What a season it's been so far! How is your team going?
I found it very interesting to see that after six rounds, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs were one and two on the ladder and playing a 'premier' match on a Friday Night! The Kangaroos are six wins from six, their best start to a season since 1979.
Two other teams, the Adelaide Crows and the Sydney Swans played a recent match at the Adelaide Oval where there was a 'kick in it' until the final 20 seconds of the game. As a Swans supporter, it was a great effort and a great match, no disgrace in losing by 10 points in one of the matches of the season so far. Ironically, the experts did not figure both teams in their final eight before the season began....but then again, what do the experts know? After all, many of the same experts predicted the Fremantle Dockers would win the premiership in 2016 and they are none (as in wins) from six!
Some other highlights for this season...
Brent Harvey (North Melbourne Kangaroos) is 12 games away from breaking Michael Tuck's record for the most AFL/VFL games of 426.
Lance 'Buddy' Franklin (Sydney Swans) recently passed Wayne Carey's all-time goal count of 727. Only 30 players have scored over 600 in their careers and only 5 over 1000. Matthew Lloyd for Essendon was the last player going for the 1000 mark when a knee injury curtailed his career. Can Buddy Franklin keep his 3.6 goal average per match going?
Has the recent rule change/s to keep the ball in play, together with the interchanges been lessened per game, made the game quicker/harder on the players? Is it right to penalise teams for putting the ball out of play as a defensive tactic?