Customise ESPN
AFL Stocks: When you single-handedly win the game ... for the opposition
Has a player ever polled best and fairest votes ... for the other team? One player could go close this week, while one former coach might have allowed himself a little smile. Here's whose stocks are up and down after Round 1.
ESPN/Getty Images
Four goals better: The Dogs may have fixed the only flaw they had
The Western Bulldogs were possibly the best team to ever miss finals in 2025. But their offseason tweaks have resulted in two excellent wins over finalists from last year, and they're looking like a scary prospect, writes Rohan Connolly.
TOP HEADLINES
RED TIME
Are coaches more important than talent on a playing list?
1:44
IWD: Fairer, safer and more equitable sporting culture for women? Not just yet
ESPN AFL
We're misty, optically: Paying tribute to Dennis Cometti, a footy icon
EVERY TEAM ANALYSED
Ranking every AFL position group, 1-18: Where does your team sit?
We graded positions for every AFL team and stacked them 1 to 18. Who has the best overall list? Who looks shaky? And which team should you watch out for in 2026?
ESPN/Getty Images
2026 WIN TOTALS
Over or under? Projecting each AFL team's 2026 win total
The 2026 AFL season has arrived, so it's time to project the win total over/under for each of the 18 teams. Who will hit the over? Who will fall under?
ESPN/Getty Images
ESPN FOOTY PODCAST
Is Jagga Smith already one of Carlton's top five players?
1:57
Top Headlines
- Magpies to challenge Pendlebury's suspension
- 'Just the beginning': Devils ready for VFL return
- Pies' McRae left with plenty to ponder over bye
- Injuries mar Swans' big win over premiers
- Bont inspires Bulldogs to thumping win over GWS
- Scott: A 'gulf' between Dons and AFL's best
- 'Get stuck into it': Carr relishes new challenge
- 'Child sex victim' had links to footy champ, trial told
- Devils face likely three-year wait for stadium
- ESPN
Subscribe to the ESPN Australia Newsletter
Keep up to date with the latest news from across the sporting world. Be it at home or abroad, we've got it covered in our weekly newsletters.
- Photo by Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
Expert tips, best tips for Round 1 of the AFL
Who should you be tipping in Round 1 of the 2026 AFL season? Our footy experts have put their heads together to help you out. So open your ESPN Footytips app, take notes, and get ahead of the game!
- ESPN
Listen to the ESPN Footy Podcast
Join ESPN's footy team for some of the best AFL and AFLW analysis and insight on the ESPN Footy Podcast.
- Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images
We're misty-optically: Paying tribute to Dennis Cometti, a footy commentary icon
It's inevitably the witticisms which first spring first to mind when think of Dennis Cometti, but, more broadly, he was Australian football's greatest ever caller and will be sorely missed, writes Rohan Connolly.
- ESPN/Getty Images
The 50 best AFL players heading into season 2026
It's that time of year when ESPN's Jake Michaels counts down his 50 best players in the AFL. Spoiler alert: two-time Brownlow medalist Patrick Cripps has made the cut.
- Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Hold your horses: AFL's Origin revival was real, but its long-term future is not
AFL Origin's return was a clear success, but one brilliant night is not enough to prove it's truly back for good.
- Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Ranking every AFL after-the-siren winning goal since 2000
Since the turn of the millennium, there have been 32 after-the-siren goals kicked which have won the game. We've ranked them -- taking into account shot difficulty, context of the match, conditions, and more to determine which clutch kick rules them all.
- Michael Dodge/Getty Images
AFL player record holders, statistical leaders, and more
Who has played the most AFL games? Who has kicked the most AFL goals? Here are the league leaders in history for all the stats that matter.
