Australian Football Association of North America

It’s a short turnaround with the Easter round just complete and the Anzac round starting on Wednesday night. This gives us little time to roll through the AFANA AFL Power Poll so this one will be short and sweet!

Round four once again gave us a fair share of upsets, with both Western Australian teams heavily featured. At Optus Stadium in Perth, premiership favorites the West Coast Eagles were given a wet weather football lesson by Port Adelaide in a 42-point Power victory, while the Fremantle Dockers shocked the Greater Western Sydney Giants in Canberra with a sensational 24 point win.

Port Adelaide Power used speed and wet weather grunt to comprehensively thrash the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium. The Eagles fielded a team unsuited to the conditions. It was cold, wet and windy and a team loaded with three tall forwards and two ruckmen, would always struggle in the slippery conditions. The Power lacked the height of the Eagles but they made up for it with midfield muscle and quick ball movement.

There is a young footy player in Bendigo, a town in central Victoria about 93 miles northwest of Melbourne. Nothing unusual about that as many young teens play for local clubs. However, 13 year old Bradman Thompson ran into a problem when he went through a growth spurt and shot up to 6'4" since last year. So much so, he could not find a pair of footy socks that would fit and the club he plays for is very strict about team uniforms right down to the socks - no variations.

The big movers on the AFANA AFL Power Poll this week were the Tigers and the Saints up four places each, while the Adelaide Crows fell four spots after a disastrous loss to the previously winless Kangaroos. Other notable happenings over another topsy-turvy round of footy were the Demons notching their first win for the season up in Sydney, while the previously unbeaten Cats were ambushed late by an impressive Giants outfit despite losing Callan Ward to a nasty knee injury in the first quarter.

In a game that lacked highlights but offered plenty of interest, the West Coast Eagles withstood a determined Fremantle Dockers to win by 13 points. The depleted Dockers threw everything they had at the reigning premiers, but in the end were defeated by their own inaccuracy in front of goal.