MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 11: Bombers head coach John Worsfold goes down the Freeze MND slide during the round 12 AFL match between the Melbourne Demons and the Collingwood Magpies at Melbourne Cricket Ground on June 11, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
We're 13 rounds in to the AFL season, but already so much has transpired.
Teams like Essendon, Adelaide and St Kilda have been disappointing to say the least, while West Coast and Melbourne have impressed and find themselves inside the top four.
We've had big individual performances, close contests and amazing finishes, so here are our top 10 memorable moments of the season so far!
In warm conditions at the Adelaide Oval, Stefan Martin made the most of the Power missing their dangerous ruckman Paddy Ryder. The Lions lost by five points in the round three game and it was mainly because of Martin’s influence. The former Demon, finished with 30 disposals, seven marks and 49 hit outs in a best on ground performance.
Out of contract at the end of this year, Magpies forward Jordan De Goey showed why there are so many clubs after him with a best on ground display in round nine to help the Magpies to a 28 point victory over St Kilda.
De Goey finished with six goals, six marks and 13 disposals and was dominant all night for the Pies.
The Swans superstar was at his best booting eight goals in round one to help the Sydney Swans to a 29-point victory over the West Coast Eagles at the new Optus Stadium in Perth.
Buddy finished with 21 disposals, nine marks and eight goals in a best on ground display.
In the battle for top spot in round nine, it was the Eagles that proved far too good for last year’s premiers, Richmond. West Coast defeated the Tigers by 47 points and whilst that was impressive in itself, it was the stand-out game from key forward Jack Darling that was the biggest talking point. Darling kicked six goals and took 15 marks, seven of which were contested.
In round eight this year the young rookie playing in only his third game booted seven goals for the Swans to help them to an eight point win over the Hawks. In the absence of Buddy Franklin, Ronke relished the extra responsibility and showed that he is going to be a star of the future.
The seven goals were extra impressive considering the ground was extra slippery from all of the rain during the day in Melbourne.
In one of the greatest Showdown’s we have ever witnessed, Port Adelaide won a thriller by five points in round eight against arch rivals the Adelaide Crows. Gray turned the game the Power’s way after the Crows dominated the first half to lead by 21 points at the main break. Gray kicked five goals in the third term and helped the Power to go into the three quarter time break with a two goal lead.
The Power ended up winning the game in the dying minutes after a classy finish by boom recruit Steve Motlop but it was Gray who was the man, finishing with 20 disposals, five marks and six goals.
The Brownlow Medal fancy had a day out against the Magpies in round one this year as he racked up a career best and VFL/AFL disposals record of 54 possessions. The Hawks ended up winning the game by 34 points and Mitchell finished with an incredible 27 contested possessions and eight marks.
With Nat Fyfe ruled out of Brownlow contention and Jackson Macrae out for a few weeks with an injured hamstring, Mitchell is now the hot favourite to win his first ever ‘Charlie’.
In the round 13 game that was built as the battle for the wooden spoon, St Kilda came back from 38 points in the third term to win a thriller against the Gold Coast Suns by two points.
The win was extra pleasing for their under pressure coach, Alan Richardson who had been copping it in the media after their insipid 71-point loss the week before to the Swans.
These two teams are known for having epic games and their round two clash at the MCG was no exception. The Hawks won a thriller by one point in a high scoring encounter where we saw 35 goals being kicked between both sides. The Cats had their big three stars in their side: Ablett, Dangerfield and Selwood, however the Hawks proved that it’s not always about the big names in your team.
In an incredible mark of respect for the inspirational Neil Daniher, all 18 of the current AFL coaches went down the slide as part of the ‘Big Freeze’ before the traditional Queens Birthday game between Collingwood and Melbourne.
The two coaches that deserve the biggest kudos were Simon Goodwin and Nathan Buckley who both went down the slide only an hour before their respective teams did battle in the big game.