Malcolm Rosas Jr is the grandson of Bill Dempsey, who passed away in March. Dempsey was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2022, and should have been elevated to legend status on the strength of his speech alone. Dempsey was one of the greatest ruckmen to come out of the WAFL. His grandson is a completely different footballer – slighter, slippery around the packs and a superb user of the ball. His seven goals on Sunday propelled his team to the top of the AFL ladder, more than 30% clear of the second placed Fremantle.
In a brief, jam-packed and much-needed vent this week, Luke Beveridge lamented the high scores that the AFL and its broadcasters have contrived. But that sort of football has its place, especially on grounds like the SCG. Sunday’s game was a helter-skelter affair, with both sides blazing through the middle of the ground. At times it resembled one of those mid-1980s games in Sydney. It was a good era to be a forward then, and it was a good day to be a forward on Sunday.
It was Sydney’s torrent of propulsive handballs that secured the win. All summer they spoke about wanting to play differently in 2026 – to be faster, bolder and to utilise quick hands. We saw little hints of it towards the tail end of 2025. But a full summer to train it and new rules that encourage it have seen this facet of their game flourish. One can only imagine how good they’d be if Errol Gulden was around to be the third or fourth link in those chains.
The beneficiary of all this was Rosas, who booted five goals in the first half, with nearly of them coming around the 30-metre mark. He just couldn’t get a look in under Damien Hardwick at the Gold Coast, and he was traded for peanuts in November. On Sunday he reaped the rewards of his teammates’ willingness to lower their eyes and not blaze away to the largely ineffectual Charlie Curnow. Michael Voss’s Carlton probably don’t need another sly sledge in this column or elsewhere. But you can guarantee those same balls would have been bombed to him or over his head at Carlton last year.
Melbourne’s games are usually easy on the eye, with lots of space, overlaps, fast breaks and goals. They’ve kicked more than 100 points in six of their eight games this year. Their appetite for risk is so ravenous however that it leaves them vulnerable to turnovers. When a ball is in dispute, two or three others in the vicinity will hurtle forward. When it pays off it looks sublime and is usually rewarded with a goal. But they can be got at, especially from teams that move the ball with purpose and speed, as Sydney did.
It capped off a week of upheaval at Melbourne, with the opinionated, well-connected and presumably blindsided Paul Guerra swiftly shown the door as CEO. He’s the latest in a long line of “non-football people” who have lasted less than a year in the role. He certainly did better than Andrew Thorburn, who didn’t see out 24 hours at Essendon. Now he’s yet another person Melbourne will have to pay out.
Some of the best football of the year was played on Friday night, with a cracking game at the Docklands between the Bulldogs and Fremantle and an utterly bonkers Showdown. But in this two-tier competition, there’s a ghoulish fascination in watching the two bottom sides thrash it out. An error-strewn shambles can be just as enjoyable as a game where the balls pings from one end to the other. Richmond had a dire week on the injury front. The drip feed of players going lame wasn’t just bad luck. It was a cluster. Only three AFL players were listed in their reserves team. Few gave the senior team a prayer. But what could easily have been a demoralised group played with what Michael Voss calls “genuine intent”.
It was meant to be a day of celebration for West Coast. The heroes of the 2006 flag were paraded at half time – and few football teams have had more stories to tell. But the current lot were pitiful. As bad as the three figure losses to Sydney and St Kilda were, this was worse. They were ill-disciplined, missed regulation handballs, let Richmond’s less than dynamic midfield waltz out of stoppages and flew three up against one another with no ground support.
There are moments watching this West Coast team where you can see the next decade laid out – the running goals to Harley Reid and Willem Duursma were enough to keep any Eagles fan off the ledge. But they are so irregular and meek around the margins. There’s more than a few cheque collectors in there. They selected some older players who didn’t fire a shot. Andrew McQualter said it was an improvement on their last month of football. Their biggest problem is that he’s probably right.
