His side finally won a game, but one of the AFL’s top trade targets is being linked even more strongly to an exit.

Plus the selfless Nick Daicos acts that unlocked a breakout star, a worrying West Coast admission, a contender’s growing concern and Essendon’s double win.

The big issues from Round 5 of the 2025 AFL season analysed in Talking Points!

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Tom De Koning has parked contract talks as he weighs up the biggest call of his footy career to date, with St Kilda now a “very good chance” of landing the big Blue.

The star ruckman is contemplating a mega $1.7 million a year deal from the Saints or remaining at Ikon Park on a contract just over $1 million per season.

It’s a decision De Koning is pushing back.

“The pause button has officially been hit on Tom De Koning’s contract ... he is holding off for now,” Chief Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark revealed on Fox Footy.

“St Kilda is chips in on the big man at $1.7 million a season, they’ve met with him already. Expect another meeting potentially over the mid-season bye with either De Koning or his manager, Robbie D’Orazio.

“But the door is very open here. De Koning is weighing things up and I think his head has been turned not just by the massive money that’s on offer, but St Kilda’s good form.

“I think in the back half of this season, we might get close to a decision on his future.”

But the Saints are gaining confidence they’ll land their man, according to Clark’s Herald Sun colleague Jon Ralph.

“Certainly TDK is a very good chance (of coming to St Kilda),” the Fox Footy reporter said.

“There are some people at St Kilda that will tell you they’re very, very optimistic now of securing him. They weren’t able to bridge the gap last time around, Carlton did offer a little bit more.

“This time though, that $700K gap - I tell you what, St Kilda is brimming with confidence about TDK.”

For so long it seemed the main reason De Koning would leave Carlton — a team that’s supposed to be in the premierships window and loaded with stars — is for the bigger pay packet, standing to earn more $500,000 a season at the Saints.

It felt like a matter of ‘when’ the Blues’ time would come — not ‘if’.

But for the first time De Koning is probably questioning that ‘if’ and whether Carlton is in fact the best place for him long term. We’ve seen plenty of talented sides not capitalise on their starpower, such as Sydney, Port Adelaide and GWS of recent years. There’s simply no guarantees in football.

Michael Voss’ side finally ended its winless start to the season with a convincing 71-point Gather Round victory over the Eagles in what’s otherwise been a tough season so far.

There’s been question marks on Carlton’s senior players, depth, game plan and method, skills and everything in between while missing several key soldiers.

This should be when everything is clicking for Carlton, with all its big guns in their absolute prime. And while there’s ample time to salvage this season, Voss’ crew has seemingly gone backwards since that epic preliminary final run two years ago.

Meanwhile St Kilda looks like one of the most exciting up and coming teams in the AFL in a promising rebuild that’s gone under the radar.

While their Gather Round loss to GWS and Round 1 defeat to Adelaide were disappointing, the Saints have otherwise impressed, going 3-2 including wins over Geelong and Port Adelaide (away).

Not only is Ross Lyon’s team playing an exciting brand of footy, but the Saints’ list has a plethora of budding talent including Max King (24 years old), Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Marcus Windhager (both 22), Mitch Owens (21), Mattaes Phillipou, Darcy Wilson (19), Tobie Travaglia and Alix Tauru (both 18).

So from a sheer footy perspective, if De Koning didn’t have full faith in the Blues’ direction and saw more upside at Moorabbin — or saw the two clubs as about equal — it’d make sense to pursue the move with an extra $500,000 per annum attached to it ... right?

That might sound cynical and disregards how strong his relationships and ties to Carlton are. And sure, the Blues can also sell him the idea of playing for a powerhouse club with a huge fan base that plays prime time and draws massive crowds. Plus, there’s extra value long-term in being a one-club player, especially if you’re part of the group that breaks Carlton’s premiership drought.

But the free agent has already dragged out the saga this far.

The reality is the longer these things drag out, the more likely it is a player walks to another club.

The Blues play North Melbourne (Marvel Stadium), Geelong (MCG), Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), St Kilda (MCG), Sydney (SCG) and GWS (Marvel Stadium) ahead of their mid-season bye, when De Koning will be seriously weighing things up.

The Saints face Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, Fremantle (all Marvel Stadium), Carlton (MCG), West Coast (Optus Stadium), Gold Coast (Marvel Stadium) and Melbourne (TIO Traeger Park) lading into their break.

You sense the Blues won’t budge on their already lucrative De Koning offer. His exit would almost certainly trigger a compensation first-round pick — of which they don’t currently have — and it’d free up ample salary cap space.

The club also has a ready-made ruck replacement behind De Koning in Marc Pittonet.

After a dominant start to the season as arguably Carlton’s best and player and the frontrunner to be the All-Australian ruck, De Koning has been less spectacular over the last fortnight.

Still coming into his own and honing his craft as the Blues’ No. 1 ruck, De Koning said after the club’s win over West Coast he wasn’t “putting a timeline” on his free agency decision.

“That dialogue is between the club and my manager,” De Koning told The Age.

“That will work itself out when it does. My main focus is on helping the team get some wins.”

Few expected Ned Long to be the story of the night in the Collingwood-Sydney blockbuster, but everyone was talking about the 22-year-old midfielder post-game.

Having managed just 16 games across four seasons at the Hawks and Magpies before Gather Round, including being the substitute in four of his last five appearances, Long was praised as a midfield “beast” by coach Craig McRae on Friday night.

“I don’t think he’ll be sub for a while. His game was remarkable right from the start. His contest work is so strong, he’s such a beast at the contest and if he’s not winning it himself he’s getting it back,” McRae said post-game.

But while he looked good on the eye test and on the stat sheet, a superstar teammate has been credited for unlocking his breakout night.

It’s hard to ignore Nick Daicos, especially when he has a game-high 34 disposals, and especially when he did it battling through the tag of Swans stopper James Jordon.

“I looked down and I went, 34 possessions, 15 contested, seven score involvements, nine clearances and nine tackles against arguably the best tagger in the comp - I reckon he got the points!” Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon said post-game.

But ex-Magpies coach Nathan Buckley and Hawthorn champion Jordan Lewis argued Daicos’ real brilliance wasn’t summed up by the numbers.

“It’s a good part of your arsenal - if that’s the type of game you’re putting forward when you’re getting tagged, it explains exactly why that has to happen. Even when it’s not effective, can you imagine what he’s doing if he’s running around on his own, because he does see space,” Buckley said on Fox Footy.

“And we were talking about what Ned Long was able to do; Daicos’ short speed, the first two or three steps he puts on whether it's offensive or defensive, he’s not getting a lot of credit for the defensive stuff but he keeps getting where the ball is.”

Lewis added: “That’s the maturity. We put him on a pedestal because he’s only played 70-75 games, and to learn in such a short space of time early in your career what to do as a tagged player.

“In the past he’s probably just gone, I’m going one v one with my direct opponent, I’m just going to try to outwork them. Craig McRae was alluding to the fact he now does little things in his game that benefit the team; that’s a big step in the maturity of a young player ... one of the big reasons Ned Long plays well tonight is because of that man.”

Some footy analysts try and make things a bit too simple - for example, a team ‘not trying hard enough’ is usually trying pretty hard; the players are probably just failing to implement the gameplan and finding themselves in the wrong places, which gives the impression of not trying hard.

But when you’re as bad as West Coast is right now, sometimes the problems are very simple.

Such as this: are they training enough?

On 6PR after the Eagles' smashing at the hands of Carlton, club great Glen Jakovich suggested they’re not doing enough work on the training chat, amid obvious skill issues during games.

Richmond premiership player Jack Graham, asked whether he would like to see more training sessions on the Eagles’ schedule, replied: “Yeah, definitely.

“Obviously, it’s a bit of a change for me, being at Richmond. I think we had an extra training session at Richmond, where with West Coast, obviously, that the travel comes in, where you have a day which is a travel day.”

Graham conceded the training schedule was “one of the first things” he raised with new coach Andrew McQualter.

“It’s like, oh hang on, how come we’ve got this day? So I think they’ve always done that. It’s just because we fly out a couple of days beforehand,” he said.

“So it is tough. I’ve noticed, you know, I’ve only done a couple of interstate games, so it is hard to get that extra session in.

“But probably when we do have the sessions, you know, we’re touching the footies enough, but it’s just f***ing really executing. The fundamentals, even if it is a low touch session, it’s like all right, boys, we’re not going to be going quick here, but let’s make sure we hit every handball, hit every kick. So it comes back to the little things.”

This is a concerning admission from a new recruit - but at the same time, there’s a pretty clear counter-point we can make.

West Coast have been a famously successful club; they won a flag seven years ago. If as Graham suggests “they’ve always done (this)”, then they clearly don’t need the extra training to win games of footy?

But perhaps in the context of being a much younger and inexperienced side, and one that is so obviously struggling in basic ways, they do need it.

They sure as hell need something, because they once again find themselves with a percentage under 50, and unlike the last few years they don’t have the excuse of a massive injury list.

IS CROWS’ KEY FLAW GOING TO KEEP THEM FROM CONTENTION?

The only premiership coach in Adelaide history, Malcolm Blight, made a name for himself in the coaches’ box when leading Geelong with a simple strategy - it doesn’t matter how much the opposition scores, as long as you score more than them.

It feels like the Crows are going the same way.

While they have by far the hottest attack in the AFL, scoring 600 points in five games, leaking big scores at the other end is becoming a real issue.

That’s whether they’re winning the game - smashing Essendon 161-100 - or what we saw on Thursday night, falling to Geelong 100-119.

They’re not down with the bottom four of Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond and West Coast when it comes to points allowed - it’d be hard to, when they’ve won more games than those four sides combined - but they’re on the next tier with sides who’ve copped a thrashing or two... except, they haven’t been thrashed once.

For the neutral, it makes them incredibly watchable, but Matthew Nicks must be pulling his hair out. Well, he would if he could, anyway.

To be fair a lot of defences would struggle against the likes of Jeremy Cameron and the Cats’ excellent small forwards, and Nick Murray was absent, but the problems are bigger than just those issues seen during Gather Round.

And this is going to matter when we get to the pointy end of the season. The Crows’ attack suggests they’re good enough to contend, but their defence ruins that case immediately.

Of the last 20 premiers, 18 have been in the AFL top six for points scored - suggesting it certainly helps. But every premier this century has been in the top six for points allowed - suggesting it’s a necessity.

They’re still a very good chance of playing finals, because their attack is genuinely good enough to go with the Blighty ‘just outscore them’ tactic. But against the stronger teams - the Geelongs of the world, or even against fellow top-eight sides on the road, like Gold Coast - it’s going to be a problem.

Again, as neutrals, we don’t mind them playing like this. Thursday night reminded us of that epic 2015 elimination final where they went goal-for-goal with the Bulldogs, and we would love to see an offensive focus rewarded.

But it’s just not how footy seems to work. They’ve got time to try and fix this, but it may be about personnel and what they’re willing to accept in order to set up their forward brilliance, which makes it harder to fix during the season.

It felt like Essendon had two wins over Melbourne on the same night.

Not only did the Bombers record a 39-point win at the Adelaide Oval, they further compounded Melbourne’s winless start to the season — and that benefits Essendon significantly come trade and draft season, due to a shrewd 2024 deal.

The Bombers last year parted with their natural first-rounder (Pick 9) to avoid any concerns the selection would be swallowed up by a bid on star Next Generation Academy prospect Isaac Kako. The Demons lent a helping hand and happily accepted Pick 9, which they used to take gun left-footer Xavier Lindsay.

In return, Melbourne gave the Bombers an array of second to fourth-round picks – which helped them match the eventual Pick 13 bid on Kako – and, crucially, its own future first-rounder.

The Bombers’ decision to part with Pick 9 drew some criticism, with claims they might’ve cost themselves the ability to pounce on an additional highly-touted talent early in the draft.

Others countered by suggesting if the Bombers hadn’t have traded the selection, a bid on Kako would’ve come before Pick 9 anyway.

Whatever your view, the Bombers now look as big winners from the deal.

With the Demons now 0-5 after Gather Round, it means Essendon holds Pick 2 in the draft.

On top of that, the Bombers also hold their natural first-rounder, which is Pick 6 at this stage after a 2-2 start to 2025. And Kako has slotted into the AFL team seamlessly.

“There’s a jackpot at the end of the rainbow for Essendon,” Herald Sun chief footballer report Jay Clark told Fox Footy post-game.

“This was the most criticised move of last year’s draft … currently it sits Pick 2, so who’s smiling now?”

The Bombers also hold two second-rounders: Their own natural selection (currently Pick 24) and St Kilda’s second-rounder (Pick 28) as the Saints last year traded on draft night to help them secure WA midfielder Hugh Boxshall.

That latter trade puts the Bombers in an even stronger position ahead of the trade period and draft.

Those picks, ultimately, could help them match bids on their two emerging Next Generation Academy players in Hussein El Achkar and Adam Sweid, who loom as early second-round — potentially late first-round — picks after impressive starts for the Calder Cannons.

A speedy and powerful 171cm small forward, El Achkar has kicked 10.8 and averaged 14 disposals from his first three Coates Talent League games. Meanwhile midfielder-forward Sweid has averaged 27 disposals, seven tackles, five marks and four inside 50s.

Take two top-end talents and use two second-rounders to match promising academy players?

There’s a lot to play out, but it’s a tantalising position for Essendon to be in at this stage.