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A powerful second quarter, in a deluge of biblical proportions, was enough for Port Adelaide to set up a commanding lead over the Fremantle Dockers. The young Dockers challenged Port in the first quarter but were easily pushed aside during the waterlogged second term. The bigger bodied Power played hard-nosed wet weather football and the Dockers watched. The bruised Dockers steadied in the clear conditions after halftime but were unable to make inroads on the Port lead.

The Dockers began the game with plenty of pluck, matching Port in the packs in the first quarter. Two goals to Matt Taberner and singles to Travis Colyer and Brandon Matera saw the Dockers lead by a goal at the first break. As the match progressed, the undermanned Dockers

Port Adelaide kept a firm grip on top spot on the AFL ladder with a rampant 75-point win over crosstown rivals the Adelaide Crows on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.

With the season’s first batch of fans – 2240 in total – present at the ground, the Power completely outclassed a struggling Crows outfit that lost defender Jake Kelly early to concussion, then Captain Rory Sloane with a thigh injury that kept the Adelaide favorite sidelined for all of the second half.

The winning margin was the highest by Port against their local rivals while also restricting the Crows to their lowest total score in all previous “showdowns”.

Early in the first quarter there was no indication of the drubbing that eventually took place as Adelaide produced eight of the first nine entries inside the 50 meter arc, resulting in goals to Rory Sloane and young forward Darcy Fogarty. That was where the joy ended for the underdog Crows as Port completely dominated proceedings from then on, finishing on the positive side of the ledger for a total of 57 entries inside 50 compared to just 30 for the shell-shocked Crows.

Port was continually first to the contested ball, and it was the young guns that once again shone for the Power just as they had done in 2019. Connor Rozee (17 disposals, 8 clearances, 6 tackles) continues to play at a level that belies his experience, Xavier Duursma (17 disposals, 3 goals) is on fire and Zak Butters (21 disposals, 7 marks and 8 tackles) completed the domination of the second year Power draftees.

After quarter time when Adelaide trailed by just 13 points, it was one-way traffic with the Power brushing aside the Crows with ease. Half time saw Port’s advantage balloon to 32 points as the Crows showed frustration in giving away two late 50 meter penalties that resulted in Port goals.

When the Port Adelaide veterans decided to join the party, there was no stopping the boys wearing the old-school “prison bar” jumpers made famous by the original Port Adelaide that dominated the South Australian Football League back in the day. Justin Westhoff and Charlie Dixon chipped in with three goals each while Steven Motlop added two more plus the mark of the day with a screamer that had the 1,400 odd and spaced out Port supporters in raptures.

(photo credit: Southport Sharks) By now, most footy fans have heard the news of the tragic death on June 8 of former New York Magpie Alex Aurrichio. To summarize the sad news, he was riding his bicycle near Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia when he was hit from behind by a car. The driver stopped as did others to render assistance but he died at the scene due to severe head trauma. We've surveyed the other media and offer a summary of the reaction.

According to an international TV schedule released by the AFL, two games from Round 2 will appear this weekend on ESPN2/ESPN3. We are attempting to confirm this with ESPN. The announced schedule is:

ESPN2 Fri 6/12/20 5:30 AM US EDT Geelong vs Hawthorn
ESPN3 Sun 6/14/20 1:30 AM US EDT Sydney vs Essendon

(Note: future schedules will be on our TV schedules page, just click on yellow button above.)(Update 6/12 10:30 AM:) While ESPN has yet to confirm this, the first match did air as scheduled. Overnight, the AFL broadcasting department advised us that up to two matches per week will air for the duration of the AFL season on one of the ESPN networks in the US, not including finals. We will continue to update this note as more information becomes available. Once ESPN replies, we will seek schedules for upcoming weeks and add them to our schedule pages.

(Update 6/13: From ESPN press release: "ESPN has brought back one of its earliest fan favorites, live Australian rules football, which returned Friday morning at 5:30 a.m. ET with the Geelong Cats vs. Hawthorn Hawks on ESPN2. Regular-season action will continue with one live match per week on a linear TV channel and one on ESPN3. ... A total of 32 Australian Football League (AFL) games across 16 weeks will be presented. Commentary and graphics will come from the host broadcaster. ESPN, which launched in September 1979, gained some of its first national attention by airing Australian Rules Football in its first year as the sport quickly grew a cult-like following. ESPN continued with AFL through 1985, airing the Grand Final live the final three years. ESPN2 aired AFL in 1996-97 and 2010-11.")

The second round of the season will see limited fan attendances at some games. GWS and Sydney received approval from the New South Wales government to allow a limited number of people into their matches against North Melbourne and Essendon respectively. Fans, members, and patrons will be allowed in several function areas of GWS stadium and the SCG. It is believed only 350 people will be allowed to attend each of the two games. The club will continue to work with the necessary agencies to ensure the stadiums comply with state protocols.

A cool winter’s evening with virtually no breeze greeted the two teams that lead the way back for the competition onto the MCG after the long break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There was no crowd allowed in the massive stadium save for a handful of officials and some artificial crowd cutouts behind the goals. The ground was slippery from a heavy dew. Pre-match saw both teams randomly spread around the center circle and ‘take a knee’ in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. It was almost 3 months ago that round 1 was completed and for players and fans of the game, the long wait was over. 

Richmond won the toss and chose to kick to the city end. It was Collingwood who scored first when Taylor Adams roved a boundary throw-in and snapped on the run from 40m out. Tom Phillips followed up with a second for Collingwood with a set shot goal.

The AFL began announcing its annual Hall of Fame inductions at the beginning of June. Due to the pandemic, the usual gala ceremony could not be held. The announcements were made gradually over a period of days and everything had to be done remotely. Brisbane premiership teammates Jonathan Brown and Simon Black were inducted, joining fellow teammates Michael Voss (2011), Jason Akermanis (2015), and Nigel Lappin (2016). Their admissions reinforce Brisbane's status as one of the most dominant teams of the early 2000s. Beloved St Kilda stalwart Lenny Hayes was another inductee. Also inducted were two greats of the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL: John Albey and Greg Phillips; as well as former Eagle ruckman Dean Cox and beloved commentator Dennis Cometti. Coaching great John Kennedy Sr was elevated to legend status. Kennedy was one of the inaugural inductees as a coach in 1996. AFL boss Gil McLachlan visited Kennedy and his wife at their home to inform Kennedy of his elevation.

(Updated after email from SiriusXM to AFANA.) The SiriusXM satellite radio service announced today (6/4/20) that they will add AFL coverage for the first time with a "match of the week" and a weekly radio show hosted by Eddie McGuire, AFL commentator and Collingwood president. The first radio show will run tonight, June 4^th, at 6 PM EDT for an hour and then each Thursday at the same time. 

"Aussie Football Rules America with Eddie McGuire" will run "on SiriusXM's Dan Patrick Radio channel (ch. 211), recapping the previous week's AFL action and looking ahead at the exciting matches in the weekend ahead" according to the press release issued today, and the broadcasts are also online at SiriusXM.com and on the SiriusXM app for connected devices and speakers. The full press release is given below, courtesy of PR Newswire. (Home page users click on "Read more".) It will be available in the US and in Canada since channel 211 is available in both countries.

The first radio broadcast tonight (6/4/20) will be a replay of the 2018 Grand Final between West Coast and Collingwood and will follow the radio show hosted by McGuire. This to be the Triple M coverage from that day and the weekly matches to be one of those covered by Triple M. The coverage will be on delay, repeated from the previous weekend each week, and follow the McGuire hosted show. Coverage of finals and the Grand Final is included. Matches will be condensed to fit in a two-hour time slot. AFANA will follow up with SiriusXM and add more to this in the coming days and update our radio page. SiriusXM will be providing AFANA with the match selected each week in advance of the Thursday airing. (Update: 6/5/20: Our staff writer in Melbourne, Johnson Leung, reports that Melbourne media is suggesting that the weekly match could be the Thursday night match from 14 hours earlier and that the Grand Final could be live. We're following up with SiriusXM. 6/9/20: our radio page now has match schedules.)

NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SiriusXM announced today that it is adding Australian Football League programming to its sports lineup for the first time ever, featuring a new exclusive show hosted by Australian media icon Eddie McGuire, as well as play-by-play broadcasts of an AFL Match of the Week.

Bob Hammond, who served as Adelaide's first chairman, passed away at the end of May. Hammond, 78, was suffering from Parkinson's disease. Craig Hammond, his son, said his father had lived a rich and full life and the family was grateful for the support they had received since his father's health began failing in recent months. 

Hammond's football journey began as a player for North Adelaide in the SANFL where he played 234 games 1980 to 1973. He crossed to Norwood as captain-coach for a further 14 games in 1974. He was a member of three SANFL premiership teams with North Adelaide, the first when he was just 18 years old. Upon retirement, he became coach of Norwood and led them to premiership wins 1975 and 1978. He later briefly coached the Sydney Swans in 1984 and in 1983 coached South Australia to a historic first-ever win over archrival Victoria.

With the season set to restart on June 11^th and the next four rounds now scheduled, there are logistical issues facing multiple clubs regarding travel. Both Essendon and North Melbourne are scheduled to play in New South Wales on the same day in round two. Essendon against the Swans and North against Greater Western Sydney. While travel arrangements are not confirmed, it appears Essendon and North will share a chartered jet to Sydney and return the same day.