Who does it say more about?
The results of Round 1 can say plenty, whether it be about the winners or losers (or those who drew).
SEN Breakfast’s Kane Cornes and Nathan Buckley went through each of the games and discussed which team the result said more about.
Richmond (58) - (58) Carlton
Buckley: “I think it says more about Carlton.
“I thought that they were dour.
“Michael Voss was happy with it, saying they would have lost that game by six goals if it was played that way last year. He might actually be right about that so there might be some growth in them.
“It’s hard to split those two teams in terms of where to go to because they both played a quite dour brand at the pointy end.
“As Damien Hardwick said, it was a more Richmond game than we thought.”
Geelong (103) - 125 (Collingwood)
Cornes: “Probably Collingwood.
“The power of that performance struck me.
“I’m not necessarily worried about Geelong. I mentioned on the Sunday Footy Show that there were a couple of incidents there where it looked like they just weren’t as hungry as they had been.
“I expect them to get that hunger back.
“Collingwood’s amount of runners, the exquisite ball users they’ve got in their side and just how hardened and skilful they looked to me. The ease of which they can move the footy against a very good defensive side.
“It says more for the positive about the Pies.”
North Melbourne (87) - (82) West Coast
Buckley: “I think it says more about West Coast. They’re so disappointing.
“North Melbourne are a young side, they’re always going to have a crack but for a side like West Coast not to be able to take advantage of a position that North are in at the moment with their youth, that’s a real worry.”
Cornes: “How can West Coast turn up on the back of a two-win season last year with the amount of premiership experience they’ve got in their side. Proud players against a team that is fully rebuilding who also won two games, first game of the year, no Ben McKay, they lose their ruckman (Tristan Xerri) at the start of the second quarter and get beat up physically.
“Who were hungrier? North Melbourne were hungrier. Of all the teams in Round 1, West Coast were the biggest losers for me.”
Port Adelaide (126) - (72) Brisbane
Cornes: “It probably says more about Brisbane.
“I was thrilled for Port Adelaide because they told us they’re going to play a more attacking brand and they’re going to actually play with some dare. We saw that in the third quarter.
“Their want to actually get on with things, move the ball through the middle, hit the angle kick and give their forwards some opportunities which they didn’t get last year.
“The biggest concern was how inefficiently they moved the footy and their connection between mids and forwards. Well they got that, 36 shots from 65 entries, it was a great performance.
“For the purpose of this segment, it says more about how Brisbane were.”
Buckley: “I would go the other way.
“I think Brisbane had an outlier performance but the Power still had to do what they did and they did it impressively.”
Melbourne (115) - (65) Western Bulldogs
Buckley: “Melbourne for me.
“I think the Bulldogs are still working out what they’re going to be this year.
“It just showed me how hard, how keen and how motivated Melbourne are and will be through this season.”
Cornes: “I’d agree with that. There’s some serious questions over the Dogs now.”
Gold Coast (61) - (110) Sydney
Cornes: “It doesn’t say a lot about Sydney, it says how poor Gold Coast are.
“They told us they were going to be ready to play finals, they said no one is expecting us to do it but we are ready. They’re miles off it.
“You wonder the quality of their list. You look at Touk Miller who is their best player. Who is next?”
Buckley: “Matty Rowell was put up there, Noah Anderson, they’ve got some good players.
“Jarrod Witts is probably their next best.”
Cornes: “Solid players but do they have the depth of star players that the other teams have?”
GWS Giants (106) - (90) Adelaide
Cornes: “Probably Adelaide.
“The question I’ve got is: Is the brand sustainable?
“Because it can look unbelievable as it did in the first half, but is it too hard to be asked to play that way for 23 rounds for 120 minutes. It’s a pretty taxing way to play.
“Matthew Nicks is going to have to come up with a different way to score other than off turnover.”
Buckley: “I thought both teams were fantastic.
“That’s a win-win. I think Adelaide did really well to be where they were, even though they lost momentum.
“Geez, it says a bit about Greater Western Sydney given the people they lost - Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly.
“It will say more about them next week to see how they come up in the next game. They’ve got West Coast but they do have to travel.”
Hawthorn (65) - (124) Essendon
Buckley: “Hawks for me.
“I liked Essendon’s effort and their free-flowing nature but they were allowed to do it.
“The last two games of the round yesterday were the lowest pressure games in the round so we don’t get a real good look at how those teams are going to handle high-pressure situations as such.
“There was just no pressure on them (Essendon) at all and they were able to waltz through.”
Cornes: “How is he going to maintain the hunger for his Hawthorn players, Sam Mitchell?
“They’ve cut deep since last year and it would be a miracle if they win eight games this year.
“How do you maintain your players’ motivation when every Monday, and losing sucks, you’re sitting in a game review watching edits of things you should have done better?
“This is a team they should be competing against and they lost by 10 goals.”
Buckley: “I thought they (Hawthorn) would win.
“Because I think Essendon have still got some gaps in their game and some injury concerns as well.
“What Essendon have now this year that they didn’t have last year is pressure forwards. It was a positive aspect of their game.
“I thought it does say something about Hawthorn, I thought they lowered their colours.”
St Kilda (67) - (52) Fremantle
Cornes: “Fremantle, you’d be concerned.
“Fremantle for me are like that NFL team that has a really good defence and a terrible quarterback.
“Their defence holds up, their back six has got to be the best back six in the AFL. You may think that’s a big call but I don’t know if it is.
“(Brennan) Cox is a 24-year-old gun, (Luke) Ryan is an All-Australian and a star, (Alex) Pearce is their captain, (Hayden) Young is an excellent player, (Heath) Chapman is a really good half-back, (Nathan) Wilson is a good runner, so they don’t want for anything.
“Their backs hold up, they kept St Kilda to 67 points, but they’ve got no quarterback. They can’t score.”
Buckley: “St Kilda were the best defensive transition team statistically in the round.
“Ross Lyon has come back with his brand and he’s made it really hard to score off St Kilda on turnover. Fremantle will need to improve on that.”