Adelaide’s attack is looking insane: The six things we learned from Round 2

Round 2 taught us plenty about the AFL.

We had a mix of tight battles and blowouts as several teams look to have gone backwards from where they were in 2024.

From Hawthorn’s win on Thursday to Collingwood’s thriller over the Dogs and a raft of interesting results across the rest of the round, here’s what we learned from the weekend’s results.

Jack Macrae is going to be a cracking get for St Kilda

Jack Macrae for Pick 45 is some of the best work St Kilda’s done in recent years.

Needing a fresh start after 249 games with the Bulldogs, the 30-year-old looks renewed in his new colours and his impact was obvious in Saturday’s win over Geelong.

Playing full-time on the ball, something that hasn’t been a given for him in recent campaigns, Macrae helped himself to 35 disposals, nine clearances and 10 inside 50s in a best-afield performance.

Everyone knows that he has class, that’s pretty obvious given his three All-Australian blazers, and it’s his ball use that should benefit St Kilda most.

Even if St Kilda aren’t really tipped to push for finals in 2025, there’s no doubt they’ll be better off for having the left-footer in their side over the next few years.

Simply put, they don’t win Saturday’s game without him.

The Blues improved, but their warts were still there to see

Carlton definitely responded after their Round 1 loss to Richmond, but still weren’t good enough to go with Hawthorn when it mattered on Friday night.

There was an obvious increase in effort, intensity and pressure around the ball on Friday night, but their warts with ball in hand were still glaringly obvious.

When the game was played in slippery, wet conditions for the first half, Carlton was well and truly in the fight and even kept the footy in their front half more often than not thanks to their contest work.

As soon as it dried up though, the Hawks cut them to pieces by foot, something the Blues couldn’t do in return.

Their contested game is a great base to build off, but you’d think that they’ll struggle against the best teams if their ball movement and ball use doesn’t improve dramatically.

They’d hope to seriously improve that area of their game if they’re to play finals again in 2025.

Record-breakers Sidebottom and Pendlebury shouldn’t be rushing to finish up

Collingwood duo Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom became the V/AFL record holders for the most games played as a duo in Friday’s win over the Western Bulldogs, suiting up for the 308th time together.

The veterans first played together in 2009, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that on Friday as they both enjoyed stellar performances.

Pendlebury was elite by hand and finished with 26 disposals, while Sidebottom continued his purple patch of form with 22 touches and two goals, including the match-winner.

Aged 37 and 34 respectively, many expect 2025 to be the last season for the pair, but why shouldn’t they go on again?

Having never relied on pace even in their primes, both Pendlebury and Sidebottom are proving they can still be huge contributors with their footy smarts and skills rising to the top.

If they keep up this form over the next six months, it wouldn’t hurt to make it 18 seasons together in 2026, would it?

That's much better from West Coast

While they didn't get the win, West Coast fans would have been pretty happy with the club's performance against Brisbane at the Gabba on Sunday.

Entering as huge underdogs, the Eagles raced out to a 24-point quarter-time lead, a margin they'd also hold at half-time.

While they were overrun in the second half and ultimately went down by 19 points, the effort and intensity were there to be seen and it appears like the group has well and truly bought in under new coach Andrew McQualter.

Given that it didn't look like that at all in Round 1, Eagles fans would be breathing a sigh of relief that there should be a base level of effort under their new leader.

They'll hope to show that kind of commitment to the contest during next week's Western Derby against Fremantle.

Adelaide's attack is looking insane to start 2025

Adelaide’s forward line has been absolutely electric to start the 2025 season.

While they’ve only played the Saints and Bombers, there aren’t many teams that have the capability to put up scores of 135 and 161 against any opposition.

Saturday’s effort at the MCG was the highest score kicked by an interstate team at the venue since 2013, while they also broke their 2822-day winless streak at the home of footy with the victory as well.

With all of Ben Keays, Josh Rachele, Darcy Fogarty, Riley Thilthorpe, Izak Rankine, Alex Neal-Bullen and Jake Soligo kicking multiple majors, the Crows are proving that they have more avenues to goal than just about any other side in 2025.

While conditions were conducive for high scoring and slick ball use on Saturday afternoon, the Crows can get it done both in the air and on the ground as they possess a mix of elite talls and smalls inside 50.

Even if their defence could use some tightening up, the Crows should back themselves to win more often than not if they can turn as many games into shootouts as possible.

Don’t be surprised if they kick 20+ goals again next week when they host North Melbourne at the Adelaide Oval.

It’s a big week for Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide got back to winning ways on Saturday with a thumping 72-point win over Richmond.

While it was a great way to respond to their 91-point loss to Collingwood the week prior, not many will be reading too much into the result given where we expect the Tigers to finish up.

In Round 3, they come back to Melbourne to face Essendon at Marvel Stadium.

With the Dons looking like a team that’s taking a couple of steps back in 2025, the Power simply must get the job done here if they’re to frame up as a finals contender this campaign.

Lose to the Dons, and all of the good work that they did against the Tigers will be forgotten about.