Each week of the 2025 AFL season, ESPN.com.au's Jake Michaels looks at six talking points.
This week's Six Points feature Hawthorn's benchmark defensive unit, why I love more 50m penalties being paid, the reason Brisbane can go back-to-back, and more Opening Round slander.
1. Hawthorn's league-best defence can carry the club to a flag
When the Hawks confirmed the acquisitions of reliable defensive pair Tom Barrass and Josh Battle this past offseason, many rightly felt it had instant claims to being one of the best defenses in the league. I'm here to tell you it is the best defence in the competition, and that gap will only continue to widen as the star-studded personnel continues to gel.
What makes this Hawthorn backline, featuring skipper James Sicily as well as the perennially underappreciated Jack Scrimshaw, Karl Amon, and Jarman Impey, so dangerous, is the extreme versatility. As a unit, they're not overly tall. They're not overly small. In many ways, they're perfectly sized. The key position players of Sicily, Barrass, Battle, and Scrimshaw all have the ability to play on both bigger and smaller opponents, meaning they have the ability to dictate and manipulate match-ups to great effect. No other team enjoys that scope of luxury.
So dangerous are the Hawks that the Swans, a grand finalist from six months ago, felt the need to deploy not one but TWO defensive-minded forwards, in an effort to curb their influence. Expect that to continue to be a theme throughout the year. After all, no other backline will force opposition teams into as much planning and preparation.
FACT: The Hawks took 22 intercept marks against the Swans in Opening Round, the equal-most they have taken in a game in four years.
There's an old football expression that defence wins premierships. I'm not sure if the Hawks will win the flag this year, but what I do know is that if they are to do it, it will be off the back of the work from the back six. They're a scary proposition after having played just four quarters together. Just wait until we're midway through the season.
2. Why Brisbane is primed to buck a recent trend and go back-to-back
If we've seen it once, we've seen it a thousand times. A team wins a premiership, is built up as football's next dynasty, then falls sensationally flat the following year. In 2023, Geelong missed out on a spot in September after having dominated a Grand Final. Last season, it was Collingwood's turn to suffer a premiership hangover.
In 2025, it's Brisbane's turn to play the role of the hunted. And while the Lions may have lost Joe Daniher to retirement, nobody expects them to fall off a cliff. In fact, they were a popular pre-season pick to go back-to-back. But don't underestimate the difficulty of being the benchmark, the team the other 17 are trying to not only emulate, but overcome. Every week you're getting your opponent's best shot. Everyone else wants what you have.
"I think the biggest thing is the competition is so even. That's why it's so hard to win it twice," Brisbane captain Lachie Neale tells ESPN. "We've seen the last couple of premiers miss the finals the next year, so we've spoken about that and we don't want to be another one on the list that misses out.
"What will help us is that we've got great players that have played a lot of footy for our club that missed out [on the Grand Final]. That drives all of us, not just those guys. The ones that played want to get back and do it for them."
Among those to miss out on last year's premiership were defensive pair Tom Doedee and Keidean Coleman as well as ruck Oscar McInerney. The Lions have also added the highly touted Levi Ashcroft, brother of Norm Smith Medal winner Will, via the 2024 draft.
"We can take a bit of confidence from what we were able to achieve last year, but we don't want to get ahead ourselves and become arrogant or big-headed," said Neale. "For us, it's about staying grounded and hopefully we can start the season a little better than last year."
3. Opening Round remains awful, however...
Last week, I was extremely critical of Opening Round. I wrote that the AFL had made a monumental error in having just eight of 18 teams (which ultimately became four of 18) competing in the season-opening round. I also wrote that the entire concept, as we know it, simply had to go.
READ: The AFL desperately needs to scrap Opening Round
And while I remain steadfast and unwavering on that stance, there is one aspect to all of this which requires some clarification. The AFL does deserve to be commended for consistently seeking ways to improve the game. The league has never been afraid to be bold, back itself, and take a chance. Does it always work? No. But is the competition and sport as a whole in a better position because of its desire for continued growth? Absolutely.
If Opening Round isn't scrapped entirely, it requires a desperate overhaul. The fans have let their thoughts be known, it's now over to the AFL to act accordingly.
4. Umpires, keep paying those 50-50, 50-metre penalties
I'm guessing this will probably be a somewhat unpopular opinion, but I loved seeing the field umpires unafraid to dish out 50-metre penalties during Opening Round.
We had seven of them paid across the two games last weekend. Granted, it's a miniscule sample size, but 3.5 per game is almost double the average of 1.8 per game across the 2024 season.
It may sound counterintuitive, but I have long believed paying more of these will actually improve the game. Players need to learn they cannot get away with whacking an opponent late after losing a marking contest or, even more annoyingly, failing to return the ball to the opposition in a timely manner, allowing their teammates to set up behind the play.
For anything that feels like a 50-50, I'd urge the umpires to pay the 50-metre penalties. It will quickly stamp out these unnecessary actions and time-wasting techniques players have been getting away with for years. And that is unquestionably a good thing for the AFL.
5. Something quirky I noticed
James Sicily has one of the best footy brains in the league. As a defender, his positioning and reading of the play is second to none, he consistently seems to out-mark and out-dual bigger-bodied opponents, and his decision making with ball in hand is often flawless.
🗣️ "We weren't happy with the way we went about it in the pre-season games so we were a bit on edge for this game."
— 7AFL (@7AFL) March 7, 2025
- James Sicily #AFLSwansHawks pic.twitter.com/326GhyHbEw
So it was fair to say I was left a little perplexed when he said "I didn't realise [Will Day] kicked three (goals)" in his post-game on field interview. Umm, James, are you not watching the game? Also, they tend to replay every goal on the big screens!
6. My favourite stat of the week
I can't have been the only one who felt as if the opening quarter of the opening game of the season between the Swans and Hawks lasted an eternity. That's not a complaint, for the most part it was gripping footy!
Turns out it was the longest first quarter of a season-opening game in recorded history. We had nine goals booted and two lengthy score reviews, the quarter lasting a staggering 36 minutes and 45 seconds. The previous longest first quarter of a season was 35:19 between the Tigers and Blues to open the 2018 campaign.