Round 2 of the 2025 AFL season is in the books. So, it's time to react ... or overreact.
Adelaide's hot form certainly has the AFL world turning its head. But the Dockers? Well, they've stumbled out of the blocks, so it's time to ponder how much trouble they're really in.
Let's get to Round 2 overreactions, where we judge a few major takeaways as legitimate or irrational.
The Crows are suddenly a top four hope
It's fair to say Adelaide has rocketed out of the gates and taken the inside running to start 2025, demolishing St Kilda and Essendon by a cumulative total of 124 points -- and snapping an eight-year MCG hoodoo in the process -- to sit 2-0 after a fortnight. Their forward line looks electric; Darcy Fogarty (seven goals this season) and Riley Thilthorpe (six) emerging as a powerful key forward combination, while Josh Rachele (six), Izak Rankine (four), and Ben Keays (five) are all firing at ground level. Their midfield appears to have taken a step forward, and with a 'softer' (depending on how you look at it) fixture due to a bottom-four finish last year, they're primed to bank a lot of wins.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
There are almost way too many teams that can genuinely play finals footy, such is the evenness of this competition. But as history has told us, sometimes the 'best eight teams' don't always play finals, but those who take advantage of their fixtures -- soft or otherwise -- do.
No, that does not mean poor quality teams are featuring in September necessarily, nor does it mean the Crows aren't good, but they do only face two of last year's finalists twice this season, one of those being Port Adelaide who many have predicted to tumble anyway.
But their obvious talent across the park only amplifies their chances. Their midfield group has evolved, their backline -- although their weakest line, giving up 100 points against the Bombers -- looks solid enough without having been tested by the league's heavyweights. If their aforementioned lethal and well-balanced attack can continue to feast on weaker teams, their ladder position will absolutely soar.
There are still questions, and until they're seriously challenged by a genuine contender we won't know all the answers, but their ability to outscore teams will remain a weapon.
September -- and a double chance -- should be well within reach.
The Dockers have been the biggest disappointment to date
Granted, we're just three weeks into the season, but the title of biggest disappointment thus far can certainly still be handed out.
And where do we begin. There's the winless Blues, the winless Demons who are coming off an inexplicable 59-point loss to North Melbourne, and the 18th-placed Eagles. There's also the Dockers, who sit just one spot above them with two losses from two appearances.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
Of all the teams mentioned, nobody was surrounded with greater pre-season hype than Fremantle. In fact, the Dockers were a popular pick for a Grand Final appearance in 2025, with many confident that the off-season acquisition of former Richmond star Shai Bolton would comfortably make them the league's biggest riser after failing to feature in September last year.
In Round 1, Fremantle was belted by Geelong, who then fell to the Saints a week later. This past weekend, they were no match for the previously-winless Swans. Fremantle's best players haven't stood up, the defence, which boasts A-grade personnel, looks incredibly shaky, and, perhaps most worryingly, they have managed just 19 goals across their two games.
Underwhelming is an understatement.