Sport
24 April, 2025
Legacy round poignant time
A QUIRK due to the construction of the Gregorian calendar means that in its 443rd iteration, ANZAC Day falls on a Friday in 2025.
AFL Cairns have taken the opportunity to put all this weekend’s senior games on Friday, giving players and fans a unique opportunity to experience footy on what is a special and poignant day for all Australians and New Zealanders.
In the men’s competition, the day starts with the match of the round, the first grand final rematch in the latest instalment of the Battle of the Compass, played at Watson’s Oval.
Both teams are unbeaten thus far, and will be battle-hardened after their efforts last weekend, where Norths won their trip up the highway against Port, while Souths held off a much-improved Bulldogs unit.
Both teams have had a fair bit of turn over from their grand final squads from last season, but the new players will know the expectations for season 2025.
Souths have played the extra game courtesy of Norths first round bye, and that extra cohesion could be the difference.
The next match, with a 4pm first bounce, sees a vastly improved Dogs outfit visit the winless Crocs.
While disappointed, the Dogs will surely be very confident after nearly pulling off a statement upset last week against the premiers, while Port have had two close losses and know they are better than their initial 0-2 record.
Despite being early in the season, this clash is already looming as a valuable ‘eight-pointer’ in the race for finals. Port will be quietly confident of getting the job done in front of their home crowd.
The final match of the day sees the only match-up between two winless teams in season 2025.
Both the Saints and the Hawks will be looking at this game to kick start their season. The closeness of the teams on the ladder is mimicked by the geographical proximity of the two clubs.
With the late kick-off, you would imagine that there will plenty of pent-up energy by the time the 5.30pm bounce rolls around.
Expect a fairly physical start to the game before opening up towards the end of the first half and for the Saints athleticism to be hard to stop as the game progresses.
In the women’s, the three unbeaten look to continue their streak to put some distance between the top half and bottom half of the competition.
The Bulldogs and the Lions will enter their matches as favourites despite travelling, against Port and Saints respectively.
The Dogs have the tougher of the journeys, having to travel up the highway to Port Douglas against a second year Port team that I am tipping to be in with a red-hot shot of making finals this year.
To be a chance they will need to contain a Dogs outfit that blitzed 68 points last week against Souths.
For the Saints, the worst type of early season test, as they are tasked with staving off a Lions team hellbent on blowing everyone out of the water on their way to back-to-back premierships. The Saints are known to be stoic defenders, but this will be a tough game to hold out.
The primetime fixture occurs at Watson’s as Norths host Souths. Both teams will be relishing the opportunity to perform in front of a big ANZAC Day crowd in their first primetime slot of the year.
Perhaps just as importantly, it is both teams first game of the season in the cooler timeslot.
As such, fans can expect a high quality game from both sides, with plenty of run and carry throughout. Norths are the favourite on their home deck.
