It was one of those awful Essendon nights their fans have come to dread; but it could end up as a turning point for the club.

Plus Carlton’s years-long void exposed again, the AFL’s woes at the top and growing Port Adelaide concerns.

The big issues from Round 10 of the 2025 AFL season analysed in foxfooty.com.au’s Talking Points !

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Will the real Essendon please stand up?

It’s a question Bombers fans – and the entire AFL punditry – have been perennially asking for many years.

And it was asked again on Saturday night after they suffered an embarrassing 91-point loss to the, albeit red-hot, Western Bulldogs.

The loss came after a promising six-week block for the Bombers, who’d won five of six games and restricted their opposition to 75 points or under in all of their wins.

But on Saturday night, the Bombers were held goalless until the 16-minute mark of the second term. More alarmingly, they conceded 37 scores (18.19) from 61 inside 50s while conjuring just 37 inside 50s themselves.

“The trail of destruction they (the Bulldogs) leave at Essendon is going to cut deep,” dual premiership Kangaroo David King told Fox Footy on Saturday night.

Herald Sun chief football reporter Jay Clark said the performance had “witches hats vibes”, adding it often looked like a “training run” for the Dogs.

“It’s a reminder of the context,” Clark told Fox Footy. “Essendon has had a really decent start to the season, but look at their team and look at who they’ve beaten.

“The Bombers have said all along ‘we know where we’re at and it’s going to take a while to build on this journey’. So there is still a significant gap between Essendon and the best sides – and that couldn’t have been laid out any clearer than tonight.”

Essendon coach Brad Scott post-game said his side “clearly took a step back” against the Bulldogs after taking “some steps forward” in the previous six weeks.

But Scott also stressed: “We never lost sight of where we’re at, ever. I mean, we’ve got we’ve got a lot of steps forward (to go) to match it with the better teams in the competition.”

While the Bombers’ list is far from complete, King still has some question marks on the way they’re playing – and whether it can stand up against those “better teams” Scott speaks of.

“The only question you have to know or ask as a football club is: Does the way we’re playing, the way we’re moving the ball and the way we’re defending … does it have preliminary final integrity?” King asked on Super Saturday LIVE . “Is it going to stand up in the last two weeks of the season in the games that really matter? Because if you’re building a model that doesn’t do that, what are you building?

“It’s great to recognise their scores against in the last six weeks – because that’s real, they did keep those teams to those totals – but how they did it is the discussion. They were still 15th at getting scores against from ball movement, so there’s still some vulnerability there.

“So against good teams, you find out whether it’s fake … if that (a slow, uncontested mark game) is your point of difference, it has to be bullet-proof. They come up against the Dogs – who are red-hot at the moment – so it was a good test for them and they failed the first test.”

The Bombers remain within reach of the top eight with a game in hand, but their percentage has taken a major hit with games against Richmond, Brisbane, Carlton and Geelong ahead.

“They’ll probably front up against the Tigers and have a good performance again and muddy the waters again,” King said. “Then you get Brisbane, Carlton, Geelong – we find out when they play the good teams, so judge them against the top four to top eight teams. They’re not quite there yet.

“This is a whack between the eyes they probably needed as a football club to shake a little bit around system. Is it preliminary final-worthy or not? Right now, you have to say ‘no’.”

King said the Bombers should look to the significant change Richmond made under Damien Hardwick before the club went on a dynasty premiership run.

“In 2016, Richmond played a game that defended with ball in-hand: Chip, chip, uncontested mark, protect the back six, try and lock it in your forward half. It failed in finals, that model,” he said.

“Then ‘Dimma’ threw chaos into the equation and it clicked and got rolling.

“They have to make this decision, Essendon, to embrace chaos and trust your back six to get it done. If they can’t, you make changes with personnel or you make changes with system.”

Carlton’s list management has been questioned off the back of another loss where the Blues small forwards contributed just one goal.

Jesse Motlop went goalless for the sixth time this season in nine games while only Corey Durdin was able to hit the scoreboard.

While attention falls heavily on Carlton’s talls with the likes of Coleman Medal winners Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow, the smalls fly largely under the radar.

But now Fox Footy’s experts have put the spotlight on those smalls.

“Their small forward stocks are a real concern for Carlton for mine,” journalist Jay Clark said.

“Jesse Motlop, he’s a guy we talk up a lot. Pick 27 but his last four games – had five, six, six and seven possessions. This is a void.

“This is a list management void don’t you think?

“Have they got anyone to replace Jesse Motlop, because on form, he probably deserves a spell.”

It’s worth remembering the Blues traded Matt Owies to West Coast – effectively for picks 63 and 68 as part of the Liam Baker deal – who was third on their 2023 and 2024 goal kicking list behind Curnow and McKay.

Their leading small forward in 2022, Zac Fisher is no longer at the club while 2021 leading goal kicker runner up Eddie Betts is retired and now a Fox Footy commentator.

Two-time premiership David King questioned why the Blues hadn’t made their small forward stocks a priority over the years.

“If you talk to Sam Mitchell who says big finals are won by small forwards, he’ll wonder what Carlton have been doing the last couple of years with their build,” King said.

“I look at Motlop again in this preseason – he looked terrific.

“Home and away (season) starts and it doesn’t roll in. I don’t know – it’s a difficult one.

“Do we love Carlton’s list or don’t we love Carlton’s list?

“Because there’s some games you see them play and their top four or five perform eight out of 10, nine out of 10 footy and you go, yep we love it. You see them again the next time and maybe they’re just a fraction off those top four or five stars, and they look listless.”

Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt said the fluctuating form would be a “frustration” for coach Michael Voss.

“There’s no consistency in what he’s going to get – even from some of his stars,” he said.

“The small forwards, there has to be question marks.”

Zac Williams is missing for the Blues due to injury, while the addition of Orazio Fantastia is yet to pay off.

Clark said the option for Voss is Lachie Fogarty, given “Francis Evans probably hasn’t really quite made the grade just yet.”

In 10 games this season, Motlop has managed just six goals – including the bag of three scored in the big Good Friday win over North Melbourne.

The AFL organisation is rarely praised, but it has also rarely been criticised like this.

It began with the “circus” around Willie Rioli’s on-field threats to opposition players, and the understandable concern from Port Adelaide about how he is treated every day and the complexities surrounding his situation.

Then came the Lachie Schultz incident, and the blaming-then-not-blaming of the umpires involved, which put almost everyone involved offside with the league.

The situation has bubbled quietly in the background since Gillon McLachlan’s exit from the AFL. It saw the ascension of Andrew Dillon to the big chair, and combined with Laura Kane’s early-career move into a senior role, the industry has raised concerns about the lack of experience at the top.

Consecutive poorly-handled sagas now have that pot bubbling over.

“We had the Willie Rioli absolute circus last week, and then the five-day umpiring debacle this week,” Jay Clark said on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live.

“Clubs are angry and they’re starting to point fingers. It goes to the top, Andrew Dillon and football boss Laura Kane.

“They’ve got a lot of work to do, the AFL administration, to restore faith in their leadership at the moment because it’s time clearly for some really strong decision-making.

“They’ve never been this under-pressure in my time as a reporter. basically other than the Essendon (drugs saga) and Hawthorn (racism saga), this is as serious a crisis for the AFL as I’ve seen - there’s a lack of faith. Some of the decision-making has been really poor over the last fortnight.

“They need a 2IC - Andrew Dillon’s been looking for a right-hand person, they’ve looked at Tom Harley, Simon Garlick, Ameet Bains, haven’t been able to (get someone). So Dillon hasn’t effectively been able to replace himself.

“Laura Kane who came in as a more inexperienced, a younger football boss and just hasn’t made the grade to put it simply. So the pressure is building - it’s a really important back half of the season for the AFL leadership.”

Veteran reporter Caroline Wilson was even more scathing, first in a column for The Age , then speaking on 3AW.

“The AFL’s ineptitude over the past two weeks could prove the circuit breaker to shake Dillon out of his lethargy,” she wrote.

“Because if he doesn’t show strong leadership soon, his days could be numbered as he comes under increasing scrutiny from both the AFL boardroom and the clubs. He would do well not to waste this crisis.”

She also explained that Laura Kane “enraged her club detractors by installing as football operations GM former banking and real estate boss Nick Carah, whose football experience had been as a casual match day manager. AFL commissioners remained puzzled that Kane has not worked to surround herself with strong, experienced performers.

“Too many of her team feel disrespected and shut out of the decision-making process. That Josh Mahoney was sidelined from his previous football role into the problematic umpiring portfolio has also raised eyebrows internally and across the clubs.”

On radio Wilson declared there’s widespread agreement inside the AFL industry that chairman Richard Goyder must go.

“The chorus has become deafening that Richard Goyder needs a replacement,” she said.

“For the first time in memory, in the history of the commission, there is no succession plan. Just as Gillon McLachlan had no succession plan, which started a lot of this problem, there is no succession plan on the commission. Nobody on the commission wants the job, apparently. And Richard Goyder is saying there is no one on the commission he believes can do the job.

“Andrew Dillon needs a strong chairman ... everybody admits there is a crisis. The communication department is floundering. The footy department is floundering. The legal counsel, in my view, is floundering.

“There’s no structure. The AFL has become a regime of crime and punishment. The umpiring is floundering. Never have I seen the players and umpires more at odds with each other. Never have I seen players so disgruntled with head office over fines and the refusal to listen. Never have I seen the coaches more unhappy about the lack of respect they’re being shown on every level, every interview they do, is sort of manufactured.

“Someone commented about Laura Kane’s recent interviews, it was like reading an AI interview done by artificial intelligence. These are smart, good people, but they none of them are showing leadership, and none of them seem to be in the right roles. And everyone is saying they need a deputy or they need another strong person. Well, no, you step up and do the job, or step down.”

It’s unsurprising that two premiership contenders are being led by two of the league’s best and sharpest coaches, who seem – possibly are – at the top of their games right now.

Craig McRae’s Magpies remain entrenched in the top two on the ladder with an 8-2 record after their latest close-win masterclass against Adelaide.

And while Luke Beveridge’s Western Bulldogs (6-4) sit just outside the top four, they have a percentage of 132.6 – ranked No. 1 in the competition. As Richmond legend Jack Riewoldt told Fox Footy, having a high percentage is “a general sign their game is pretty complete at the moment”.

And they produced as close to the perfect game as you could get on Saturday night, annihilating a hapless Essendon by 91 points at Marvel Stadium.

“You don’t see performances like that too often. That was perfect the performance from the Dogs,” dual premiership Kangaroo David King told Fox Footy.

Asked if they can win the premiership this year, Riewoldt said: “100 per cent they can … They’re a top-four side for me.”

While McRae remains signed until the end of 2026, Beveridge is still out of contract at the end of this season. Yet what he’s done with the Dogs this season – without prime movers like Adam Treloar, Cody Weightman, Liam Jones and, more recently, Sam Darcy – “has been pretty special”, according to King.

Herald Sun chief football reporter Jay Clark suggested a new Dogs deal for Beveridge was “a formality”.

“Not only is he getting a new deal, he’s getting a payrise on this form. He’s in the coaching form of his life,” Clark said on Super Saturday LIVE.

So why has no deal been struck yet?

As Riewoldt pondered, it’s probably “the best mode to have Luke Beveridge in”, adding: “I feel like backs against the wall, poked and prodded and antagonised is where he does his best work.”

But Riewoldt and King also suggested the Dogs could be waiting until deeper into the season to re-sign Beveridge – and potentially superstar free agent Marcus Bontempelli – for a pre-finals “spike”.

“The question is: Can they play any better? Does it make any difference to how they play?” King asked on Fox Footy.

“I hear everyone outside the club in the media who hold prime roles talk about the lift your club gets on the eve of finals or late in the season, that you’ve got that stability of the club saying ‘this is our man, this is our guy’. I think that’ll happen. With Bevo and Bontempelli, I think that spike will come.”

Riewoldt pointed the morale boost he and his former Richmond teammates received before the 2017 finals when Dustin Martin shunned mega rival offers and re-signed with the Tigers.

“I can remember sitting around there and them announcing the fact he was going to play for Richmond and sign a seven-year deal. The lift that gives you … maybe they (the Dogs) are holding on for that exact reason,” Riewoldt said.

Ken Hinkley’s final season as senior coach of Port Adelaide is now not just creeping, but steadily moving towards a painful farewell — and after a third 75-plus point loss in just 10 games, questions are mounting over whether he should even see it out.

The club announced last year that 2025 would be Hinkley’s last, with assistant Josh Carr already locked in as his successor. But the way their on-field form is unravelling, speculation is running rife over whether the veteran coach should even see it out; despite the shared loyalty between Ken and club.

“This is an opportunity to maybe have the adult conversation with Ken and go: ‘Maybe his final legacy is to go, this is the date that I think I should finish up. I’m going to help Josh Carr get a kick-start on his career as a coach, and go from there,’” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday.

“(But) I don’t think that’s going to be the case — they’ve been pretty public about the fact Ken’s going to coach the whole year. Maybe they get to the Showdown in Round 20; it’d be an interesting way to go out.”

The Power’s season, by most measures, is already cooked. They sit outside the eight in 15th place on the ladder with a percentage deep in the red at 82.

Admittedly, their list has been hit by a brutal injury run that’s seen the likes of Todd Marshall (Achilles), Kane Farrell (knee) and Jack Lukosius (knee) all unavailable, with the former placed on the club’s inactive list after going down injured in January.

And after the 91-point hammering at the hands of Geelong on Saturday evening, all of Jason Horne-Francis (hamstring), Lachie Jones (hamstring) and Josh Sinn (hip) went down early with their respective injuries. Horne-Francis and Jones are certain to be out until at least after the mid-season bye, while the club are more hopeful short-term with Sinn.

“If I was in charge, I would look at nearly pulling the cord now and start to focus on what this group is going to look like going ahead for season 2026, because they aren’t playing finals this year unfortunately,” Riewoldt continued.

Two-time premiership Kangaroo David King echoed the sentiment — albeit with a strong emphasis on handling Hinkley’s exit with the respect it deserves.

“Ken’s been a great servant of that football club, so you’ve got to do it respectfully,” said King.

“I think consulting Ken would be the best way to do this.

“They’re going to be injury impacted severely by what we’ve just seen today. They’re already without a whole host of stars — Marshall, Farrell, Lukosius — there’s been heavy loss suffered over the last few weeks.”

Now may well be the right time to give Hinkley the chance to go out on his own terms, rather than dragging a demoralising season to its inevitable end.

“Is it better to say: ‘Look Ken, we know what’s happening at the end of the year. We all wanted you to coach out the year. If you want to do it, we’ll do it; they know they’ll do it,’” King continued.

“Do you want to a big send-off in four weeks? He maybe says yes, maybe he doesn’t.

“But I think you’ve got to offer him that, because the respectful way to do it is to have the right send-off … if not, I just think it’s going to be a painful, long, drawn-out, extended goodbye.”

Whether Hinkley wants to go or stay — and whether the club decides to make that decision for him — may ultimately come down to negotiation.

“It’s always up to Ken. The club need to initiate that conversation, and in the end, it becomes about money,” King ended by saying.

“If Ken starts it, you reduce your bargaining power. If the club starts it, you get your dollars.”

Hinkley has given over a decade of loyal service to Alberton, and helped steer Port back into regular finals contention. He is loved internally by his playing personnel as much as any coach in the modern era, and has given the club one hell of a ride; despite the ultimate success eluding them. But in a season spiralling out of control, the next decision could be less about legacy, and more about a different kind of respect.