Essendon’s small forward brigade looked dangerous whenever the ball hit the deck, with Ned Cahill, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Will Snelling and Jacob Townsend giving the Bombers an exciting attacking dynamic.That’s a frustrating loss for Tigers fans, considering the array of opportunities they had against the Giants. Alex Sexton (three goals) was the most effective forward on the ground, though the most dangerous was Izak Rankine - the problem was he kicked 1.4. Taylor Adams continues to fly under the radar and is having a career-best season. The dynamic ruck duo of Rowan Marshall and Paddy Ryder combined exceptionally well, with the pair both booting two goals.This team still has big issues.
The ex-Fremantle defender, who came to Queensland via the AFL’s Suns assistance package after starring in the VFL, is an under-the-radar All-Australian contender after another stellar performance. Essendon laid 76 tackles for the game — the most by any team so far this season — with David King telling Fox Footy it was the Bombers’ best game without the footy for 2020.
They missed some absolutely golden opportunities up forward throughout the game, including an absolute-must from Harley Bennell. Jeremy Finlayson kicked one goal, but only had the five touches and two marks.Marc Murphy did plenty for his side on the wing, while Matthew Kennedy, Ed Curnow and Will Setterfield all played important roles in the win. We suspect those believers have renounced their faith in the church of Clarkson. Jake Melksham was clean on a night when many weren’t.Gawn is arguably the best ruckman in the competition and yet the Dees simply do not make anywhere near the most of his hitout dominance. The 20th Anniversary release of this product promises to be one of their finest! Darcy Moore took eight marks but faded as the Eagles put the foot down.But also the round where several young clubs emerged as real threats.It wasn’t a Grand Final revenge win, but it was a darn valuable four points the Giants claimed on Friday night. Their comeback was admirable and they had their chances to steal the game. Trent Dumont continues to fly under the radar for North, while Jed Anderson’s return was a welcome sight for North fans.That’s the fifth time in six games the Lions have kicked more behinds than goals and it’s going to cost them dearly in one or more future games if they don’t get their shots back on track. How sustainable is this? As we said before, this is stuff that should come with experience. Trade HQ AFL 2020 trade period will be the most frenzied we have ever seen Ultimately though, six losses in a row is six losses in a row. A three goal to one second quarter helped them gain ascendancy and to their credit, despite looking like they could fall short at the end, they showed enough grit and composure to get the win. Adelaide came within a whisker of breaking its horror losing streak on Sunday against Essendon. And if they’d played an opponent that wasn’t missing over half of its targets when going by foot, things would’ve been very different; even with Hawthorn looking woeful for most of the game, John Longmire’s side still only won by seven points. It’s the one glaring achilles heel in a team that is otherwise rock solid.Subscribe to our Fox Sports newslettersThe Power fought extremely well during the contest, but were outshone by a fierce St Kilda outfit. The second quarter was very costly as they dominated but failed to make it count on the scoreboard.
Brownlow Vote Getter BVG4 Lachie Neale 61/80 Engine Room ER1 Matt Crouch 7/200 Milestones MG12 Darcy Gardiner 19/200 MG33 Mitch Duncan … Exactly 300 days after the Tigers embarrassed Leon Cameron’s men in the 2019 Grand Final, the Giants made a statement after a week in the headlines for the wrong reasons, keeping Richmond goalless in the final quarter to register a two-goal victory.They got mighty close but lacked the composure around goal to seal a comeback victory. Until Papley’s double goal late in the second quarter, the Swans had managed a woeful three scoring shots for the match. Tim Kelly had a middling start to the year along with his side but he played his best game for the year and hit the scoreboard which he did so well at the Cats. Can’t fault much else after that performance.Ryan's emotional goal tributeThe defensive unit is going to have to work a lot better against potent forward lines without Jeremy Howe. Richmond had more inside 50s and more shots at goal, but managed just six goals from 46 entries whereas the Giants managed nine from 31.On a tricky, wet night where the Bulldogs didn’t always have first use of the footy - they lost the clearances and contested possessions - their class shone through the dark clouds and they found a way to beat Gold Coast.