1. The big key forwards are back in town
Geelong’s Tom Hawkins and Port Adelaide’s Charlie Dixon proved their importance for both of their respective teams on the weekend. Hawkins kicked another bag of seven goals this time against the Brisbane Lions after kicking seven the previous week in the Cats' two-point victory after the siren against the Dees.
The much maligned Dixon kicked 5.2 in horrendous conditions in Ballarat to help the Power to a much needed 44-point victory over the Dogs on Sunday. With Paddy Ryder back in the side, Dixon was able to spend more time up forward and he proved how important he is to the Power’s premiership chances in 2018.
2. Richmond’s young gun Jack Higgins could well have just won himself a car
Last week’s Rising Star nominee kicked one of the goals of the year in the third quarter of the blockbuster clash between Richmond and Collingwood.
Tight up against the behind post and most expecting the ball to go through for a behind, Higgins somehow managed to keep the ball in play and then flipped the ball up in the air and amazingly scissor-kicked the goal through to send the Tigers fans into hysterics.
Whilst the goal was reviewed to check that it wasn’t a throw, the goal was allowed and it’s going to be hard to see anyone beating that incredible effort by Higgins.
4. The Dees proved they are the real deal
Melbourne has bounced back in style to record a gutsy 13-point victory over the Crows.
Down by 20 points in the second quarter and with memories of last week’s heart breaking two-point loss to the Cats, Melbourne produced one of their best quarters of the year against last year’s grand finalists on their home deck.
The Dees kicked 7.4 to Adelaide’s 1.2 and the Melbourne midfield brigade of Clayton Oliver, Dom Tyson, Angus Brayshaw and Christian Petracca was simply awesome. They sent an ominous sign to the rest of the competition that if they make the finals this year they can do some serious damage!
4. Luke Breust has become one of the competition’s best small forwards
The three-time premiership Hawk kicked four goals against the Dockers on Sunday to take his season tally to 45. He is now third on the Coleman Medal race, eight goals behind Ben Brown from the Roos who is on 53.
With four games to go, Breust will be very important in whether the Hawks can play finals in 2018. If he can continue to kick bags of goals then this will do their chances no harm at all
5. Playing a match for premiership points at Ballarat in late July was a mistake by the AFL
Port Adelaide defeated the Bulldogs by 44 points on Sunday, however the match itself was played in gloomy and terrible conditions at the Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The combination of dark skies and poor lighting meant that it was difficult even for the coaches to identify some of their players in the last quarter.
The crowd was disappointing as well with only 6450 attending the game. Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge suggested playing the game earlier in the day or earlier in the year which certainly would have been a much better spectacle.
