Early Tackle: The Magpies in fight of their lives to secure a top four spot after agonising loss to Crows
The Magpies have now lost five of their past six games and are in the fight of their lives to secure a top-four spot – especially given a worrying trend continued.
There are less than two rounds of footy to go and still anything could happen in the finals race.
Glenn McFarlane unpacks what’s happened so far in his early round 23 likes and dislikes.
DISLIKES
SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR
Collingwood won the territory battle but lost the war to Adelaide as its degree of difficulty in season 2025 just got infinitely harder.
On a bizarre night at the Adelaide Oval where scoring was sparse and the pressure was immense, the Magpies fought hard but just couldn’t get the job done, despite dominating the inside 50m count all night.
In an arm-wrestle played out before the biggest AFL crowd at the venue - 54,283 fans - Collingwood had 71 inside 50s to the Crows’ 37.
That margin should have been enough to guarantee a victory, but Craig McRae’s team couldn’t cash in on the entries and agonising fell three points short.
LIVE LADDER PREDICTOR: HOW THE FINALS RACE IS PLAYING OUT
That -34 inside 50m discrepancy was Adelaide’s worst differential in a decade, yet they won the game to guarantee a home qualifying final.
In contrast, the Magpies, who have now lost five of their past six games, are in the fight of their lives to secure a top four spot, currently clinging to fourth spot by 0.4% from Hawthorn with other clubs also breathing down their necks heading into the final round.
They were better on Saturday night, but will take on Melbourne on Friday night knowing exactly what is at stake.
They must fix the inside 50m inefficiency which has been the worst in the competition across the past month.
This was the first time that the Magpies have lost to the Crows since 2016, and it also ended a 10-game winning streak at the ground.
NICK DAICOS, WOW 😮#AFLCrowsPiespic.twitter.com/2ETscntQbI
— AFL (@AFL) August 16, 2025
There was controversy aplenty, including a Riley Thilthorpe kick away from the boundary umpire just before a throw-in late in the game, which Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon called “the non free kick of the year”.
Thilthorpe nailed a goal late to give the Crows a nine-point lead after the Magpies had drawn it back to three points.
Then a moment of Nick Daicos genius brought the margin back to less than a kick with four minutes remaining, before the Crows’ defence held firm in the dying stages to win.
The Magpies looked set for another Adelaide Oval ambush in the opening term, pushing out to a 25-point lead when Darcy Cameron nailed a goal after the quarter-time siren.
But Collingwood just couldn’t get the bang for buck required and will be rueing a missed opportunity.
SUN-STROKED
Damien Hardwick wasn’t angry but he was shocked at the way his Gold Coast team was bullied and harassed by a team that has done it to them for most of the club’s existence.
The Suns coach conceded this was “as poor as we’ve played for a long time” as the Giants – again – did a number on their expansion sibling.
Gold Coast has only won five of 21 clashes with Greater Western Sydney, and although the final margin in this game was 35 points, it felt as if it was considerably more.
Was this a pre-finals reality check that the Suns can learn from before tackling their first September? Or was it a reminder that they have a long way to go to becoming a serious premiership threat?
Maybe it’s a bit of both as Hardwick declared his team was “a metre off” the Giants all day but would learn some valuable lessons with two more home and away games against Port Adelaide and Essendon.
The Suns’ mids had their colours lowered for once, as Finn Callaghan and Co went to work, with Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson less effective than they have been for most of the season.
The Suns have won a club-record 14 games this season, but all the gains that have been made this season will count for little if they don’t finish off the season strongly.
Hardwick is determined that won’t happen, but instead of wallowing in what might have been against the Giants, the Suns need to roll their sleeves up and get ready for the next challenge on Friday night.
HAS PORT GOT ANYTHING LEFT FOR KENNY?
Kenny Hinkley’s farewell tour ends in Adelaide on Friday night, but the real question is whether the Power have got one more shot in the chamber for their beloved coach.
On the face value of the Power’s 54-point loss to Carlton on Saturday, and the fact they have lost their past five games, you wouldn’t be putting your house on them beating the Suns on Friday night.
They were awful.
But emotion and sentiment does strange things to people, and Hinkley’s farewell, and the 387th and final game for club legend Travis Boak, surely has to stir the feelings of the Port players.
This has been a very messy year, with some heavy losses and maybe even a template for future coaching handovers, but at least the Power board didn’t flinch when critics called to make an early coaching change during the course of the season.
As hard as it has been, they have stuck it out, and now Hinkley and Boak deserve to be sent off with a competitive showing, and maybe even an upset win over the Suns.
FLAKY FREO RETURNS … NOW FOR AN EARLY ‘ELIMINATION FINAL’
Forget about bringing in a ‘wildcard weekend’ … we’re about to get one next weekend anyway, after a stuttering Fremantle coughed up a golden opportunity to lock away a finals berth that now looks decidedly shaky.
After three months of building up so much trust (11 wins from their previous 12 games), the Dockers torched it in the space of two hours with a nervous, jittery and flaky performance against the might of Brisbane.
Strap yourselves in for 3.15pm on Sunday week at Marvel Stadium for the ‘elimination final’ that will come before a real elimination final.
Unless something strange happens, Freo will take on Western Bulldogs for a ticket into the finals, with the loser set to miss out on September, despite having either 14 or 15 wins.
As tough as that prospect might be for the Dockers, they will only have themselves to blame after a slow start to the season – including a bizarre loss to St Kilda – and never giving themselves a chance against a more daring Brisbane, who came to life with a vengeance.
It wasn’t just the loss that was concerning; it was the manner of it.
A 0.8 start before kicking the first goal; players missing simple field kicks or going to teammates in worse positions, forwards getting run down in the goal square, a lack of imagination and dare that we thought had been wiped from their brand, and ultimately an inability to stop the Lions from feasting on 147 uncontested marks.
That was the old Dockers anchored by the past that we thought this 2025 version had well and truly moved beyond.
They’ve got four more quarters to prove that this was just a blip on the radar, not a long-time team character flaw returning.
THE LEAST CONVINCING FOUR-GAME WINNING STREAK THIS YEAR?
Winning is important for morale and for a hungry supporter base; losing can crush both.
Yes, St Kilda has banked four wins in a row by a collective 21 points and risen to 11th on the ladder. But even their most ardent fans – and maybe even an uncontracted Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – would have to acknowledge that it hasn’t been a vintage month for the Saints.
Melbourne collapsed in the final quarter against Ross Lyon’s side; the Saints took an eternity to shake off North Melbourne and Richmond; and an Essendon side that in many ways resembled a VFL team were charging home on Friday to almost steal the points.
Lyon would quite rightly suggest his team has pocketed 24 premiership points in that time.
But in a press conference where he referenced the ‘concrete’ Marvel turf, dim sims, Coke Zero, and the prospect of cloning Nasiah, you could almost hear the tone of disappointment on his voice about the way the Saints played.
Where are the Saints at right now?
It’s a fascinating question that won’t really be answered until next season, or at least until Wanganeen-Milera reveals his football future.
St Kilda will almost certainly bring in Tom De Koning and Leek Aleer on the big bucks next year, but is that going to be enough to turn the needle?
And what does the future hold not just for Wanganeen-Milera, but for other Saints who played key roles in the two-point win over Essendon, including Marcus Windhager, Rowan Marshall and skipper Jack Steele?
Can St Kilda find a way to cure Max King’s injury woes and how can they get the best out of the injury-plagued talent Mattaes Phillipou, who has had one handball (subbed out), three handballs and one kick and three handballs in his last three games?
The Saints face the Giants next week … but what happens in the off-season will likely prove even more important than winning a fifth straight game next week.
ROOF SITUATION NEEDS ADDRESSING
It takes a bit to make Ross Lyon tweet … a new coaching contract with Freo (2016), Nick Riewoldt’s retirement (2017) and David Mundy’s retirement (2022).
But the St Kilda coach couldn’t help himself from posting a cheeky little reminder to the AFL that he’s watching them … and expecting better.
For some strange reason the Marvel Stadium management took too long to close the roof when the rain swept in late on Friday afternoon.
How good Essendon legends game - looking for a Gary Moorcroft goal square hang .
— Ross Lyon (@RealRossLyon) August 15, 2025
Oh no might be hard Marvel Stadium did not manage to close the roof before the rain came 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/hRXsPIwdIT
As the roof took its customary 20 minutes to close, the venue copped a quick deluge which left some parts of the ground more than a little damp, and the St Kilda coach was bemused by the decision.
It didn’t have an impact on the game, but the fact that St Kilda and Essendon weren’t happy meant that the AFL should look into it.
Weather is unpredictable, we know.
But in a competition where the margins are tight, and there is so much at stake, expect Greg Swann to get to the bottom of what happened, and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
LIKES
YOU DON’T TRADE YOUR UNICORNS
Carlton has been steadfast in insisting it won’t be trading any of its A-graders, including its contracted ‘unicorn’ forward pairing of Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, despite the club’s disappointing 2025 season.
You can see why after McKay took hold of Port Adelaide with a devastating equal career-best 7.0 from his 21 disposals.
Rival clubs, including Sydney, will ask the question about McKay in the trade period, even if he is contracted until the end of 2030, and he has expressed a desire to stay in navy blue.
But the Blues’ belief is that you don’t trade unicorns, with Coleman Medal-winning forwards being a rare breed that all clubs are chasing.
Many had been critical of the decision to bring back Sam Walsh from injury in the penultimate round instead of easing him into pre-season but he showed on Saturday just how important he is to the Blues.
The Blues jumped above Port Adelaide on the ladder with their eighth win of the season and if they can close out this season with a win over the Bombers next week it will give coach Michael Voss some important impetus to attack a make-or-break 2026 season.
JACK TO THE FUTURE
Hawthorn’s evergreen forward Jack Gunston will head back to the Gabba next weekend for the first time since his one-season stint with the Lions in 2023 - in arguably the best form of his life and with the prospect of a fourth premiership clearly on his mind.
This will be some sort of final round showdown between the hungry Hawks and the battle-hardened Lions on Sunday night, with huge ramifications for both teams as they chase September success.
And it will be Gunston, who turns 34 in October, who holds the key to his team’s chance of upsetting the reigning premiers.
When Gunston returned to where he truly belongs at the Hawks after that forgettable one season with the Lions, his body appeared broken and his place within the team was anything but assured.
Two seasons on, his career revival has been one of the stories of the 2025 season and he could be in line for a second All-Australian blazer.
At 33 years of age, Jack Gunston kicks his 59th goal for the season 🙌
— AFL (@AFL) August 16, 2025
That's the most goals he's ever kicked in a single campaign 👀#AFLHawksDeespic.twitter.com/tWTFUL6f5h
On a cold, damp day at the MCG, Gunston booted an equal career-best seven goals to sink the Demons and deliver a much needed percentage boost for his finals-bound side who are now back in the hunt for a top four spot.
It also took Gunston’s 2025 season tally to a career-best 60 majors.
His previous record of 58 came in 2014 when he was 22 and in the middle of the premiership three-peat.
Now, he is 33 and chasing more silverware with this new band of Hok-Ball Hawks and his old mate Luke Breust, who announced this week that he will bring an end to his own celebrated career at season’s end.
Breust, 34, started again as the sub on Saturday, brought the crowd to its feet with a trademark around-the-corner goal, then gift-wrapped his mate Gunners with one of his seven goals.
Breust swapped his jumper after the game with Demons small forward Kysaiah Pickett, just as he had done with Gunston after a game back in 2023.
Thankfully, the two modern-day Hawthorn greats - who have collectively kicked almost 1100 goals - have been reunited for the past two seasons ... and who knows what they can achieve across the next month.
Officially PRIME Jack Gunston 👑 pic.twitter.com/aF769BazB8
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) August 16, 2025
GIANTS’ ‘PUT ONE ON THEIR CHINS’ STATEMENT
If the Brisbane Lions gave us a none-too-subtle ‘reminder flex’ on Friday night, Adam Kingsley’s team turned in their own impression by monstering an underwhelming Gold Coast the following day.
And that dominance came off the back of some stern pre-game messaging from the coach, who urged his players to metaphorically “put one on the chin’ of their Suns opponents from the outset.
Four-goal surprise hero Harry Rowston explained on Fox Footy that Kingsley reminded them that the Suns had jumped them earlier in the year before the Giants stormed home to get out of jail in round 15.
Kingsley implored his players to strike early on the scoreboard, and they did, kicking five goals in the opening term and resisting every time the Suns threatened to sneak back into the game.
“There was just a massive emphasis (on starting well), to ‘put one on their chin’ as he (Kingsley) said it,” Rowston said.
Gun midfielder Finn Callaghan, who had 29 disposals and 568 metres gained, detailed how animated Kingsley was before the game, ensuring his players were ready to make a statement early.
Sam Taylor shut out Ben King, who kicked two goals but had little influence, and the Giants’ young forward line, minus the injured Jesse Hogan and Jake Stringer, gelled well.
The Giants will close out their home and away season against St Kilda, and with eight wins from their past nine games, look well placed to land a few more blows in the finals.
FAGES AND THE ROAD WARRIORS
Forget about ‘Mad Max, Road Warrior’ … these Brisbane Lions are every bit as tough, resourceful, unrelenting and uncompromising on the road as a young Mel Gibson was way back then.
They are the AFL’s ‘road warriors’ and seem to revel in taking on the big challenges away from the Gabba.
Perhaps that was built off their extraordinary away run through last year’s finals series, culminating in an MCG grand final triumph, but as Chris Fagan’s team proved yet again on Friday night in smashing Fremantle at Perth Stadium, they relish getting on the road.
At times they have struggled at the Gabba this year, but you cannot question how mentally tough they are when they get on a plane and travel.
The hit-and-run mission on the Dockers made it victories in five states this season, as well as a draw in Tasmania, but there have been some statement-making wins including the Lions’ first win in Geelong since 2003, and first MCG wins over Hawthorn, Collingwood and Richmond since 2004, 2014 and 2009 respectively.
Friday night’s win also locked away a seventh successive finals series for the Lions under Fagan, a significant achievement for any club and coach, but every bit as admirable given Joe Daniher’s retirement and injuries to key players including Lachie Neale, Kai Lohmann, Kiddy Coleman, Jack Payne, Noah Answerth, Conor McKenna and co.
Fagan seemingly knows exactly how to get the best out of his soldiers when required.
He will have to do the same next Sunday against the Hawks as the Lions look to bed down a platform to make an assault on back to back flags.
Motivation to get back to the top of the mountain again is the hardest thing for those who have achieved the ultimate success.
Three of the past four premiership sides before Brisbane failed to make the finals the following year.
The other went out in straight sets.
But this Brisbane Lions team – at its hungry best – is still very much the team to beat next month.
ZAC THE FIRESTARTER
If midfields win premiership, heaven help the rest of the competition if the Lions get everyone back on the park.
For in Lachie Neale’s injury-enforced absence, wingman/forward Zac Bailey stepped up to the plate and demanded a role in the Lions’ mids who took apart the much-vaunted Fremantle on-ball brigade.
Bailey is a very good player, but he could be an absolute star if he can just finish some of the work off his own boot.
Chris Fagan threw him into the middle on Friday and he proved the firestarter for the Lions, kicking an early goal (it should have been two or three more) with his damaging play helping to wrest the game out of Freo’s hands.
Then he nailed an over-the-head goal of the year contender.
The Lions have been patiently ticking off a lot of their existing contract issues and their attention will soon start swinging in Bailey’s direction before rival clubs get any ideas.
He has one more year to run on his current deal, but would likely get a big untick in years and dollars if he can take his current form into another big September.
RISING STARS APLENTY
With one more round of the home and away season to run, we’ve got a very tight and interesting Rising Star race underway.
For much of the season Levi Ashcroft was an almost unbackable favourite before Dan Curtin and Murphy Reid stormed not only into contention but into the two leading favourites.
All three have been key players this season and have worked well in tandem with the more experienced players in their teams.
The next player in line, Essendon’s Archie Roberts, hasn’t quite had the same luxury, but Brad Scott would be delighted with his development in a backline that has been decimated by injuries this season.
Roberts is on the fourth line of betting in the Rising Star race, and might not have the arsenal or the exposure to get over the top of Curtin, Reid and Ashcroft.
But he showed again at stages on Friday – 27 disposals including 11 in a frantic last term, 684 metres gained, and nine marks – that he is a serious player of the future.
If he can tidy up his kicking a little, and he will in time, he’s going to be a 10-to-15 year player for the Bombers.
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Originally published as Early Tackle: The Magpies in fight of their lives to secure a top four spot after agonising loss to Crows
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