It may only be Round 3 of the AFL season, but the stakes are already high.
There are undefeated sides looking to add to their momentum, winless teams looking to break their duck and those in between with lots to play for.
We also have our first Friday night double-header of the year.
See who we think will win and why below.
All times AEDT
Western Bulldogs v Sydney
Thursday - 7:20pm - Marvel Stadium
The Western Bulldogs will be hoping to avoid an 0-3 start to the season when they take on the red-hot Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium.
The Dogs have been competitive, but have ultimately fallen short in their first two clashes with Melbourne and Carlton respectively. Their lack of forward line targets outside of Aaron Naughton has held them back and will be something Sydney could exploit.
The Swans meanwhile have knocked off GWS and Geelong with high quality displays and no longer have the cloud of Lance Franklin’s 1000th goal hanging over them.
Their forward line around Franklin has been potent, with Isaac Heeney in particular dominating both games. Whether the Dogs can quell his impact will be a question mark, given their struggles defensively in the first fortnight of the season.
Both teams boast deep midfields with flexible rotations, but a lot will depend on the fitness of Naughton inside 50 from a Dogs perspective. He reportedly has a lingering calf issue from Round 2.
The Swans won this match-up at Marvel Stadium last year in a tight affair. Jake Lloyd and Callum Mills did the damage across half back for Sydney, combining for 64 disposals and 18 marks.
Tom Hickey controlled the air, winning 36 hit-outs to Tim English’s 21, though the young Dog took eight marks to go with 22 disposals.
Tipping Sydney to continue their hot start to the year as the Dogs haven’t quite yet put all the pieces together.
Tip: Sydney by 11 points
Nic Negrepontis
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Melbourne v Essendon
Friday - 7:20pm - MCG
Last year’s premiers return to the MCG for the second time this season to take on a winless Bombers side desperately searching for a bit of momentum to kickstart their 2022 campaign.
Melbourne did what they had to do against a plucky Gold Coast outfit last Saturday night to make it two wins from two, while Essendon went down to Brisbane despite a strong start.
The Bombers are dealing with somewhat of an injury crisis at the moment, with vice captain Zach Merrett out for up to eight week due to a syndesmosis setback and Nik Cox also to miss Friday night’s clash through injury.
While the Dees will continue to be without Christian Salem and Jake Lever, they’ll still enter this game as heavy favourites against a struggling Bombers side still searching for answers up forward.
Under the bright lights of the MCG on Friday night, there will be nowhere to hide for both sides in this pivotal Round 3 clash.
Tip: Melbourne by 27 points
Laurence Rosen
Adelaide v Port Adelaide
Friday - 8:20pm - Adelaide Oval
A Showdown with two winless teams still promises plenty of intrigue.
The Crows have been largely competitive in their opening two games, unlucky to lose to Fremantle by a point before toiling hard but ultimately lacking polish in the seven-goal loss to Collingwood.
The Power have been disappointing so far, losing to Brisbane away by 11 points before copping a 64-point hiding at the hands of Hawthorn at home last weekend.
A Friday night derby provides Ken Hinkley’s side with the opportunity to right the wrongs of the opening two rounds and burst back onto the winners’ list, but a win is never a certainty as we saw in Round 2.
The effort and intent has been there for Matthew Nicks’ Crows, they just need to clean things up a bit and find a way to place scoreboard pressure on the Power.
In saying that, they will have to improve lengths on their recent outings if they are to upset a Port outfit smarting from last weekend’s loss.
The Power have won the last four against the Crows, and even after a heavy defeat, they should be good enough to take care of this one and somewhat get their season back on track.
Tip: Power by 32 points.
Andrew Slevison
GWS Giants v Gold Coast
Saturday - 4:35pm - Giants Stadium
Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney clash on Saturday afternoon at Giants Stadium in a clash of the two expansion sides.
While they have enjoyed contrasting paths to the 2022 season, their Round 3 contest shapes as a close one.
The Giants enter as favourites, but have lost their two first games, including a disappointing performance against an undermanned Richmond side last week.
Had they beaten the Tigers as they were expected to do, it would be easy to suggest their talented list would be able to be better in the contest against the young Suns in Round 3.
However, the five-goal loss raises questions they’re not the team many think they are in 2022.
The big problem for the Giants was their forward line last week, but expect more improvement and cohesion between their cohort of talls.
Meanwhile, the Suns have won in Perth (never an easy feat, despite the Eagles’ injury list) and then pushed last year’s premiers Melbourne, underlining their improvement over the off-season.
As much as there is to like early in 2022, it’s too early in the year to be confident in the Suns rocking up week in and week out. Stuart Dew’s men have been good, and expect them to perform well again, but Leon Cameron needs GWS to win on Saturday.
Tip: GWS by 13 points
Seb Mottram
Collingwood v Geelong
Saturday - 7:25pm - MCG
Collingwood and Geelong have cancelled each other out in recent times.
In their last seven meetings, the Magpies and Cats have both enjoyed wins, but the games have been extremely dour and hard to watch.
Last year’s encounter was no different with the sides kicking 14.28 for the match. Collingwood particularly struggled to score, booting just one goal in the first three quarters.
The Magpies are playing with more freedom under new coach Craig McRae in 2022.
Collingwood improved to 2-0 after beating Adelaide by 42 points at the MCG last week, kicking 100 points for a second straight week, something they achieved just once last year.
Can the revitalised Magpies under McRae unlock Geelong’s stingy defence?
The Cats dropped their first game of the season last week, going down to Sydney by 30 points at the SCG on a night Lance Franklin kicked his 1000th career goal.
Geelong captain Joel Selwood will add another significant milestone to an already decorated career when he leads the Cats out for the 227th time as skipper.
Selwood, 33, will surpass Carlton great Stephen Kernahan for the most games captained in VFL/AFL history, a record Kernahan has held for 25 years.
It’s looms as Collingwood’s first big test of the year – can they continue their fluid football against a seasoned Cats side?
Tip: Geelong by 22 points.
Alex Zaia
Brisbane v North Melbourne
Saturday - 8:00pm - Gabba
After picking up their first win of the season against an undermanned West Coast, North Melbourne now faces the enormous challenge of beating Brisbane at the Gabba.
The Lions are undefeated after two matches, running Port Adelaide down in Round 1 and outmuscling Essendon in Round 2. They started slowly in both games, which potentially could be an area for the Kangaroos to attack.
North Melbourne has not beaten Brisbane since 2018, though the average losing margin is only 14 points indicating they have been competitive.
Lincoln McCarthy has kicked seven goals in those four matches, while Lachie Neale is averaging 30 disposals per game.
From a Roos perspective, captain Jack Ziebell averages 22 disposals and six marks across those four clashes with the Lions.
Analysing this one feels reasonably straightforward. The Lions have been a consistent top four side for multiple years now and have shown no signs of slowing down.
The Kangaroos meanwhile are coming off a wooden spoon year, are still in the middle of a rebuild and barely overcame the WAFL-powered Eagles in Round 2.
Expect North to put up a fight, but ultimately they likely won’t have the tools to match the Lions’ firepower at the Gabba.
It would be one of the upsets of the season if not.
Tip: Brisbane by 42 points.
Nic Negrepontis
Carlton v Hawthorn
Sunday - 1:10pm - MCG
Before the 2022 season commenced, you could have written your own ticket on this being a top-six clash.
But that is exactly what we have this Sunday with both Carlton and Hawthorn entering Round 3 in sixth and first position respectively.
The Blues have been one of the stories of the early part of this season, winning two from two under Michael Voss and doing it in superb fashion. Their drought-breaking win over Richmond in Round 1 was impressive and the way they beat last year’s runners-up the Western Bulldogs was at times breathtaking, particularly in the first half.
Under Sam Mitchell, the Hawks have been just as impressive, seeing off North Melbourne before crushing Port Adelaide in Adelaide to the tune of 64 points. They kicked 19 goals against the Power with Mitchell Lewis, Jack Gunston and Luke Breust combining for 11.
If in that mood again, it will be a great test for Carlton’s defence, led by Jacob Weitering with support from Mitch McGovern, Oscar McDonald, Adam Saad and Zac Williams.
However, it does feel like the major battle will be in the midfield and it is there that the Blues have the upper hand. Patrick Cripps is back in a big way and has Sam Walsh, George Hewett, Matt Kennedy and perhaps Adam Cerra in his corner.
That powerful engine room should see the Blues start the season 3-0.
Tips: Carlton by 18 points.
Andrew Slevison
St Kilda v Richmond
Sunday - 3:20pm - Marvel Stadium
Both the Saints and Tigers bounced back in Round 2 with wins following disappointing Round 1 performances.
Despite missing a raft of star players, Richmond got the job done comfortably over a fancied GWS side, while St Kilda outplayed Fremantle in Perth which is no easy task.
While both won, it was probably Richmond’s victory that was more impressive considering their undermanned status and they’ll take great confidence out of the clash and hope to kickstart their season.
Although the Tigers will enter as favourites, the Saints comfortably won the last head-to-head matchup with a gritty 62-22 win at the MCG last season.
The likes of Jack Steele, Brad Crouch and Luke Dunstan dominated that game in the centre for the Saints and they’ll need to win the on-ball battle again if they’re any chance.
One thing playing into their favour is that this clash is at Marvel Stadium, somewhere they feel most comfortable playing and where Richmond have had well documented troubles.
Despite being the AFL’s most dominant side over the past five years, Richmond hold a poor 3-5 record at the venue across their last eight games at Docklands including losing their most recent two.
While that factor plays into St Kilda’s hands, Richmond’s Round 2 performance means they’re too hard to pick against here, especially against a Saints side that hasn’t really convinced apart from a quarter of football in both of their opening games.
Tip: Richmond by 16 points.
Lachlan Geleit
West Coast v Fremantle
Sunday - 6:20pm - Optus Stadium
West Coast and Fremantle enter Sunday’s Western Derby on the back of Round 2 losses.
The heavily depleted Eagles were gallant in defeat to North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, going down by 15 points after making a competition record 14 changes – 12 of them due to health and safety protocols.
Willie Rioli’s return to form was a positive for the Eagles with the premiership forward booting a career-high four goals after escaping suspension at the AFL Tribunal.
West Coast, one of six winless clubs after Round 2, slipped to 0-2 for the first time since 2013.
The Dockers dropped their first game of the season, going down by 10 points to St Kilda at Optus Stadium in a game they would’ve expected to win.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir didn’t hide his feelings about his side’s performance post game.
“It was one of the more disappointing games I’ve been involved in to be honest,” Longmuir said.
“Our execution was horrific. Our ball handling and skills – we couldn’t execute the basics of the game. When you can’t do that, it makes it hard to execute other parts of your game.”
The Dockers snapped a six-year losing streak against the Eagles last year and claiming bragging rights in the first derby of 2022 could kickstart their campaign.
Tip: Fremantle by 10 points.
Alex Zaia