Round 14 of the 2026 AFL season saw many highlights and lowlights, headlined by the Adelaide Crows’ continued rise.
THE RISE OF ADELAIDE CONTINUES
The rise of the Adelaide Crows has continued as they demolished the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night by 57 points (121 – 64), despite playing away from home.
Flying past their opponents, the Crows booted nine goals in the opening quarter to set up the comfortable win and looked in full control throughout the entire match as they outworked and outclassed the Bulldogs in every facet of the match.
Josh Rachele (four), Riley Thilthorpe (three) and Jordan Dawson (three) led the goals count, with the latter producing a best on ground performance, which saw him accumulate 32 disposals, seven marks and eight tackles in the midfield and forward 50.
“That’s the most complete quarter we’ve played, or at least complete game I’d say, definitely this year,” Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks said.
“Really proud of the way they were able to focus on the task at hand, which wasn’t an easy one.”
Cody Weightman finally gets his first goal since August 2024! 👏@Toyota_Aus | #ohwhatafeeling | #AFLDogsCrows pic.twitter.com/65JPHfDJqL
— AFL (@AFL) June 11, 2026
SUNS FINALS CHANCES COME TO A HALT
It is only the middle of June, but the Gold Coast Suns’ chances of making the 2026 AFL Finals series have come to a halt with another embarrassing defeat – this time a 45-point loss to the Geelong Cats at GMHBA Stadium.
Failing to control possession in the midfield, the Suns’ connection in the forward line was extremely lacking, and they haven’t looked as dominant as they have in recent seasons, where they were pretty much unstoppable when playing at their home venue.
Moving down to 9th on the ladder, they have a tough road ahead over the next month where they will need to register victories against Hawthorn Hawks, Fremantle Dockers, Collingwood Magpies and Adelaide Crows if they are any chance of making back-to-back finals campaigns.
“We had ample opportunities, we just didn’t take them inside 50. We kicked relatively poorly at goal, missed opportunities inside 50, and I thought they kicked some unbelievable goals,” Gold Coast head coach Damien Hardwick said.
“I know the scoreboard probably said at stages – up until three-quarter time it was 30 points – I think the game felt a lot closer than that from my point of view. I think they executed better inside 50 and took their chances.
“I thought [the midfield battle] was pretty even. It’s hard when you’re in the game, you don’t look at it from that perspective. I thought we had chances to get the ball clear out of the middle of the ground, and just failed to take our chances as well as we could.
Yep, Rachele is so skillful ⭐️#AFLDogsCrows pic.twitter.com/n25l6zakNV
— AFL (@AFL) June 11, 2026
KANGAROOS WIN A ONE-POINT THRILLER
The North Melbourne Kangaroos have managed to come from behind to clinch a thrilling one-point victory against the West Coast Eagles on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Optus Stadium.
While the Eagles managed to fight back from a 20-point deficit in the final quarter and come back into the contest, the Kangaroos emerged victorious after Jake Waterman failed to convert a set shot in the dying minutes.
Nick Larkey and Jack Darling had four goals each for the Kangaroos, whilst midfielder Harry Sheezel was the most effective player for the winning side with 33 disposals, seven marks and five tackles as he led his side to victory.
“It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain isn’t it? I can’t tell you I was overly confident that Jake was going to miss that shot. We were lucky to win in the end,” Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson said.
“We did do enough, however, particularly coming off such a poor performance last week. We tackled well and we applied a lot of pressure.
“West Coast over here, when the winds behind their sails, they can get going. We did really well to hold them back, but just luck that we ended up winning the game, really, because with it at the death knock, they probably should have finished that goal and won the game of footy.”
The Eagles came home strong but fell just short for the second week in a row.
Relive the last two minutes of #AFLNorthEagles, thanks to OMO Australia. pic.twitter.com/carDRnBQBZ
— AFL (@AFL) June 13, 2026