AFL.com.au's Callum Twomey takes a look at the very best players of the past decade, what's gone wrong at the Bulldogs and more in Cal-culations

FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHT

ALL eyes turn to Friday night.

Richmond has won three of its past 24 games. Since the start of 2024, the Tigers have won eight of 56 games.

Essendon has won one of its past 24. Since the start of 2025, that tally is seven wins from 33 games.

On Friday night, they face each other in the Dreamtime at the 'G clash, and the loser will face the nightmare of being the wooden spoon favourites and outright bottom of the ladder.

It will also decide who holds the No.1 pick at the mid-season rookie draft the following Tuesday night. This is no Kreuzer Cup, though.

Tasmania VFL player Jaxon Artemis has interest from both clubs but it is not a mid-season pool with an obvious top selection, although Artemis was managed in the VFL over the weekend to ensure he doesn't get injured so close to the mid-season intake.

Regardless, both clubs are crying out for the boost that a win can bring, with the Tigers trying against St Kilda on Sunday but missing too many players to be at the same level as the Saints.

Essendon, meanwhile, was blown out of the water in the first quarter against Fremantle and wasteful in the second term of Sunday's clash as former Bomber Patrick Voss ran riot with four goals for the term and five for the game.

Brad Scott's forceful message to his players at quarter time wasn't hard to decipher – get in line with the ball.

From a physicality point of view, it is Essendon's younger players leading the way in breaking tackles and attacking the contest. So much so that the absence of first-year midfielder Dyson Sharp (shoulder) cracking into contests was noticeable on Sunday after his promising effort against Greater Western Sydney last week.

It was the third quarter of top-10 pick Sullivan Robey (22 disposals, two goals) that would have had Essendon fans leaving the MCG or watching at home seeing the light down the line, but the reliance on the 18-year-old says two things at once – that he is a super talent, and that the Bombers need more from the players around him.

Richmond has few others to turn to for selection, having fielded a team in the VFL that included no AFL-listed players. After last year reaching nearly unprecedented levels at Essendon, injuries have pegged back some of the Tigers' rebuild hopes this season.

It is a game both clubs will view as winnable.

WHO IS THE PLAYER OF THE GENERATION?

"IT'D be hard to argue he's not the player of this generation."

That was Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell's take on Melbourne champion Max Gawn, after yet another dominant display from the Demons ruckman helped shape his side's strong 39-point win over the Hawks on Saturday.

It is a take that is hard to argue against; Gawn is on track for a record ninth All-Australian guernsey this year, has led his team to a breakthrough premiership and continues to bat off young ruck challengers in different ways.

So who else would be in the debate?

It depends somewhat on what you define a Gawn's generation. If it's when he was drafted, that's back in 2009, with his first season in 2010 and first game in 2011. Or is it when he first made the All-Australian team in 2016? That would make a clean decade, so we'll work with that era.

In the same time span, Western Bulldogs superstar Marcus Bontempelli has won six best and fairests and seven All-Australians as well as be the AFL's MVP three times.

Dustin Martin was taken in the same draft as Gawn and won three Norm Smith Medals in Richmond's triple premiership era from 2017-2020, and was an All-Australian four times in that window as well.

Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield was drafted the year before Gawn in 2008 by Adelaide, and first became an All-Australian in 2012. He got another seven blazers before 2020, when he was captain of the team, but hasn't been selected in the team of the year since then.

Dangerfield's generation overlaps with Gawn's, as does that of Scott Pendlebury, Collingwood's generational champion who has lasted that long to be a contender for multiple 'Player of his generation' debates, and the same for Gary Ablett Junior, whose debut came in 2002 and farewell in 2020.

Gawn, 34, has been either best on ground or close to in at least half of Melbourne's wins already this season in a year where the Dees have exceeded expectations already and are a surprise top-four contender.

Mitchell's Gawn statement post-game on Saturday did come with a qualifier – "I mean, there other players, you could easily say that about Bontempelli or whoever as well."

Let the debate begin.

DOGS' DISAPPOINTMENT

THE WESTERN Bulldogs were never going to be able to replace Sam Darcy, nor have they got the ruck ability on their list to replace Tim English.

But their run of form is not simply injury related.

The Dogs were outplayed for much of Saturday night's loss to Carlton, making it their fifth defeat in six games since their hot start to the season.

Darcy, English, Tom Liberatore and James O'Donnell were among the injured absentees, but Luke Beveridge's side still had quality in their line-up. Either that, or the Dogs simply don't have enough depth to challenge.

The Blues got their new coach bounce and dominated at the clearances, winning 36 to 27, and 13 to 8 out of the centre. And it was built on effort all around the ground, too, with the Blues laying 14 inside-50 tackles to the Dogs' six.

When Darcy went down with his ACL injury in round six, a line could have been put through the Bulldogs' flag hopes. But at this rate, they are well back in the pack fighting for a wildcard position.

Ed Richards looks not to be motoring at full capacity after his knee injury earlier in the season and the gulf between Marcus Bontempelli and the next pack of Dogs remains wide.

Luke Beveridge said post-game that it was over to the next tiers of the Dogs' list to lift and support Bontempelli.

"Others need to pick up that vibe and that slack. Until they do, we're going to be a bit vulnerable," Beveridge said.

He's not wrong and it is hard to see the Dogs being able to contain the red-hot Demons next week.

BRISBANE'S MIDFIELD CONCERN

YOU MIGHT not have noticed it yet, but rival clubs have. Brisbane's midfield isn't operating on all cylinders.

It may be the way the Lions move this year, stalking their prey when it really matters late in the season, but there's enough evidence to say this Lions on-ball brigade are well down individually.

Lachie Neale is the Lions' No.1 ranked player according to Champion Data this season, but of Brisbane's top-15 ranked players, the only other midfielder is Hugh McCluggage at No.15.

McCluggage is averaging his lowest Player Ratings season since 2018 (although his numbers have been injury-affected after his Opening Round calf strain), while Josh Dunkley is having his worst season since 2017, based on the same benchmark. Part of this has been averaging his lowest contested possessions (8.3 a game) since 2018, and he is yet to kick a goal this year. In Champion's rankings, Dunkley has fallen from the 46th ranked player in 2025 to No.281 this season.

Will Ashcroft has had a similar dip in terms of the numbers, with Champion rating him the 38th best player last season and having him at No.233 heading into their round 10 loss to Geelong on Thursday night.

The sum of the parts is still generally getting the job done and Brisbane remains one of the best stoppage teams, ranking second for the first possession differential and No.1 for clearance differential.

But they were well beaten against the Cats in the middle, having been outscored by 31 points from clearances, their worst result of the year. They were also down 23 points in that key statistic against Melbourne in their round six loss.

There are no panic stations for Brisbane but the Lions will need their best players at higher levels to complete the hat-trick in September.

Geelong, meanwhile, has quietly climbed to third on the ladder with 10 of the Cats' last 13 games of their season in Victoria. Six of those are at GMHBA Stadium, where we know the Cats are near on unbeatable.

A NOBLE SUN

YOU can lock Nick Blakey into one of the half-back flanks of this year's All-Australian side. But John Noble is making a quiet play for the other.

The Gold Coast defender is enjoying a career-best season that is going under the radar for the Suns, in his second campaign with the club after seeking a trade from Collingwood in 2024.

Noble had two years to run on his deal with the Magpies when he requested to be traded, a year after he had been left out of Collingwood's Grand Final win over Brisbane.

Champion Data shows Noble is having by far his best year, averaging 12.2 Ratings Points (his previous best was last year at 9.2), with career highs in disposals (26.8 average), metres gained (582), rebound 50s (5.6), uncontested possessions (19.5) and marks (6.5).

He was excellent again on Friday night in the win over Port Adelaide in Darwin, amassing 31 disposals, a goal and 696 metres gained – putting him into sixth place in the AFL in that metric. His retention rate in that group is 77.6 per cent, which has him ninth in the AFL for the top 50.

Noble's competitors for a half-back position include Blakey, St Kilda's Jack Sinclair, Brisbane's Dayne Zorko and Giant Lachie Ash, but at this rate he should be in top consideration.