What they got right & wrong: The wins & woes from Round 17

Some big wins, some bounce-backs and some massive upsets.

Plenty to take away from Round 17 and what it means for each of the 18 clubs.

See our assessments of each game below:

Collingwood v Essendon

Shiel has a role to play for top-four hopeful Essendon

Veteran midfielder Dylan Shiel returned to Essendon’s AFL side for just his second game in 2024 on Friday night and didn’t he fit right in?

The on-baller helped himself to 26 disposals, two goal assists, six clearances and seven score involvements in the 80-92 win over Collingwood as part of a midfield unit that includes Zach Merrett, Jye Caldwell and Sam Durham.

On top of his offensive work, Shiel laid eight tackles with three of those inside 50 as the Dons brought the heat to the Magpies on the biggest stage.

Although he’s been renowned for his burst and power out of stoppage, if Shiel can instead simply fill a role in and around stoppages, that’s all Essendon needs given their midfield depth.

While Darcy Parish will return soon to this side, Shiel proves that he doesn’t only have a role to play but should remain in the best 23 for an extended period.

Having your best players nullified while ignoring the opposition is killing Collingwood

Luke Hodge said pre-game that Collingwood should consider tagging opposition stars, but they certainly didn’t take that advice on Friday.

The obvious and only target for a run-with role was Zach Merrett. The Don loves playing against Collingwood - probably because he gets so much space - and followed up his Anzac Day Medal performance with another best afield this time with 30 disposals, 15 score involvements and a goal.

Going the other way, Sam Durham went to Nick Daicos at stoppage and while the Pies superstar still had 31 disposals and 12 clearances, his effectiveness wasn’t there as he was put under pressure all night.

Daicos gets attention from the opposition just about every week. If he was allowed the space that Collingwood afforded Merrett there’s no doubt the Pies would have more wins than they do in 2024 compared to the eight they have now.

While the Pies haven’t been a negating side under Craig McRae, things have changed and something’s got to change. 

It’s time to invest not only in themselves but also go to work on nullifying the opposition’s biggest strengths.

Collingwood’s pressure is gone

A hallmark of Collingwood’s game during their premiership season was pressure, but that has dropped significantly in the last two weeks.

While it’s hard to put pressure on when the opposition takes 139 marks to 89, they were also allowed time and space to kick the ball around because tacklers simply weren’t there to force many mistakes.

Even though they won, Essendon out-tackled Collingwood 43-56 and also had 12 tackles inside 50 to just four.

This lack of pressure is also exposing Collingwood’s backline which has shipped scores of 90 or more in all of their last three games.

If the Pies want to get back to their best, this is where they’ll have to start.

Lachlan Geleit

North Melbourne v Gold Coast

Letting McKercher flourish at half-back

North Melbourne has found great success starting their young future stars at half-back, with Harry Sheezel flourishing there last year.

Colby McKercher has moved into that role in 2024 and had the best game of his early career on the weekend.

He found 37 disposals, had 666 metres gained and provided some incredible run and carry for the Roos.

Even with Zac Fisher set to return to the side, McKercher should continue to be trusted as the primary rebound defender for the rest of the year.

Suns proved they’re not ready for September

Gifted the easiest fixture in the competition, four first round draftees for nothing, a premiership coach hand delivered to them … and the Suns still can’t beat North Melbourne.

The AFL is desperate for them to succeed and yet the Suns continue to stumble at every possible obstacle outside of home.

People keep talking about them having 80 per cent of their premiership side – and maybe they do. They’ll have another top draftee handed to them at the end of the season in Leo Lombard. They’ll raid the Tigers and get their hands on maybe a Daniel Rioli or a Dustin Martin.

But with the Suns, it’s a matter of we’ll believe it when we see it.

Nic Negrepontis

Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs

Port’s midfield went ballistic

Port Adelaide’s midfield unit was absolutely immense on Saturday.

Captain Connor Rozee, vice-captain Zak Butters and Ollie Wines needed to deliver as a trio and they did so in spades.

They combined for a remarkable 99 disposals, 27 score involvements, 22 clearances and three goals in devastating individual performances which led to a commanding home win.

When Ken Hinkley’s side is revered it’s due to the fact the engine room possesses so much quality and that was on show as a good reminder for the rest of the competition.

Throw in Jason Horne-Francis (20 disposals, nine score involvements, six clearances) and Jordon Sweet (42 hit-outs) giving them first use and it was a comprehensive midfield performance.

Dogs dished up a disaster-class

Just when you start trusting the Bulldogs, they dish that up.

Luke Beveridge’s team was battered from the very beginning, conceding five goals in the first quarter and 10 for the first half while kicking just three themselves.

They were more competitive after half-time but the damage had well and truly been done.

The loss of Liam Jones and Cody Weightman, who copped injuries against North Melbourne last week, certainly did weaken their line-up.

But their absences can’t be blamed for a lack of effort and intent in a game where a win would have put the Dogs inside the eight.

Now Carlton awaits…

Andrew Slevison

Geelong v Hawthorn

Redeployment of Tom Stewart works a charm

Chris Scott deserves a ton of credit for redeploying Tom Stewart as a midfielder and finding a new role for him, after his struggles to break hard tags over the last few months.

Instead of allowing him to struggle, Stewart has been moved into the middle, attending centre bounces before then floating behind the ball.

This has essentially allowed him to impact the game in the middle – where the Cats are thin – and then float back into the role he has mastered without a tag.

And there’s no surprise that it has coincided with Geelong’s uptick in form this last fortnight.

Hawthorn defence fell apart without Sicily

The shoulder injury to captain James Sicily badly hurt Hawthorn on Saturday.

From the outset the pressure was on the Hawks’ defence at GMHBA Stadium as a rampant Geelong outfit came to play.

In the end the Hawks conceded 30 scoring shots including five behinds in the opening six minutes with the first three coming from Jeremy Cameron on his way to 4.4.

The Cats ended up with 4.5 by quarter-time and the 22-point deficit at the first break could have been much worse.

Sicily was sorely missed and Sam Mitchell will be hoping he’s not out for too much longer so as to bind that gaping defence back together.

Nic Negrepontis & Andrew Slevison

GWS Giants v Carlton

Giants midfield shows up

It’s hard to explain just how sharply this game shifted after quarter-time.

Carlton dominated the clearances early, with Tom De Koning and Patrick Cripps combining for eight, while no Giant had more than two in the first term.

The Blues dominated field position because of it and blew out to a 39-point lead.

From there, the game flipped on its head. Finn Callaghan, Kieren Briggs, Tom Green and Callan Ward dominated the stoppages from then on – swinging field position in the Giants’ favour.

This coupled with Jacob Weitering’s corkie seeing him miss most of the second term and GWS pounded the scoreboard.

It’s a credit to the Giants midfielders who were soundly beaten by Carlton earlier in the year and in the first term.

Blues coach Voss was far too reactive

With Jacob Weitering off the ground and Charlie Curnow struggling to have any impact (for the second straight week), the move in the second quarter was clear.

Put Curnow loose in defence and allow him to get his hands on the footy and fill the intercept marking void left by Weitering.

Brodie Kemp was no match for Jesse Hogan, completely unable to get body on him and stop the GWS key forward from taking marks inside 50.

But instead of redeploying Curnow – or moving Alex Cincotta into defence given his tag on Stephen Coniglio was proving ineffectual – Voss did nothing and left his backline to cop it to the tune of 14 goals across quarters two and three.

Curnow has looked off these last two weeks, it’s unclear if he’s carrying an injury, but their reluctance to move him up the ground or into defence seems to indicate that there is something off about the reigning Coleman Medallist.

Nic Negrepontis

Fremantle v Richmond

‘The Big Cohuna’ keeps on developing, Young is a star for Freo

Josh ‘The Big Cohuna’ Treacy is Fremantle’s alpha forward now.

He has towelled up the Tigers on two occasions in 2024, booting five straight from 16 disposals and nine marks on Saturday night after kicking four majors in Round 8.

The 21-year-old has whizzed past Jye Amiss this year and comfortably leads the way at the Dockers with 35 goals. He is a major presence inside forward 50.

Treacy’s teammate Hayden Young is continuing to emerge as a young star of the competition.

He started his AFL career as a rebounding defender, has stepped up in the midfield and was even influential as a crafty leading forward.

Young provided 10 score involvements, eight inside 50s, a goal assist and kicked two goals from 24 touches while adding another string to his rapidly growing bow.

Tigers competitive between the arcs, bang average elsewhere

Richmond played well early and in patches throughout the game, but ultimately weren’t good enough as has been the case for much of the season.

The Tigers were very competitive between the arcs, beating Freo at clearance (43-37) and for contested possessions (135-133).

However, they struggled inside both attacking and defensive 50 which is essentially where the game was won and lost.

Adem Yze’s side ended up with just 7.12 from 47 inside 50s which just isn’t going to win you many games of footy. They had just as many inside 50 marks (12) as the Dockers but were unable to test the home side with scoreboard pressure.

Down the other end, the Tigers allowed the Dockers too much time and space around forward 50 which resulted in Josh Treacy booting five and the likes of Michael Walters, Michael Frederick and Hayden Young contributing two each.

It felt like the Tigers scrapped and fought in the clinches but were broken up on the outside, at times making life easy for their opponents.

They currently hold Pick 1 in the 2024 draft though…

Andrew Slevison

Melbourne v West Coast

Melbourne’s youngsters lead the way

The Dees have long been a side that many feel has been carried by their stars.

With names like Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Steven May all keys over the last half-decade, there’s no surprise why, but that wasn’t the case in Sunday’s 112-58 win over West Coast.

While it wasn’t against the best opposition, it was still incredibly impressive that it was the club’s young players that led the way.

Those names included Jacob Van Rooyen (four goals), Trent Rivers (29 disposals) and Caleb Windsor (one goal, 25 disposals) - those players are aged 21, 22 and 19 respectively.

As well as that dominant trio, draftee Koltyn Tholstrup kicked two early goals to excite the MCG crowd and prove he can play.

If these types can continue to improve while the club’s senior players get back to their best, watch out for the Demons.

There’s no doubt they’ll need them to stand up again next Saturday night against Essendon.

West Coast had a real lack of forward line potency and defensive intent

The Eagles were beaten at either end of the ground on Sunday, not in the middle.

We can see that as the Eagles won the hitout count 28-34, clearance count 30-35 and even matched the Dees in inside 50s, levelling that stat 49-49.

It was up forward where they struggled, scoring from only 37 per cent of their entries compared to Melbourne’s 55 per cent.

They also kicked 8.10 as inaccuracy cost them. While Melbourne’s backline is elite and you can understand why they got such a win in that area, the Eagles would have been disappointed in their defensive effort.

All of Tholstrup, Van Rooyen, Bayley Fritsch, Jake Melsham and Kysaiah Pickett kicked multiple goals. While there are some strong names in that group, it’s not like Melbourne is an elite offensive side as they rank 12th for points for in the AFL this year.

The Eagles will want to tighten up both up forward and in defence ahead of next Sunday’s clash at home against Brisbane.

Lachlan Geleit

St Kilda v Sydney

Wayward Swans prove costly again

The AFL gods can often be cruel and there was no better example than Logan McDonald who has had a forgettable fortnight.

A week removed from his missed shot after the siren against Fremantle, McDonald had the chance to win the game for Sydney but pushed his shot left and it ultimately turned out to be the final shot of the match.

McDonald’s miss was emblematic of Sydney’s final quarter as they let a five-goal lead slip from their fingers. Sydney kicked five behinds including a shot out on the full from Tom Papley compared to St Kilda’s 4.2. McDonald and Joel Amartey had three behinds each for the afternoon.

Inaccuracy has been a big factor in the Swans’ back-to-back losses. Sydney had 28 scoring shots to 24 against Fremantle and 27 to 19 against St Kilda.

Desperate act typifies pressurised Saints

Dougal Howard’s desperate touch on the goal line at the beginning of the third term seemed inconsequential at the time given the Swans were ahead by 27 points and in command of the game.

However, it proved to be match winning and Howard’s one-percenter was one of many on the afternoon for the Saints.

St Kilda were +22 for tackles (63-41) including 11-4 tackles inside 50 which resulted in the Swans committing 66 turnovers.

The Saints were also able to restrict the Swans’ best ball users with Errol Gulden leading the way with just 28 disposals whilst Isaac Heeney (24) and Chad Warner (23) were held relatively quiet despite hitting the scoreboard with two goals each.

Charles Goodsir

Brisbane v Adelaide

Ashcroft is back and so is Brisbane’s on-ball dominance

Ever since Will Ashcroft went down with an ACL injury last year, the Lions looked a rotation short in the middle.

It cost them on Grand Final day in 2023 and was costing them earlier this season and you can see how important he is now that he’s returned.

In just his second game back in the 97-86 win over Adelaide on Sunday, the youngster had 21 disposals and kicked a goal, but it was his presence around the footy that allowed his other teammates to flourish.

With attention more spread out, two-time Brownlow winner Lachie Neale helped himself to a ridiculous three goals, 36 disposals and 10 clearances, while Josh Dunkley kicked a goal and had 35 of his own.

Suddenly, the Lions can cover all bases at the stoppage with a few x-factor types able to run through the middle to give them different looks.

If they all remain fit and their form continues stacking up, the midfield won’t be any kind of issue for Brisbane come September and will instead be a strength.

Adelaide have been solid, but they’re going to struggle without their main man

Adelaide has been decent in the last two weeks, beating GWS before just going down to Brisbane at the Gabba.

Part of the reason behind this was Izak Rankine who has been dominant in a midfield/forward role.

The Crow has split his time between the middle and forward 50 in his last five games and in those appearances, he’s led the side to a win over Brisbane, got within a kick of Collingwood, beat GWS and just went down to the Lions in their return fixture.

Unfortunately for Adelaide and Rankine, he’s now set to miss some time after bumping Brandon Starcevich off the ball, leading to a concussion.

Without their star man orchestrating things and giving his side the x-factor spark they clearly need, there’s no doubt that they’re going to struggle with him sidelined.

They currently sit 15th, and it’s hard to see them climbing any higher than that with Rankine out.

Unless they find something different, the Crows could be in for a tough few weeks.

Lachlan Geleit