WELCOME to Reaction Time.

Early each week, AFL.com.au's Riley Beveridge will discuss the topic that deserves a reaction at your club and grade it on the 'Urgency Index'.

It could be anything from an issue that's got a team pondering drastic change, or the form of an underrated star that requires immediate recognition.

The gradings are as follows:

• Panic Stations.
• Simmering.
• Watch This Space.
• Green Shoots.
• Flying.

In this week's Reaction Time, we look at Brisbane's turning point, Hawthorn's big missed opportunity, the pressure stacking up on the pressure-shy Carlton, Collingwood's kicking quirk, Richmond's rising star, and another West Coast disaster-class.

Brayden Cook deserved his moment. He's flourished on a wing in a breakout season and was super important even before putting through his ice cold matchwinner on Friday night. Now six years into his Crows career, Cook has finally entrenched himself as an integral part of this side.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

For all the talk about father-sons and northern academies this week, can we go back to the 2021 draft as the real turning point in this Brisbane rise? After three straight top-four finishes were burnt by three straight finals fadeouts, there were legitimate concerns around where the improvement in this side would come from. But then they plucked Darcy Wilmot and Kai Lohmann with late first-round picks, breathing new life into their charge up the ladder. Both continue to provide a massive impact at either end of the ground. Wilmot had 32 disposals, eight intercepts and a goal on Saturday, while Lohmann finished with four goals and 11 score involvements. When you consider Brisbane also brought in two-time premiership ruck Darcy Fort for next to nothing that year, it's quite the haul.

Urgency Index: Flying.

Stop us if you've heard this before. Carlton was 15 points ahead early in the third term against St Kilda, then conceded the next eight straight goals to throw away a solid foundation and lose comfortably. Just like how the Blues conceded six straight to Sydney, seven straight to Melbourne, five straight to North Melbourne, six straight to Adelaide, five straight to Collingwood, and six straight to Fremantle in their other defeats this season. Remarkably, Carlton hasn't won the pressure factor battle against any team this year. They're the only side yet to out-pressure a single opponent in 2026.

Urgency Index: Panic Stations.

A memo to Collingwood players. When you're lining up for goal and you hear Dan Houston buzzing around behind you, don't hand it off. For one of the best kicks in the competition, Houston for some reason just doesn't nail them when he runs around the back of his teammates. The stats back up the strange quirk. He's 2.8 on the run from 40m+ since arriving at Collingwood, but he's 6.1 from set shots from 40m+ in that time. He kicked two long, long, long behinds on Thursday night when his teammates passed it off to him.

Urgency Index: Watch This Space.

He won't get the accolades, and his kicking didn't necessarily do his performance justice, but that might be Nate Caddy's best game yet. Worked his socks off in a losing cause for 14 disposals, nine marks and nine score involvements, but kicked only three goals from his eight shots. Deserved more. He is going to be a genuine star.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

We're officially on Shai Bolton watch. Another 30-disposal game, his fourth in eight matches, after not hitting the number in two-and-a-half years before this season. This one included a goal, 16 score involvements and nine clearances. Is he now Freo's most important player?

Urgency Index: Flying.

Shaun Mannagh is such a barometer for this Geelong side. After a quiet month within a Cats team searching for consistency, he returned to his best on Saturday night. Four goals, including three in Geelong's second-half barrage, to go with 18 disposals, four clearances and nine score involvements. The highest rated player on the ground, and for good reason.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

Gold Coast needs two Wil Powells. You can see why Damien Hardwick experimented with him through the midfield to start the season – only Noah Anderson had more centre bounce involvements than Powell across the first six games – but he's returned to the backline with flying colours across the last fortnight. Finished with 21 disposals, 10 marks, six intercepts, six score involvements and a goal to be one of the Suns' most important players on Sunday night. A watch on whether he stays down back for the rest of the year.

Urgency Index: Watch This Space.

Believe in Adam Kingsley's message: "We'll be OK." The Giants aren't exactly humming at 3-5 and with a mammoth injury list, but they've been here before. They've made finals in each of Kingsley's three previous seasons at the helm despite 4-8, 8-7 and 5-5 starts. Winnable games against Essendon and West Coast across the next two weeks, and a welcome return to Engie Stadium, will help get them back on track.

Urgency Index: Simmering.

There was a reason why Craig McRae might have been glass-half-full and Sam Mitchell might have been glass-half-empty after Thursday night's draw. After racking up 62 entries, leading centre clearances 19-5, winning 29 more contested possessions and having 10 more scoring shots, the fact the Hawks didn't actually win is a bit staggering. Remarkably, Collingwood's 34 entries were the third-fewest on record in either a win or a draw.

Urgency Index: Simmering.

Even in defeat, Melbourne's prospects were enhanced thanks to a battling performance against the competition's benchmark. Should definitely be a wildcard side now, if not a genuine contender for the League's top six.

Urgency Index: Watch This Space.

That will be bitterly disappointing. The Kangas were within four points with 43 seconds to go in the third quarter, yet went into the last change 17 down. They got it to within two kicks with the first goal of the final term, yet conceded the next five goals in six minutes of game time on their way to a 49-point loss. They're improving, but they're not there yet.

Urgency Index: Simmering.

The result and the manner of the loss will sting, but there is plenty of positivity for Josh Carr to build upon from his first season at the helm. Port Adelaide has now fallen three points short of Hawthorn, thrashed Geelong, then dropped a winnable Showdown by a point across the last three weeks. That's seriously competitive against three sides who beat the Power by a combined 224 points the last time they played in 2025.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

A shoutout to Kane McAuliffe. He was due to play wing, was then forced inside when Dion Prestia limped off, but seized the moment to produce the best performance of his young 19-game career to date. Finished with 28 disposals, a goal, four clearances, four tackles, seven score involvements and six intercepts. Looks a player.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

The best the Tom De Koning-Rowan Marshall partnership has looked yet. Combined for five goals and helped St Kilda post a plus-10 clearance differential. Promising.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

Charlie Curnow has hogged the headlines, but it's Sydney's lower-profile recruits who are helping to drive the side's premiership push. Malcolm Rosas got his rewards on Sunday, kicking a career-high seven goals. But it was the culmination of a solid month, with the small forward now the sixth highest rated player in the competition across the last four matches. Not bad for a swap of picks in the 50s and 60s.

Urgency Index: Flying.

It's been a disastrous five years for West Coast, but this might be the lowest point. Losing to a previously 0-7 Richmond side that only had 27 fit players to pick from within its 25-man squad, at home in front of a raucous Optus Stadium crowd with the 2006 premiership squad watching on from the stands. Even the multiple 100-point losses across the last month haven't been as bad as that.

Urgency Index: Panic Stations.

It wasn't perfect, but there were signs that this faltering Western Bulldogs season still has a pulse. Having conceded seven straight goals on either side of three-quarter time, falling 28 points behind, the Dogs showed that their resilience remains intact with the next four goals to get it back to within a kick at the death. With most of the injured cavalry due to return across the next month or so, Luke Beveridge just needs to keep the win-loss manageable for an assault on the second half of the year.

Urgency Index: Watch This Space.

FOOTY ASIDE ...

The NBA's 82-game season is oversaturated and it's been a snooze fest since the All-Star break, but the first round of the playoffs has more than made up for it. Already, the Pistons have survived a 3-1 scare to advance, the Sixers have bounced the fancied Celtics after coming back from 3-1 down as well, the Timberwolves have upset the Nuggets, and the Cavs progressed in a game seven on Monday. Let's go.

Urgency Index: Watch This Space.