Who will win and why? Tips for AFL Round 2

Round 2 is finally here and some intriguing games await us this weekend.

Things kick off on Thursday night between Hawthorn and Carlton. Can the Blues bounce back after their Round 1 shocker against Richmond, or will the Hawks keep rolling?

Friday plays host to the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood in a 100-year celebration for the boys from Footscray, while Saturday and Sunday have a raft of games that will tell us plenty about where teams sit in 2025.

GWS and Gold Coast take the week off with the bye after their Opening Round schedules.

Check out our tips and predictions for each game below.

Carlton v Hawthorn  

Thursday - 7:30pm AEDT – MCG

What on Earth can possibly be said about Carlton right now?

The loss to Richmond last week may have been their most humiliating in a decade and hope has quickly drained from the eyes of all supporters. How will they respond against a team that brutalised them late in the 2024 season? That’s the million dollar question. The return of Charlie Curnow helps, but is he fit and ready to go? This feels like an early-season litmus test for Carlton against a flag favourite.

The Hawks look like the team to beat early in the 2025 season. They have been enormously impressive in their wins over Sydney and Essendon so far, with their new-look backline holding up impressively. They’ve kicked 96 and 111 points respectively to start the season as their ability to move the footy puts opponents to the sword. With Will Day as a pure on-baller, James Sicily as the best swingman in the game and the additions of Tom Barrass and Josh Battle, do the Hawks have a weakness?

Sam Mitchell's Hawks could not look better. Carlton could not have looked worse seven days ago. The Blues have rarely shown the ability to bounce back swiftly from a bad performance and often find themselves more likely to spiral downward. The Hawks used their speed and counterattack game to destroy Carlton in Round 22 of last season, winning 112 to 38.

It’s hard to imagine the Blues having a counter for this in 2025 as they seem equally susceptible. Even if Carlton builds a lead, it can’t be trusted after last week.

Prediction: Hawthorn by 40 points.

Nic Negrepontis

Footscray v Collingwood

Friday - 7:40pm AEDT – MCG

This clash is a massive game for Footscray in more ways than one with the Bulldogs reverting to their original name for their 100-year centenary celebration.

Luke Beveridge’s side enters the clash in some solid form having taken care of North Melbourne in Round 1 by 16 points, while Collingwood bounced back after their Opening Round defeat to GWS by trouncing Port Adelaide by a whopping 91 points at the MCG in Round 1.

While the Bulldogs will be desperate to put in a good showing in a historically important game, they do enter the clash undermanned with some key players including captain Marcus Bontempelli out with injury.

Conversely, the Magpies enter at just about full strength with star midfielder Jordan De Goey back for this clash after the club conservatively built his fitness base over the summer and they’ll hope to make it two from two at the MCG in 2025 this Friday night.

While the Bulldogs have beaten the Magpies in three of their last four attempts, their injury list is a real concern and rightly has them entering this clash as underdogs.

If Collingwood offer up anything like they did against Port Adelaide last Saturday, they should simply be too good for this Footscray outfit.

But which version of Craig McRae’s side will we get? If it’s the Opening Round version, Footscray are every chance of causing an upset in what will be an historic night for the club.

Prediction: Collingwood by 19 points.

Lachlan Geleit

Essendon v Adelaide

Saturday - 1:20pm AEDT – MCG

Brad Scott’s Bombers were good in patches during last weekend’s eventual 26-point loss to Hawthorn. Ultimately they lacked the overall class to truly challenge the Hawks, but there were some good signs.

Midfielder Jye Caldwell was simply superb with 36 disposals, 11 tackles, 11 score involvements and 10 clearances, while captain Zach Merrett (26 disposals, two goals) and Xavier Duursma (19 disposals, two goals) were strong contributors. | They will be without star defender Jordan Ridley (concussion) and leading goal kicker Kyle Langford (hamstring) for this clash with the Crows, which could test their depth.

The Crows were scintillating against St Kilda last Sunday, piling on 21 goals in a 63-point demolition job.

Adelaide players were lining up to hit the scoreboard with 12 individual goal kickers, including six who kicked multiples. Darcy Fogarty (four goals) and Riley Thilthorpe (three goals) were dominant as key forwards, with veteran Taylor Walker playing a lesser role.

Matthew Nicks has been blessed with a full squad to choose from for the away clash with the Bombers, which is a very nice position to be in after a massive win.

The Dons have a very strong recent record against the Crows, winning seven of their last eight. They were edged by the Crows by two points at Marvel Stadium in round 19 last year.

With the key outs at Essendon, this is has become a very winnable game for Adelaide in the first match between these two sides at the MCG since 1995.

The Crows have not won at the venue since Round 15, 2017, but they should overturn an 11-game winless run there this weekend.

Prediction: Adelaide by 14 points.

Andrew Slevison

Port Adelaide v Richmond

Saturday - 4:15pm AEDT – Adelaide Oval

The critics have been out in force in the wake of Port’s 91-point drubbing at the hands of Collingwood last Saturday night. Ken Hinkley has been at the forefront of that criticism given the narrative of the Josh Carr succession plan.

Captain Connor Rozee (35 disposals, nine inside 50s) and Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines (34 disposals, 10 clearances) can hold their heads high, as can veteran Travis Boak who breaks Russell Ebert’s full club record, but there were few others.

Against Richmond on Saturday, Hinkley must instil an us-against-them mentality which has served him so well in the past.

The Tigers were the talk of the town after a stirring comeback over arch rivals Carlton last Thursday night.

Adem Yze’s aura was on show as he masterminded an against-the-odds 13-point triumph, with his side recovering from a deficit of 41 points. No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor starred on debut, sparking the young and exuberant Tiger cubs. He picked up the Rising Star nomination for his efforts.

This week they’ll have to tackle a wounded Port in hostile territory without the ‘godfather’ of the forward line, Tom Lynch, who is suspended.

The blowtorch has been placed on the Power all week in the lead-up. Hinkley’s desire to coach on has been questioned, and that would hurt his pride. You’d imagine they will come out breathing fire in front of their faithful.

There was little confidence in the Tigers last week, and although they surprised many, it’s difficult to see them repeating those efforts. Port on the bounce-back at home to make it five on the trot against the Tigers.

Prediction: Port Adelaide by 27 points.

Andrew Slevison

St Kilda v Geelong

Saturday - 7:35pm AEDT – Marvel Stadium

A clear size domination from Adelaide last week shows the severe impact that injured talls Max King and Dougal Howard make to this side. They will struggle with that again until they return. Mitch Owens and Liam Henry just need to get through training to add some spark in the forward half.

A return to Marvel where St Kilda out-hunted Geelong just three games ago is something to cling on to. Max Hall was the most impressive debutant, while Harry Boyd and Liam O’Connell may face selection pressure this week. Big-bodied Liam Stocker should also be in the frame for selection to add some strength in defence.

If there were any doubts that Geelong would pack the same punch at GMHBA this season, they were quickly snuffed out with a 78-point drubbing of Fremantle. However, the Cats have lost their last three games to St Kilda at Marvel by an average of 20.3 points.

Chris Scott and his men will have to overcome this burden - minor as it may seem - against a young and undermanned Saints, to get off to a proper flyer in 2025. No players of note are returning from injury this week, but Scott wouldn’t be desperate for change after their last outing.

Geelong are clearly the superior side here. Whether Ross Lyon can set his Saints up back at Marvel where they won eight of 13 games last season will prove pivotal in this being competitive. Bailey Smith should get some attention from Marcus Windhager or Jack Steele while Jeremy Cameron looks set for a big one on Zaine Cordy, Anthony Caminiti or Arie Schoenmaker.

St Kilda can’t get much worse than last week even with a return to Marvel as well as Owens and Henry back in the side, but the Cats should be making it 0-2 for Lyon’s men early in 2025.

Prediction: Geelong by 21 points.

Ethan Clark

Brisbane v West Coast

Sunday - 1:10pm AEDT – Gabba

Don’t worry thinking too hard about this one, Brisbane will get the job done comfortably.

In fact, an upset result here would be even more stunning than Richmond’s Round 1 boilover against Carlton.

The Lions have won all of their last six games against the Eagles, and by an average margin of 46 points.

What West Coast will want to see from this game isn’t a victory, but a far better effort than what they dished up in last weekend’s 87-point home loss to Gold Coast.

Even if they won’t win many games, it’s incredibly important for coach Andrew McQualter to at least appear like he’s getting the most out of what looks like a bottom two list on paper.

It won’t come easy against Brisbane at home, but if they can hang around for at least a half, that will give Eagles fans some positives to take out of what will likely be a comfortable Lions win.

Prediction: Brisbane by 49 points.

Lachlan Geleit

North Melbourne v Melbourne

Sunday - 3:20pm AEDT – Marvel Stadium

Melbourne had five debutants in their three-point loss to GWS and were considered quite unlucky not to come away with the four points.

It would’ve been one of the more impressive wins of the round if they were to get up, seeing as though they were on top of the Giants in key areas such as inside 50s and contested possessions, despite fielding a far less experienced side against one of the premiership favourites.

As for North Melbourne, their 16-point loss to the Bulldogs was a sign of positive change for the young side.

Their result signified a change in attitude when things got tough, as they kept themselves within arms reach of the undermanned Dogs for the majority of the match. A change that was notable due to their recent history of rolling over and suffering big defeats when faced with the same circumstances.

One area that is an issue for the Roos this week would be their defence, with Griffin Logue (hamstring) and Jackson Archer (suspension) both out of the side this week.

North Melbourne ranked last in the league for intercepts in Round 1, which Melbourne will look to take advantage of to ensure they can grab their first win of the season.

It’ll be a tough task for the Roos this week. But if last week is anything to go by, then it is for certain that they won’t go down without a fight and should find a way to challenge the Dees until the very end.

Prediction: Melbourne by 20 points.

Zac Sharpe

Fremantle v Sydney

Sunday - 6:10pm AEDT – Optus Stadium

With both sides widely tipped to be top 8 teams in 2025, it’s safe to say not many expected this fixture to be a clash of two sides fighting for their first win of the season.

Coming off a strong off-season, the Dockers looked poised to make a splash in the premiership race this year, yet their display against Geelong threw those plans completely out the window.

Fremantle was dismantled by a potent Cats outfit down at GMHBA Stadium last week, conceding the most points of any side in Round 1 with 147 - a performance which led coach Justin Longmuir to admit post-game that he “just clearly didn’t prepare them the right way”.

They’ll be desperate to correct course as soon as possible, however, they may have a tricky time of it against last year’s minor premiers, who would arguably be even more desperate for a win after an unlikely 0-2 start.

Sydney experienced heartbreak once again at the hands of the Lions last week, falling to the reigning premiers by just 4 points in the Grand Final replay.

The Swans haven’t looked quite as potent in the early days of 2025 as they did throughout 2024, particularly on the attacking side of the ball, with the stout defensive opposition they’ve faced so far giving new senior coach Dean Cox plenty of headaches.

However, it shouldn’t get any easier this week against a Fremantle defensive unit that conceded the second-least points in the entire league last season, even if the Dockers didn’t display defensive dominance down at the Cattery last Saturday.

If Fremantle bounce back from the calamity that was Round 1, they should be capable of containing this Swans outfit in front of the Dockers faithful, but this is a clash that truly could go either way.

Prediction: Fremantle by 8 points.

Jack Makeham

BYES: GWS, Gold Coast.