AFL.com.au's Callum Twomey takes a look at Alix Tauru's instant highlight reel, how the Dogs could surround Sam Darcy with more stars, and much more in Monday Cal-culations

THE DARCY DECADE

WELCOME to the Sam Darcy Decade – who wants to be a part of the show?

In all of the brilliance the Western Bulldogs emerging superstar has shown this season – the goals, marks, freakish moments over and over again – another factor has been lost in the appeal. In Darcy, the Dogs have perhaps their greatest ever weapon to attract rival stars.

Like Nick Daicos at Collingwood, Darcy represents a decade's worth of premiership contention for his side. As long as they have him, the Dogs will consider themselves a chance.

And like Daicos and Scott Pendlebury at Collingwood, the Dogs have the rare luxury of overlapping generational players in Darcy and 250-gamer Marcus Bontempelli to allow them to continue to contend and build around.

The Bulldogs have traditionally struggled to compete with the big Victorian clubs for top-tier talent. But the future with Darcy, and at least another four years with Bontempelli once he has inked his new deal, will put them in contention for big names coming up.

Already the Dogs came very close with Matt Rowell, who AFL.com.au revealed in January had struck up a strong connection with Dogs coach Luke Beveridge in their meeting. Beveridge has already said the Dogs will have another go in two years when Rowell, who re-signed at the Suns this week, reaches free agency after.

Then there is the Dogs' long chase for Zak Butters, who was a boyhood Bulldogs fan and has strong family and friendship pulls to western Victoria. It is why the Dogs and Cats are seen as the leading chasers for Butters over the next 18 months. They have also been chasing Butters' teammate Miles Bergman, whose stocks have risen in an out-of-contract year at the Power.

And there will be more. Darcy's elevation to be the game's best key forward has come as such a rate that playing with him will be one of the Bulldogs' biggest trump cards in going after high profile recruits in a competitive market they have not traditionally been able to match it with some other powerhouses for the ready-made stars.

This century, their highest profile additions have been Barry Hall and Jason Akermanis - both past their best when they got to the Dogs - and Tom Boyd, who was only a year into his career. Adam Treloar joined in 2020 as a gun midfielder but landed on different terms after the Collingwood firesale. 

Darcy's three-goal performance against Sydney on Friday night means he has kicked three, five and then three goals in his three games since returning from his knee injury and he has booted 25 from nine games either side of his time on the sidelines.

KEN'S STOCKS REMAIN STRONG

PORT Adelaide's up and down season means that, although the Power are only two wins outside the top eight, making the finals is very unlikely. But that the Power are actually in slim contention says plenty about a squad that has kept listening to outgoing coach Ken Hinkley.

And should be a reminder to clubs looking for experience that Hinkley has plenty to offer in 2026 and beyond.

The Power need to use the end of their season – as a club and supporting base – to thank Hinkley for his 13 seasons at the helm, having taken over Port when the club was on its knees without finances, fans and much of a future and steered it into being a respected, consistent, blue-collar team that has kept fronting up.

Even this year, the Power could have fallen off when they turned mid-year at four wins and seven losses. But they have claimed three wins from their past four games and remain in the hunt after an injury-impacted campaign.

Hinkley has gotten more from Esava Ratugolea, who has been one of the best key defenders in the competition over the past two months, but his moves of captain Connor Rozee to half-back and Miles Bergman into the midfield has seen two game-changers used in different ways and Bergman's magnet change has been one of the moves of the year.

At the start of this season, Hinkley told AFL.com.au that Bergman was in the Power's best four players – alongside Zak Butters, Jason Horne-Francis and Rozee. Nobody would dare argue with that now.

The Power's coaching handover copped criticism, but with Port's ability to bounce back rather than throw in the towel, the plan has saved Hinkley from the week-to-week conjecture about his future whilst also giving next-in-line Josh Carr certainty on his position.

The other certainty is that, with likely only eight games left of his tenure, Hinkley's stocks have remained high – his connection with players, competitive instincts and capacity to pull a change to get his troops going has been obvious.

THE 'METRES LOST' LEADERS

COLLINGWOOD and Brisbane being the leading flag favourites this year represent a stark contrast in styles – namely their ball movement.

Champion Data shows the Lions are the No.1 team for backwards kicks per game – 14.7 – across the first 15 rounds of the season, with Collingwood having the second-fewest at 6.8 a game.

In a world of metres gained, we're looking at metres lost – and the teams that use metres lost to set up their play and the others who get forced backwards to their detriment.

Dayne Zorko entered this round as the No.4 player in the competition for negative kick metres (-286 metres). He was one of seven Lions, alongside Darcy Wilmot, Harris Andrews, Will Ashcroft, Jack Payne, Jaspa Fletcher and Lachie Neale, in the top 50 players in the AFL for negative kick metres this season.

The Lions group was the most of any club, topping Essendon and Melbourne's six in the top 50. Neale, through virtue of being one of the game's best ball-getters, was the leader in the AFL for total metres lost, with 856 for the season, ahead of Max Gawn and Will Ashcroft.

As the Lions frame up their possession style, something the Bombers and Dees follow, the Eagles are clearly taking more of a Magpie model in their game plan revamp under Andrew McQualter, with the Eagles averaging the lowest backwards kicks per game in the AFL (5.4 a game). The Pies, Suns and Dockers are also in the lowest four.

That much was obvious in the Eagles' game against the Pies on Saturday night, when Andrew McQualter's side played a frenetic first half to hold a half-time lead before being overrun. The identity of McQualter's team at the Eagles has started to take shape over the past three months and, with more talent, you can see where he wants to take West Coast with a modern game plan.

Not one Collingwood player ranks in the top 55 for backwards kicks, and none are in the top 40 for negative metres.

Key defenders dominate the list of most backwards kicks this year, naturally given their regular role in switching the ball from one side of the defensive arc to the other. The teams with penetrating half-backs can find a way out, and those who don't can get stuck in the backwards strategy.

THE VIKING TAKES FLIGHT

HATE to say we told you so. Actually, no we don't.

When Alix Tauru started to emerge this time last year as a possible early draft pick, the scouting on him was that he was raw but hugely talented. Two games into his AFL career we can probably wind back the raw element.

Tauru might be the most exciting thing to happen to St Kilda since Brendon Goddard jumped over Heritier Lumumba in the last minutes of the 2010 drawn Grand Final and put the club in touching distance of a second flag.

'The Flying Viking' lived up to the name against the Dockers – he played like he was shot out of a cannon, flying at every marking contest, sometimes with reckless abandon but mainly with craft and courage, and finished with 14 spoils across the game. It was the most ever recorded by a player his age – he is still 18.

Tauru was pick 10 at the Saints last year and a player many clubs wish they could have taken. But his selection by St Kilda also showed they knew where they were at.

The Saints could have used the Tauru pick – which was the compensation pick they got for Josh Battle – or the one ahead of it (Tobie Travaglia) and on-traded it to Port Adelaide for Dan Houston, who the Saints had interest in. Houston was willing to go to just about any club that could get him back to Melbourne.

Tauru's season has only just picked up after a back injury saw him miss the start of the year then a suspension in the VFL ruled him out just on the cusp of senior selection. Through that period, his Saints teammates had already seen and become believers in his talent. Everyone is on board now.

GWS TO TAKE CAUTIOUS APPROACH

GREATER Western Sydney is expected to take a cautious approach with returning former captain Stephen Coniglio this week.

The midfielder is due to return to the field this week after battling a glute/hamstring injury that has lingered and kept him out for three months.

But Coniglio is not likely to come straight back into the Giants' senior line-up, with the 31-year-old expected to play for the club's VFL side against Werribee on Saturday.

Coniglio has had a horror injury run over the past 12 months, recovering from facial surgery and a shoulder reconstruction at the end of last season, only to face the ongoing leg problem this year.

The Giants have had their midfield depth tested this season but will be hoping he can make a swift return to form and be in the frame for senior selection soon.

CEOS TO GATHER ON GOLD COAST

EXPECT the ongoing debate on the Academy system to be front and centre as club chief executives gather for their mid-year conference on the Gold Coast this week.

While St Kilda put forward its submission to the AFL Commission earlier this month to disband northern Academies before this year's draft, the League has shut any chance of that down.

How much further that discussion goes, in the Suns' backyard, will be a hot topic this week as the Suns and other northern clubs push back on the Saints' hopes of immediate changes to the bidding rules for 2025.

The League is also expected to give updates on the Tasmania Devils licence and roofed stadium, while clubs are keen to know more details around the Next Generation Academy review and their new zonings, which are set to be taken to the AFL Commission in August.

The potential for State of Origin games at the start of next season is also likely to be on the agenda for the club bosses.

REUNION RUMBLINGS

IT IS a shame the North Melbourne centenary celebrations have been overshadowed by a disgruntled few.

The Roos' 100-year game on Thursday night was a request from the club to host the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium in the primetime slot.

But several high-profile boycotts, including by 1975 flag star Sam Kekovich, has left a tinge of disappointment around the lead-up to the game.

Two of the best recent events of similar note have come in the past few years, when Essendon invited its legends back to the club in 2022 for its 150th year celebrations, and the Western Bulldogs did the same at their 100-year game earlier this season. Both were pre-game celebrations done so well.

Like the Kangaroos' will be on Thursday.

The 1975 flag champions Keith Greig and Wayne Schimmelbusch will walk out with that year's premiership cup, while  Malcolm Blight and David Dench will enter the field with the 1977 cup as well. Numerous other club greats will be involved and the current Roos must mark the occasion with a much better performance than their effort against Hawthorn on Saturday.

RICHMOND'S RENOS

AS RICHMOND'S on-field rebuild gets going, its off-field renovations are also soon to take shape.

The Tigers have faced different delays in their plans to tear down and rebuild their Punt Road headquarters - which will include a brand new Jack Dyer Stand and facility as well as an MCG-sized training field - including the effects of COVID in 2020-21.

But in coming weeks the club is expected to announce the next steps for the development and add some more timelines to the stages of construction.
 
In the training and administration arms race, Richmond is just about ready for lift-off.