Opinion AFL 2026 Round 11 - Weekend Wrap & Liked, Learnt, Hated

[Rod Stroker]

HATED: Pendles love affair

Sadly, he breaks the record again next week

 

[Obzerva]

Sadly, he breaks the record again next week

Yeah, but he has to “travel”

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I learned that The King's Sydney game predictions can be off by 10 goals.

I leaned that posters must take great pains to ensure that their predictions for final margins on their club's preview thread do not deviate from their predictions for final margins on the main board's preview thread for the same game, because people really do keep on eye on such iniquitous transgressions.

 

[JackOutback]

Sadly, he breaks the record again next week

This is gonna happen all fecking year, isn’t it?

 

[Mr Meow]

I leaned that posters must take great pains to ensure that their predictions for final margins on their club's preview thread do not deviate from their predictions for final margins on the main board's preview thread for the same game, because people really do keep on eye on such iniquitous transgressions.

I actually just saw it posted on the main board by a different poster and was having a laugh.

I learned that some posters take everything far too seriously and are prone to frustration from very small things.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I actually just saw it posted on the main board by a different poster and was having a laugh.

I learned that some posters take everything far too seriously and are prone to frustration from very small things.

One can never be too sure.

 

[Mr Meow]

One can never be too sure.

Art Vandelay_ I believe his rant was targeted at you then.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Art Vandelay_ I believe his rant was targeted at you then.

Could not care less.

Man arrogantly predicted a sizeable win on footy's hardest road trip and was queried on it. Who cares what his pals think about it.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Disappointing as it was to not quite spoil the Pendles party, it feels like a win to me. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The orange tsunami was a sight to behold, hope they can bounce back in the seconds half of the season.

Lions premiership defence looking shaky, Freo and Cats the ones to beat.

If we maintain pressure/effort and have a sniff we can match it with mid tier sides, as we've shown with Port, GWS and Coll now.

The game is even more about momentum now.

Hated the umpiring.

 

[voorhees]

LIKED- * gws 3rd quarter...wow

• pendlebury..fantastic achievement
• the roos - fight and belief

LEARNT- brissy far from a certain come the end of the year.

HATED- * elliott..such a shame, great player
* hawks v adel down in tassy - dumb

 

[jakson68]

Liked - Pendles doing what no player has done before. Well done great man.
- Well done to Collingwood for going over the top. If you couldn't do it for the all time record, then when can you.
- The fact that Cornes would be shattered that his ragebait of Collingwood and Pendles didn't get WC the win.
Learnt - It is going to be a very long year for Essendon.
- WC against GWS was not a one off, they go ok and Harley Reid has turned from a boy to a man. Love to watch him play.
Hated - F**ken injuries. I am so glad we got Elliot his flag, as this is not how I would like to see him bow out.
- The media fueled outrage toward Pendles in what should have been a celebration for something never seen before.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Liked: Geelong's performance and the brand that we're playing. And if it's not us in 2026, I certainly wouldn't begrudge the other two flag favourites (Fremantle and Sydney) if they finally broke through.

Learnt: One of our recent bogey sides, Carlton, is showing major signs of life. I hope we're not looking beyond this week, major banana skin potential.

Learnt: Probably fair to say that we should be winning games like the ones we have recently, as we have pretty close to a full squad of best 23 players available and a few players shredding the VFL week after week who can't get in.

Learnt: It'd be foolish to write Brisbane off too soon after the bumpy road they've taken to their back-to-back flags and I'm not doing it until they're mathematically done or officially knocked out of finals. But I think it's inevitable that these little May/June slumps are going to bite them one year and they won't snap out of it.

With Fremantle, Gold Coast, Richmond, Sydney and Geelong through to the start of July, that's going to tell us a lot about Brisbane and it's fair to say, they should be considered a threat if they finish anywhere in the top six. I have a feeling they make a statement and win all three games heading into their bye.

Hated: injuries, right across the weekend. Carnage.

 

[AlecDuncan]

To me, our turn of form is mostly personnel related. That, and the youth getting games now have been drilled in a winning system.

Losing Carroll is a blow though.

 

[joe444]

Liked:: 10 point margin? That's some serious theatre right there.
Old fashioned coaching. Don't just "trust our systems", make some moves. Kudos, Clarko.

Learned: "media fueled outrage" is a deflection for justified criticism or ridicule, whether in politics or footy.

Hated: the perennial rule of the week: 50 metre penalties from the goal line.

 

[Hawksboy72]

Liked: The win by the Roos, The GWS 3rd qtr blitz and deciding against going to UTAS a few weeks ago.

Learnt: Geelong/Freo clear 1&2...a few lengths back to Sydney, Hawthorn..unsure on how the queenslanders are travelling...Essendon tailed off and pulled up.

Hated: always been a Jamie Elliott fan..terrible what happened.

Good to see the old Crow Throw is officially legal and has been adopted by all teams...good to see.

 

[jackster83]

Liked:
West Coast putting up a fight.
GWS and that insane third term.
Bulldogs vs Melbourne was a fun game.

Hated:
The capitulation by the Gold Coast Suns.
Incredibly biased commentary.
Injuries.

Learnt:
Carlton should have sacked Voss 12 months ago. It's insane how seriously shit coaches can remain in the role for so long.

Geelong should be the flag favourites.

Adelaide will not make it past Wildcard round. Wasted season for us.

 

[Tenens Pila]

Liked:
* Fourteen. FOURTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!

Learnt:
* This should be Hogan's last year at the Giants. There's enough young talent in the forward line with Stringer doing Stringer things. Hogan's form has been below standard for the past 2 seasons and he is constantly injured.

Hated:
* The vicious cycle GWS finds itself in. Less than 9000 at yesterday's game. Until the club drops Canberra and goes 100% Western Sydney, this farce of constantly half (or less) full attendance at Homebush will continue.

* Kingsley admitting Toby Greene

4

Toby Greene

Age

32

Ht

182cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

22.7

5star

K

12.5

5star

HB

10.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.0

5star

G

1.2

4star

D

17.5

4star

K

9.5

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.8

4star

T

1.0

2star

G

2.3

5star

D

26.6

5star

K

12.4

5star

HB

14.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.6

5star

G

0.0

1star

has been playing with a broken foot and that Greene refused to be rested. Explains his below standard performance in recent weeks. Toby can be brilliant, but that selfish streak is very annoying. It's like he considers himself first and not the team. Knowing what he wants to stay at the Giants, I'm seriously conflicted.

* Being at the ground and seeing K Underwood pre-game then knowing when I get home and watch the replay that her voice is going to wreck the game, especially the 3rd quarter.

 

[Generalissimo]

Elliott's confirmed ACL the most deflating. That's likely career over, and it's been a great one. A clutch forward if I've ever seen one.

If the hunger is still there then, even if Collingwood cut him loose at the end of the year, I can picture Elliott spending the first half of 2027 getting his body right and then nominating for the MSD. Obviously not every player in Elliott's age and situation could make it work, but I reckon he's one of them.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Could not care less.

Man arrogantly predicted a sizeable win on footy's hardest road trip and was queried on it. Who cares what his pals think about it.

I think the bigger question is who cares so much about an anonymous poster's predictions that they data match what the poster said on the main board thread to what they said on their own club thread.

No, not obsessive at all. Perfectly conventional behaviour.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Liked:

• Freo continues to be the benchmark really though be careful of peaking too soon. Darcy getting out of their side has transformed this side, Cox is a way better forward/ruck which allows Jackson to primary ruck.
• Murphy Reid lasting to that pick will haunt sides for a very long time
• GWS turning it on about time though
• GC getting done was quite the thing, and nice to see North get a big scalp.
• Loved the game between Melbourne and WB, nice to see a game where the men in yellow had very little influence.

Learnt

• we are miles off it as a genuine contender unless Gulden comes back and is at his best, and unfortunately the Cats will be there when it counts
• Not sure what on earth to make of the Lions, they have had shocking games in past seasons but they really have had a putrid month and a bit, but despite that they are better than last year on the table

Disliked

• the injuries across the board regardless of teams
• horrible scheduling of games, on what planet was Geelong/Sydney scheduled against the Pies game, we won't even discuss the Friday night one or playing in Tasmania on a Thursday. Horrible all round.

 

[joe444]

Geelong should be flag favourites.

observation 1: half the team weren't there in '22, and with that in mind they've gone from a preliminary loss to a grand final loss to ...?

observation 2: we seem to try to sneak a flag in between other teams' eras. If Freo are on the verge of one, does a Geelong flag ironically signal the beginning of it?

 

[jackster83]

observation 1: half the team weren't there in '22, and with that in mind they've gone from a preliminary loss to a grand final loss to ...?

observation 2: we seem to try to sneak a flag in between other teams' eras. If Freo are on the verge of one, does a Geelong flag ironically signal the beginning of it?

I keep waiting for the GC era to start lol.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I keep waiting for the GC era to start lol.

Well I'll say this they are more than cooked if Trac gets injured, he's their most imporant player this year.

 

[Mighty Eagles]

Hated: The quantity of upsets that got up.

 

[peak17]

Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

is in career best form and by far the best player in 2026.

This season is more open than we initially thought.