The AFL debutants who thrilled and starred in round one

It is premature to call this a super draft, but recruiters were bullish about this class last year – and the early evidence backs that up.

Fresh feel for Dees

A lot of boxes were ticked on Melbourne’s bingo card within the first 60 seconds or so at the MCG on Sunday.

Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney were the Demons’ starting centre-bounce combination. Tick. There was Petracca’s early involvement with a long kick inside 50. Tick. Spearhead Jacob van Rooyen could not quite mark the Sherrin off that pass, but brought it to ground for fellow first-round draftee Matt Jefferson – on debut – who snapped a goal with his first kick. Tick, tick.

At the ensuing centre bounce, Oliver dished a handball out of the middle. The tortured Demons faithful, who feared losing one or both of Petracca and Oliver mere months ago, roared. Another tick.

Expectations, at least externally, are not what they once were for Melbourne, but coach Simon Goodwin was buoyant post-match despite a Giants team rated among the flag favourites running them down by three points.

As Goodwin acknowledged, there were issues in the final 25 minutes or so. GWS loomed as the winner for much of the fourth term, although another first-gamer, 25-year-old Aidan Johnson, could have been the hero if he kicked accurately on his set shot inside the last two minutes.

Five Demons made their AFL debut, and terrier-like ex-Lion recruit Harry Sharp – effectively new Crow Alex Neal-Bullen’s cheap-as-chips replacement – played his first game in red and blue, too.

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There were eight different players in Melbourne’s side from round one last year, including Harry Petty returning to his more-familiar defensive post, where he had 12 intercept possessions.

Last year’s No.11 pick Lindsay lived up to his draft billing as a classy user on his left boot, while No.6 selection Harvey Langford, the substitute, started the fourth quarter at the centre bounce, alongside Petracca and Oliver, and won five disposals in 27 minutes’ game time.

Jefferson’s performance, 28 months since being the No.15 pick, could be the biggest positive. There were whispers across the league last year that he might be a bust, but he began flourishing in the second half of the season and looked like he belonged on Sunday, matched up against Harry Himmelberg and co.

“That was a big reason for playing Petty forward last year. We needed to support our front end just enough to let these guys develop at the right rate,” Goodwin said.

“We feel like we’ve got a young group of key forwards, and we think if we keep backing them in, and obviously Daniel Turner is a part of that as well, that they’re going to grow together.

“[Jefferson] needed to develop physically first … he was a bit different to Jacob, but our recruiters said a couple of years ago, ‘We need to get some key-position players into our footy club’, and this is the reason – they take time to develop.

“It probably wasn’t until the back half of last year in the VFL that he really started to stand out and [for us to] say, ‘Oh, hang on, this guy’s going to be a bit of a player for us’.”

How much longer, Roos?

Most people expect North Melbourne to be better this season. The Kangaroos won only three games in 2024, to give them a grand total of 15 in five years. They received another high draft pick, which they used on skilful midfielder Finn O’Sullivan, who made a seamless transition to AFL ranks on Saturday night.

But will North even climb out of the bottom four this year? Adelaide finished 15th with eight wins last season, while Melbourne were one rung higher with 11.

Alastair Clarkson’s side failed to beat a Western Bulldogs team missing Marcus Bontempelli, Liam Jones, Adam Treloar, Cody Weightman, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Jason Johannisen. Ed Richards, Bailey Dale, Laitham Vandermeer and Rhylee West had to pass fitness tests, too.

The Roos entered the final term only seven points down – after conceding six of the first seven goals – and having won the clearances comfortably to that point.

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With the match on the line, the Dogs won the first three clearances of the last quarter and piled on three goals in six minutes. A 16-point defeat was the result for North Melbourne, who face Melbourne, Adelaide (away), Sydney, Gold Coast (Adelaide), Carlton and Port Adelaide (away) in the next six rounds.

There are green shoots, as Brendon Bolton once spruiked at Carlton, but this is becoming the never-ending rebuild.

Who was actually younger?

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon made several references to his Saints being “young” and having three debutants after copping a 63-point thumping from the Crows in Adelaide on Sunday.

They had excuses on the injury front, with Max King, Liam Henry, Mitch Owens, Cooper Sharman, Dan Butler, Dougal Howard and Mattaes Philippou being out, but the multiple mentions of how long Matthew Nicks’ Adelaide had been “building” was slightly odd.

St Kilda’s played one finals series in the past four years and two since 2011, while the Crows last qualified for September in their 2017 grand final season, so neither has been a consistently good team for a long time.

But the Saints were older on average age than Adelaide in Sunday’s match (25.82 years to 25.71) and averaged more games per player (92.5 to 90.8).

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