AFL set to meet rugby codes head-on
The AFL is under pressure to start the season earlier, particularly from the northern clubs frustrated that the two rugby codes get a head start often by up to a month.
But a suggestion that the AFL season could get off to an earlier start in 2017 - in mid-March - can be found in, of all things, the A-League fixture for the forthcoming season.
The redevelopment of Pirtek Stadium means the Western Sydney Wanderers are on the move and for the next few years they will share Spotless Stadium with Greater Western Sydney.
Presumably as the major tenant, the Giants will have first call on the venue over the two months or so when the AFL and A-League seasons overlap, but a glance at the Wanderers' fixture, which was released last week shows a (TBC) for two home games - Round 23 against Wellington and Round 24 against Melbourne City.
The A-League's Round 23 takes place over two weekends (March 10-19) and Round 24 is slated for March 24-26 - which corresponds with the time of year the northern AFL clubs would like the season to start.
The Giants are seeking an early home game at Spotless in 2017 given the Royal Easter Show isn't taking place until the middle of April next year.
But the uncertainty over the Wanderers' fixture would suggest the AFL wants complete flexibility with the fixture and raises the prospect of a mid-March start to the 2017 season. (The 2016 season began on March 24.)
An opening weekend blockbuster home game for the Giants - they have Hawthorn at the top of the list - could be on the cards.
Brotherly love booted out of bounds
West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern didn't show any brotherly love for Adelaide forward Mitch during the pair's first encounter on Saturday night.
Jeremy was seen berating the first-year forward following a succession of blunders in the opening half of the emotion-charged Eagles-Crows clash at Domain Stadium.
As the sibling rivalry flared, the duo's father, Andrew, said it was reminiscent of the heated backyard squabbles in the family's hometown of Albany.
"They haven't spoken about it (the sledging). We had breakfast the next morning and they seemed to be getting along," Andrew laughed this week when speaking to ESPN.
"They've been highly competitive at everything, particularly against each other. Jeremy would bully Mitchell in the backyard because he was bigger and older.
"There weren't too many dust-ups. It was always a competition on who could do something first or the quickest."
Mitch, seemingly undeterred by the verbal barbs, had the last laugh, with the Crows' six-goal final-quarter revival upsetting last year's grand finalists by 29 points.
Swing when you're winning
Adelaide's premiership tilt is in full swing, thanks to an unlikely pastime that has helped them turn the tables.
After withstanding a tough fixture that pitted them against a host of finals-bound teams, the Crows have attributed their run of good form to the resurrection of the club's table tennis table.
Former coach Brenton Sanderson banned the sport after his troops spent the majority of their down time with paddle and ball in hand, rather than reviewing match vision and honing their football skills.
Almost three seasons later, new coach Don Pyke echoed Sanderson's frustrations with the level of commitment his squad had in becoming better footballers.
During the review of the club's 15-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in Round 7, Pyke demanded greater professionalism in his team's preparation.
But immediately after the honest wake-up call, Pyke summoned the team to a recreation hall in Woodville, not far from the club's headquarters.
Inside were a dozen Olympic-sized table tennis tables.
More than 40 testosterone-filled, barrel-chested men swiftly organised a knockout round-robin tournament, which ultimately saw Tom Lynch take out the title in a hotly contested final over Jarryd Lyons.
Since then, the club has won four of its past five matches.
The once-banished table has been wheeled back into the corridors of West Lakes, with some members adamant the table is enchanted and holds the key to the club's premiership ambitions.
Hawthorn squad to be tested after Roughy shock
The news four weeks ago that Jarryd Roughead's cancer had spread to his lungs sent a seismic shock through his club, Hawthorn, and the AFL world more broadly.
To ensure no other players find themselves in the same position as Roughhead, Hawthorn have insisted their entire squad get a thorough skin cancer examination, post-haste. The club is reportedly paying for the procedure.
Roughead had a melanoma cut out of his lip last year. He returned to the game after a first scan found no sign of further cancers, but a recent routine scan found signs the cancer had returned in secondary locations, with four spots visible on his lungs.
T.D back where it all began - at age 58
Evergreen AFL Hall of Fame member Terry Daniher hasn't ruled out lacing up again for his original club Ungarie, after making a triumphant homecoming.
Daniher, 58, answered a desperate SOS call to bolster a depleted reserves outfit last Saturday and ran out for his first game at the Magpies since 1976.
The reigning Northern Riverina League premiers defeated local rival West Wyalong-Girral by 73 points in a commemorative match marking the club's centenary year.
"I played on blokes a generation younger and they were bloody full of cheek," Daniher told ESPN.
"It would have been embarrassing to do a hammy on the first chase, so I made sure I eased into it.
"I conceded a couple (of goals) and had to close in on a couple (of players) near goal. But I got a couple of touches and was knocked over a couple of times."
The two-time Essendon premiership forward played alongside his brother, Chris, 50, rotating between the bench and the backline.
It was the first time they played together since their time at the Bombers in the late 1980s and early '90s.
Daniher said he could be coaxed into making another return.
"You keep the door open and make a decision at the time. But I've got more to do in life than run the gauntlet and get injured," he said.
Anchors aweigh for Dockers' youngsters
Adversity brings opportunity and nowhere is this more apparent than at Fremantle.
The Dockers, last season's minor premiers who began the 2016 season with an astonishing 10 straight defeats, have had to delve deep into their playing stocks to cover for the loss of Nat Fyfe, David Mundy, Aaron Sandilands and the like.
This has meant coach Ross Lyon has had to abandon his long-held practice of giving games to the same core of tried-and-tested players - and embark on an enforced youth policy instead.
But already it's paying dividends: Connor Blakely was rewarded with the AFL's Round 11 Rising Star nomination and Lachie Weller made it back-to-back when he took out the Round 12 nomination.
So two Freo nominations in seven days. The smallest gap between Lyon's previous two nominated players was 650 days.
In Lyon's entire time at Fremantle, which spans 100 home-and-away rounds back to the start of 2012, he has produced just one other Rising Star nominee - and that was Matt Taberner back in Round 22, 2014.
Now the heat falls on North Melbourne, home of the oldest list in the competition. The Kangas haven't had a Rising Star nominee since Luke McDonald got the nod in Round 4, 2014 - some 26 months ago.
Random stats of the week:
7: It took until deep into the fourth quarter on Monday but Collingwood eventually outscored Travis Cloke (seven goals) from last year's Queens Birthday match against Melbourne.
48: Paddy Dangerfield on Saturday joined Brisbane's Tom Rockliff as the player with most disposals in a game at Etihad Stadium. Both achieved the feat within a week of each other.
98: North captain Andrew Swallow had laid 98 tackles after 11 rounds - the most by any player in first 11 weeks of any season. His absence after a first-quarter concussion on Saturday goes some way to explaining how Dangerfield and Joel Selwood were able to simply walk the ball out of the centre and set up Geelong's impressive win.