The third round of the 2026 AFL season had plenty of highlights and lowlights, headlined by the West Coast Eagles shocking Port Adelaide away from home.
West Coast shock Power in nail-biter
The West Coast Eagles have shocked Port Adelaide, defeating their opposition by two points in a close encounter at Adelaide Oval that went down to the dying seconds of the contest.
Winning back-to-back matches for the first time since Rounds 6 and 7 in 2024, the Eagles were able to overcome a 29-point deficit to end their four-year drought at Adelaide Oval and show the rest of the competition that they are a new team this season.
Jake Waterman was able to slot four goals in the comeback as the Power now move to a 1-2 record under new head coach Josh Carr, having lost to the North Melbourne Kangaroos at the beginning of the season.
Meanwhile, last year’s No.1 draft pick Willen Duursma showed that he has all the makings to be a bona fide star in the AFL with six marks, four clearances, 20 disposals and kicking a goal whilst showcasing his amazing aerial ability.
“It’s just showing a growing maturity, and also our leaders are standing up,” Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said.
“We have got an array of players across the field that are just having big moments – and that’s what footy is about.”
"That's got to have gone 67 metres" 😏#AFLPowerEagles pic.twitter.com/Zzv3sVgMkD
— AFL (@AFL) March 29, 2026
Geelong extend 23-year streak over Crows
The Geelong Cats have extended their 23-year winning streak at their home ground against the Adelaide Crows with a formidable victory in tough conditions to open Round 3 on Thursday evening.
Making it 15 consecutive victories against Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium, the wet and rainy conditions didn’t do the home team any favours throughout the contest, but they managed to hold in a tough slog and walk away with an eight-point win.
Superstar midfielder and one of AFL’s most recognisable players Bailey Smith led the possession count with 40 disposals – 25 kicks and 15 handballs – to his name, while Jack Martin and Oliver Dempsey had three and two goals each in the forward 50.
Meanwhile, coach Chris Scott revealed that the club are hoping to have Patrick Dangerfield and Brad Close back for their Easter Monday clash against Hawthorn.
“If you look at our history with [Dangerfield], he will be absolutely cherry ripe to play his absolute best and not compromise anything for later in the year, or we won’t play him,” Scott said post-match.
“[Close] was very similar to Patrick in that he just had some interruptions in the pre-season … and there’s a couple of guys in this boat as well.
“We’ve had a couple of guys that just had a few niggles late in the pre-season, that we thought it’s rare in the season that you get a chance to really improve those things through your training and only miss one game.
“Closey will get some VFL time, but this was more a ‘let’s get him back to his best physically’, rather than a form thing.”
MATCHWINNER.
It wasn't pretty but Ollie Dempsey finds a way to get the crucial goal.#AFLCatsCrows pic.twitter.com/1ivZXFxMdM
— AFL (@AFL) March 26, 2026
Dockers demolish Richmond in 60-point attacking showcase
The Fremantle Dockers have delivered a sensational attacking showcase, demolishing the Richmond Tigers by 60 points at their home venue, Optus Stadium, as their confidence continues to grow each week.
Showing that they have the ruthlessness and capabilities to be a premiership threat for the 2026 Premiership, the Dockers trailed by six points heading into the break but a great half-time speech saw them be a different team in the final two quarters as they put the match to bed.
Key forward Josh Treacy led the scoreboard with four goals and 12 marks, while the consistent Caleb Serong had 32 disposals and nine clearances to go with Shai Bolton’s 33 touches and six inside 50s.
“The wheels just fell off into the third. That wasn’t up to standard. We couldn’t get out of our back end and that’s been a couple of weeks in a row now,” Richmond coach Adam Yze said.
“It’s a bit of a trend across the comp, watching even some of the best teams, you can get stuck in your back end, and especially with point kick ins, and we did.
“We look like we just lost our way a little bit in that second half, which is disappointing.
“We’ll take the positives out of the first half, but then be really disappointed with our second half, because that wasn’t good enough.”
Josh Treacy has marked EVERYTHING today and he's got four 💪#AFLFreoTigers pic.twitter.com/dNnjlzQmjq
— AFL (@AFL) March 28, 2026