This week's issue to polarise the football community will surely be North Melbourne skipper Brent Harvey's remarkable post-match comments after the 87-point flogging from Collingwood on Saturday.
In an extraordinary interview with ABC Grandstand, Harvey threw a few teammates under the bus, as the Americans like to say.
He carpeted the club's younger players for "not towing the line" and even named names, with Lachie Hansen and Sam Wright called out as the two main culprits.
"When are they going to step up? I've only got a couple of years and it has to be now," Harvey, with 15 seasons and 302 games behind him, told a bewildered commentary panel and an astonished national listening audience.
It was pretty much unprecedented, and definitely so for Harvey, never before one to split players for either praise or condemnation.
'Captain-speak' in the AFL usually tends towards the "we'll sink or swim together" type of thinking, so Harvey's post-match candor was refreshing and welcome for one group of observers, and something that should have been kept behind closed doors for others.
Whichever way, it is a strategy that may well have been correct in a general hit on the young players, but fraught with danger by naming names.
Hansen and Wright should not shoulder the blame for a side that clearly had more than two players not at their best. Why not name Aaron Edwards and Daniel Wells? Just about everyone else highlighted these two players - both considerably more experienced - and in the eyes of many, serial underperformers and noticeably so on Saturday.
North's 'earn your stripes' mantra in the lead-up to the clash with Collingwood was admirable and brave but we would suggest that quite a few of the Kangaroos failed to walk the walk after talking the talk all week.
Expect some warm and fuzzy pictures and sound bites out of Aegis Park this week as the Kangaroos move to deflect any suggestions of a split in the ranks. The media that examines the issue at length will stand accused of beating it up to within an inch of its life.
Students of North's history will recall that the four weeks before the famous Grand Final win in 1977, coach Ron Barassi went on World of Sport after a six-goal loss to Hawthorn in the qualifying final and also named names.
Those singled out by Barassi were dumped from the side and the Kangaroos didn't drop a game from there.
In the meantime, it will be a tough few days within the confines of the club with the added complication of a bye this week before another trip to Perth to follow to face Fremantle.
There will be lots of pressure, to be sure, on Hansen and Wright in a fortnight's time. But the skipper, just quietly, would want to play a blinder, too.
CLARKSON SILENCES CRITICS... MOMENTARILY
They were all but handing around the 'Sack Alastair Clarkson' petitions in the Hawthorn members' bar at half-time of the twilight clash against Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday evening.
With just 3.13 to Hawthorn's name and trailing an efficient, if not overly good Melbourne by 19 points, there was much stirring and quite a bit of angst among the Hawk faithful, most of whom had bought into the pre-season hype suggesting that their club was the most likely challenger to Collingwood.
The stirring affected the coach as well, who said later that the difference between the first half and the second half was "I was a little bit twitchy in the first half, and a little less twitchy in the second half".
He had nothing to be twitchy about in a third quarter that should keep the doubters at bay for the next little while. The Hawks booted 8.11 to 1.1 to turn that deficit into a 33-point lead, with the final margin out to 45 points.
For periods of the second half, as they posted 114 more possessions than the Demons, the Hawks looked irresistible. Which is what happens when Cyril Rioli, Lance Franklin, Luke Hodge, Shaun Burgoyne, Jarryd Roughead, Sam Mitchell and Brad Sewell all strike a rich vein of form at the same time.
There were shades of the imperious Hawks of 2008 in the way they mounted attack after attack from half-back. But there were a few new touches to the palette. The first was David Hale, whose ruck dominance was key. Then there was Burgoyne, who spent much of the second half as a mobile - and very clever - full-forward. With seven goals in two games, he is Hawthorn’s leading goalkicker after the first two weeks of the season.
Adding drive off half-back was Matt Suckling, who with 31 touches and two goals, played easily his best game for the Hawks in his three seasons on the senior list. Jordan Lewis called him the best kick at the club in a post-match radio interview.
Youngsters Suckling, Liam Shiels and Shane Savage have added some hunger and freshness to the Hawks and for the time being, are keeping premiership players such as Xavier Ellis, Brent Guerra and the serviceman, Tom Murphy out of the side.
One of the keys to Collingwood last year and Geelong in the years before that is that they batted deep. And while the Hawks have some way to go before they can be classed as genuine premiership contenders, Clarkson can be pleased with his depth and that he has genuine quality waiting in the wings at Box Hill for an opening. Suckling is a good example of patience in action: he has been on the list for five years, for just eight senior games.
Not all is right with the Hawks; goalkicking and four-quarter consistency, for starters. But they're on the board and if the big names can continue to click at the same time, as they did for much of the match against Melbourne, then Collingwood may yet have some real competition when we get to the pointy end of the season later this year.
A last word from the Hawk pessimists post-match: In round one 2010, the Hawks thrashed Melbourne in a similar display of hot and cold footy; and then lost their next six.
CLUB BY CLUB
Collingwood: The show rolls on. The substitute rule is proof of how well the Pies are traveling. Andrew Krakouer started on the bench against North, so that it could start him on the ground Friday night against the Blues on Friday night on a six-day turnaround.
Carlton: Friday night promises to be one of the best Collingwood-Carlton matches for years and a better indication of where the Blues are at.
West Coast Eagles: The football gods are owed some thanks for making Dean Cox injury-free. A beautiful player to watch when in full flight.
Geelong: No matter the coach, Geelong's big guns know how to pull out the close ones. Forget the silly membership ad, it's this coolness in a crisis that is part of the Geelong DNA for now.
Sydney Swans: A gutsy win over the Bombers. Enjoying Jude Bolton's renaissance as a go-to forward.
Essendon: Still can’t win outside Victoria.
Adelaide: The win over Hawthorn took a big physical toll, so the bye, even in round two, was timely. Big home game against Fremantle this week.
Western Bulldogs: Percentage went from 55 to 114 in a week thanks to a home date with the Brisbane Lions. And now they get Gold Coast. Could be 140 in seven days' time.
Hawthorn: It was a third quarter goal from Cam Bruce against his former club that started the third quarter onslaught for the Hawks.
Fremantle: Michael Walters went from champ to chump in a week.
St Kilda: Perhaps this is the week Ross Lyon draws from the Grant Thomas coaching manual and shouts his players to a movie. Something isn't quite right at Saint-land.
Richmond: Not the ideal circumstance, of course, but Damien Hardwick discovered on Friday night that he does have other avenues to goal.
Port Adelaide: Paid dearly for some poor finishing against West Coast, Will be a long season for Matty Primus if Port can't put away sides like West Coast at home.
Brisbane Lions: Will likely be playing for more than local pride in the two matches against Gold Coast this year. A wooden kitchen utensil might also be up for grabs.
North Melbourne: For all the noise about the stripes, North still looked like the away team against Collingwood when it chose to wear the white shorts.
Gold Coast: It would have been all too easy for Guy McKenna to put players behind the ball after quarter-time on Saturday night. More credit to him.
TWITTERATI
"Shattered for Lenny Hayes! My favorite player to watch. Here's to a super fast recovery" - One 2010 Norm Smith medallist to another; Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury (@SP_10) reaches out St Kilda's Lenny Hayes following Hayes' season-ending knee injury on Friday night. There was much love for Hayes all through the weekend from his fellow players.
"It was a tough night last night! But I think we will learn a lot from the game. It was a good experience for the younger boys...." - Gold Coast skipper Gary Ablett (@GaryAblettJnr) on his side's rude introduction to the AFL.
"Great to get the 1st win on the board for 2011. Hard fought game that came down to wire again keeping the fans on the edge of their seats." - Sydney's Ryan O’Keefe (@okeeferyan) after the five-point win over Essendon.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brett Deledio (Richmond): Nine touches early on while playing as free-wheeling running half-back. Another 20 while shadowing St Kilda star Brendon Goddard. A tremendous effort.
IF YOU ONLY WATCH ONE GAME NEXT WEEK…
Collingwood and Carlton, sitting first and second on the ladder, both with percentages over 200, and with the Blues hand-picked by the Pies to be watching on as they unfurl their premiership flag from last year. Can it get better than Friday night at the MCG? It explains why we love the footy so much.
