingwood v Adelaide, MCG

In the third match in as many days at the MCG, Collingwood and Adelaide opened their respective 2009 seasons in one of the most exciting matches of the round.

Collingwood, trying to block out their drubbing at the hands of the Cats in the pre-season decider, were surprisingly caught off guard early – as Adelaide jumped out of the blocks with 10 scoring shots (including 5 goals) to just 2 in the first quarter, to lead by 23 points at the first change.

Collingwood hit back strongly in the second and third quarter, to tie the scores heading into the final change. In a low-scoring and tense last quarter, Adelaide dug deep to be in front at the final siren in what was at times a “last man standing” type of game. The Crows have had a quiet off-season, yet they appear to be well placed to launch another tilt at finals football, with their talented mix of young and old.

Collingwood fans need not worry; with news filtering through over the weekend that Anthony Rocca is in line for a call-up to the senior side – after he kicked a bag of goals for the Collingwood little league side at half-time. Yes, that’s an ideal preparation if you ask me!

Brisbane v West Coast, Gabba

The interest in this match was largely due to the long awaited coaching debut of Michael Voss, with the exit last season of four-time premiership coach and AFL legend, Leigh Matthews. As we know, Voss has some serious credentials as a player in his own right, but his challenge now is to deliver as head coach of the club he captained to three consecutive premierships.

West Coast basically bottomed out last year, feeling not only the loss of Judd and Cousins but also injuries to several of their big names. With essentially a full list at their disposal, the Eagles started superbly to build a good early lead that would have made Voss and co. very nervous.

Still 4 goals down at the half, a massive 9 goal third quarter by the Lions turned their fortunes around completely and gave them a 3 goal lead heading into the final quarter.

Despite not scoring a goal in the final term, the Lions managed to hold off a gallant West Coast side who will still take plenty from the eventual 9 point defeat.

St.Kilda v Sydney, Etihad Stadium

Many are expecting these two sides to head in opposite directions this season – with St.Kilda predicted to remain in top 4 calculations whilst the experts say Sydney will be “older and slower” this year (I think I also heard that in 2005) – with the suggestion we will see them slip down the ladder.

Early in this match, the Swans did their utmost to show they are not done with just yet, opening a 4 goal lead by quarter time against a sluggish Saints outfit.

But that’s where the good news ended for the Swans – as over the next 2 quarters they failed to even register a single goal, whilst their opponents managed 8 of their own during the same period to all but seal the contest, even without a significant contribution from Nick Riewoldt.

Late goals to the Swans did little but add respectability to the scoreboard, with the contest done and dusted well before full-time.

Melbourne v North Melbourne, MCG

Determined to rebound after another undignified exit from the finals, the Kangaroos performed below expectations in the pre-season, suffering a heavy loss to Carlton in the first round of the NAB Cup and regrouping from that point forward. Melbourne too, didn’t make many waves in the pre-season, but at least have most of their list healthy heading into the season proper, except for entertainer slash full-forward Russell Robertson, who is hopeful of returning in the first month of the season.

The Demons, last year’s wooden spoon “winner”, were surprisingly quite competitive for three quarters of this contest before the more seasoned Kangaroos outfit asserted their authority in the final term. Melbourne should take something from the contest, whilst the Roos would have relished a competitive opening round hit-out having secured the all-important 4 premiership points.

Port Adelaide v Essendon, AAMI Stadium

Two teams that were disappointing throughout most of 2008 faced off in their opening round encounter – Port Adelaide and Essendon.

The Power are tipped to jump a few spots up the ladder this year given a good run with injury, whilst very little is expected of the Dons – who are still very much in ‘rebuild mode’ and in my opinion, have a few years of rebuilding left before finals are a reality.

Despite some early resistance from Essendon, the Power got on top in the middle stages of the contest and won comfortably by 41 points.

Only time will tell whether Matthew Knights has Essendon on the right track, but if we’re looking to the future, I honestly couldn’t tell you whether I’d rather be a Melbourne or Essendon supporter right now.

Fremantle v Western Bulldogs, Subiaco

The final match of round 1 saw the Dockers and Doggies battle it out in Perth on Sunday evening. There is no reason to expect the Doggies to fall out of the top 4 this season, especially with no clear challenger coming up through the AFL ranks looking to take their spot. Their core midfield group of Cross, Boyd, Cooney, Gilbee, Griffen and the improving Higgins is amongst the best going around.

The Dockers will be aiming to improve this season after their up and (mostly) down 2008, but it is hard to see them back in finals contention after making very few off-season changes.

After a tight opening term, the Bulldogs gained control of the match in the second quarter, booting 7 goals compared to the Dockers 3.

That margin was cut by the Dockers to just under 4 goals by three quarter time, but the Dogs booted away in the final term, showing their class by kicking a further 8 goals to record an impressive 63 point victory.

Please feel free to leave a comment about any of the action from Round 1.

Cheers,

Luke.