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          Six Points: Is 2025 a 'one-horse race'?; Voss coaching for his career

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          Did Joel Amartey just play the worst game… ever? (1:45)

          On the ESPN Footy Podcast, the crew discuss Sydney's Joel Amartey recording the lowest Player Rating points in a match since the stat was introduced. (1:45)

          • Jake MichaelsJun 24, 2025, 04:40 PM ET
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              Jake Michaels is a Melbourne-based sports writer who has been with ESPN since 2013. He primarily writes on the AFL, but his assignments have taken him all around the world, covering everything from Formula One to Grand Slam tennis, boxing to basketball, and the Olympic Games.
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          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 rampant Magpies, Michael Voss' final chance, some embarrassing Joel Amartey stats, and the worst umpiring decision ... ever?

          1. Give Collingwood the premiership cup now (it's not crazy!)

          If all things are fair and equal, the Magpies hoist this year's premiership cup in a few months time. Collingwood has been the best team of the year, head and shoulders clear of the chasing pack, and with a win over the lowly Eagles on Saturday night, will find themselves 10 premiership points, plus percentage, clear on top of the AFL ladder. In many ways it's beginning to feel like a one-horse race.

          With Collingwood, you can make the argument they have the best coach in the league, best player in the league, best game style in the league, best old players in the league, best general forward in the league, best home ground advantage in the league, and best crowd support in the league.

          Champion Data's premiership standards, which looks at the 32 key metrics that have historically led to flag success, is always a great indicator of how a team is tracking. Unsurprisingly, the Magpies are nailing them.

          Through 15 games, Collingwood rank top six in 19 categories. They are comfortably the best defensive team in the competition (conceding just 69 points per game, three points fewer than they did in their 2023 premiership season), have a top three offence, and are dominating all territory metrics.

          The Magpies, the oldest team in league history, already find themselves in the enviable position of being able to rest a bunch of stars. Don't underestimate the advantage of keeping these aging veterans fresh in the run to September. The same can be said for the looming inclusion of X-factor mid-forward Jordan De Goey, who has played just five games this season. Right now it's Collingwood and a big gap to second.

          2. If the Blues lose to Port, Michael Voss won't be at Carlton in 2026

          I wrote three weeks ago that for Michael Voss to survive at Carlton, the Blues simply had to go 4-0 over what was arguably the easiest four-game stretch he would ever coach.

          They scraped by the Bombers in the most unconvincing fashion, started hot against the Eagles before adding just two goals in the second half, and then lost to the Kangaroos. A loss to Port on Thursday night would have them 2-2 through this stretch (and it could easily have been 1-3).

          I'm not suggesting Carlton's powerbrokers will pull the pin on Voss by midday on Friday if they come up short, but there's zero chance he leads the club in 2026 if they don't win this game. Remember, after Port it's a date with ladder leading Collingwood and then reigning premier Brisbane.

          FACT: Michael Voss has coached 194 games for 88 wins, 104 losses, and two draws. His 45.88% win percentage is the second-worst among active coaches who have coached at least 40 games.

          The Blues have many issues. There's the unhealthy reliance on its stars, the inability to ever string four quarters together, and the worrying fitness levels highlighted by an inability to run out games. But converting inside 50s into scores remains the most damaging and frustrating. This season, Carlton rank dead last for turning inside 50s into a score. How on earth is that even possible when you employ not one but two Coleman Medal winners?! The same tired game plan continues to look stale and opposition teams are having an easier time combating their midfield edge.

          Whether fair or not, at some point the buck stops with Voss. And at some point the Carlton and Voss relationship also has to stop.

          3. The worst umpiring decision I've ever seen

          You've always got to be careful when making grand, definitive statements in this industry, but I think I'm safe in saying I've found not just the worst umpiring decision of the week, but the most egregious one of the season.

          Late in the first quarter of Saturday night's Collingwood-St Kilda clash, a free kick was paid to Dan Butler for what seems to be 'holding the man'. For those that didn't catch it, here you go:

          Okay, what on earth is Isaac Quaynor supposed to do here? What should he not have done? How is this not a textbook tackle and release? The funniest (or saddest) part of the whole sequence was Butler's seemingly bemused, almost embarrassed demeanour after the decision was made.

          Footy is one of the most difficult sports in the world to umpire, so I hate to pile on those with the whistle, but come on, we've got to be a whole lot better than this!

          4. Tackle king Tom Atkins set to shatter records

          Think about every skill in the league: kicking, handballing, marking, tackling, running, intercepting, goal kicking ... the list goes on and on. Now which skill has the greatest gap between the best and the second best exponent? This year, it's not even up for debate.

          Geelong's Tom Atkins is dominating tackling in 2025 like Bob Pratt with the goal kicking in 1934 (he won it by 45 goals!) or Patrick Cripps with the Brownlow Medal last year. Atkins is at the top and nobody is particularly close to him.

          This season, Atkins has laid 141 tackles (an average of 9.4 per game). The next best is Gold Coast's Matt Rowell on 106, while James Rowbottom, Jack Graham, and Josh Dunkley are all on 101. The record for tackles in a season belong to Rowell in 2023, who laid 190. Atkins will break that this year if he's able to average 6.2 tackles for the remainder of the campaign.

          The other record Atkins will have his eyes on is the most 10+ tackle games in a season. On seven occasions this year he's ended his game with a double-figure tackle count. The current record for such games in a season belongs to Tom Rockliff (10 in 2014).

          5. Something quirky I noticed

          You may remember my 'something quirky I noticed' from last week around Josh Treacy and the odd contested marks, inside 50s, and zero goals. Well, here's something similar.

          Swans forward Joel Amartey failed to kick a goal against the Power on the weekend despite taking a staggering seven marks inside 50 and having NINE shots at the big sticks. It's got to be one of the most head-scratching stat lines in footy history!

          According to Champion Data, Amartey finished the game with -10.5 Rating Points, the lowest they've ever seen by any player in any game ... ever! Not only that, but his six behinds from 30.55 expected points was the worst negative differential (-24.55) they had ever recorded by a player in a single game.

          6. My favourite stat of the week

          Sorry to rub it in Blues fans, but I'm going back to the Carlton-North Melbourne game. Did you know, the Kangaroos became just the eighth team in recorded history to win a game of football despite having a quarter (Q4) in which they failed to take a single shot at goal.

          Making matters worse for the Blues, this instance was just the second time in history it had happened when the opposing team had at least 10 shots at goal in the same quarter.