Rather than looking back on Round 1 and picking out the obvious, we’ve decided to take a look at the questions that still need to be answered.
Starting with our favourite subject Richmond…
We didn’t learn a lot from Richmond in round 1. It took the Tigers almost 4 quarters to tame the Blues, a side many were predicting to be the easy beats in 2016. Admittedly Richmond had some key players missing but their performance on Thursday night had people questioning their top 8 credentials, let alone top 4. Where will the Tigers finish in 2016?
They got their pants pulled down by the Bulldogs on the weekend and while many expected the Dogs to win, it was the way they went about dismantling the Dockers that could have Freo fans worrying. Can Ross Lyon’s game plan hold up against highly skillful and quick ball moving sides?
Melbourne played some exciting football to steal a 2-point win over the Giants on Saturday afternoon and St Kilda narrowly went down in a brave defeat against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. It has to be questioned if either of the two sides are a finals chance this year. How many wins do you think each side could have?
That was a shattering loss for a side that’s striving to make the finals this year. They look likely to lose Dane Swan for the remainder of the year too. They play the Tigers this week who have questions of their own to answer. Can they turn it around against the Tigers in Round 2?
DANGERFIELD! #AFLCatsHawks https://t.co/b2slSRfX3n
— AFL (@AFL) March 28, 2016
A good win against an undermanned Hawks side on Monday and Patrick Dangerfield arrived with a bang. But to be genuine Premiership contenders you need to finish top 4. They play 8 games at Skilled Stadium this year and will be tough to beat in each of them. The test might come when they travel to Adelaide Oval twice within a month. The Cats are one of the fortunate sides to play Essendon twice this season. Will the Cats make top 4 in 2016?