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Full Noise by SN
Russell: One thing to watch from each team's pre-season clash
SEN • February 26th, 2026 6:00 pm
Dwayne Russell has named one key aspect to look out for during your club's Community Series game this weekend.
While it is only a pre-season contest, the Community Series is a perfect opportunity to keep an eye on any potential changes to game style, positioning, mentality and shape ahead of the 2026 home and away season.
From things that need improvement to shifts made late last season, Russell's list encapsulates the most interesting and potentially concerning data points for each team, backed by Champion Data statistics.
See your club's key watch below!
NOTE: Carlton and Geelong have not been included due to their contest's completion on Wednesday night.
“They had problems last year carrying the ball from D50 to inside 50,” Russell told SEN Dwayne's World.
“They were the best team in the comp in the home and away, number one team on the ladder, but they were 13th for their transition of the ball from D50 to inside 50. They kept having those chains broken up.
“The ability to maintain possession and get it inside 50 to a target is something Adelaide has to fix.”
“They changed their game style in the Grand Final. They bit off the really aggressive inside kick against the Cats and it worked. They really took it on inside, but they were going wide for the first three quarters last year.”
“Collingwood didn’t convert their inside 50’s. They were 15th when it came to their conversion.
“They also took some of the hardest shots. They were 15th for the difficulty of shots taken. It’s where they had their shots as well. Can you convert your inside 50’s, can you get an easier spot to take your shots from.
“They were also very conservative with their ball use from marks and free kicks last year. Collingwood likes the game in chaos when the ball is in flow, but when they take a mark and get a free kick, Collingwood was pretty conservative.”
“Most debutants on record last year – their ball movement was very slow because they had a lot of debutants they had to protect. They didn’t necessarily want them to play on and get themselves in trouble.
“They were killed on turnover – we will see what Essendon does in terms of its ball movement this year, whether it gets sped up a bit or if it remains conservative.”
“They were hard to move the ball against last year, their defence as sensational.
“Their first move from defence when they won possession was wide, slow, and often long down the line. We’ll see if they use the ball a bit more inside this year. They do have a great defence, they are hard to play against, but when it comes to their own ball movement, will they fix that?”
“Great clearance to score last year – stopping the suns on clearance is going tp be key.
“I think they’ve got an issue with their ruck. Jarrod Witts and Ned Moyle are going to be an interesting ruck – whether the new ruck rules slow them a bit.
“We know they’ve got the midfield core, they’ve added Christian Petracca… you’ve got to stop the Suns on clearance.”
“Their clearance numbers are their key, whether they go up or down. They struggle for clearance, as opposed to the Suns.
“Have they fixed their clearance issues this year? They’ve got a couple of midfielders that are out, so that is not going to help. They’ve got a couple of lumbering ruckmen, which also might not help.”
“Second hardest team to move the ball against last year, but they did concede scores from their defensive 50 stoppages – they’ve got to fix that.
“Stop conceding scores from those defensive 50 stoppages. That’s the thing that cut them up last year.”
“Melbourne were actually the second fastest team in the comp behind Geelong last year, but they were long to the boundary – we will see if they change that with a couple of forwards that might be able to change that for them.”
“We know their defence is their issue – their defence was bottom two and has been for six consecutive seasons.
“They are slow, they are short and they are indirect. We will see what they do when it comes to whether their defence is going to change.”
“They’ve been in the top six in the AFL for their pressure game for the last six years.
“Under Ken Hinkley, their pressure game has been great. But their ball movement in terms of how well they use the corridor is one of their downfalls. Whether Josh Carr makes them go wider, or whether he allows them to take an aggressive kick down the corridor is going to be an interesting watch.”
“18th for pressure last year – the worst in Champion Data history.
“Pressure has been one of their things that under Damien Hardwick was great. We will watch to see whether their pressure is ramped up, because they can’t continue to allow a keepings-off type of game.”
“Under Ross Lyon, a lot of times last year they went slow and short and wide with their kicking.
“They changed that as the year evolved – they refined that act late in the year. We will keep an eye on that – whether St Kilda are going to keep up with the game style that they had late last year as opposed to early in the year when they were short, slow and wide.”
“Sydney was first for points for a couple of years ago, they dropped to 11th last year. They were first for scores from inside 50’s two years ago, they dropped to 13th last year. They were fourth for possession chains to scores a couple of years ago, they dropped to 10th last year. They’ve got to fix that.”
“It was their third worst season on record for contested balls won – they’ve got to win more contested ball, but it’s a bit hard when you’ve got inexperienced bodies.”
“They conceded scores, obviously, last year. They have got to stop conceding those scores.
“They got smashed against the best teams. They might have scored a lot themselves, but they do a lot of their scoring against the poor teams. The good teams beat them because they could score against them.”
