SA IN A STATE OF EXCITEMENT

South Australian football might officially be back. Only a few weeks after delivering a Gather Round that earned rave reviews from everyone in the game, South Australians are enjoying a season in which both clubs are performing above expectations and are on track to feature in the same finals series for the first time since 2017.

Widely tipped to miss the eight and with coach Ken Hinkley leading the betting to be the first coach to be sacked, Port Adelaide has won six straight games to climb into the top four ahead of a blockbuster Friday night clash at home to Melbourne.

The Power are reaping the benefit of a retooled midfield.

Connor Rozee and Zak Butters have become the chief weapons, while Jason Horne-Francis has fitted in seamlessly.

But there has been improvement across the board and Hinkley, who has been in charge at Alberton since 2013, is doing all he can to earn himself yet another contract extension.

Friday night will be massive.

The Demons have made a habit of hitting the road and handing u It’s a big fortnight for the AFL and the wider football community as the League celebrates Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

It starts this weekend and will continue across round 11 with the big-ticket games the now well-established Dreamtime at the ’G clash between Essendon and Richmond on Saturday night and the Marngrook Game between the Sydney Swans a reality check to teams on the improve, so this Adelaide Oval clash will be most instructive. and Carlton at the SCG next Friday night.

Adelaide holds a 5-4 record heading into Saturday’s game against the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.

After tight losses to flag fancies Collingwood and Geelong, the Crows rebounded superbly last Sunday, jumping to a five-goal lead against in-form St Kilda before cruising to a 52-point win.

Adelaide was tipped to improve this year, although 2024 was the season when finals footy shaped as a realistic expectation.

The Crows lured Izak Rankine home from Gold Coast and, with 18 goals, he has become the final piece of an explosive forward line led by the evergreen Taylor Walker (23), Darcy Fogarty (15) and Luke Pedlar (12).

The club has selectively brought talented South Australians back home.

For the first time, three clubs will swap their name for traditional in-language names, with Melbourne becoming ‘Narrm’ (pronounced na-arm) for the second year, while Fremantle will change its name to ‘Walyalup’ (pronounced wul-yul-up) and Port Adelaide will be referred to as ‘Yartapuulti’ (pronounced Yarta-pole-tee).

Narrm comes from the Woi Wurrung language meaning Melbourne, Walyalup is the Noongar name for the Fremantle region, while Yartapuulti comes from the Kaurna language meaning the land surrounding the Port River.

Together with the unveiling of the 2023 club indigenous guernseys (see page 16-17), the round recognises the

Last year it was former Swan Jordan Dawson and, after finishing runner-up in the best and fairest, he was elevated to the captaincy this season and has thrived in a midfield role.

But there has been improvement right across the ground and Crows fans are daring to dream again. They are seeing the reward of a slow and meticulous rebuild and the 0-13 start to the Matthew Nicks era in 2020 seems an eternity ago.

The Crows beat the Western Bulldogs at Mars Stadium by one point last year and will feel confident of a repeat performance.

With those games out of the way, attention will turn to the four big Victorian clubs who will take centre stage at the MCG on Saturday night and again on Sunday.

The Dreamtime Game has been big on pre-game energy and excitement, but to fashion a line from the late, contribution all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have made to the game. great Hawthorn icon John Kennedy, the sizzle has been better than the sausage.

Two other major features will be the renaming of the Sherrin footballs to Yiloga and the naming of Glenn James – the first indigenous AFL/VFL field umpire – as the 2023 Sir Doug Nicholls Round Honouree. Go to page three to read about the footballs and page 14 for a tribute to James.

The Tigers have won their past 13 outings against the Bombers by an average of 29.4 points.

Essendon looks and feels a better side in 2023, but the optimism surrounding the bright 4-1 start has receded after four successive defeats.

To be fair, the draw has been brutal – Geelong and Collingwood at the MCG, followed by Port Adelaide and Brisbane on the road, six days apart.

Now the Bombers face their bogey team and one that might have found its form again.

There was a throwback element to Richmond’s win over Geelong last week, with relentless surge football off half-back and old-stagers Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt combining for nine goals.

The Tigers have set themselves some work to do after a winless April, but coach Damien Hardwick kept the faith throughout and his confidence is spreading.

“I certainly have got a lot of belief, and I think the playing group is starting to feel that little heartbeat coming back. It looked Richmond-like,” he said.

The Bombers are the home team on Saturday night and are hopeful of breaking the attendance record for a Dreamtime Game – 85,656 in 2017.

But there will probably be even more than that the following afternoon back at the MCG as Carlton and Collingwood bring much of Victoria and large parts of the rest of the country to a halt as they reprise their rekindled rivalry once more.

The Magpies won two heartstoppers last season, by