The first round of the 2025 Australian Football League (AFL) season has concluded, and for fans, it contained almost all the exciting elements one could ask for. The round kicked off with an unexpected upset, with Richmond defeating Carlton on Thursday night. Then, in the Sunday night game, the Suns delivered a dominant performance against the Eagles, bringing the weekend's events to a close with a statement victory.
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03-18, 2025Coaches displayed creativity in their kickoff tactics this round. Teams are constantly searching for the best ways to score, but one situation seems to be severely undervalued: the kickoff. Perhaps because teams focus primarily on defense rather than offense, their on-field deployments lack adventurousness, especially during kickoffs. Television broadcasts often switch to the behind-the-goal view, where we typically see all players crowded on one side, waiting for a long pass to the forwards, a tactic that needs more variation.
On Friday night, as Essendon attempted to catch up on the scoreboard, Hawthorn players decided to take a gamble. Captain James Sicily held the ball, and the Hawks gathered all their players on one side, attracting all the Bombers' players. Sicily faked a kick towards the crowd, then turned to Jarman Impey on the other side, who shook off his defender with amazing speed. Richmond legend Matthew Richardson immediately noticed this during Channel Seven's commentary, saying, "Oh, this is the tactic they used last week." Sicily kicked the ball to the open flank, allowing Impey to flick it forward before it hit the ground, then he controlled the ball and kicked it accurately to Conor Macdonald inside the 50-meter line, showcasing excellent field awareness and execution.
Another aspect the AFL could improve is goal celebrations. Almost all other sports encourage enthusiastic celebrations during important moments, but somehow, this practice is not popular in Australian Rules Football. In the final stages of the game, Carlton launched a fierce attack on Richmond, with Richmond just minutes away from creating one of the greatest upsets in league history. After tenaciously defending for the last 10 minutes, the Tigers, coordinated by Sam Lollor and Jack Ross on the flanks, long-passed the ball inside the 50-meter line, where Seth Campbell engaged in a speed race with Lachie Cowan. Campbell beat Cowan with amazing speed and kicked the ball into the goal, followed by a move that will be played in Richmond's highlight reels for years. He first walked away nonchalantly, staring at the Carlton cheer squad a few meters away, then jogged a few steps and did a backflip, celebrating with his teammates, creating a memorable moment of elation.
Harry Reid did not perform well in his season debut. To be clear, I like almost all aspects of Harry Reid's game; he is very appealing. Reid has been under very strict scrutiny, which makes people forget that he is only 19 years old. In West Coast's season opener on Sunday, Reid showed his childish and willful side. When the Eagles were trailing the Suns by 39 points in the middle of the second quarter, replays showed Reid faking a fall after slight contact with Suns defender Charlie Ballard to trick a free kick. Viewed in isolation, this incident is not good, and worse, Reid barely touched the ball in that game. Reid has shown in his young career that he is not afraid of confrontation and had another clash with Suns players before halftime when the Eagles were 45 points behind, indicating a need for greater discipline and focus.
It must be pointed out that this observation is easier to make from the stands than on the field, but it is incredible why players do not take advantageous positions more frequently. Often, players find themselves in open positions, usually on the advancing flanks, but instead of using the bounce and bringing the ball closer to the goal, they rush to kick it forward. The benefit of gaining advantageous positions with your feet is twofold. First, the obvious is that you are closer to the goal, which is the ultimate goal of the game. Second, delaying the upward kick or hand-passing allows the game to unfold in front of you. A perfect example came from the Giants' thrilling victory over the Demons at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. The Giants were 8 points behind with 10 minutes left in the final quarter, and then they launched a typical tsunami-like attack on their opponents. Finn Callanan, one of the best advancing players in the league, found himself trapped in the back pocket near the baseline and coordinated with Josh Kelly to break through the Demons' defense, showcasing the importance of strategic positioning and teamwork.
This year's rookies might be the real deal. Before the 2024 draft, the players entering the system were touted as being incredibly talented. It's easy to see this claim as teams trying to raise the price of first-round picks on the trade table, but after just one full round of games, it's clear that the draft experts knew what they were talking about. On Thursday night, top pick Sam Lollor strode confidently onto the Melbourne Cricket Ground, looking like a true Dustin Martin reborn, with 18 possessions and two goals. The sooner the Tigers release him from the No. 22 jersey and give him Martin's No. 4 jersey, the better. In the months before the draft, the Bombers were lucky when the AFL amended its Next Generation Academy rules to allow them to acquire electric small forward Isaac Kako, who was eventually selected with the 13th pick. Essendon felt like they hadn't had a super small forward in decades, and when Kako kicked his first goal with an aerial intercept against the Hawks, fans couldn't believe their eyes, highlighting the potential impact of these new talents.
The controversial season-opening round sparked fierce debate, and some of its effects were evident in the first round. The idea of holding this round of games outside of Victoria makes sense: leverage the NRL's influence in Las Vegas by holding games in Queensland and New South Wales, both traditional rugby league heartlands. However, one of the byproducts of the split start to the season is that some teams are in much better shape in the first round of the season than others. Let's be clear—Hawthorn is stronger than Essendon, but on Friday night, it was clear that the Hawks were a team that had completed a full game, while the Bombers had to adjust and looked rusty. Hawthorn proved too strong for Essendon, who were still eliminating their rust in the first round of the two teams. Collingwood, who were crushed by the Giants in the opening round, looked completely different a week later, defeating the Power by 91 points in the Power's season opener. The AFL has stated that the opening round will continue to exist, but the unfair playing field it creates is an issue that league headquarters must consider.
A famous saying is often used in sports, that all roads lead to Rome, and this also applies to creating scoring opportunities. In the high-performance, fully professional era of Australian Rules Football, AFL players often seem to be over-coached and do not rely on intuition as much as their predecessors. This is especially evident when advancing forward, as players often find it difficult to find teammates in scoring positions. One scene from the first round of games showed that sometimes the best way to think is not to think too much. This came from the Bulldogs' new recruit Matt Kennedy, who performed well after being traded by Carlton. With the Bulldogs leading the Kangaroos by 13 points, Kennedy found himself facing Caleb Daniel, who was chasing a loose ball on the flank. Daniel stuck close to Kennedy, meaning that when the ball bounced favorably, Kennedy didn't have time to grab it, so he decided to kick the ball in the air to Lachie McNeil's running route, and McNeil ran into an empty goal. It was a great play that showed a player using his natural instincts to create a scoring opportunity, rather than relying on over-trained structures, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and spontaneity.
