AFL 2026

Sydney and the Bulldogs are very good. Gold Coast too, who basically took the 2nd half off yesterday against a reserve grade side.
As for the rest? Hawthorn bounced back, but GWS regressed. Geelong got a win after trailing at home for ages. Collingwood lost this week. Could be pretty even through the middle of the comp this year.

Essendon still suck. Carlton still suck. North got a big win. St Kilda have spent all teh money to start even worse than usual.

Tough start for the Lions. Get the two early season form teams, and get a bunch of guys suspended. Not too fussed really, very early days.

Yeah that's it, so early on. Ultimately, though, we know what the comp is.

Good teams: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Geelong
Decent teams: Bulldogs, Freo, Adelaide, Hawthorn
OK teams: Collingwood, GWS
Bad teams: Melbourne, St Kilda, Carlton, Richmond, North, Port
Really bad teams: Essendon
West Coast: West Coast

flicked between both codes last night, should have stuck with the AFL. Quality game, teh running and pressure were elite for round 3 (2). The first quarter was ridiculous, but even at the death Hawthorn just never let any Sydney player have any time to generate a decent forward 50 entry.

Curnow had opportunities but he's just not good enough to be the man.

Good win for Hawthorn, both teams will go deep in to September.

damn it

Yeah! Freo!

@African-Monkey

Freo are having an All Blacks type moment.
They have a player on a $1m plus deal, who is not getting the job done, but getting the start.
And they have another player who is getting it done, in the reserves; but on the minimum.
Pro sports!

@mohikamo said in AFL 2026:

@African-Monkey

Freo are having an All Blacks type moment.
They have a player on a $1m plus deal, who is not getting the job done, but getting the start.
And they have another player who is getting it done, in the reserves; but on the minimum.
Pro sports!

Lol, I know next to nothing about the game. I rely on this thread and guys at work to tell me what's happening. I have a long way to go.

Got myself a Freo season ticket though, and found last nights game quite entertaining. It's a lot easier to watch when you have a team to follow.

The Eagles got up too, a good weekend for the sides from the West!

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

Got myself a Freo season ticket

A Freo season ticket!!!
Fuuuuuuuuuck . . . you just put yourself up for the infliction of a large amount of mental torture.

what a fucked week for tipping

@mohikamo said in AFL 2026:

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

Got myself a Freo season ticket

A Freo season ticket!!!
Fuuuuuuuuuck . . . you just put yourself up for the infliction of a large amount of mental torture.

So I keep getting told lol. They're less successful, cheaper to follow, and have a smaller fanbase, hence why I chose them haha.

appallingly scheduled round of football. With the teams on the bye, all interest in the round was over by Friday night (after a belter of a game).

West Coast beating North was funny, especially because now Essengton have the longest active winless streak.

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

So I keep getting told lol. They're less successful, cheaper to follow, and have a smaller fanbase, hence why I chose them haha.

Freo fans are definitely "nice" fans.
And therein lies part of the problem, they are way too "huggy" for cut-throat, elite pro sport.
When they lose a big game the players get a pat on the back and a "bad-luck."
Eagles fans get f'n nasty; and if they are gettin a floggin (lots of those lately, so good) there is no one in the stadium by the final siren.
Eagles will win another premiership before the Dockers get their first (if ever).

The Darcy/Cox thing is classic.
Eagles would have already made that change.
Dockers will be "nice" about it, and give Darcy every possible chance to run into some form.

I went to the latest Carlton meltdown on Sunday. As predictable result as you could imagine. Blues fans up and about early but you could see, despite repeated skill and decision errors from the Dees they looked better after quarter time. The 2nd half was a car crash and watching Carlton fans stream out with 10 to go was hilarious.

Big crowd at the G on a sunny sunday drinking Carlton Draughts is a pretty sweet live sport experience

As usual, Easter monday is the game of the year. Doesn't matter what shape these two teams are in leading up to any game, they always deliver an absolute belter. The last 10 minutes alone will be hard to top all year.
Elsewhere the Lions hammered the Pies, who appear to be Naicos or nothing
North continued Carlton's miserable season
The Dockers beat the Crows in Adelaide, and last year's minor premiers are struggling early,
Sydney beat West Coast like red headed step children
Melbourne obviously got a lot out of last Sunday as they upset the Suns
The Dons either showed a bit of fight, or the Dogs knocked off early. Either way it was still a 6-goal loss.

Yeah Freo!

So umm,obviously new to the game, but Garry Lyon and co. were very biased towards the Pies and slagged Freo off at every opportunity. Are they always like that?

@African-Monkey

Victorians
Victorians are easily the worst type of Aussie
Expected the Dockers to win this game.
The wobbles seldom play an away game, Freo do it all the time.
Nice overhead mark in the rain at the end there by Treacy.

Although it is good to hear the commentators whinging when the vic team loses. Soooo good.

@mohikamo said in AFL 2026:

@African-Monkey

Victorians
Victorians are easily the worst type of Aussie
Expected the Dockers to win this game.
The wobbles seldom play an away game, Freo do it all the time.
Nice overhead mark in the rain at the end there by Treacy.

Although it is good to hear the commentators whinging when the vic team loses. Soooo good.

Yeah certainly nice last night, especially after they were going on and on about how Collingwood were made for big moments whilst missing 2 regulation goals, whilst going on about how Freo were cracking under pressure when Erasmus and Dudley made minor errors haha, and then to top it off after the final whistle, they went on about how courageous Collingwood were!

@African-Monkey

Yeah, big moments, but only at the MCG!
confessing Collingwood are my most despised team of any football code
having the commentators spouting a whole lot of BS after the end game is just the cream on top

South Australian commentators are the most biased
I'd almost say they are the most one-sided commentators of any sport, any where
But they are so over-the-top, it's hilarious
Victorians are just DHs
The NRL footy show (Sydney) I find quite entertaining
The AFL footy show (Melbourne) is unwatchable dross

@mohikamo said in AFL 2026:

@African-Monkey

Victorians
Victorians are easily the worst type of Aussie
Expected the Dockers to win this game.
The wobbles seldom play an away game, Freo do it all the time.
Nice overhead mark in the rain at the end there by Treacy.

Although it is good to hear the commentators whinging when the vic team loses. Soooo good.

Yeah welcome to vic-centric AFL commentary.

If a big vic club is playing an out of state club, the commentary will be horrible. No matter if that team is back to back premiers.
If Collingwood are losing the commentary box will be a morgue. All comments will be about what Collingwood can do to get back in to it, otlr what Collingwood need to do for next week.
Meanwhile the Lions will kick a goal of the year contender to go up by 8 goals and they sound almost sad.
Get fucked you miserable fluffybunnies.

RIP anyone's tips this weekend.
I mean everyone tips Carlton to lose, but i still thought freo getting up was a surprise.
Lions battled past a rapidly improving North.
Gold Coast lost.
Essendon won!
Hawthorn flogged the previously flying doggies.

West Coast had over 54,000 at their game today.
Very impressive for a team that has been shite for many seasons now.
Not sure how many were there at the end tho.
Maybe they had given their tickets to their Docker mates (it was WC home game).

a weekend of good footy and surprising results, the two biggest stories are weird as fuck.

The whole Elijah Hollands story gets worse and worse the more you see or read. I have not seen anything that paints Carlton in anything but the worst light either. I cannot wrap my head around it at all, but it's not good, and Hollands ending the weekend in hospital just compounds it. What ever the outcome is, it's clear that boy needs some serious support.

Then we get the fallout from last weekend's dumb decision. Butters gets reported by an umpire for abuse despite no corroborating evidence at all. The AFL seem to know this because they only gave him a small fine. Port appeal and win, based not on the facts of the case, but the fact that one of the Tribunal members got in his car to go to work halfway through the hearing!! Real clown show areas.

Yeah the Hollands thing is really sad. I actually feel for everyone, even the club. They wouldn't have wanted him out there if he was in crisis, it's bad for team performance if nothing else. He clearly had plenty of chats with coaches where they would have twigged if he wasn't on the planet. It's a tough one.

ive looked it up since you mentioend it, had missed it over the weekend, players are saying they were talking about it on the pitch whihc is a bit wild

Sydney are the April premiers by a long way, absolutely flying.
Hawthorn next, and the Hawks were the latest to remove the wheels from the Gold Coast.
Scott Pendlebury should not, at 38 years of age, be able to play that well on the G, rack up 43 touches and win best on ground, remarkable.
Nice of the Lions to remind everyone who they have to beat in September.
Weird seeing Geelong struggling.
Nice seeing North either winning or being very competitive.
Melbourne are good! Pickett is a gem.

@mariner4life said in AFL 2026:

Sydney are the April premiers by a long way, absolutely flying.

i was going to come in and point out im very causious we'res till replying on 1-2 outstanding quarters....but double checking and that was on of the more consistant performances, 3 goals in the first, 4 in the second, 5 in the third and 6 in the fourth

also interesting 18 behinds....kick straight and that would have been a huge score

Should they just give Freo the flag already?!

oh you poor sweet child. you have so much to learn about Freo.

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

Should they just give Freo the flag already?!

You are heading for such a bad fall.
Like when they blow a big lead in the fourth quarter of the GF.
I hope you have lots of friends and family around for emotional support when it comes.

Haha, and yes, I have plenty to learn about things in AFL lol.

It is funny though seeing Eagles fans get nervous about their chances.

their chances of what? finishing above the bottom 2?

there are 3 "big" Melbourne teams below them on the table weirdly. sorry, hilariously.

i think i can see all of them having a upward tick...even a brief one beore the eagles

@Kiwiwomble said in AFL 2026:

their chances of what? finishing above the bottom 2?

I meant freo's chances haha even though it sounds like they have nothing to worry about lol

@African-Monkey

nervous!
there is no need to be
by now it should be quite clear to all freo fans about how it'll play out

chatted to a long time docker fan a while ago
said that after the brisbane game last season she had resigned herself to the fact that freo are not guna win a flag in her lifetime!

@mohikamo said in AFL 2026:

@African-Monkey

nervous!
there is no need to be
by now it should be quite clear to all freo fans about how it'll play out

chatted to a long time docker fan a while ago
said that after the brisbane game last season she had resigned herself to the fact that freo are not guna win a flag in her lifetime!

That was my first Freo game i went too funnily enough. We got flogged badly that night and it kickstarted Brisbane's charge to the flag!

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

That was my first Freo game i went too funnily enough. We got flogged badly that night and it kickstarted Brisbane's charge to the flag!

sorry
meant the freo v gold coast final
freo were tracking ok at the end of last season then lost their last two home games
and fucked it all up
typical

@mohikamo said in AFL 2026:

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

That was my first Freo game i went too funnily enough. We got flogged badly that night and it kickstarted Brisbane's charge to the flag!

sorry
meant the freo v gold coast final
freo were tracking ok at the end of last season then lost their last two home games
and fucked it all up
typical

Ah yeah that, that was a good choke.

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

Ah yeah that, that was a good choke.

It's come back to me now.
The game v Brisbane was a choke as well.
Before the game (Rd 24) Freo was in the four, and Brisbane was in fifth.
A win for Freo would have virtually locked up a top four spot, (they would have only been out of 2nd on %)
A loss for Brisbane, and they would have been 7th on % (and thus unlikely to win the flag from there).
So a big game, with consequences, and Freo being in the better table position.
What happened?
Freo, f'n biscuits, choked it up and got flogged, not really a surprise to anyone!
Brisbane then made top four.
And Freo choked it up, again, in the first round of the playoffs.
Both games at home.
And Brisbane went on to win the flag; thank you very much Dockers!

AND THEN!!!!!
YOU BOUGHT A DOCKERS SEASON TICKET!!!!!!

@mohikamo said in AFL 2026:

@African-Monkey said in AFL 2026:

Ah yeah that, that was a good choke.

It's come back to me now.
The game v Brisbane was a choke as well.
Before the game (Rd 24) Freo was in the four, and Brisbane was in fifth.
A win for Freo would have virtually locked up a top four spot, (they would have only been out of 2nd on %)
A loss for Brisbane, and they would have been 7th on % (and thus unlikely to win the flag from there).
So a big game, with consequences, and Freo being in the better table position.
What happened?
Freo, f'n biscuits, choked it up and got flogged, not really a surprise to anyone!
Brisbane then made top four.
And Freo choked it up, again, in the first round of the playoffs.
Both games at home.
And Brisbane went on to win the flag; thank you very much Dockers!

AND THEN!!!!!
YOU BOUGHT A DOCKERS SEASON TICKET!!!!!!

And boy am I loving the journey so far!