NORTH Melbourne is still the team to beat, but the Western Bulldogs will be up for the challenge when the two sides meet in Tasmania on Saturday.

The Dogs have started the season 2-0 but will be without Ellie Blackburn and De Berry when they face the Roos.

Isabelle Pritchard put up incredible numbers last week, and she'll again be crucial to how the Dogs perform against the Roos.

The Roos will be without star Erika O'Shea, Mia King and Eilish Sheerin however, but with two premierships under their belt, there will no doubt be plenty of players capable of standing up in their absence.

Both Kuwarna and Waalitj Marawar will be hunting their first win of the season when the two sides meet on Saturday.

The Crows are off to a tough start under new coach Ryan Davis, but that's to be expected after a big off-season of change. Aside from the off-field movement, the Crows have also lost Chelsea Randall and Danielle Paredes, in addition to the likes of Anne Hatchard, Stevie-Lee Thompson and Zoe Prowse.  

The Eagles are arguably the side under the most pressure right now, after disappointing losses to the Giants and Suns in consecutive weeks. Daisy Pearce's Eagles were one of the big improvers last year, but they desperately need a win to resurrect their season. With fixtures against the Dees and Lions to come, if the Eagles don't get a win this week, there's a real chance they're 0-5.

Sydney and Euro-Yroke have started 2026 in very different ways, with the 2-0 Swans flying and the 0-2 Saints struggling.

The Swans were so impressive in last week's win over the Bombers, while the blowtorch is well and truly on Nick Dal Santo and the Saints after a horror first fortnight, which has included big losses to the Blues and Cats.

The Saints are struggling to move the footy and their defence is under siege far too often. Euro-Yroke is in desperate need of a big response this week against the Swans, because going 0-3 after a maiden finals appearance last year would be a tough hurdle to overcome.