AFL Recap After Round One Produces Surprising Scores

AFL round one sees top teams crumble and a surprise leader atop the table whilst Collingwood experiences a rough start to their title defense.  

The first round of the AFL season has come and gone with each team now having played at least one match. Last year’s Grand Final team’s Collingwood and Brisbane have both faltered to 0-2 while the top of the ladder sees a four-way tie at 2-0. 

Top of the Ladder Sees Four Teams at 2-0 

The four winners of the AFL’s opening round matches continued their strong starts to the season with victories in round one.  
 
The Carlton Blues were the first team to move to 2-0 after winning a close battle with Richmond on Thursday. The Blues were able to edge out the win 86-81 at the MCG.  
 
Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow led the way for the Blues who came back from a nine-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to win. McKay put through three goals while Curnow added two of his own to go along with three behinds one the day.  
 
Sydney was up next, beating last year’s Premiers Collingwood 102-69. Logan McDonald was the star in the emphatic victory scoring four goals coupled with a pair of behinds in a match that was never really in doubt.  
 
The GWS Giants also had a very comfortable victory, handling North Melbourne 121-82. The Giants never trailed in the match and had a superstar showing from Jesse Hogan. The forward put through a whopping six goals and two behinds to lead his team to the top of the ladder thanks to their percentage.  
 
The final 2-0 squad is Gold Coast who were able to work past the Adelaide Crows. The match was a low scoring affair as the Suns got the win 60-54. Sam Flanders controlled the midfield with 35 disposals while Malcolm Rosas and Ben Ainsworth both scored a pair of goals.  

West Coast Continues Last Season’s Trends 

After finishing last season at the bottom of the table with a 3-20 record West Coast was unable to get the start to 2024 they wanted with a huge 120-70 loss to Port Adelaide. It was the biggest defeat of the weekend as things aren’t looking improved for the Eagles.  
They never led in the match and allowed 16 goals at the Adelaide Oval as fans who were hoping for a different season than the last are certainly disappointed in the effort. 

Melbourne Bounces Back 

After falling to Sydney in the opening round, last year’s semi-finalist Melbourne Demons got back on track in round one.  
 
They crushed the Western Bulldogs 109-64 to move to 1-1 in a season where they have top four hopes.  
 
After trailing for much of the first quarter, the Demons took the lead and never looked back, slowly building their lead up to 45 by the match’s end.  
 
Jacob van Rooyen and Kade Chandler both put through three goals in the bounce back effort.  

Brisbane and Collingwood Both Sit at 0-2 

Last year’s Grand Finalists Brisbane and Collingwood have both began the new season with shocking, disappointing results.  
 
After losing their opening round matches each side was looking for a bounce back round one but weren’t able to deliver.  
 
As previously mentioned, Collingwood fell to Sydney 102-69 in a match where they never really threatened and didn’t produce the type of effort they were hoping for.  
 
Brisbane lost to Fremantle in Perth by a score of 93-70. The Lions came out flying taking a massive 27-2 lead in the first quarter but then fell apart and allowed the Dockers to come back and win comfortably.  
 
Both sides are certainly not out of it yet and are expected to turn it around, but the early results are worrying.  

Other Round One Results 

In the two other matches, Essendon beat Hawthorn 107-83 and Geelong beat St Kilda 76-68. 

The first round of the AFL season has passed us by, and the early results were much different than was projected. It seems as though the season will be an unpredictable one if this first round is any indicator with plenty of top teams falling.