1. Tasmanian football club is already a serious, real footy club

It takes time to build a serious, real footy club. Just ask the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns.

But believe me, the Tasmanian football club is already a serious, real footy club with history, culture and a fanbase built over the last 150 years. It’s readymade. Tassie is an Australian rules heartland.

They could not have started better with three wins from three outings in the VFL competition. Their latest was last weekend by 78 points down at the hard-to-win-at Kinetic Stadium in Frankston.

There is already a passion and energy about the Devils with players taking pride in the jumper and an eager fan base that has been waiting for this team for a long time.

Yes, there will be some speed bumps when they enter the AFL, but believe me this will be a successful club.

2. Alex Pearce is the perfect choice for Devils captain

Speaking of Tasmania, the club would undoubtedly already be working on potential recruits behind the scenes. The first captain has to be a Tasmanian in my opinion and I would target Fremantle captain Alex Pearce.

He won the game for his current club last Friday night at the Adelaide Oval with a desperate late smother.

Alex is from Ulverstone on the north west coast and is the perfect choice. He’s a strong leader, a culture-setter and ultimate team man. He knows the Tasmanian landscape. Go get him Brendan Gale

3. Has North Melbourne reached a turning point?

Was Good Friday the turning point for North Melbourne? The last time this club played finals was 2016 when they lost an elimination final in Adelaide.

They have not finished above 16th since 2020. I think it was, what a gritty tough come from behind win that this group needed to build real belief. The most pleasing thing is it was the young players driving this win.

George Wardlaw, Harry Sheezel, Finn O’Sullivan, Colby Mckercher and Zane Duursma all had serious moments in the last quarter. The young player I like the most is tall young tall forward Cooper Trembath.

North plucked this young man from the mid-season draft in 2025. He’s a super athlete with strong hands and real composure, as shown by his two set-shot goals in that frantic last quarter. It’s a piece of great recruiting from North. Absolute bargain. Just seven games into his career he already has 17 goals.

4. Lions look ready to pounce on flag three-peat

I tipped the Hawks to win the flag and you can’t change your tip. But gee, it’s hard not to see Brisbane winning again if they are fit and switched on.

After losing the first two games they are now getting going. They have done this without the best defender in the comp in Harris Andrews.

No team has the arsenal that Brisbane has. Their biggest strength is a forward line that genuinely has seven or eight guys who can kick multiple goals in any given game.

Collingwood is a great defensive team and Brisbane had 34 shots at goal last Thursday night. This is scary for the rest of the competition

5. Crows and Carlton set for Gather Round blowtorch

The sensational Gather Round starts tonight, and it kicks off with two teams well and truly in the microscope. The Adelaide Crows have not won since beating the Pies in round one on March 14.

For a team that finished last season on top of the home-and-away ladder, winning is simply a must.

For Carlton, getting out of the Melbourne fishbowl and travelling might be the best recipe. They will be doing it without Jacob Weitering, who is out with concussion, so this will make it almost impossible for the Blues.

He would have taken Riley Thilthorpe. While Thilthorpe hasn’t really got his season going — with seven goals in four games — he will tonight and will be the difference for the Crows. I’m tipping five-plus goals for Riley to kick-start the Crows

6. Why US Masters are the best in the world

The US Masters golf starts early tomorrow morning, Aussie time. Last year I was lucky enough to attend this bucket list event. It was better than I had ever imagined it to be. Simply the best sporting event I’ve attended.

It always looked so amazing on the TV screens, but when you enter the course and see it with you own eyes, its like a postcard. Not a blade of grass out of place.

You are truly present at this event as no mobile phones are allowed. There is no sponsor signage, no video screens, no electronic scoreboards. It truly is a throwback in time. Even the prices of food and beverage are a throwback. You can get a sandwich for $2. If you get the opportunity to go … do it. You won’t be disappointed.

7. Some head contact just can’t be avoided

There were a few stories printed last week in relation to concussions in marking contests. Where a player is accidentally kneed in the head, while unfortunate, this will happen in a contact sport.

All players would accept this and I think if push came to shove, they would sign a waiver accepting they know there is a risk of concussion in this scenario. We simply can’t eliminate all concussions. High-marking must be a part of our game forever

8. Swans take on Suns in match of the round

Saturday late arvo at Norwood Oval, the clash between the Suns and Swans has a lot of interest. Both teams are top-four fancies.

The Swans are coming off a 128-point win v West Coast, and the Suns were shocked at the MCG last Sunday by the impressive Demons. I think it’s a bigger test for the Suns.

No, Christian Petracca and Bailey Humphrey had them lacking a bit of centre throw-up rotation and forward-50 class last week. Matt Rowell is a bit underdone as well.

It will be a big test of a so-called premiership favourite to beat Sydney. If they do, with those two stars returning next week, they are back in great shape.

It’s going to be the match of Gather Round for mine. Probably in hindsight, this game deserves to be on the Adelaide Oval and not at Norwood.

9. Melbourne Football Club look the real deal in season 2025.

Real deal doesn’t mean finals, but the real deal in terms of how they are trying to play.

They’ve had three wins now and a genuine win against a finals-winning team, the Suns, from 2025. They are playing the right brand of footy. They’re good in tight and then take the game on outside with some run, carry and flair.

They have young, fresh legs and are playing with an energy and intensity with and without the ball. They have two A-grade superstars in Max Gawn and Kozzy Pickett. Stephen King can obviously coach, having installed this gameplan in less than six months. They should be 4-1 with Essendon coming up in Gather Round.

10. Another rule change seemingly discarded

Remember the crackdown on dissent towards umpires? Don’t show any resentment towards a decision if you are a player. It’s fine in theory, we don’t want umpires being abused.

But it’s a high-stakes game. It costs teams games. A player simply had to shrug their shoulders. 50 was the call. It’s now gone. Players can show emotions again. My query is does any other professional sports league chop and change like this? No they dont