AFL Sunday: Bulldogs vs Suns, Hawthorn vs North Melbourne, Fremantle vs St Kilda

The Fremantle Dockers knocked off St Kilda but a sickening injury to Nat Fyfe has left them counting the cost ahead of next weekend’s derby.

Nat Fyfe lies on the ground after the sickening head clash with Josh Battle.

Live: AFL

Welcome to our live coverage of AFL Sunday.

The Dockers beat St Kilda at a cost, Hawthorn extended North Melbourne’s losing streak to three matches and the Gold Coats Suns produced a massive upset of the Western Bulldogs.

7.59pm

Dockers hold on despite Fyfe injury

Nat Fyfe was knocked out cold at Optus Stadium but despite that the Dockers held on for a five point victory over St Kilda.

The Dockers led by one goal even at three-quarter time before they kicked clear through two goals to Brandon Matera but the Saints fought back as Jake Gresham put his second through the big sticks.

Jack Billings then goaled again with just eight seconds on the clock to cut the margin to five points but Freo veteran David Mundy won the centre clearance as the Dockers held on for a win in the face of adversity.

While they managed to win the main talking point was yet another injury to Fyfe — this time a sickening concussion — the result of a head clash with Saints star Josh Battle.

Fyfe’s eyes glazed over after the heavy contact and the footage of him leaving the field on “wobbly legs” was hard to watch.

Nat Fyfe has been helped from the ground after this head clash with Josh Battle.#AFLFreoSaints pic.twitter.com/LxHujnFi6p

— AFL (@AFL) April 7, 2019

The commentators were quick to point out just how badly Fyfe was hurt.

“Fyfe is in a lot of trouble,” one said

“Fyfe has been knocked out. Nat Fyfe is being carried off, his legs are so wobbly underneath him.”

Fremantle confirmed Fyfe would not be back but questions will now have to be asked about whether he might be ready for next weekend’s derby against West Coast.

Confirming Nat Fyfe will not take any further part in this game due to concussion#AFLFreoSaints #foreverfreo

— Fremantle Dockers (@freodockers) April 7, 2019

Michael Walters starred for Fremantle with 27 disposals, eight clearances and two goals, while Luke Ryan (32 disposals) was a rock in defence.

Jack Billings notched 32 touches and two goals for the Saints, with Gresham (20 disposals, two goals) also important.

The first term was a scrappy affair littered with ugly errors from both sides. Fremantle won the inside 50m count 20-6, but their helter-skelter entries made it tough for the forwards.

The class of Walters in tight helped clear some of the congestion, with the Dockers edging to a 13-point lead at quarter time.

Goals to Rory Lobb, Ethan Hughes, and Matt Taberner looked set to blow the game wide open as the lead ballooned to 31 points.

5.20pm

Hawks hold off hurting Kangaroos

North Melbourne have joined Melbourne and Carlton as the only teams to start this AFL season with an 0-3 record and alarm bells would be ringing for the Shinboners.

Their performance against the Hawks was better than their two opening round losses as they went down 13.9 (87) to 10.11 (71) but it was all the Hawks in the final term as the Kangaroos seemed to run out of puff.

And it left coach Brad Scott fuming.

“It’s frustrating because I can see good signs, but they’re not consistent enough and we’re not doing it for long enough,” Scott said.

“We’ve just got to hang in there.

“It’s a long season and it’s been a tough start for us but the competition is see-sawing all over the place at the moment.”

Luke Breust bagged five goals and Chad Wingard introduced himself to Hawks fans with three majors in front of 36,174 fans at the MCG on Sunday.

THE CHAD! #AFLHawksNorth pic.twitter.com/Z5cRzingeI

— AFL (@AFL) April 7, 2019

Clarkson’s men trailed by 27 points early in the second quarter but worked their way into the contest and finished strongly with five goals in the last quarter. Hawthorn bounced back from a disappointing loss to the Western Bulldogs without former skipper Jarryd Roughead who was a late withdrawal with a corked thigh, Dylan Moore making his AFL debut in his place.

With the raft of new anti-congestion rules still sinking in across the league, Clarkson is unsure where the Hawks sit in the grand scheme of things, but he’s happy to keep working it out with two wins in the bank.

“Early in the season there are a lot of teams making adjustments, including us, we’ll adjust from week to week until we find our groove,” Clarkson said.

“At the moment all sides are just flying blind whilst they try to work out their collective of personnel, their positions, their roles and the style of play.

“There have been so many rule changes that we’re all flying blind a little bit just while we work out how the game is going to be played.

“We were flying very blind in the first 15 minutes of this game until we were able to establish what was going on, then we corrected and played a lot better after that.”

Jaeger O’Meara was outstanding again with 32 possessions and 12 tackles, while Ricky Henderson also prominent with 29 touches and a goal.

Wingard’s first touch for his new club was a turnover, then he gave away a 50m penalty.

But he redeemed himself with a first major that sparked a match-winning rally, the Hawks scoring 12 goals to three before conceding late consolation goals.

—With AAP

4.54pm

Suns shock Bulldogs

“That’s one of the great wins for the Gold Coast Suns,” said Gerard Healy on commentary as the Suns again produced a thrilling win this AFL season.
Written off by many as wooden spooners before the season began, the Suns have now got a 2-1 record and made it two on the trot to leap into the with a five-point 10.13 (73) to 9.14 (68) win over the Western Bulldogs.

Billy Gowers had a chance to at least tie it up for the Bulldogs with under one minute on the clock but he missed his set shot and the Suns, moved the ball well enough from the kick out to be able to tie the ball up long enough to hold on at Marvel Stadium.

☀️☀️☀️#AFLDogsSuns pic.twitter.com/I95AVwxF3I

— AFL (@AFL) April 7, 2019

Suns defender Jack Hombsch described the win as “incredible” for the Queensland club.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Hombsch said.

“We made pretty hard work of it late but we’re loving it.

“All the people wrote us off at the start of the year but we’ll keep playing pressure footy and keep building.”

For Dogs skipper Easton Wood it was one that got away and he lamented his side getting off to a poor start once again.

“We gave them a big head start and didn’t get all the way back,” Wood said.

“Credit to the Suns, they played some high pressure footy.”

Alex Sexton starred in his 100th game and Suns teammate Jack Martin was also outstanding, while Bulldogs midfield ace Marcus Bontempelli had a game-high 34 disposals.

The Suns dominated the centre clearances early and put the Bulldogs under immediate pressure, kicking four goals in 15 minutes for a 24-point lead.

Jarrod Witts was strong from the start in the ruck, while Martin and Chris Burgess were causing headaches for the Bulldogs defence.

The Bulldogs rallied with two goals late in the opening term, but were 24 down at quarter time.

Players repeatedly turned the ball over despite the perfect conditions and clearly struggled with the sun glare as the stadium roof was kept open. After a strong opening quarter, it was the Suns’ turn to feel the heat as the Bulldogs repeatedly went into attack.

Two goals reduced the margin to nine points, but the Dogs were struggling to find fluency in attack.

Inevitably, a Gold Coast counter-attack paid off and captain David Swallow kicked a crucial goal.

Summing up the Bulldogs’ day, Ed Richards was running into an open goal when the halftime siren beat him by a second.

Swallow also kicked Gold Coast’s only goal of the third quarter as they kept the Bulldogs at arm’s length and took a 19-point lead into the last term.

—With AAP