Round 1 of the 2024 season was an intriguing one with the two Grand Finalists from last year still without a win while the two Sydney teams occupy the top spots on the ladder.
As always we will take a closer look at the games this weekend with Irish & GAA involvement.
Adelaide v Geelong, Adelaide Oval
Friday, March 22, 7.40pm
Irish Involvement: This game has no less than 4 Irish players involved with Mark Keane making his season debut for Adelaide Crows after an excellent run of form towards the end of the 2023 season. Geelong have 3 Irish players listed in their 22 with Zach Tuohy and Mark O'Connor seasoned veterans at this level while Oisín Mullin is coming in for his first appearance of the year. It will be interesting to see if a full pre-season and a year under his belt if Mullin can start to make an impact at this level in the AFL.
Geelong are coming off a good performance against St Kilda last week and managed to secure a narrow 8 point win. Adelaide narrowly lost to Gold Coast Suns last week and it's difficult to know where they are at this season. This could potentially be a very good and tight game but being so early in the season it could equally be a rout for either team.
Prediction: Geelong
North Melbourne vs Fremantle, Marvel Stadium
Saturday, March 23, 1.45pm
Irish Involvement: North Melbourne's Aidan Corr will start again as a key defender this weekend against Fremantle. Corr's influence is often overlooked but his clearances and spoils are an important fixture if the Kangaroo's are going to make any progress this year.
North Melbourne had a heavy loss to GWS in Round 1 (although potentially less than expected) while Fremantle are coming off an incredible results against Brisbane. North Melbourne still have a lot of potential with a very young squad but like most recent seasons will find wins difficult to come by. Freo could be a surprise package this year with James Aish and Jye Amiss having exceptional performances last week while a fit Nat Fyfe will certainly see them improve.
Prediction: Fremantle
Hawthorn vs Melbourne, MCG
Saturday, March 23, 4.35pm
Irish Involvement: Conor Nash will be involved as always for Hawthorn and he had a good performance last week but will be hoping to have more influence on the game this weekend.
Hawthorn performed well for most of the game against Essendon last week and for 3 Quarters they looked to be in with a chance of a win. Unfortunately for them the Bombers pulled away towards the end but there were good signs especially in new signing Jack Ginnivan. Melbourne looked very good in Round 1 against an always difficult Western Bulldogs. Melbourne will be dangerous in the midfield again this year with Max Gawn in the ruck supported by two fellow stars of the game in Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver.
Prediction: Melbourne
West Coast v GWS, Optus Stadium
Sunday March 24, 6.50pm
Irish Involvement: Callum Brown has been the stand out among ex GAA players this season kicking 7 goals across his 2 games. Hopefully against a rebuilding West Coast Eagles team he can contribute even more goals and contest for the Coleman Medal this year.
West Coast were going into the 2024 season under a rebuild and on the evidence of last weeks hammering against Port Adelaide they have a long way to go in this process. GWS however sit at the opposite end of the ladder with 2 wins from 2 a 143.3%. GWS are strong all over the field and up forward they have 2 of the in form goal kickers in Brown and Hogan and have an out of sorts Toby Greene who will be keen to add more goals to his tally.
Prediction: GWS
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