Whateley's snap judgements: AFL must take advantage of Labour Day

Let's launch into snap judgments from the long weekend. Number 1 on my list is, where was the sport?

Moomba seems revitalised with the parade, the water skiing and my favourite the Birdman Rally.

But other than Super Saturday at Flemington and the Melbourne Storm on Sunday, where was the sport to populate the Monday holiday?

It’s a very strange gap in our calendar.

There have been years when the Grand Prix has been this weekend and the Australian Cup in its heyday was Labour Day.

Perhaps the most likely tenant might have been the NBL Grand Final series – game two is tomorrow night in Melbourne… maybe it could have owned the public holiday. But you couldn’t plan that in advance.

It really is for the AFL to slip into the vacancy.

Once the northern showpiece games are played, Sunday night and Monday afternoon are surely irresistible in future.

We have to get back to opening the season with a full round – with the right showcasing of games in Sydney and Queensland - especially when there are such sporting holes to fill.

The two games we’ve had are for impressions rather than conclusions.

What we saw won’t mean everything but it will mean something.

How much is in the eye of the beholder? I’d convinced myself in the pre-season Collingwood didn’t look old… and then, they looked old.

Coaches will quite often second-guess themselves heading into a season whether they’ve done the requisite work or the right work. That was the glaring question for the Magpies on first evidence.

Plenty of teams will suffer that fate at the hands of the Giants – who ooze raw power and aggression.

We’d half-joked the Giants would have spent the summer on a psychologist's couch after blowing their two finals.

The best therapy is getting back on the field – and didn't they enjoy that?

My only hesitation with the Giants had been their depth after losing a set of starters between seasons and another handful to injury.

It didn’t put a dent in them.

If you picked the Giants as your premiership fancy you’d be on good terms with yourself ... remember Toby Greene’s line: "Let’s lift the cup boys".

And as Ross Lyon noted on AFL 360 last night … the Saints didn’t offer Finn Callaghan enough.

Hawthorn was immediately improved by what they brought in.

The Swans are going to need time to make their adjustments – it’s safe to say they won’t sit atop the ladder like they did last year.

The rest is really up to you.

In among my snap judgments, I am back to the barricades – Give Kenny his $20k Back.

This should’ve happened when the AFL fixtured the Port Adelaide / Hawthorn rematch as the climax of Gather Round ensuring the theatre of the semi-final bust-up will get maximum exposure.

The absurdity of humiliating Ken Hinkley with a conduct unbecoming charge and the ludicrous $20,000 fine was further revealed yesterday in the cautioning of Craig McRae.

The Collingwood coach was treated with the respect he deserves and a proportional response.

He got a phone call from the AFL’s football department warning him against engaging with opposition players.

That’s precisely what should have happened and kudos to the AFL for the recalibration.

The lawyers crushed Kenny.

He was saddled with the potential for escalation and responsibility for the lower levels.

It was grossly unfair.

The AFL needs to make good.