Thank you Australia for finally blessing me with the return of the footy season, I don’t know if I could have survived another week!
WOOHOO! Footy’s back baby! The NRL has kicked off its week long round 1 starting in Las Vegas, and the AFL finally had its opening round last night at the SCG. How we feeling about it all? Well catch up below on all the action that’s hit the field so far and a reminder on how we predicted this season would unfold (a prediction we made in December of 2025).
NRL
Damn Americans stealing my round one league…
The NRL kicked off round one this year back in Las Vegas, with the Knights and Cowboys at Allegiant Stadium in the Nevada desert. The Knights got off to an electric start with two early tries in the first 15-minutes with Ponga securing both conversions. However, the Cowboys responded in kind with two tries of their own before the half time siren. The scores may have been even at half time but it was the Knights who pulled away securing a 28-18 victory for the first game of the Telstra Premiership.
Later that day at Allegiant Stadium we also saw the Bulldogs face off against the Dragons in a much more heated match. Whenever the Bulldogs got a score on the board, the Dragons were quick to follow. Overall though it was a low scoring game but the intensity was real. By the time full-time was called the score was an even 14-14, and we entered golden point. Now this is where the game got spicy. Bulldogs Captain Stephen Crichton in the last 6-seconds of play was able to secure the ball and sink a field goal locking in a first round win for the Bulldogs. But Shane Flanagan has claimed the Dragons were robbed of an important call, saying it had been a loose carry from Crouchman that lead to the winning point secured by Crichton.
Last night in Melbourne we saw the Storm take on the Eels. The less said about this the better.
I mean, at least they scored one?
After just three games already played I can comfortably say that as of right now my predicted 2026 ladder that I wrote in December of 2025 looks to be on track. But how far into the season will it get before this ladder prediction becomes just laughable? (Sure many people are saying “now”)
AFL
Footy is back and we were treated to an expected first game epic with Carlton going toe to toe with the Swans. Whilst it seemed on the outside like an easy first game for the Swans as they build a stronger side and Carlton having a bit of a poor run of things lately, many expected perhaps a more heated encounter. With Charlie Curnow leaving his navy blue behind for the red and white potentially sparking some fire in an otherwise vacant blues side. But what we got, was the most mixed bag of footy I’ve ever seen.
That first half of the game was painful to watch footy. It had me thinking (me who plays Division 2 Local Community Footy) might be able to make it into the AFL. At half time at the SCG the score was 18-28 with Carlton up, I was genuinely dumbfounded. Was Carlton going to pull off a legendary 2026 come back after an embarrassing 2025? We all remember the infamous 2025 first round game with Richmond and Carlton last year.
But alas, instead it looked like the Swans were simply just waiting for their pre-workout caffeine to kick in. Not only did the Swans make a daring come-back in the third quarter they set a record for the most points scored in a third quarter in VFL/AFL history ever! Scoring an enormous 75 points from 12 goals and 3 behinds, half time to three quarter time would’ve looked like a fever dream for anyone who wasn’t watching the game and only checking it on their phone at the end of each quarter.
By the time the curtain fell on the first game of the AFL season the Swans embarrassed the Blues with a 132-69 point victory. But don’t be so glum Blues fans. As of this very second you’re currently second on the ladder! (Probably the highest you’ll be all year!)
As of right now, after one game, I’m still feeling confident on the AFL26 predicted ladder and with Gold Coast and Geelong playing tonight, I’m eager to see how my predicted grand final contenders play with their 2026 side.
