State of Play hosts Joe Pignataro and Gemma Bastiani preview the big stories ahead of this weekend's VFL and VFLW action.
The in-form Blues
Carlton has hit a sweet turn of form, winning its past four games, and remains the only side to have defeated Tasmania. The Blues are scoring heavily, helped along by the likes of Wade Derksen and Jack Ison, with the latter earning his AFL debut this weekend after booting 16 goals in the opening six games. The fourth-placed Blues now prepare to face reigning Footscray, who’ll be visiting IKON Park for the first time since winning last year’s Grand Final against Southport. After winning 17 matches in a row, the Bulldogs are aiming to put the brakes on the skid – having lost their past two matches prior to last week’s bye.
Oh coach, where art thou?
Reigning VFLW premier North Melbourne Werribee heads into the 2026 VFLW season with uncertainty for the first time in two years, after coach Brett Gourley took up a role as senior assistant within Richmond's AFLW program on the eve of the season. AFLW premiership captain Emma Kearney will take the reins this weekend, but the club is still searching for a permanent replacement for Gourley. Although the program is solid as a rock, having won back-to-back flags and highly-fancied to make it a threepeat, there may be some shaky signs early in the piece.
Southport struggles
Southport's good is still very good, demonstrated by a win over Footscray in the Grand Final rematch a fortnight ago. However, the gap between that and its worst footy is starting to become sizeable. Coburg was the latest side to put the Sharks to the sword, having also been thrashed by Williamstown and Richmond earlier in the season. They now head down to the Apple Isle to face a Tasmania side that remains unbeaten against standalone sides in 2026. Grand Final defender Nick Williams and power forward Hugh Dixon will come up against their old side for the first time, where the Devils will be out to inflict more pain on a Sharks outfit that is sitting outside the top 10 and need to get a move on if they want to feature in September again.
Darebin return without a star
As the VFLW kicks off on Saturday, beginning with a season-opener between Darebin and Carlton, the Falcons will do so without reigning Lambert-Pearce medallist Ange Gogos. The ball magnet has been flirting with retirement for several years since finishing up at AFLW level and is yet to come back to the club this pre-season. While the Falcons hold out hope that Gogos will walk through the doors at some point this year, at this stage they will have to go on without their star ball magnet in the middle.
Can Euro-Yroke win back-to-back games?
Euro-Yroke (St Kilda) has the opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time since returning to the VFL as a standalone. Ready to face a Casey Demons outfit that was demoralised against Carlton last week, the Saints will be full of confidence after running over the top of Sandringham to secure the Trevor Barker Cup last week. A win for the Saints will see them head into their first bye with a 3-5 record and would leave last year's semi-finalists languishing in the bottom four.
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