Each week of the 2025 AFL season, ESPN.com.au's Jake Michaels looks at six talking points.
This week's Six Points feature the dismal, disappointing Dockers, the title I'm ready to give Zach Merrett, one of my many Geelong frustrations, and Max Gawn's unprecedented run of form.
1. Dreadful Dockers are the AFL's biggest frauds
Fremantle wasn't just my pre-season pick for biggest riser in 2025, they seemed to be a unanimous choice for that unofficial gong by many in football circles. Not only that, but some went so far as to say this club might well be playing in a Grand Final later in the year.
The Dockers had arguably the best list in the entire league, bagged the most notable off-season recruit in Shai Bolton, and appeared primed for a breakout campaign. But through the first third of the season, Fremantle has unquestionably been the league's biggest disappointment. They've spent far more time looking atrocious and void of answers than like a side that had such lofty expectations on them just two months ago. Their 4-4 record actually flatters them with two of those wins coming against the lowly Tigers and Eagles.
This past weekend Justin Longmuir's squad hit rock bottom, utterly humiliated by St Kilda at Marvel Stadium. It wasn't just a 61 point loss, the Dockers suffered the biggest clearance differential (-28) in club history as well as their second-largest contested possession differential (-48). They also finished -93 in total disposals and -27 in inside 50s. No disrespect to the Saints, but from Fremantle's perspective, how does that happen!?
Quite frankly, the Dockers are far too erratic. The gulf between their best and worst in 2025 has been seismic.
Forget buying Fremantle as a bone fide premiership contender, how do we even believe in them as a finalist? After eight games, Champion Data only has the Dockers ranking in the top third of two of their 32 premiership standard metrics. That's worse than every club not named Richmond, North Melbourne, or West Coast. If I'm Justin Longmuir, I'm starting to get real worried about my job security.
2. Zach Merrett remains the most underappreciated player of the last decade
I've long been an admirer of Zach Merrett. The Essendon captain has it all; elite ball hunting, immaculate ball use, a mind-boggling footy IQ, and an unrivalled work rate. And yet despite the full package, so many refuse to give him his flowers as a genuine superstar of the AFL.
At the beginning of the year, I ranked Merrett as the 17th-best player in the competition, something which was met with all sorts of backlash. But you know what, I think I might have actually sold him short. Right now, there aren't 10 better players in the league than Merrett.
FACT: Merrett is one of only three players this season to average at least 25 disposals, 10 contested possessions, five inside 50s, 1.5 score assists and 0.5 goals per game (along with Nick Daicos and Ed Richards).
This season, much like the previous five, Merrett has been carrying the Bombers. He does everything, ranking 'elite' for disposals, kicks, handballs, effective disposals, inside 50s, uncontested possessions, goals, goal assists, score involvements, and one percenters. I currently have him sitting equal-fourth on my Brownlow Medal predictor, and that's with a game in hand on many of his rivals.
Stop taking Merrett for granted and start giving him the respect he has long deserved.
3. Are Chris Scott and Geelong finally going to stop taking the mickey with their injury reporting?
Throughout the past couple of months, Geelong have been putting out injury lists which have been, quite frankly, laughable.
It had become something of an embarrassing trend and, in many ways, it's disrespectful to the footy public. Rather than following suit of the other 17 clubs and listing who is likely in, out, and with reasonable timelines, the Cats consistently elected to keep their cards as close as possible to their chest, refusing to reveal injury details, progression, and realistic timelines for a players' return.
This past week, Geelong had 11 players listed on the official AFL injury report, eight of which have timelines that are either 'TBC' or 'indefinite', meaning fans and the media had absolutely no idea when any of them could return. For comparison, the other 17 clubs have a combined 20 players listed as 'TBC'!
What's the big issue, you say? Isn't that smart?
Well, last year the AFL instructed clubs to keep up-to-date records, but after a few weeks, predictably the league forgot all about it, and the urine extraction from the Cats continued.
It's little wonder the AFL on Tuesday sent a memo to clubs, again reminding them this practice is not on. Lo and behold, come 5pm Tuesday when the injury lists were updated, just TWO Cats were listed as TBC...
4. Which quarter does every team perform best (and worst) in?
Every footy supporter knows their club can be prone to falling asleep at some point in a game. Perhaps the legs are heavy just after halftime, or maybe they run out of legs late in the fourth quarter.
With the help of Champion Data, we've looked back to determine which quarter every club performs best and worst in. For this exercise, we're taking into consideration all games since the beginning of last year.
5. Something quirky I noticed
It was hard not to notice the lack of spectators at Mars Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs pumped Port Adelaide by 90 points. But did you know the crowd of just 4,814 hit historical lows?
Since 1997, only seven games -- outside of the COVID-19 years -- generated a smaller crowd. This was also the lowest crowd in Victoria in at least 28 years and the second-lowest anywhere not involving either Gold Coast or GWS.
6. My favourite stat of the week
Did Max Gawn just have the best three-week stretch of any ruck in AFL history? If you think that's a little hyperbolic, let me, someone who has forever been skeptical of the ruck position, reiterate his numbers.
ROUND 6 VS. FRE - 28 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 10 clearances, 12 score involvements
ROUND 7 VS. RICH - 25 disposals, 13 contested possessions, 12 score involvements, six clearances, five contested marks
ROUND 8 VS. WCE - 35 disposals, 22 contested possessions, 12 score involvements, nine clearances, one goal
According to Champion Data, Gawn is the first player in recorded history to tally minimums of 100 hitouts, 80 disposals, 50 contested possessions, and 30 score involvements across a three game stretch. He had to be rewarded with a spot in our rolling All-Australian team!
On the ESPN Footy Podcast, Jake Michaels looks at the Melbourne ruck's last three weeks, and wonders if it's the best run of three games from a big man, ever.