Sir Douglas Nicholls Round is in the books with some big results occurring across Round 10.
With interesting moments, upset results and the overall celebration of Indigenous culture and the impact of First Nations players on the game, here’s what we learned from the weekend.
See the talking points below.
Melbourne and Geelong are genuinely off the pace
Coming into this round most pundits had four teams as genuine premiership hopes, Collingwood, Brisbane, Melbourne and Geelong, but looking at that group, both the Demons and Cats are nowhere near their best.
While Melbourne entered Round 10 with a record of 7-2, they’d claimed easy wins against North Melbourne, Hawthorn and West Coast, while beating the Bulldogs before they began to click, Sydney who are now proven to be a non-top eight side as well as just edging Richmond and Gold Coast.
Clearly, their list on paper is still formidable, but that form line proves that Friday’s loss to Port Adelaide was no surprise.
It won’t get any easier from here for the Dees either, with Fremantle, Carlton, Collingwood and Geelong at GMHBA Stadium their next four games.
Looking at the Cats, they are hampered by injuries but they simply don’t look like the team that won last year’s premiership.
Their 5-5 record suggests just that, but much like the Demons, they’re yet to beat any sides of real note.
It’s not the worst time to not be at your best, but both sides would want to turn it around quickly if they’re to secure an all-important top-two spot.
Zak Butters is destined for a maiden All-Australian blazer
You could argue that Zak Butters was already in the All-Australian side through nine rounds, but after his performance on Friday, he’s well and truly securing his place in the line-up.
His two-goal, 41-disposal, 12-score involvement and 10-clearance performance against Melbourne may have been the best individual performance of any player so far this season.
An impact player, Butters is now averaging 27 disposals and six score involvements per game which are genuinely elite numbers.
Alongside young teammates Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis, the Power are building one of the best young midfield groups in the competition.
Rozee made his first All-Australian last year and it looks like Butters will have one in 2023, probably alongside his teammate who might just claim two in a row.
The Bulldogs are a genuine top-four threat
After starting the season 0-2, the Bulldogs have roared back to life in 2023.
Saturday’s clash against Adelaide was a mini Litmus test to see where both sides were at as they were positioned both 6th and 8th heading into the round.
With their 45-point win, the Dogs would have a sense of affirmation that they could be the best of the rest.
Their midfield is clicking like no other in the competition, and their list is well and truly ready to win now.
Given Geelong’s struggles and Melbourne’s teetering form, the Bulldogs are positioning themselves alongside Port Adelaide to pounce on a top-four spot as their form increases.
With Gold Coast in Darwin ahead of both Port Adelaide and Geelong at Marvel Stadium, the Bulldogs will be primed to make a charge if they can go 2-1 or 3-0 in that stretch before North Melbourne await them in Round 14.
It’s an exciting time to be at Whitten Oval.
North’s performance vindicates Clarkson’s brave call
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson made the brave call to step down to focus on his mental health during the week as the ongoing investigation into racism allegations during his time at Hawthorn takes its toll.
After getting his side to come out firing in the opening fortnight, Clarkson seemingly wasn’t at his best in recent weeks as the Kangaroos slumped to seven-straight losses under his watch.
Now focusing on himself before opting to lead his side, Brett Ratten taking the reins in Round 10 immediately showed that he made the right call.
While the Roos lost, their performance was much improved as they probably should have won before going down by three points in an unfathomable fashion to Sydney.
If Ratten can keep the side up while Clarkson’s away, there’s no doubt the club will be better for it once he returns at 100 per cent.
Let’s hope to see one of the greatest coaches in the game’s history to be back to his best sooner rather than later.
Carlton will continue to struggle until they find more avenues to goal
Having two of the best tall forwards in the competition is a blessing and a curse for Carlton and that was on show in their loss to Collingwood on Sunday.
While Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay were solid to combine for five goals, the Blues simply had no chance of beating the Magpies unless they absolutely dominated.
With only one other navy blue goalkicker for the entire game in Matt Owies, it was again proven that Carlton went to their twin talls far too often.
That coincided with Darcy Moore dominating the match in a best-afield performance as the Collingwood skipper took 12 grabs as the Blues continually put the ball high into his area in hopes of finding McKay and Curnow.
Looking at the competition’s two best teams at the moment in the Magpies and Lions, they’re having almost half the team hit the scoreboard on occasion, and the Blues aren’t getting anywhere near that.
Whether it’s a change in style or a change in mindset, the Blues simply must move the footy differently inside 50 if they’re to get rolling again in 2023.
West Coast are comfortably the worst team in the AFL
With the two-win Roos looking better in Round 10 against the Swans, Saturday’s battle between Hawthorn and West Coast in Launceston was set to decide who the worst team currently is in the AFL.
Even though the Hawks were lower than the Eagles heading into the game, they eventually ran out astonishing 116-point winners, a remarkable scoreline given the Eagles probably felt they were some kind of chance heading into the clash.
Their percentage now sits at 55.4 and with Essendon, Collingwood, Adelaide (away) and Sydney (away) in their next four. There’s no doubt after that run that their percentage could even drop below 50.
Obviously, they’ve had their injury woes so far this season, but this West Coast side could be as bad as the club has ever seen.
Their defence is horrific and in attack they kicked just 4.2 against the Hawks, it could have been even worse if they were less accurate.
At least they’re now on track to collect pick one … I guess.