Opinion AFL 2025 Finals Week 1 - Weekend Wrap & Liked, Learnt, Hated… FINALS EDITION

[Bunnings]

Learnt: Geelong didn’t bring pressure on Friday night

 

[Zevon]

Learnt: Geelong didn’t bring pressure on Friday night

More than happy to hear differing opinions presented on this one, as PhatBoy and Mr Meow did above. Love a good footy discussion and I’m not proud enough to refuse to admit when I get it wrong.

 

[kranky al]

Liked: the way finals give teams and players very few places to hide. You come in with only one gameplan? It'll be picked apart. You persist with a player who has obvious weaknesses? They will be exposed. Your coach is frequently out-strategised? It will happen again.
Personally, was very pleased with Geelong's "bruise-free" 80 tackles. The most by any side on the weekend, and against a team trying very much to use short passing to get up the ground.

Learned: some faces to put to the names of Suns players. I really like Humphrey. Funny old fellow, and he lets his actions do the talking.

He didn’t get in all manner of strife

 

[Roobs321]

if a WTC beyond 90 seconds is your primary hated this weekend, then you're telling on yourself

 

[catstorm]

It was a mixed bag on Thursday and Friday, but the two Saturday finals were exhilarating. We bid farewell to the Giants and Dockers. Six teams remain and we’re in for a cracking few weeks. Let’s go wrapping…



Cats v Lions, Friday night: After these two played out a gem of a prelim last year, this game promised a lot. It didn’t deliver. In fact it was tepid, bruise-free stuff for long patches. Neither side brought much pressure but the Cats did bring an intelligent, professional game plan that a wounded Brisbane had no answers to. That bizarre minute in the second quarter when the umpire lost the plot and took it upon himself to gift a couple of goals to Cam Rayner was just about the only “highlight”. Says it all really.

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Did you even watch the game?

Geelongs pressure was immense, they finished with the highest tackle count of the weekend of any club.
That’s with the sting going out of it for the last 10-15 minutes.

 

[joe444]

On the contrary ... I just call each game as I see it … possibly because I give everyone an unfairly hard time ... it’s why there’s an “opinion” tag on the thread

It must be so difficult for you to have to deal with your fan email like this every week, especially with the extra burden of maintaining just the right level of cloyingly performative self-effacement.

 

[L_W_P]

Liked: The Hawks winning. Have gone about their list build as well as any team can in this day and age.

Hated: The result for Freo. Beaten by a team that will add at least two top 10 draftees this season while using 3 other first round picks on trades...

Learned: Outside of the winner of Adelaide & Hawthorn I have zero interest in the rest of the finals.

Fair play to Geelong, probably the best run club in the country all things considered, but Im so 'meh' to seeing another combo of Pies/Cats/Lions and any GC success is going to feel extremely artificial and forced.

So yeah... Josh Battle

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Josh Battle

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27

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193cm

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9.0

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2.4

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196.8

3star

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11.0

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7.3

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3.8

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M

4.0

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MG

142.8

3star

D

10.8

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6.2

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4.6

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3.4

4star

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2.0

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175.6

3star

Norm Smith run please & thank you.

 

[hawksalltheway]

liked - suns v freo
learnt - cats looking super strong, very impressive
hated - complaints about welcome to country,.... seriosuly, pull your heads in, if you find it annoying or offensive, you need to have a good look at yourself...how can a couple of minutes affect you with such vitriol

 

[CarnTheScray]

Liked - Suns sticking it up Freo.

Learnt - GWS backline is almost as bad as ours.

Hated - The echo chambers of interstate crowds with no opposition voices. Adelaide booing IQ. Fremantle fans having a conniption at obvious frees.

 

[Bunnings]

More than happy to hear differing opinions presented on this one, as PhatBoy and Mr Meow did above. Love a good footy discussion and I’m not proud enough to refuse to admit when I get it wrong.

Id have to watch again, I was at the ground, different perspective, felt our defensive minded mids (Atkins et. Al) did ok.

 

[Zevon]

Id have to watch again, I was at the ground, different perspective, felt our defensive minded mids (Atkins et. Al) did ok.

Nah I reckon you’re on to something. I got a low pressure vibe watching the game but several other Geelong folk have mentioned that you guys had the highest tackle count of any side on the weekend, so I’m clearly wide of the mark on this one.

 

[Zevon]

It must be so difficult for you to have to deal with your fan email like this every week, especially with the extra burden of maintaining just the right level of cloyingly performative self-effacement.

Lol what?? Can assure you that you’ve got me VERY wrong. I just like starting a thread that goes back over the footy from the weekend and chatting about it with other footy people. I live in Sydney and we get starved of that here.

I’ll happily respond to people even if they’re telling me I haven’t got a clue. But being accused of trying to falsely generate some kind of “performative self-effacement” is a toxic bridge too far though sorry buddy. Not copping that one.

 

[Zevon]

Did you even watch the game?

Geelongs pressure was immense, they finished with the highest tackle count of the weekend of any club.
That’s with the sting going out of it for the last 10-15 minutes.

Yeah fair enough. Like I mentioned to Bunnings above, I got a low pressure feeling watching the game but that tackle count is impressive and would indicate that I got it wrong. More than happy to wear that one.

 

[Mr Meow]

It must be so difficult for you to have to deal with your fan email like this every week, especially with the extra burden of maintaining just the right level of cloyingly performative self-effacement.

Nah Zevon is a good guy, my fan mail is usually pretty tongue in cheek and he is always a good sport about things. He is also wrong sometimes like we all are. Let's keep our pile-ons civil though.

 

[JackFlash]

Liked: Cats best finals win since the glory years of 07-11...Dempsey, Holmes, Smith, Humphries, O"Sullivan, Mullin all 25 and under...

Learnt: Greg Swann has some work to do with the rules and umpiring over summer.

Hated: That free kick resulting in two goals to Brisbane is without doubt the worst decision ever called in a game of AFL Football, The AFL have called it a wrong decision, which is correct, now all they have to do is fix the rules on it. It was absurd and not what we want football to be all about. The Umpires in question need to be interviewed over this and removed from any further participation in this years finals series.
Gold Coast playing strip is the worst football Guernsey i have ever seen, even worse than the Hawks! Adelaide crowd, sad end to Fyfe who was a great player.

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

Nah Zevon is a good guy, my fan mail is usually pretty tongue in cheek and he is always a good sport about things. He is also wrong sometimes like we all are. Let's keep our pile-ons civil though.

I second that.

 

[ibd77]

Having a home final in week 1 is overrated.

Week 2 is poised to be the same. Brisbane and Adelaide are both very vulnerable.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

He didn’t get in all manner of strife

.as long as he keeps his pants on.

 

[Gibbke]

Collingwood flicked out the stub and got back to work, the Cats did their Cats thing (professional consistency or unremovable bad smell depending on your allegiance), Hawthorn outloved their opposition, GC gave everyone who's teamless in the finals someone to barrack for (and even then, last night turned even their current rivals into fans of GC if they didn't already support the likeable Freo)...and the two remaining teams who both play at home next week are the this year's minor premiers and last year's reigning premiers...

No one deserves real favouritism. You'd think a week off and a game at home would be advantageous, but 3 teams travelled interstate in Week 1 and won. You'd then think that Adelaide and Brisbane are vulnerable in Week 2 based on that, but Collingwood arguably walked into a final with a worse mojo...nothing to suggest the Crows and Lions couldn't do the same. And the formerly precious week off before a PF now equates to two byes in three weekends, not the greatest thing when you want to keep the momentum going (the quoted reason for the AFL bringing in extra time for finals was the wait Essendon had in 1990 after WC and Collingwood drew)..while Collingwood have been tested recently with mixed results, the Cats have enjoyed a cruisy draw and might argue they haven't at all...

The best team in it is the Cats for me, and it's hard to imagine them not fronting up against probably Collingwood and possibly Brisbane, but that's on paper and what logic says the path of the finals should now dictate. I'd even go so far to say there will be no more "upsets", and a hell of a lot more hindsight...! Just mark it down now as a time when anyone who says they legitimately predicted this year's winner in future years is lying, just like any coin toss...

 

[Chief]

Hawthorn outloved their opposition

Phwooaarrr!

 

[PaulTergeist]

Liked: The two elimination finals. Both contests had drama, momentum swings and just genuinely fun to watch.

Learnt: I cant trust tipping GWS in big games.

Hated: The Rayner umpiring fiasco.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I’ll happily respond to people even if they’re telling me I haven’t got a clue. But being accused of trying to falsely generate some kind of “performative self-effacement” is a toxic bridge too far though sorry buddy. Not copping that one.

Still, you have to agree it's a choice phrase. I'm going to start bandying it about willy nilly.

(AND I'm going to pre-emptively utilise it whenever I feel an episode of my own PS-E looming. Perfect!)

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Lol what?? Can assure you that you’ve got me VERY wrong. I just like starting a thread that goes back over the footy from the weekend and chatting about it with other footy people. I live in Sydney and we get starved of that here.

I’ll happily respond to people even if they’re telling me I haven’t got a clue. But being accused of trying to falsely generate some kind of “performative self-effacement” is a toxic bridge too far though sorry buddy. Not copping that one.

And just for the record, I LOVE your weekly summaries mate.

 

[Zevon]

Still, you have to agree it's a choice phrase. I'm going to start bandying it about willy nilly.

(AND I'm going to pre-emptively utilise it whenever I feel an episode of my own PS-E looming. Perfect!)

Yes the poster certainly has a way with words, I’ll give them that!

And just for the record, I LOVE your weekly summaries mate.

Thanks mate I have some fun with them, hopefully they’re a good read more often than not

 

[jakson68]

Where do I begin, what a weekend of football.

Liked
Collingwood switching on, now that it's finals time and the real stuff has started.
Maynards crunching tackle near the end of the game. We must play till the last siren.
Both elimination games, well done to all four team. That was awesome.
DAVID SWALLOW

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David Swallow

Age

33

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186cm

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87kg

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21.1

5star

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11.7

4star

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3.2

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4.4

5star

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307.5

4star

D

18.4

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11.1

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7.3

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M

4.3

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4.6

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MG

283.9

4star

D

19.4

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

9.4

5star

M

2.8

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5.0

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. SOOO good.

Learnt
Geelong are scary good.
Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

49

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182cm

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89kg

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16.6

4star

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11.2

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5.4

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5.1

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1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

could be a modern day great. Absolutely brilliant coach.
Nick Daicos is the most skilled player in the game. Some of his kicking was ridiculous.

Hated
Crows fans booing IQ. Need to have a good look at yourselves.
Rayner flopping for frees and the umpires for falling for it. We need better than that in finals.
Retiring legends. There will be others but Nat Fyfe, thank you.