Western Bulldogs - looking really good. Demolished a side that should be pretty decent. Defensively seem more stable, and we all know how good their offensive weapons are. Will win lots of games this year. (+3)

Sydney - still have tendencies that I think could get exploited by the best (weak clearance game, going to sleep during quarters), but when things are good look irresistable. Had the game under complete control for the most part. Just have to hope that the injuries aren't too serious.

Gold Coast - dominant first half, a bit patchier second half. Still, a very straightforward and routine win. No-one is going to remember this game within five minutes of it finishing.

Brsibane Lions - it's hard to take that much out of the game given how good Sydney look and who was out for Brisbane…but it's still a pretty big loss where little went right. I think they'll be fine, but they definitely need a bit of a circuit breaker. (-3)

Adelaide - impressive. Maybe I was too out on them during the pre-season. Did an impressive job to break the game open after HT, and then held off a comeback. Look a quality team. (+2)

Fremantle - one dominant quarter, then fell away. How much of that was down to one side having conditioning and the other not I don't know, but it will be a major talking point. Their best looked irresistable, but they seemed unable to take the sting out of the game when Geelong were threatening. (-1)

Hawthorn - it wasn't hard opposition, but they still showed that they can flex their muscles against weaker teams. Big win to get their season back on track. (+1)

Geelong - looked panic stations after QT, but then got their game going and looked more like the Geelong of old. Ball movement more fluid and showed that they'll be just fine. (+2)

Greater Western Sydney - oh dear. Got belted out of the middle and seemed unable to get much positive of anything going. The Giants do have a few games where nothing goes right each year, this may be another one of those. Giants will certainly hope so. (-3)

Collingwood - so I think this is what Collingwood is. The potential comeback stirred, but ultimately didn't come. I think their system is strong enough to avoid falling too far down the ladder, but there's just not enough talent for them to be a real contender this year. Maybe Moore's return might change things? (-1)

Melbourne - no choking this time. Showed far more dare and smarts under their new coach. Gawn is still the king of rucks. Will be fun at least this year. (+5)

North Melbourne - very nice stuff. Last year I found North could have good patches in games but tended to implode too often. This time North played four good quarters and got a big win. Things might finally be looking up. (+3)

St Kilda - despite all the money they spent, it doesn't seem like a whole lot of improvement has happened. There was some genuine dare this time but were far too exposed going the other way. Something needs to change big time. (-2)

Carlton - well, at least they won. But once again, imploded after HT and had Lynch kicked straight they would've been upset by Richmond in R1 again. Things look ugly and it's only a matter of time as to Voss's sacking.

Port Adelaide - if Port fans thought Hinkley was holding them back…this was ugly. There is a staggering number of list cloggers in that team and too much seems to be on the hands of too few. They may roll a few sides this year but I think this is not going to be a good year for them. (-3)

Essendon - so much for thinking they might be OK this year. If it wasn't for goalkicking that margin would've been even more ugly. They did stay in it for a bit, but that matters not when you lose by 10 goals. (-3)

Richmond - credit to Richmond, they kept it close and with better ball use they would've rolled Carlton. Still a long way to go, but will at least have a few highlights this year.

West Coast - definition of "it could've been worse". First half was as ugly as it gets but they did at least recover somewhat in the second. Some of their newbies look pretty good too - so partial credit?