It's set to be a massive first weekend of Sir Doug Nicholls Round action. (Photo: Essendon FC/Twitter)
The first weekend of Sir Doug Nicholls Round is set to be another big round of AFL action and there are plenty of storylines heading into this weekend.
Here are the five key stories to look out for ahead of this weekend’s actions.
Young stars in their first Indigenous Round games:
Two of the brightest young indigenous stars are set to make their Indigenous round debut, with Jesse Motlop to face Sydney and Maurice Rioli Jr to play in his first Dreamtime match.
It’ll be Motlop’s second game in the Navy Blue. The son of Daniel showed glimpses of his potential on debut against the Giants, finishing with nine disposals, five marks, and a goal.
Maurice Jr has played three games this year. Whilst last week he only had four disposals, the son of Maurice Sr is averaging 10.7 disposals, 2.7 tackles, and six contested possessions per game and has kicked three goals this season.
The limelight will be shining brightly on both of them as they look to put on a show this coming Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
Can the Swans make a statement?
Round 10 opens tonight with a mouth-watering clash between Carlton and Sydney at Marvel Stadium.
The Blues have started strongly this year, sitting in fourth and with a 7-2 record. On the other hand, the Swans sit one spot behind them at 6-3.
However, despite last weekend’s win, the Swans had their struggles in the rounds leading up to it, going down to the two Queensland sides (Brisbane and Gold Coast) at home after a hot start.
A win this weekend at Marvel for the Swans against the high-flying Blues will show once more that they mean business this season.
Essendon’s response after another week in the limelight
It’s been an extremely rough start to the 2022 season for Essendon after an off-season and build-up that showed plenty of promise.
Following an impressive win against the Hawks the week before, last Saturday night saw another horrifying performance up in Sydney where they laid only 30 tackles for the game, Prompting another week in the firing line of the media and the limelight.
This weekend will be yet another challenge as Essendon faces a Richmond side looking to continue on its winning ways having won its last three games.
With Richmond starting to hit their straps with their big guns firing, all the eyes will be on Essendon and how they respond and how much they attack the ball. Watch that tackle count by quarter time.
Adam Treloar’s 200th AFL game
He’s been through plenty since joining the AFL but this weekend will mark Adam Treloar’s 200th game in the big time.
The 29-year-old was originally recruited by GWS as an under-age selection, spending four seasons there before making the move to Collingwood.
After five seasons with the Pies which included 94 games and a Grand Final, he then moved to his current team the Western Bulldogs in the 2020 trade period.
This year, Treloar has gotten back to his best footy after an injury-interrupted first year at the Kennel, averaging 26.6 disposals, 3.9 clearances, and a goal per game in the midfield.
Last weekend saw one of his best performances in Dogs colours against his former side (Collingwood) with three goals, 35 disposals, eight clearances, and nine score involvements. He’ll look to continue that form in his milestone game.
Port Adelaide’s chance to square the ledger
After starting the season 0-5 Port Adelaide has started to hit some form in recent weeks and has now won their last four matches.
They get the chance this weekend to square up at 5-5 as they head down the highway to face Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
It’s been a tough trip down there for the Power recently having not won there in seven attempts since 2007.
However this time they’ll be filled with plenty of confidence as they look to continue their winning streak against the Cats.
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