Australian Football Association of North America

The bottom of the ladder clash rounded out this footy weekend.  Both teams winless, with the Hawks in 17^th and the Kangaroos in 18^th position. Fans from both teams arrived today hoping to see their club's first win for the season. The Kangaroos were quick out of the blocks and a long kick to the goal square saw Eddie Ford rove at the back of the pack and snap it home from a tight angle to open the scoring. The Roos backed it up when again the long kick in traveled over the top of the pack and was scooped up by the quick running Jy Simpkin who ran into goal to score from point blank range.

Hawthorn finally found some composure and Macdonald's kick over the top to find Gunston deep in the pocket, making for an easy set shot around the body for the veteran. A minute later he marked at the top of the 50 meter line and dished off to Amon who was running past and easily cleared the goal line to put the Hawks in front for the first time today. The Hawks began to dominate around the ground, but their kicking was letting them down a bit. A nice hit up of Moore 30 meters out straight in front though, saw them kick their 3rd goal and take a seven point lead to the first break.

2023 Collingwood premiership player Nathan Murphy succumbed to the after-effects of concussions (including his 10^th in the 2023 Grand Final) and announced his retirement. He is only 24 years old. Earlier in the year, he stepped away from the club in an attempt to recover and return to play. However, on advice from the medical concussion panel, he has decided to retire. In making the announcement, he said, “I feel it is the right time and the right decision for me to hang up my footy boots. I love my football, but my priority is on my future and ensuring I live a full and healthy life. I’d like to thank the Club, coaches, teammates, staff, and the Magpie Army for all their support throughout my playing career and for allowing me the opportunity to live out my childhood dream of playing AFL. To my family and friends, I couldn’t have gone through this journey without your continued love and support which I am so grateful for. It is not lost on me how fortunate I am to have been able to experience premiership success ... I hope I did the jumper proud and thank the many people and supporters who helped me along the way. I will forever cherish the memories and friends I’ve made ...”.

The West Coast Eagles shocked an out-of-sorts Fremantle Dockers. They defeated the match favorites by applying pressure at the ball and using direct attacks into a well-organized forward line. The Dockers appeared jaded after two games on the road where they lost narrowly to Carlton and Port Adelaide. The Eagles built on last week's comprehensive victory over the wounded Richmond Tigers to record consecutive victories for the first time since 2021. The addition of number 1 draft pick Harley Reid, combined with an injury-free and resurgent Elliot Yeo, has provided the Eagles with the midfield strength they have lacked for three years. Their clean delivery into the forward line enabled Jack Darling to feature more prominently; however, it is the re-emergence of full-forward Jake Waterman that is the big story of their forward line. The Dockers were due to have a poor game after playing intense pressure football for the first five weeks of the season. However, nobody expected such a sudden drop in form.

A cool Thursday night greeted the visiting Lions, and they were a little slow out of the box. Melbourne's Alex Neal-Bullen got the scoring underway when he snapped on the outside of his boot from 40 meters out early in the first quarter. The Demons playing their fourth match in 20 days. The Lions quickly remembered their Fitzroy roots though, adjusted to the conditions and Hipwood evened the ledger at the Punt Rd end. Big Joe Daniher missed his first set shot, but with the aid of a 50-meter penalty a few minutes later he kicked the Lion's second. Bailey Fritsch marked strongly just inside the 50-meter arc for the Demons and kicked his first for the night. And already halfway through the quarter it looked like this could be a shootout.

Hipwood managed to lose May for a second time on the lead and from 25 meters straight in front kept up his end of the bargain and likewise Daniher was again able to beat Lever on the lead and kick his goal from 40 meters out giving the Lions a 14 point lead at quarter time.   Brisbane winning the bulk of the center clearances and delivering the ball well to their big men up forward.

Welcome to AFANA’s new column where we look around the league to check in on which players are dominating and who is struggling as the new season starts to take shape. With all teams heading to sunny South Australia for the AFL’s second iteration of “gather round”, these are the names you want to keep an eye on as they are currently the difference makers for your favorite teams.

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