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Articles by Andrew Eyers
Ronny Lerner’s Previews With Punch: Round 6
(L-R) Nick Daicos, Callum Ah Chee, Brayden Maynard, Dayne Zorko, Cam Rayner and Lachie Neale get involved in a scuffle in Round 3 last year. Photo: AFL MEDIA BRISBANE v COLLINGWOOD (Gabba, Thursday 7:30pm) The Lions have made a perfect start to their premiership defence, winning all five of their games so far, which is something they haven’t achieved since they were Fitzroy all the way back in 1948.
Footyology Podcast: Racism rears its ugly head again
On the Footyology Podcast, RoCo & Rocket give you the most incisive look at each game of every AFL round. The 2025 AFL season is here, and the Footyology Podcast, proudly brought to you by ESPN Australia, is back for a ninth year to keep you abreast of all the news and offer the most incisive previews of the games each week.
Beyond dispute now that Demons are done and dusted
Simon Goodwin is the subject of much speculation, but Melbourne’s playing list is no longer good enough to contend. Picture: ESPN/GETTY IMAGES You can write teams off too quickly in AFL football. You can also hang on to them too long. That’s what I did with Melbourne. Last year, I doubled down on the Demons when many had given them up. I thought the impact of those much-documented off-field issues may have been overstated.
Ronny Lerner’s Previews With Punch: Round 4
Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos is tackled during his team’s thrilling win over Carlton in Round 21 last year. Photo: AFL MEDIA COLLINGWOOD v CARLTON (MCG, Thursday 7:30pm) Touted by many pre-season as a top-four threat, and possibly set for even higher honours, Carlton has been smashed over the head by reality in the opening three weeks.
Footyology Podcast: The tall and short of it
FOOTYOLOGY NEEDS YOU! We’re proud of what we’ve achieved since we began in mid-2017. Our brand of incisive football analysis, combined with coverage of social issues and entertainment, is fiercely independent and determined not to descend into clickbait. And yes, it’s FREE. But we can only exist with YOUR support. And the more we can raise, the more quality content we can create. Please become a FOOTYOLOGY PATRON today for just $8.50 per month and help keep the FOOTYOLOGY flag flying!
Is Carlton really just not that good?
A dejected and beaten Carlton side after last Friday night’s game against Western Bulldogs. Photo: AFL MEDIA I sat on the boundary for Friday night’s Carlton v Western Bulldogs clash, as close as possible to either team’s interchange bench. As quarter-time approached and Blues coach Michael Voss came down to the boundary line in preparation for his player address, I could clearly read on a whiteboard the message he had and would continue to drum into his players. It read: Take ground.
All out of love, Demons teetering on the brink
Melbourne captain Max Gawn leads his team from the MCG on Saturday after its heavy loss to Gold Coast. Photo: AFL MEDIA It might only be Round 3, but Melbourne already looks like a club at the crossroads. Having now suffered back-to-back 10-goal pummellings on the way to being 0-3 for the first time in six years, the Demons’ 2025 campaign appears to be teetering on the precipice after barely getting underway.
Harley Reid’s fine for very little a bird-brained idea
West Coast’s Harley Reid ‘flips the bird’ to the crowd at the Gabba in Brisbane last Sunday. Picture: FOX FOOTY The AFL knows it’s never going to win a popularity competition with most of the game’s supporters, but there are times you’d swear it deliberately tries to put people offside. I reckon we might just have seen another example.
Ronny Lerner’s Previews With Punch: Round 3
Essendon will need another monster performance from captain Zach Merrett to be any chance of beating Port Adelaide. Photo: GETTY IMAGES ESSENDON v PORT ADELAIDE (Marvel Stadium, Thursday 7:30pm) It hasn’t taken long for the alarm bells to ring loud and clear at Tullamarine. A week after a commendable season opener against Hawthorn, the Bombers crash landed last week to the Crows as their defensive frailties were laid bare in brutal fashion at the MCG.
Footyology Podcast: Northern (lack of) exposure
FOOTYOLOGY NEEDS YOU! We’re proud of what we’ve achieved since we began in mid-2017. Our brand of incisive football analysis, combined with coverage of social issues and entertainment, is fiercely independent and determined not to descend into clickbait. And yes, it’s FREE. But we can only exist with YOUR support. And the more we can raise, the more quality content we can create. Please become a FOOTYOLOGY PATRON today for just $8.50 per month and help keep the FOOTYOLOGY flag flying!
Decades of poor decisions still haunting the Dons
Dejected Essendon players leave the MCG after last Saturday’s thrashing against Adelaide. Photo: GETTY IMAGES The football world has often described Essendon being neither good enough to challenge for a flag nor bad enough to completely bottom out as a form of purgatory. But that may no longer be appropriate. Why not? Because Webster’s dictionary defines purgatory literally as “a place or state of temporary suffering or misery”.
Are North Melbourne’s dark days coming to an end?
Nick Larkey celebrates another goal during North Melbourne’s last-quarter avalanche on Sunday. Photo: AFL MEDIA Has the time finally come? Can North Melbourne fans at long have confidence that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t just a freight train coming their way? The Kangaroos have been here before, so forgive their supporters for being more trepidatious than a wildebeest entering crocodile-infested waters in the Serengeti.
New season, same question: Saints coming or going?
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon last week had his current contract extended until the end of 2027. Photo: AFL MEDIA Logic suggests Geelong should deal out a spanking to St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night. The Cats are fit, healthy and in form, having dealt Fremantle a 78-point hiding at home last Saturday. The Saints are banged up by injury, low on confidence, and were belted by Adelaide. Yet it would be so St Kilda and its coach Ross Lyon were the Saints to pull an upset.
Ronny Lerner’s Previews With Punch: Round 2
Carlton’s Blake Acres (top) and Jack Scrimshaw fight for the ball in Round 22 last year. Photo: AFL MEDIA CARLTON v HAWTHORN (MCG, Thursday 7:30pm) The good news for the Blues is that it couldn’t possibly get worse than last week … could it? Michael Voss’ men kicked of 2025 in nightmarish fashion by giving up a 41-point lead and losing to reigning wooden spooner Richmond, who many tipped would go winless this season.
Footyology Podcast: Tough verdicts, weird mascots
FOOTYOLOGY NEEDS YOU! We’re proud of what we’ve achieved since we began in mid-2017. Our brand of incisive football analysis, combined with coverage of social issues and entertainment, is fiercely independent and determined not to descend into clickbait. And yes, it’s FREE. But we can only exist with YOUR support. And the more we can raise, the more quality content we can create. Please become a FOOTYOLOGY PATRON today for just $8.50 per month and help keep the FOOTYOLOGY flag flying!
Port Adelaide hands over a coaching problem
Port Adelaide coach-in-waiting Josh Carr (left) with incumbent Ken Hinkley. Photo: AFL MEDIA As much as the opening salvos of a new AFL season can serve up rogue results which end up being anomalies, they can also amplify with remarkable clarity what were previously only mumbled misgivings. Such was certainly the case on Saturday night at the MCG following Port Adelaide’s 91-point demolition at the hands of Collingwood. There are losses and there are disasters.
Archer a victim of AFL’s impossible expectations
Western Bulldogs players check in on teammate Luke Cleary after he was concussed on the weekend. Photo: GETTY IMAGES More than 34,000 people at Marvel Stadium held their collective breath late in Saturday night’s clash between the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne. With just under seven minutes remaining, Kangaroos defender Jackson Archer and Bulldogs youngster Luke Cleary were involved in a sickening collision – the kind that makes one put their hands over their face.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: West Coast
Harley Reid took the footy world by storm last year and promises to light things up again in 2025.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Melbourne
Young gun Caleb Windsor averaged 15 touches and kicked eight goals from 19 games in his first year and is going to get better.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: St Kilda
Darcy Wilson made an instant impact in his debut season last year and looks to have a bright future ahead of him.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Port Adelaide
The emergence of Jase Burgoyne was one of the big highlights of Port Adelaide’s 2024 campaign.
Ronny Lerner’s Previews With Punch: Opening Round 1
Hawthorn’s Josh Ward gets a handball away ahead of Essendon’s Xavier Duursma last year. Photo: AFL MEDIA RICHMOND v CARLTON (MCG, Thursday 7:30pm) The anticipation surrounding the traditional early-season clash between the Tigers and Blues certainly isn’t what it once was as Richmond finds itself in the unusual position of being at rock bottom after producing it worst-ever season last year.
Footyology Podcast: OK, now it really starts!
FOOTYOLOGY NEEDS YOU! We’re proud of what we’ve achieved since we began in mid-2017. Our brand of incisive football analysis, combined with coverage of social issues and entertainment, is fiercely independent and determined not to descend into clickbait. And yes, it’s FREE. But we can only exist with YOUR support. And the more we can raise, the more quality content we can create. Please become a FOOTYOLOGY PATRON today for just $8.50 per month and help keep the FOOTYOLOGY flag flying!
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: North Melbourne
Colby McKercher is one of the brightest prospects from North Melbourne’s considerable stockpile of talented youngsters.
Simpkin: ‘We’re not here to make up the numbers’
North Melbourne skipper Jy Simpkin says the Roos want to be pushing for final eight berth in 2025. Photo: GETTY IMAGES If he was a more selfish individual, you could understand North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin privately viewing any improvement by the Roos as something of a double-edged sword. North Melbourne was arguably at its lowest ebb when Simpkin won consecutive best and fairest awards in 2021-22, not only devoid of success but sorely lacking the tools or talent to improve.
Closing the door on Opening Round is a must
The time has already come for AFL CEO Andrew Dillon to bite the bullet on the Opening Round concept. Photo: AFL MEDIA The AFL’s Opening Round experiment should be done and dusted, never to be seen again. Two helpings of this manufactured idea cooked up by a league marketing employee to justify his or her job has provided more than enough data to suggest it no longer deserves a place in the fixture.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Bulldogs
Bulldogs young gun Sam Darcy has the potential to become one of the league’s best players.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Fremantle
Fremantle’s Josh Treacy is one of the most exciting young key forwards in the competition.
Ronny Lerner’s Previews With Punch: Opening Round
Hawthorn’s Blake Hardwick (left) and Tom Papley battle for the ball in Round 7 last season at the MCG. Photo: AFL MEDIA SYDNEY v HAWTHORN (SCG, Friday 7:40pm) A ball hasn’t even been kicked in anger yet and season 2025 is already full of drama and chaos. This match wasn’t supposed to be the season opener, but that title was thrust upon it thanks to Cyclone Alfred looming off the coast of south-east Queensland.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Richmond
No.1 pick Sam Lalor promises to provide some much-needed cheer for Richmond fans in what’s looming as a dark year.
Footyology Podcast: Opening Round disaster
On the Footyology Podcast, RoCo & Rocket give you the most incisive look at each game of every AFL round. The 2025 AFL season is here, and the Footyology Podcast, proudly brought to you by ESPN Australia, is back for a ninth year to keep you abreast of all the news and offer the most incisive previews of the games each week.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: GWS
Emerging GWS youngster Aaron Cadman looks set for a big 2025 after an impressive second season.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Gold Coast
Mac Andrew promises to become one of the biggest stars of the competition in the next year or two.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Sydney
Sydney superstar Chad Warner’s contractual situation will be one of the talking points of the 2025 season.
Footyology Podcast: Every AFL team’s 2025 previewed
On the Footyology Podcast, RoCo & Rocket give you the most incisive look at each game of every AFL round. The 2025 AFL season is here, and the Footyology Podcast, proudly brought to you by ESPN Australia, is back for a ninth year to keep you abreast of all the news and offer the most incisive previews of the games each week.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Hawthorn
Nick Watson was a revelation in his debut season last year and epitomised Hawthorn’s newfound swagger.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Geelong
Lawson Humphries (right) took to AFL footy like a duck to water last year and looks to have a bright future.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Essendon
Essendon young gun Nate Caddy made a huge splash in 2024 and looks set to thrill fans again this year.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Collingwood
There’s no ceiling on what Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos can achieve this year.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Carlton
Carlton ruckman Tom De Koning is on the verge of becoming the Blues’ next superstar.
Birmingham’s Black Sabbath the pride of the town
Black Sabbath in 1970 (from left): Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne. Recently, in a small part of England, the world turned away from its troubles and the forces of heaviness were brought into the light, and formally acknowledged. And it was a good thing. Black Sabbath were officially recognised for their work.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Brisbane
Fresh from a Norm Smith Medal, the sky is the limit for young gun Will Ashcroft.
Is it really just a short leap from First Fleet to Mars?
Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley delivers her Australia Day speech at Noreuil Park in Albury. Photo: BORDER MAIL Just when we thought we were emerging from the silly season unscathed, along comes a politician to spoil it. Introducing the deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley. And thanks for nothing. No doubt Ley was trying to communicate a time in history through a modern equivalent, thus rendering it easier to comprehend.
Tale of the tape for your AFL team: Adelaide
A bulked-up and injury-free Riley Thilthorpe is a scary proposition for opposition sides.
The Trump reality show is back, and wackier than ever
Donald Trump and two of animated comedy South Park’s Canadian favourites, Terrance and Phillip. And so the second series of What Donald Did Next has begun airing. We could recap the main points of the first series, summarise the various plots, subplots, subsubplots, explore the characteristics of the main players and their roles, the cause and effect of their wild and wacky behaviour, those killed off, metaphorically, those who have survived, but let’s not. Life is too short.
Dutton flags his divide and conquer strategy
Peter Dutton says it is ‘‘dividing our country unnecessarily’’ to fly the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags alongside the Australian flag. Photo AAP Peter Dutton demonstrated this week an appalling lack of basic numeracy. I’m sure it wasn’t front of mind. He was, after all, looking at the bigger picture, trying to gauge which way the wind blows. But still it happened. He took away two things from three and declared that the remaining one was bigger than the three.
AFLW club-by-club trade period summary 2024
FOOTYOLOGY NEEDS YOU! We’re proud of what we’ve achieved since we began in mid-2017. Our brand of incisive football analysis, combined with coverage of social issues and entertainment, is fiercely independent and determined not to descend into clickbait. And yes, it’s FREE. But we can only exist with YOUR support. And the more we can raise, the more quality content we can create. Please become a FOOTYOLOGY PATRON today for just $8.50 per month and help keep the FOOTYOLOGY flag flying!
World going down toilet? There’s a word for that
Enshittification: Noun, colloquial the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the enshittification of times. Which is what Charles Dickens might have said if he were around now and had seen the Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year.
The world’s gone bananas! Let’s call it art
Sotheby’s auction off the famous banana duct-taped to a wall. Picture: AP Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sitting on a park bench. Guildenstern is polishing an apple. Rosencrantz has bananas on his mind. Rosencrantz: Do you know Guildenstern, I hadn’t quite realised this to now, but there’s a real art to how you polish an apple. Guildenstern: Why thank you. I hadn’t even thought about it. It’s just natural to me. Rosencrantz: It’s as if you have a method to it.
AFL 2025: Club-by-club list changes
Geelong legend Tom Hawkins (left), Kangaroos top pick Finn O’Sullivan (centre) and new Fremantle recruit Shai Bolton were some of the biggest list changes of the off-season.
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