Stunning Buddy texts that ignited $10m move<\/a><\/p>\nSwann speaks on Stevic 50m penalty | 02:16<\/p>\n
The Saints sit ninth for points for in 2026, a jump from 15th in 2024 and 12th last season, while they remain inside the top eight for points conceded.<\/p>\n
Even more impressively, they sit third for scores per inside 50 and sixth for points per game from their forward half \u2013 the latter rising from 14th a year ago.<\/p>\n
For Johnson, the Saints, despite the continued absence of star spearhead Max King, have become \u201ca huge threat\u201d, with the strongest sign of all coming via an unchanged line-up to take on the Power.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Ross to sit there last week in match committee and then come up with no change was a massive tick for the group that\u2019s representing at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Co-host Jay Clark dubbed them the \u201csexy Saints\u201d, while former North Melbourne great David King was in awe of their running capacity in games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was blown away with the blue-collar Saints. They are prepared to just run,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as they get the extra, they don\u2019t stop running. They all stay involved. And what it did to Port regularly was leave them with the trade up, one extra defender shy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the old Geelong model: get there, outnumber, and then work and share from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be hard to play against. It\u2019s going to be hard to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey play like a group of battlers that are all on different levels, and I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longmire speaks on Tassie job | 01:36<\/p>\n
A feared trip to GMHBA Stadium to take on Geelong now looms as the ultimate litmus test for the Saints.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a massive moment for the footy club,\u201d Clark said of the Thursday night blockbuster, which will be broadcast live and ad-free on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait for this next one at GMHBA. What they can do against a Geelong team, and have they closed the gap that much they can have a massive victory away from home down at GMHBA?\u201d Johnson wondered.<\/p>\n
While they boast an excellent recent record against the Cats in Melbourne, winning their last four encounters at Marvel Stadium, they have lost their last 13 matches at the Cattery, a streak dating back to 1999.<\/p>\n
Victory would take the Saints level with the Cats on premiership points amid a tense battle for wildcard finals spots. <\/p>\n
Saints wary of hurting Geelong | 01:30<\/p>\n
FOOTY\u2019S \u2018BIGGEST BUST\u2019 RUING \u2018INEXPLICABLE\u2019 MYSTERY<\/p>\n
Gold Coast\u2019s demise runs deep and has several facets, with none more head-scratching than the \u201cinexplicable decline\u201d of their once-greatest strength. <\/p>\n
The Suns were consigned to their seventh-straight loss – an uncompetitive belting at the hands of Adelaide – last Saturday to send them spiralling deeper as their season all but dissipates. <\/p>\n
The rapid and unforeseen descent shapes as one of this season\u2019s greatest mysteries, as, on paper, the club had no feasible reason to be performing as poorly as it is. <\/p>\n
But now, as the losses continue to mount, cracks are appearing on the inside as coach Damien Hardwick – for the second time in as many months – is caught up in reports of strained relationships. <\/p>\n
Certainly, at 7-3 after Round 11 and having won three-straight games, nobody would have foreseen a winless run spanning two months. <\/p>\n
And for a team with preseason premiership aspirations after a drought-breaking finals win last September, the external pressure is at boiling point, with First Crack\u2019s Jay Clark labelling the club \u201cfooty\u2019s biggest bust\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a football club that largely hasn\u2019t faced any scrutiny in its entire history, and after one finals win in 16 years, this was meant to be the year,\u201d he said on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a football club that has lacked absolutely nothing over the journey – they\u2019ve had concessions, draft picks, funding, fixtures, they went and got the triple premiership coach. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then they got Christian Petracca, just to top up this list. But have we seen the bottom fall out a team like this before? It is a super side on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 23: Damien Hardwick, Senior Coach of the Suns looks on during the round 11 AFL match between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium, on May 23, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Going into last Saturday\u2019s fixture with Adelaide – which the Suns lost in demoralising fashion by 79 points – Gold Coast named 11 top-10 draft picks in its side. <\/p>\n
Ben King, Jed Walter, Petracca, Leo Lombard, Zeke Uwland, Mac Andrew, Bailey Humphrey, Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell, Ethan Read and Dylan Patterson all suited up against the Crows. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a team that has been set up to succeed, and set up to win,\u201d Clark continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cReally, you thought about these guys as pillars, and now you\u2019re looking at these guys \u2026 you\u2019re wondering who\u2019s hanging around. <\/p>\n
\u201cWalter signed, but what about King? What\u2019s Rowell doing? What\u2019s Humphrey doing? There are more question marks at this football club, I think, than anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
And high up the list of pressing questions is around the Suns\u2019 midfield, which was once considered their overwhelming strength. <\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s a glaring weakness that has cost them the ascendancy in several games. After ranking fourth for clearance differential last year, Gold Coast ranks dead-last this season. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is their strength? We\u2019ve been talking about this for a couple of years – it\u2019s the heartbeat; it\u2019s in the midfield. And that midfield has flatlined,\u201d Clark said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat (clearance game fall-off) is an inexplicable decline. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut then again, how much do we really care? How much scrutiny have the Suns faced over the journey?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been quite extraordinary how far back this football club has gone backwards in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swann: “Taunting rule here to stay” | 01:26<\/p>\n
Incredibly, coach Damien Hardwick went as far as admitting in his post-match press conference that the Suns\u2019 year was \u201ceffectively gone\u201d. <\/p>\n
But Gold Coast is just one game and percentage off a wildcard spot, with a critical home matchup with the Western Bulldogs looming this weekend. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s then confronted by Carlton, Melbourne, GWS, Brisbane and St Kilda before the end of the home-and-away season. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re no chance of winning it this year, so that\u2019s where the season\u2019s done for them,\u201d Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn motorsport terms, if teams get to that point where the championship is done, they\u2019ll start testing to make sure things are right for the beginning of the following season. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they\u2019re in that phase now as a group (where) they start testing now to what 2027 will start to look like from this particular point. <\/p>\n
\u201cNothing\u2019s saying they can\u2019t jump again and explode like they did in 2025, next season. So, that\u2019s where I think (Hardwick) is starting to lean towards.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018THOSE DAYS ARE DONE\u2019: WHY EAGLE MUST BE \u2018FAST-TRACKED\u2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the permanent midfield change West Coast has to make for the remainder of the season. <\/p>\n
Because after what Willem Duursma did against the Western Bulldogs last Sunday, he simply has to be given more centre-square ball-up opportunities than in recent times. <\/p>\n
Over the past three weeks, last year\u2019s No.1 draft pick has attended just 24 centre bounces. That\u2019s 15 fewer than Tim Kelly in the same time span, 34 fewer than Elliot Yeo, and 45 fewer than Harley Reid. <\/p>\n
For the year, he\u2019s gone over 60 per cent attendance in a game just three times, with one of them coming at Docklands at the weekend. And West Coast bore the fruits. <\/p>\n
In the narrow loss to the Dogs, the slightly-built Duursma kicked one of the goals of the year from a centre-bounce, along with 20 disposals and three score involvements to be the eighth-highest rated player on the ground. <\/p>\n
He certainly gave Eagles fans a tantalising glimpse of what\u2019s to come for the next decade plus, and it\u2019s only fair that the fans get to see Duursma and Reid waxing in the middle over the last six weeks of the campaign. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf \u2018Mini\u2019 McQualter doesn\u2019t put Willem Duursma in as a prime-time midfielder, centre-bounce starter for the next seven weeks, leave your swipe pass and your keys on the desk and get out of the joint,\u201d David King said on First Crack. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter seeing what he was able to do \u2026 he hasn\u2019t really been in there. Four and four in the previous two weeks, and then 16 (on Sunday). <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got to fast-track him to 30 disposals. He\u2019s got to learn to evolve to become that player, but they need Duursma and Reid to run the show in there. <\/p>\n
\u201cKelly\u2019s been good, Yeo was good (on Sunday), but these two are the priority. They need to be in there as regularly as you can have them in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the past two weeks, Duursma has spent 85 per cent and 65 per cent at half-forward. <\/p>\n
\u201cNah, nah, those days are done,\u201d King added. <\/p>\n
\u201cMini – (hand in your) keys, swipe card if you don\u2019t put him in the guts in the next seven weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what better litmus test than to unleash him in the guts against Brisbane and Fremantle in back-to-back weeks?<\/p>\n
Solomon still undecided on Bombers job | 02:38<\/p>\n
HAWK WE \u2018REGULARLY MISS\u2019 IN STAR DISCUSSION<\/p>\n
Hawthorn\u2019s miserly defence has come in for plenty of praise throughout 2026.<\/p>\n
But while reigning All-Australian Josh Battle and intercept king Jarman Impey are regularly the ones in the spotlight, David King believes there\u2019s an unsung hero marshalling Sam Mitchell\u2019s backline that everyone \u2013 aside from Hawks supporters \u2013 has overlooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlake Hardwick\u2019s a player we regularly miss when we\u2019re handing out the flowers,\u201d King said on First Crack Review.<\/p>\n
In torrential conditions at the MCG, Hardwick\u2019s cleanliness and exceptional reading of the play stood out in the Hawks\u2019 64-point win over Carlton.<\/p>\n
In the absence of regular defenders Battle (appendix) and Josh Weddle (suspension), the 29-year-old gathered 25 disposals, including 14 intercepts, and was rewarded with 8 AFL Coaches Association votes. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis was an awful night for footy, but you just couldn\u2019t get past this guy,\u201d King said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought he was really calculating in where he stood – 14 intercepts for the night. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was always going to be an ugly, scrappy, kind of night, and it\u2019s an easy role to play out the back there like that, but if you get it wrong, you can really give up some easy scores.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hawks are set to be bolstered for their clash with Richmond on Sunday afternoon at the MCG, with Battle, Weddle and Nick Watson (hamstring) all likely to return.<\/p>\n
King, though, has urged the Hawks to be ultra-careful in managing their stars ahead of a looming deep September run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe management of these guys now is the race,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou just got to get as close as you can to your best 23 preliminary final night. <\/p>\n
\u201cMost are probably expecting Hawthorn to be thereabouts, so can they maintain the health with a Watson, with a [Will] Day, in the back half of the year, that\u2019s going to be critical.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh Worrell set to face court | 01:05<\/p>\n
ROUND 19 TEAMS AND FIXTURE (all times AEST)<\/p>\n
GEELONG CATS vs. ST KILDA<\/p>\n
Thursday July 16, 7:30pm at GMHBA Stadium<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 6:30pm on Channel 504, hosted by Sarah Jones, Jason Dunstall, David King and Michael Voss, with commentary from Matt Hill, Mark Howard, Jack Riewoldt, Cameron Mooney and Jon Ralph.<\/p>\n
SYDNEY SWANS vs. ADELAIDE CROWS<\/p>\n
Friday July 17, 7:40pm at the SCG<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 6:30pm on Channel 504, hosted by Kath Loughnan, Tom Hawkins and Jordan Lewis, with commentary from Anthony Hudson, Gerard Whateley, Jason Dunstall, Jonathan Brown, Alastair Lynch and Jon Ralph.<\/p>\n
PORT ADELAIDE vs. FREMANTLE<\/p>\n
Saturday July 18, 1:15pm at Adelaide Oval<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 12:30pm on Channel 504 with commentary from Leigh Montagna, Kelli Underwood, Ken Hinkley, Mark Ricciuto and Shaun Burgoyne.<\/p>\n
NORTH MELBOURNE vs. MELBOURNE<\/p>\n
Saturday July 18, 4:15pm at Marvel Stadium<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 4pm on Channel 504 with commentary from Dwayne Russell, Jason Dunstall, Nathan Buckley, Ben Dixon and Jay Clark.<\/p>\n
COLLINGWOOD vs. CARLTON<\/p>\n
Saturday July 18, 7:35pm at the MCG<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 7:15pm on Channel 504, hosted by Kath Loughnan, David King, Jack Riewoldt and Jay Clark, with commentary from Anthony Hudson, Mark Howard, David King, Jack Riewoldt and Eddie Betts.<\/p>\n
WEST COAST EAGLES vs. BRISBANE LIONS<\/p>\n
Saturday July 18, 8:10pm at Optus Stadium<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 8pm on Channel 503, with commentary from Adam Papalia, Brad Johnson, Nick Dal Santo and Will Schofield.<\/p>\n
RICHMOND vs. HAWTHORN<\/p>\n
Sunday July 19, 1:10pm at the MCG<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 12:30pm on Channel 504, with commentary from Dwayne Russell, Jess Webster, Brad Johnson, Cameron Mooney, Ruby Schleicher, Ben Dixon and David Zita.<\/p>\n
GOLD COAST SUNS vs. WESTERN BULLDOGS<\/p>\n
Sunday July 19, 3:15pm at People First Stadium<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 3pm on Channel 503, with commentary from Matt Hill, Corbin Middlemas, Gerard Healy, Nick Dal Santo, Alastair Lynch and David Zita.<\/p>\n
ESSENDON vs. GWS GIANTS<\/p>\n
Sunday July 19, 4:40pm at Marvel Stadium<\/p>\n
How to watch on Fox Footy: From 4:30pm on Channel 504, with commentary from Anthony Hudson, Jonathan Brown, Jordan Lewis, Sarah Jones and David Zita. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The crucial details in the \u201csexy\u201d Saints\u2019 surge, and the \u201cinexplicable decline\u201d of Gold Coast laid bare. Plus,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-802579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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