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Sport Nation
Beware the overreaction: Healy’s key message for 2025
Gerard Healy • April 24th, 2025 12:21 pm
Just seven weeks into the AFL season, there’s a clear message for everybody - Beware the overreaction.
Yep, that's the message of 2025 even though it's been a worthy warning for many, many years.
It started, in fact, before the season even began. ‘Richmond will not win a game’, declared some.
In Round 0, it was, ‘Collingwood are too fat, too old, too slow and not prepared. The Giants are flag favourites after punishing the Pies 104-52. They’re cooked the Pies, no chance’.
In Round 1, ‘Freo are a disaster’, after being picked apart by Geelong 147-69.
In Round 2, ‘Hawks are clear premiership favourites after beating Sydney, Essendon and Carlton in three consecutive weeks to open the season’.
In Round 3, ‘Port Adelaide, well they’re gone, and the succession plan is a complete disaster. Ken Hinkley must go now', said all and sundry on the review shows when Essendon beat Port 72-60.
In Round 4, it continued. ‘The Saints are going to play finals after beating Port Adelaide 89-72 and for god's sake, the succession plan is confusing the players. Seriously Kochie, sort out the mess’.
There is also Simon Goodwin of course, ‘Well he should have been sacked, and Luke Beveridge is ready to take over’.
In Round 5, it was ‘Collingwood's flag to lose’ after flogging Sydney 109-78.
The Suns, well, ‘They can win the flag’ after winning 141-89 against the Kangaroos.
Then we move to Round 6 and Collingwood are now ‘flag certainties’ after beating Brisbane 105-53 despite the fact that the Lions had to endure two short breaks and travel before and around Gather Round.
Collingwood well, they had a lazy six-day training block on the Gold Coast.
So far this year, after seven weeks we've had three flag favourites, GWS, Hawthorn and now Collingwood. With no love for Brisbane or Geelong.
Ken Hinkley, well he should have been sacked along with Simon Goodwin, who was going to be replaced by the Dogs’ coach, yet both men had big wins over better-credentialed clubs last weekend.
The Hawks have plummeted like gold today, from flag favourites to battlers in a three-week period, with a full-back who's out of form.
The Swans, well they’ve gone from flag contenders to finals pretenders in the space of just two months.
In summary, the only thing consistent about the overreactions following a weekend is the consistency of the inaccuracy of the overreactions.
