Who does it say more about?
The results of Round 3 can say plenty, whether it be about the winners or the losers.
SEN Breakfast’s Kane Cornes and Nathan Buckley went through each of the games and discussed which team the result said more about.
Western Bulldogs (67) - (53) Brisbane
Buckley: “I reckon it says more about the Dogs.
“It was a great effort for them to be able to respond to the first two weeks.
“It says there is some fight in them yet.”
Collingwood (63) - (49) Richmond
Cornes: “Richmond, because we know everything we need to know about Collingwood.
“Are Richmond top four worthy? Probably not. Are they a bit sluggish through the midfield, are they a bit slow? Probably.
“And do they have the upcoming talent under the age of 24 that some of the other teams do? I’ll probably say no.
“I think the result says more about the Tigers.”
Hawthorn (80) - (61) North Melbourne
Buckley: “North Melbourne for me.
“They did really well in the first two weeks winning both games by less than a goal.
“We shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves. Clarko is a great coach, there will be changes, but it’s going to take time for North Melbourne to put this squad together.
“They’re going to have some performances where they lower their colours, that’s the simple fact of the matter.”
GWS (64) - (74) Carlton
Cornes: “Carlton, but not for the reasons you think.
“They’re undefeated, but I’m not convinced. I’m not convinced about what I’ve seen from the Blues.
“The talls in their side aren’t impacting as you would have hoped. When you look at (Tom) De Koning, (Marc) Pittonet, (Charlie) Curnow a tick, but (Harry) McKay is going just ordinary and (Jack) Silvagni.
“Their inefficiency going forward, at one point in the second half they had 30-something inside 50s for three goals.
“It’s still a work in progress for Michael Voss and his undefeated Blues.”
St Kilda (92) - (74) Essendon
Buckley: “I think St Kilda.
“The bona fides of their defensive strategies are strong and we should have expected that with Ross Lyon.
“They’re only scoring 37 per cent of inside 50s, which ranks them 18th in the competition for going inside and turning those into scores, but that doesn’t seem to matter because putting the ball forward means they can defend all of that ground and they’re defining it as well as any team in the competition.
“I think it says a fair bit about the Saints and how they can defend because the Bombers kicked 100 points in the first two rounds and they kept them to a much lower score.”
Port Adelaide (86) - (117) Adelaide
Cornes: “This is the hardest one for me. I could answer it either way.
“I’m going to choose that is says more about Adelaide and the fact that they are in finals contention.
“I believed that before the start of the year and I still believe that despite starting 0-2. They have a lot of talent in the forward end of the ground, they’ve got depth that perhaps they haven’t had, and they’re just hard to play against.
“When you turn up and play Adelaide, if you win, you’re going to really deserve the win.
“That result was significant for Matthew Nicks.”
Gold Coast (73) - (54) Geelong
Buckley: “I think Geelong.
“It just says that they’re not where they want to be, it’s not where they need to be and there’s a big gap between how they finished off last year and how they’ve started off this year.
“I think the Suns’ pace worried them. Geelong have been in all of their games in the last quarter and they’ve been overrun. They’ve been in contests but that’s not what you’d expect from a reigning premier.
“They’ve got a fair bit of work to do. They’re a long way off.”
Melbourne (134) - (84) Sydney
Cornes: “Probably Melbourne, the fact that they’re a real premiership shot.
“Highest scoring team in the competition across three rounds, their forward line connection looks good, multiple options to goal.
“And a significant day for Brodie Grundy. The way that he covered the ground, the spread from stoppage is what we’ve wanted to see from Grundy.
“With Max Gawn going down, what a recruit that is going to turn out to be. An upgrade on Luke Jackson.
“So for me it was Melbourne.”
Fremantle (108) - (67) West Coast
Buckley: “I’ll go with Freo and that is with backs against the wall (at 0-2) they were able to find something.
“They had some competitive advantage in so far as the opposition lost players to injury and were undermanned as the game wore on.
“Fremantle showed a little bit more dare in their offence.
“It was somewhat of an easy kill but they did what they had to do.”