The former AFL player was known to mates and Dockers supporters as ‘Dardy McCrafty’ and embraced being ‘a bit of a weirdo’

Football voices led by the likes of Kane Cornes are symptomatic of a landscape where all that matters are clicks, engagement and outrage

Richmond’s triple premiership player and Norm Smith medallist lets his football do the talking – and the game is better for it

No one saw Collingwood’s surge up the AFL ladder coming. But a new coach, cool heads and a perfectly imperfect playing style have the Magpies on song

After just three wins from eight starts, Essendon’s woeful recent form has their coach seething and fans lamenting yet another season down the drain

The outgoing Richmond coach took the Tigers from a laughing stock to a colossus but his impact has reverberated much further afield

Richmond got many reminders that they’re on the right track at the MCG and that it should not be all doom and gloom at the club

The bitter rivalry shared by the Cats and Tigers only intensified after the weekend’s MCG thriller

The pain of potentially losing star midfielder Christian Petracca can be turned into an opportunity for the Demons to change and replenish

Hawthorn forward Jack Ginnivan’s comment was made to provoke a reaction yet the Port Adelaide coach has been fined for giving a bit back

In 2019, Richmond and Scott Morrison claimed miracle wins. And with leaders like Trent Cotchin, critics should beware these wounded Tigers

There’s no need to bemoan a sport gone soft, just reflect on what it means to an Indigenous footballer

From Tayla Harris’s kick to Lance Franklin’s 1,000th goal, everyone has a favourite photo by the man who sees ‘a picture within a picture’

They’re a mix of blithe spirits, father-son thoroughbreds and bargain basement pickups but Collingwood have proved they are united in their ruthlessness

Despite a few upticks in recent weeks, the current campaign has seen, on average, the lowest crowds in a quarter of a century

There was no need for any fun facilitators in a game that stacks up alongside classics of the past

The returned coach has made great strides with his team unbeaten during the opening three rounds and top of the AFL ladder

The concussion-prone Collingwood defender accepted the medical advice to retire at 25 with grace and he emerges with great credit

The ladder leaders’ Big Three were in exquisite touch against Geelong but their shutdown defenders played an equally crucial part at the SCG

His issues with Collingwood and Nathan Buckley seem unresolvable but there are other voices emerging

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Collingwood great will become just the sixth VFL/AFL footballer to play 400 matches with his inimitable style far from outdated

The Carlton defender has endured more setbacks than most AFL players but faces another stint on the sidelines after a third ACL tear

Blues coach was a magnificent footballer but after an abysmal season-and-a-half the reality is he hasn’t made it work at the club

Were Fremantle robbed? Or would it have been grand larceny if the free kick was awarded and they had kicked the set shot?

Only the ‘hairy hand of God’ can stop Carlton riding this winter wave of hot form all the way to finals

The Western Bulldogs coach came to the MCG spoiling for a fight and crossed a line with his extraordinary post-match spray

It was a big weekend for two players who marked their 300th and 350th AFL games respectively

To turn to a policy that kicks transgressors to the curb would simply be bowing to the loudest and most blinkered

The Geelong captain entered the MCG carrying Gary Ablett Jnr’s son and exited it handing his boots to the Auskick boy

As Essendon decided Ben Rutten’s fate, diehard fans were already making their way to the MCG

Prominent media figures and outlets keep blowtorch on Adam Simpson even after West Coast shows him the door

It’s long been unclear where the line was on homophobia. Things are changing – but the sport was miles behind to begin with

In a new book, the Noongar man and AFL great reflects on his childhood, football career and the racist abuse he faced

The Cats’ ability to discover hidden gems to play alongside the likes of Jeremy Cameron has fuelled their rapid rebound

The Swans star cemented his place in the annals of AFL history amid wild scenes that, like his 1,000-goal mark, are unlikely to be seen again

There has to be a better way to schedule the season with a balance between commercial imperatives, high performance and fairness

Drug scandals, charity drives, Hall of Fame dinners and ‘acts of bastardry’… somewhere in the middle of it all, mercifully, exquisite football was played

The returning coach says he has ‘unfinished business’ after taking on a job loaded with emotional risk – both for him and the club

A third successive loss – this time to St Kilda – represents a major premiership hangover. Do the Magpies have the quality of greats to bounce back?

Questions abound after an opening round that was exhilarating at times, savage and gruesome at others

A controversial Carlton-Fremantle clash lit up an Adelaide festival of football that showcased some sublime talent and a few potty mouths

Being the AFL’s No 1 draft pick can be a poisoned chalice. But the 19-year-old West Coast prodigy has sauntered into the game and made it look a breeze

Channel Seven’s dire offering had become a caricature of itself. But after watering down the red cordial, new talent has raised the standard

Normally the city that obsesses over sport would be heaving but this year we’ll be watching from the couch

When the AFL can negotiate a billion dollar TV deal but can’t tell us whether a goal is a goal, fans get dudded and players ask: what’s the point?

The Brisbane Lions ran rampant at the SCG to win by 60 points and add a fourth premiership to their honours list

Billy Picken would have loved round 19, a vintage weekend which finished with a flourish off Jamie Elliott’s boot

After a decade of finals but no flags under coach Chris Scott, the 2022 Cats are the best placed since 2011 to win Geelong a long-awaited premiership

The tribunal hearing into Brayden Maynard’s role in the concussion of Angus Brayshaw will test the AFL on the ‘duty of care’ it owes to its players

One win all season, 11 straight losses by 40+, an 18 goal flogging at the weekend. North Melbourne’s David Noble is coaching a club under siege

It was a study in the magic and the madness of football and one of the most gripping September weekends in decades

A scrappy contest ended in a draw as the Tigers’ talisman showed signs of his best after a difficult 2022

For those who grew up loving ‘the race that stops a nation’, the first Tuesday of November is becoming increasingly difficult to watch

Carlton star deservedly won his second Brownlow medal with a record 45 votes ahead of Nick Daicos on 38 votes

New book Don’t Look Away details former football star’s journey through gender dysphoria from rock bottom to reclaiming her true self

The Swans star cemented his place in the annals of AFL history amid wild scenes that, like his 1,000-goal mark, are unlikely to be seen again

Fortune favoured the brave as six teams became four in week two of a thrilling 2022 AFL finals series