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Coach Steven King and youngster Latrelle Pickett are among the new faces at the Demons this year.

The Picketts said, ‘Screw that’: The on-field dare that has revitalised the Dees

Melbourne’s new era is bearing instant fruit thanks clever list management and a new coach who’s given the players freedom to express their talents.

  • Danny Russell and Vince Rugari

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Top earners: Tom Lynch, Isaac Heeney and Patrick Cripps.

Top earners: The 20 AFL players who rake in the most money

After revealing the 50 highest-earning Australian athletes earlier this week, where no Australian rules footballers made the list, we turn our attention to the AFL.

  • Marc McGowan
Mitch Lewis kicked straight with less than a minute to go to level scores in an epic Easter Monday clash

The match-winning free agent fighting hard for his spot

This Hawthorn big man hasn’t quite hit his straps yet in 2026, but he seized the moment during the Easter Monday blockbuster against Geelong.

  • Peter Ryan
Oscar Steene impressed in the ruck on debut against Kieren Briggs.

Jumping for joy: Why some ruckmen will thrive under this new AFL rule

Already it’s clear the league’s new ruck rules are favouring a certain type of ruckman and threatened the future of some others.

  • Marc McGowan and Peter Ryan
Cody Walker is a gun father-son prospect for Carlton.

Carlton willing to go into draft debt to snare father-son gun

To go into draft deficit - which clubs have typically avoided early in the draft - would push the Blues further down the draft order with subsequent choices and even in the first round of the 2027 draft.

  • Jake Niall
Hawthorn co-captain Jai Newcombe.

Risk versus reward: Rating the best and worst long-term deals across the AFL

We dive into the risks clubs take when they sign players to long-term deals, and how often the risk actually pays off.

  • Peter Ryan and Marc McGowan
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Hawthorn's Nick Watson says a Coke bottle was thrown at he and his teammates at the end of Thursday night's game at the MCG against Sydney.
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Watson alleges soft drink bottle thrown at Hawks

Hawthorn's Nick Watson says a Coke bottle was thrown at he and his teammates at the end of Thursday night's game at the MCG against Sydney.

Tom De Koning in his first hitout for St Kilda.

Expecting a free run at a top-10 pick for your club? Not so fast

A proposal to eliminate free agency compensation picks from the first 10 selections of the 2026 AFL national draft is in doubt.

  • Sam McClure, Peter Ryan and Andrew Wu
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson.

‘This is on me, not the club’: Alastair Clarkson opens up on the Roos’ plight

In an expansive interview, the veteran four-time premiership coach outlines his goals for the struggling North Melbourne, and what would make him walk away.

  • Jake Niall
Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos.

Not just Tasmania: Look out Collingwood, Victorian rivals are circling Daicos

Nick Daicos appears unwilling, for now, to sign the kind of long-term extension that could make him a Magpie for life.

  • Sam McClure