Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy has named his 35 biggest stories of the 2023 AFL season so far.
From the shock mid-season retirement of Damien Hardwick to the birth of the Tasmanian side and Carlton’s up and down season, here are Healy’s biggest stories as revealed on SEN Sportsday.
1 – The shock retirement of Damien Hardwick after three flags at Richmond
2 – The goal umpire debacle in Adelaide which robbed the Crows of finals
3 – The birth of the Tasmanian AFL side
4 – The collapse of the Hawthorn investigation by the AFL with such little outcome
5 – The temporary retirement of Alastair Clarkson and the return of Brett Ratten
6 – The leaking about the inevitable sacking of Stuart Dew
7 – West Coast’s horror season
8 – The appointment of Andrew Dillon as the AFL’s CEO
9 – Carlton’s fall and rise again
10 – The Ken Hinkley untenable claim and Port’s 13-game win streak
11 – The failure of the Dogs to play finals and the pressure on their football department
12 – The appointment of Damien Hardwick as Gold Coast coach
13 – Lance Franklin’s retirement
14 – The form of second-year phenom Nick Daicos
15 – The inaugural Gather Round
16 – The ever-changing story surrounding Brodie Grundy at Melbourne
17 – The crack down on dangerous tackles
18 – Adam Kingsley’s rookie coaching season with GWS
19 – The Aliir Aliir concussion incident at Port Adelaide
20 – Laura Kane’s appointment as the AFL’s general manager of football
21 – West Coast beating the Dogs in the upset of the century
22 – Hawthorn’s competitive season and the emergence of Sam Mitchell as a coach
23 – The form of veteran Taylor Walker
24 – The return of big bags of goals including 10 for Curnow and Walker and 9 for Larkey
25 – The impact of Ross Lyon in his first season back at St Kilda
26 – Essendon’s end of season collapse
27 – The lights going out at the Gabba between Brisbane and Melbourne
28 – The impact of this year’s Rising Star crop
29 – The protracted and bitter ongoing CBA negotiation
30 – The season-long debate on who the best player in the game is
31 – Clayton Oliver’s hamstring injury
32 – Jack Ziebell being coward punched on the night of his retirement
33 – The interchange fiasco at Marvel which cost North Melbourne and ended up handing Sydney a finals finish
34 – The evenness of the competition
35 – The ongoing prolific battles between Kane Cornes and North Melbourne and Tarryn Thomas, West Coast, Richmond and more!