Customise ESPN
The AFL's biggest problem is its own doing; the Showdown needs more respect
This week's Six Points feature the controversial ARC review system, an updated 'superstar' list, a look at blowouts, and what I absolutely hate about the Showdown.
ESPN/Getty Images
TOP HEADLINES
ESPN FOOTY CENTRAL
Agree/disagree? The stand rule needs to go
2:38
ESPN FOOTY PODCAST
The bizarre reason Hawks-Suns start time had to shift
1:25
ARE WE OVERREACTING?
AFL overreactions: Hawks -- not Swans or Dockers -- should be flag favourites
Is it Hawthorn which deserves premiership favouritism, or the Swans or Dockers? Plus, is the end near for Patrick Dangerfield? It's time to judge the biggest overreactions from Round 7 of the AFL.
ESPN/Getty Images
AFL DRAFT
Draft changes finally revealed, too late and punishing the clubs it should help
More change is coming to the AFL Draft. Its effects may help poorer clubs rebuild quicker, but the remedy has arrived far too late to equalise the AFL's 'two-tiered' competition, writes Jasper Chellappah.
ESPN/Getty Images
ESPN's rolling AA after Round 7: The unicorn is one of three major changes
ROUND 7 REVIEW
Stocks: The crazy stats behind Pendles' Anzac Medal-winning performance
Scott Pendlebury set records, and Kysaiah Pickett is giving All-Australian selectors unnecessary headaches, but a future Hall of Famer had a stinker. Here's whose stocks are up and down after Round 7.
ESPN/Getty Images
Anzac Day reality check: Once again, Essendon's problem is its leaders
The Bombers' paucity of veteran leadership is hardly a revelation, but appeared more stark than ever on Anzac Day, and that's not a good sign for a side with so much raw, young talent, writes Rohan Connolly.
Top Headlines
- AFL Round 8: Everything you need to know
- Beveridge slams constant AFL rule changes
- Sacked Dees CEO flags legal action against club
- McRae won't speculate on Pendles record-breaker
- Shock decision as Demons move on CEO Paul Guerra
- 'Hasn't been the best week': AFL changes ARC
- Port's sought-after star opens up on future
- Clarko blasts AFL technology as GWS down Roos
- Nicks: Dawson performance full of courage
- ESPN
Subscribe to the ESPN Australia Newsletter
Keep up to date with the latest news from across the sporting world. Be it at home or abroad, we've got it covered in our weekly newsletters.
- ESPN/Getty Images
Expert tips, best tips for Round 8 of the AFL
Who should you be tipping in Round 8 of the 2026 AFL season? Our footy experts have put their heads together to help you out. So open your ESPN Footytips app, take notes, and get ahead of the game!
- ESPN
Listen to our AFL podcast - the ESPN Footy Podcast with Champion Data
Join ESPN's footy team for some of the best AFL analysis and insight on the ESPN Footy Podcast.
- Morgan Hancock/Getty Images
ESPN's Brownlow Medal predictor and tracker - every vote for 2026
The Brownlow Medal is the highest individual honour in the AFL. In 2026, ESPN is giving you an advantage with our one-of-a-kind predictor.
- Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images
We're misty-optically: Paying tribute to Dennis Cometti, a footy commentary icon
It's inevitably the witticisms which first spring first to mind when think of Dennis Cometti, but, more broadly, he was Australian football's greatest ever caller and will be sorely missed, writes Rohan Connolly.
- ESPN/Getty Images
The 50 best AFL players heading into season 2026
It's that time of year when ESPN's Jake Michaels counts down his 50 best players in the AFL. Spoiler alert: two-time Brownlow medalist Patrick Cripps has made the cut.
- Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Hold your horses: AFL's Origin revival was real, but its long-term future is not
AFL Origin's return was a clear success, but one brilliant night is not enough to prove it's truly back for good.
- Supplied/Shannon Gill/ESPN
'I like this game better than ours': Behind footy's incursions into North America
As the NRL heads off to Las Vegas, it's only fitting to throw back to when Aussie rules football ventured to Canada and the US in the 1960s and 1980s. Shannon Gill looks at the wild (and at times, turbulent) history of footy in North America.
- Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Ranking every AFL after-the-siren winning goal since 2000
Since the turn of the millennium, there have been 32 after-the-siren goals kicked which have won the game. We've ranked them -- taking into account shot difficulty, context of the match, conditions, and more to determine which clutch kick rules them all.
- Michael Dodge/Getty Images
AFL player record holders, statistical leaders, and more
Who has played the most AFL games? Who has kicked the most AFL goals? Here are the league leaders in history for all the stats that matter.
