Round 10 taught us plenty about the AFL.
The week started with two statement performances from the Suns and Swans against top-four contenders before Saturday threw up some surprising results. Even Sunday didn’t go exactly as expected.
With that in mind and plenty of big ladder moves, here’s what we learned from the round’s results.
Sydney are extending their gap on the ladder and premiership favouritism
Sydney absolutely stamped themselves as outright premiership favourites on Friday night.
The Swans took care of Carlton 117-65 in that clash, absolutely dispatching a fellow finals contender despite finding themselves four goals down halfway through the first term.
John Longmire’s side is firing on all cylinders with their ball movement and overall silk with the footy astonishing to watch.
They’re getting the perfect mix at the moment of a game plan that’s working wonders as well as elite individual performances from their elite players.
Isaac Heeney continued his magical run with another three majors and 24 touches, while Chad Warner is quietly putting together an All-Australian campaign.
Most impressively though, they dominated on Friday without any of Nick Blakey or Ollie Florent having a big say, two players who also might be All-Australians to this point.
It’s getting to a point now where they have a group of 10 players that can all viably be best afield on any given week.
If their form continues and their big guns remain in form, it’s hard to see any team getting near them at the moment.
They’re going to be hard to catch.
Scott Pendlebury is STILL one of Collingwood’s most important players
Collingwood veteran Scott Pendlebury is ageing like a fine wine.
The 36-year-old has been absolutely monumental just as Collingwood lost a few midfield options.
He might have gotten Brownlow votes in both Round 8 and 9, but he saved his best for season 2024 in Saturday’s four-point win over Adelaide.
The smooth-mover got the Pies off to a great start with two first-term goals and he finished with 30 touches and six clearances.
In a tight game, it was Collingwood’s early midfield dominance that proved the difference, and Pendlebury helped create that gap with his running mate Nick Daicos.
After looking a bit off the pace to start 2024, Pendlebury looks like he could well and truly play on for a few more years, a phenomenal reality given he’s played 393 career games.
He might just go down as Collingwood’s greatest ever if he continues adding to his growing legacy.
Maybe GWS aren’t the team we thought they were
What’s happened to GWS?
After starting the season as hot as a smoking gun, they’ve seemingly come back to the pack with three consecutive losses.
While they were handled by Sydney and knocked off by Essendon at Marvel, it was their most recent loss that would have hurt most as they failed to defend their fortress against a Bulldogs side that is a fringe finals contender.
The thing is, the 43-70 scoreline probably flattered them as well as the Dogs had 30 scoring shots to their 13.
Have teams figured them out? Or is it a bad run of form?
Whatever it is, they’re certainly not that top-two side or premiership favourite that just about everyone thought they were just last month.
They’ll be desperate to get back on the winners’ list next week against the Cats in Geelong.
Lose there, and they could genuinely fall out of the eight. It’s moving time now for the Orange Tsunami.
It’s a big week for Geelong
Just as it’s a big week for GWS, it might just be even bigger for their opponents Geelong. The Cats are another team who started incredibly at 7-0, but they’ve also dropped their last three games as their fixture has started to become more difficult.
While they kind of punted on Thursday against Gold Coast in Darwin, managing several key players, there’s no excuse for shipping 164 points against any side, particularly the Suns.
If they’re really this top-four team, they probably need to take a scalp in the Giants and continue defending their home turf.
Lose, and their record against the best will continue to be questioned.
We’ll lose a serious amount of faith in their 2024 prospects if they don’t get the job done.
