AFL 2024: Live updates, SuperCoach scores for Sydney Swans v Geelong, Essendon v Carlton
Another monster game from Tom De Koning, and he wasn’t the only ruckman on fire on super Sunday. See all the SuperCoach takeaways here.
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Sydney and Carlton have affirmed their credentials as the top two teams on the AFL ladder with wins in round 13.
And there were some big SuperCoach storylines from the Swans’ comeback win over Geelong and Carlton’s efficient display against Essendon.
See the three biggest takeaways below and scroll down to recap all today’s action and analysis.
And join us again on King’s Birthday for live coverage of Collingwood v Melbourne.
THE NEXT MAX GAWN?
Not many SuperCoach teams would have room to add a ruckman at this stage of the season, but if you’re in the market look no further than Tom De Koning. His three-round average of 139 is 11 more than Max Gawn and 20 more than Brodie Grundy – with Tim English a lot further behind. Playing solo ruck for the Blues, De Koning’s 23 disposals was an equal team-high and his 17 contested possessions was the most on the ground. Garry Lyon labelled him the heir apparent to Gawn on Fox Footy, and he’s coming with a bullet.
MARTIN ROLLERCOASTER
Nic Martin owners rode all the highs and lows tonight of owning the former mid-pricer. Starting off half-back Martin had six disposals and three tackles in the first quarter to be one of the leading SuperCoach scorers on the ground. He added another seven in the second term but they came at just 29 per cent efficiency, and he started the second half at half-forward. That can be a tough position to score but Martin turned the game with a 10-disposal third term including four shots at goal, kicking 2.2. Then it all dried up in the final term with Lachie Cowan holding him to three touches and no scoring shots. A final score of 89 points was represntative of his almost night.
MR SCG
If Brodie Grundy plays at the SCG, make him captain or vice-captain of your SuperCoach team. His scores there this year are 139, 99, 158, 143, 117 and 153 today after a slow start against Geelong. Grundy had 24 disposals to opponent Rhys Stanley’s eight, plus 21 contested possessions and 11 score involvements.
10:00pm: BLUES WIN
Carlton jumps into second spot on the ladder with a 26-point win over a wasteful Essendon.
A huge night for Tom De Koning – labelled the heir apparent to Max Gawn by Garry Lyon on Fox Footy – and Zach Merrett, who burnt off an Alex Cincotta tag with ease.
9:55pm: CRAZY STAT OF THE NIGHT
Essendon leads the inside-50 count 59-39 but trails by 26 points on the scoreboard.
Kicking 9.16 hasn’t helped.
9:53pm: BIG BIG CROWD
The crowd tonight is 88,510, the second biggest for a home-and-away game between these teams.
9:45pm: ALL THE WAY WITH TDK
Tom De Koning is on his way to a third straight monster SuperCoach total, sitting on 135 points halfway through the last quarter.
He’s in 4 per cent of teams and it would be hard to find a spot for him in the ruck but what an amazing selection in SuperCoach Draft.
Meanwhile Zach Merrett continues his brilliant season and Jordon Ridley has three tons from as many appearances this season.
9:38pm: BLUES ANSWER CHALLENGE
Now it’s Carlton’s turn to turn up the pressure and the Blues have the first two goals of the final term through Charlie Curnow (after a holding free) and Corey Durdin (after a great one-handed mark).
What have the Bombers got?
9:25pm: THREE QUARTER-TIME
Well played, Brad Scott.
Martin kicked a second goal to close out the quarter and could have easily had two more after a match-changing move to the forward line.
9:14pm: BOMBERS PRESSING
Essendon is dialling up the pressure with plenty of repeat forward-50 entries – the game is being played in the Bombers’ forward half this quarter.
The problem is they have kicked 2.5 to 1.1 for the term as Nic Martin sprays another shot wide.
8:58pm: MARTIN MOVE
Brad Scott has made a big move – very big for SuperCoach – of moving Nic Martin to half-forward to start the second half.
Martin had 13 disposals in the first half but his seven touches in the second term came at just 29 per cent efficiency.
The move has paid instant dividends with Martin taking two marks inside 50 early in the third term and kicking 1.1.
That moves him to 55 SuperCoach points, but it might not be great for his long-term scoring prospects after he made a habit of racking up big disposal tallies off half-back in the first half of the season.
8:32pm: HALFTIME
Carlton holds a comfortable 32-point lead at the main change and the Bombers just haven’t been able to find a winner up forward.
The SuperCoach scorers are loving George Hewett’s game – 12 disposals, five tackles and a goal – while Jordan Ridley continues his brilliant scoring run since returning from injury.
8:26pm: TAG CAN’T STOP MERRETT
Essendon is battling but you can’t blame skipper Zach Merrett.
He’s been copping close attention from Alex Cincotta all night but has racked up nine disposals this quarter and 14 for the match to sit on 60 SuperCoach points just before halftime.
8:12pm: ZAC STRETCHES BLUES’ LEAD
Rebord forward Zac Williams kicks his first goal for the night – and his ninth in his past four games – to kick Carlton 27 points clear.
Some nice work by Sam Walsh in the build-up moves him up to 25 SuperCoach points. George Hewett is the clear topscorer so far with 76 to his name.
Will Setterfield (47) and Zach Merrett (45) are leading the way for Essendon.
8:02pm: WHAT IS WALSH DOING?
Matt Guelfi threads a beautiful set shot to give Essendon its second goal of the game, plus a bunch of behinds.
The shot came from a high contact free kick against Sam Walsh – his third free against for the game.
Walsh still has only three touches for the match but three tackles are keeping his SuperCoach score in double figures – just.
7:55pm: QUARTER TIME
The McGovern brothers are good at scoring SuperCoach points.
A quiet start for Blues star Sam Walsh who has just three disposals (two effective) and seven points.
7:47pm: BLUES JUMP BOMBERS
Lachie Fogarty skids one through from 50m and the Blues are out to a four goal to one lead.
Tom De Koning is continuing his great SuperCoach run as solo Carlton ruckman. He has scored 131 and 140 this past two weeks, and already has 41 points on the board tonight.
7:30pm: BLUES ON THE BOARD
Carlton has the first two goals of the game, the second coming after Harry McKay won a free kick against his twon brother Ben 15m out.
Moments earlier, Mitch McGovern kicked the first goal of the game after a 50m penalty against Nic Martin, who stopped and kicked the ball to no one on the wing after McGovern was awarded a free kick.
Tough paying that 50m against Nic Martin. Kicking the ball within 10m of the target is the best he can do. #afldonsblues
— Freo âš“ Pope (@FreoPope) June 9, 2024
Harry wins the first battle 👀#AFLDonsBluespic.twitter.com/NCSIHGkDSj
— AFL (@AFL) June 9, 2024
7:15pm: ATMOSPHERE IS BUILDING
We are expecting 90,000-plus for tonight’s top-eight showdown, and players have completed their final warm-ups.
6:30pm: FINAL TEAMS FOR BOMBERS v BLUES
There are no late changes for tonight’s MCG blockbuster.
Elijah Tsatas is Essendon’s sub and Corey Durdin will start as sub for the Blues.
6:20pm: KING’S BIRTHDAY TEAMS
Melbourne has made four changes for it’s King’s Birthday clash against Collingwood.
The teams have just dropped, with the Dees including Jacob van Rooyen, Jack Billings, Bailey Laurie and Blake Howes.
Lachie Hunter will miss with a calf injury, while Adam Tomlinson, Shane McAdam and Taj Woewodin have been dropped.
Collingwood has included Will Hoskin-Elliot and Nathan Kreuger – a $123k RUC/FWD in SuperCoach – at the expense of Ash Johnson and Wil Parker.
6:02pm: SWANS WIN
Sydney is top of the ladder and it’s not even close. Even kicking the first six goals of the game couldn’t get the Cats over the line.
An absolutely huge game from Errol Gulden – well played to the 4500 SuperCoaches who traded him in this week. And Brodie Grundy just owns the SCG.
5:44pm: CATS NOT DEAD YET
Jack Bowes makes it three in a row for Geelong and the margin is back to 12 points with plenty of time on the clock.
5:40pm: SWANS ACTIVATE SUB
Nick Blakey has been subbed out after a couple of big knocks and Braeden Campbell is into the game.
Geelong has kicked the last two goals so let’s not call this one just yet.
5:35pm: PAP ATTACK
Tom Papley has three and it’s a Papley party at the SCG.
This one was banana from the pocket, and you wouldn’t believe Geelong was over 30 points ahead early in this game.
Papley has 108 SuperCoachpoints and the Swans are about to go 10 points clear on top of the ladder. What a team.
Think Papley enjoyed that one 😤#AFLSwansCatspic.twitter.com/7EhBp2qi2i
— AFL (@AFL) June 9, 2024
5:20pm: THREE QUARTER-TIME
Some familiar SuperCoach names at the top of the leaderboard now as the Swans take an 11-point lead into the final change.
5:13pm: SWANS IN FRONT
Sydney has hit the lead for the first time just minutes from three quarter-time courtesy of Tom Papley – and he celebrated in classic Tom Papley style.
The Cats have activated their sub, with Gary Rohan into the game replacing young tall Shannon Neale.
5:00pm: GRUNDY TAKING OVER
Brodie Grundy had a slow start including an early free kick against but he has dominated Rhys Stanley and this game since quarter-time.
He has launched to 115 SuperCoach points midway through the third term, and is poised to improve on his incredible record at the SCG this season after averaging 131 points in his first six games there in 2024.
4:30pm: HALFTIME
Wow, let’s all take a breath. What a game.
It was all Geelong for the first 40 minutes, booting the first six goals of the game.
Then Sydney sprang to life sparked by Chad Warner and Brodie Grundy before Isaac Heeney exploded as the Swans piled on five consecutive goals of their own.
All set up for a huge second half.
4:18pm: THE HEEN!
Now Isaac Heeney joins the party with two goals in a minute.
The first came from a beautiful palm-down from Brodie Grundy in the pocket. Moments later he’s storming out of the front of the centre square and drilling it from 40m on the run.
This is more like it for Sydney fans and thousands of SuperCoaches.
4:17pm: THE CHAD!
Chad Warner makes a statement with a huge 55m goal to make it three in a row for the Swans.
He’s suddenly on 40 SuperCoach points. Errol Gulden and Brodie Grundy lead Sydney’s scoring with 53 each.
This is what Chad does 🤩#AFLSwansCatspic.twitter.com/ipotCkwAlY
— AFL (@AFL) June 9, 2024
4:11pm: AMARTY PARTY!
Joel Amartey finally breaks Sydney’s drought with eight minutes left in the first half.
Isaac Heeney and Brodie Grundy have lifted this quarter, but it’s still a long way back for the Swans.
4:07pm: POSTER BOYS
The Swans are trying to fight their way back into the game but Joel Amartey slams his set shot into the post – Sydney’s third poster of the day.
The home team is 0.5 halfway through the second quarter.
At least Geelong hasn’t kicked any more goals since quarter-time, either. Tom Hawkins had a shot but guess what – he hit the post.
3:51pm: QUARTER-TIME
How is everyone’s footy tipping going this weekend?
Another upset could be on the cards with Geelong all over the Swans early.
Gryan Miers is owned by just 3 per cent of SuperCoaches, but this isn’t totally out of the blue – his average of 87.2 points a game ranked him as the ninth-best forward over the first 12 rounds.
3:42pm: SUPERCOACH CAPTAIN WATCH
More than 62 per cent of SuperCoaches ranked in the top 5 per cent had the VC on Marcus Bontempelli this round, and will presumably be looking for another captain after the Bont’s 99 points on Friday night.
The second most popular VC option is Isaac Heeney (8 per cent), while 2 per cent are rolling the dice on Brodie Grundy.
When it comes to captain selections, 60 per cent are relying on Nick Daicos and 23 per cent on Max Gawn at the MCG tomorrow.
The 2 per cent with the C on Heeney will be looking for a lift – he has 15 points closing on quarter-time.
Grundy has just 11 and Chad Warner is on four.
3:33pm: SWANS PANIC STATIONS?
Make that the first four goals of the game as Tyson Stengle kicks an incredible dribbler from the impossible angle.
3:32pm: CATS OFF TO A FLYER
Tom Hawkins threads a beautiful set shot from the boundary line and Geelong has silenced the crowd with the first three goals of the game.
A brilliant finish from Jack Bowes after the ball fell right into his lap 😼#AFLSwansCatspic.twitter.com/Rzi1wBmi5U
— AFL (@AFL) June 9, 2024
3:21pm: SCG IS PUMPING
They are close to locking the gates at a sold-out SCG as two top-four teams meet in bright sunshine.
Chad Warner wins the first clearance of the game, boldly taking a bounce as he charges out of the centre square.
James Jordon is playing a defensive role on Tom Stewart in the Swans’ forward line.
2:30pm: FINAL TEAMS
There are no late changes for the first Sunday game.
Braeden Campbell will again start as sub for the Swans, while Gary Rohan is Geelong’s sub.
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