Each week of the 2025 AFL season, ESPN.com.au's Jake Michaels looks at six talking points.
This week's Six Points features the age-defying Magpies, Carlton's revival (of sorts), why the Suns are out of excuses, and the difficulty of being a defender.
1. What Collingwood's doing is unprecedented ... in the best way possible
There was a feeling shared by many in football circles at the beginning of the year that the Magpies could go one of two ways in 2025. Father Time would catch up with them and they could rapidly fall off the cliff. On the other hand, a full on bounce back season could be on the cards, one in which they remain in serious premiership calculations.
With two months of the year now in the books, it's safe to say the latter is unfolding. Collingwood sit top of the ladder with a record of 6-1, have won six straight games, and shortened into outright flag favouritism.
The craziest part is that all of this has been done despite this side literally being the oldest team in league history. By average age, the four oldest teams ever fielded for a game of football are the Magpies in Round 4 this season, the Magpies in Round 5, the Magpies in Round 6, and, you guessed it, the Magpies in Round 7, at a staggering 28.93 years of age. They are also the oldest team of all time by median age.
But that age hasn't equated to tired legs. Far from it. Collingwood is running out games as well as any side, currently 10-4 in third and fourth quarters this season. The club's oldest player, Scott Pendlebury, is closing in on the AFL's games record and is showing no sign of slowing down. It's second oldest player, Steele Sidebottom, might just be leading the Brownlow Medal a third of the way through the season.
There's a misnomer in the footy world that old teams can't win the flag. The Cats made a mockery of that in 2022, the Magpies followed suit a year later, and they appear to be doing it once again.
In the modern sporting world, if you look after yourself, it's not inconceivable that your career can be extended significantly. Look at LeBron James, Novak Djokovic, and James Anderson. The Magpies' veterans are also doing plenty right in that respect.
2. The Blues are back! (Maybe, maybe not)
After four straight losses to open the season, Carlton has won three in succession and, once again, everything seems rosy at Ikon Park. It's not just fans and bookmakers who believe the not-too-long-ago previously dire Blues have turned the corner, so too does Champion Data.
But I'm not as convinced. The three wins have come against North Melbourne, West Coast, and Geelong. We know two of those sides are dire, and the Cats, well, Carlton's crash-and-bash, high-contested game style always seems to stack up well against Chris Scott's troops. This past weekend was no exception.
If the Blues really have made meaningful strides over the last month, then they fly over to Adelaide Oval and knock off the Crows, a club we know is a likely 2025 finalist and one Carlton has struggled to get the better of in recent times. Win this weekend and I'll start to entertain the 'they're back' narrative.
Carlton have overcome a 0-4 start to sit at 3-4, but despite promising signs, ESPN's Jake Michaels isn't buying the hype just yet.
3. There's simply no excuse for the Suns now
Gold Coast has to play finals in 2025. They have to!
Damien Hardwick's squad is 5-1, has a league-best percentage of 150.1, and is currently playing the best footy in the club's history. The Suns have the most dynamic and accomplished centre bounce quartet, a dominant key forward leading the Coleman Medal, and a growing list of reliable role players.
The Suns rank No. 1 with the ball (ball movement, scoring, and accuracy), No. 3 without the ball (intercepts, opposition ball movement, opposition scores per inside 50), No. 1 for pre-clearance contests, and No. 2 for post-clearance contests. No other team is even top eight in all four of these key areas this season.
This week, Gold Coast has a date with cross-state rival Brisbane in arguably the most anticipated QClash ever. Win that and the Suns might just find themselves entering premiership calculations.
But let's get back to that scintillating 5-1 start. Since 2000, there have been 49 instances of a team winning five of their first six games of a season. Just five of those failed to play in September, while 17 of them reached the Grand Final.
It looks even more ominous when comparing their mammoth percentage with recent footy history. Since 2000, 15 teams have amassed a percentage of at least 150 after six games. Of those, 13 made finals, 11 played in the Grand Final, and six won the premiership.
4. Defenders continue to get stiffed by the umpires
We all know defenders are held to a different set of rules in comparison to their forward counterparts, but it's becoming a little silly now.
What does Carlton fullback Jacob Weitering need to do to earn a free kick in this sequence of play on Sunday afternoon?
Jacob Weitering take a bow 👏👏👏#AFLBluesCats pic.twitter.com/EiGsaH3O0v
— 7AFL (@7AFL) April 27, 2025
Not only does Geelong's Patrick Dangerfield hold Weitering's right arm as the ball bounces in front of the pair, he even drags him backward.
Whether you want to admit it or not, we all know that if the roles were reversed, that's a Dangerfield free kick, 10 metres out from goal, every single day of the week. And not because it's Patrick Dangerfield, but because forwards have forever gotten away with much more than defenders.
5. Something quirky I noticed
On Sunday evening, Brisbane host Gold Coast in a blockbuster QClash at the Gabba. This will be the 28th time the two sides have squared off, with the Lions having won 20 and the Suns seven.
But there's something that makes this QClash extra unique. It will be the first time both teams enter the game inside the top eight. In fact, they are both sitting in the top three! Queensland footy is most certainly alive and well.
6. My favourite stat of the week
You must either be living under a rock or have taken a hiatus from football social media if you didn't realise Darcy Tucker failed to register a single disposal in North Melbourne's loss to Port Adelaide this past weekend. Since 2010, it's just the 12th instance of a player recording a bagel in the disposal column, but it was from the second-most game time (68.9% or 97 minutes and 51 seconds of on field time).
Funnily enough, however, he did tally an inside 50. How is that possible, you ask? In the second quarter, Tucker tackled Miles Bergman over the Kangaroos' attacking 50m arc, and, as such, earned himself an inside 50.