THERE is 0-2 and there is 0-2 and right now, there are eight teams without a win to their name that are feeling various forms of anxiety. 

All is not lost. Since the top eight was introduced in 1994, 18 teams have made the finals after losing their first two games, with Sydney in 2014 being the most recent. 

Where the nervousness sets in is at 0-3, from which only six teams went on to make the finals, one of which was Carlton in 2013 and only after Essendon was disqualified from September action. 

So for these clubs, a big week looms. Let's take a look at how they're tracking, in ladder order. 

11. COLLINGWOOD
Not a whole lot to add to hours of weekend radio already devoted to the Magpies. They could nearly have put the game out of Richmond's reach by half-time had they kicked straight, but they left the window just wide enough for the Tigers to climb back in and take control of the game. There's no doubting that the Pies are turning up to play, but their skill errors are killing them and the No.1 query heading into the season – the potency of their forward line - remains a big problem. Nathan Buckley can rightfully query his list management people and in particular their infatuation with midfielders and ask why they couldn't find him at least one more key forward. The Swans at the SCG on Friday night will be daunting opponents. 

12. NORTH MELBOURNE
Brad Scott picked a team of goers to take on Geelong on Sunday and for three quarters and a bit, they were excellent. It didn't seem to matter there was no Todd Goldstein and no Jarrad Waite, but they made the Cats slow and reactive through much of an absorbing afternoon. Leading the tackle count 18-6 while also leading the game by 25 points at the first change was a reasonable sign of intent. Last season's sweeping personnel changes make a finals appearance seem unlikely for North, but fans should enjoy watching Jy Simpkin, Braydon Preuss, Taylor Garner and Trent Dumont continue to blossom and Shaun Higgins give the All Australian selectors early cause for thought.

13. ST KILDA
The Saints were magnificent for three-and-a-half quarters against West Coast on Saturday night. They headed west with a plan and for much of the game they denied West Coast time and space in the corridor and they worked the scoreboard furiously themselves. They led 6.7 to 4.0 at the first change, but should have led by six goals such was their dominance. So good did they look for large periods against the Eagles, that they should feel comfortable about beating the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood at Etihad Stadium in the next fortnight, to square the ledger at 2-2 and get their season firmly back on track. Circle the Hawthorn game in round six in Tassie as their next chance to bury the growing interstate bogey.

14. HAWTHORN
Not since 2009 have the Hawks dropped their first two games and there seems to be no sense of panic, with coach Alastair Clarkson saying after the 24-point loss to Adelaide that he still believes he has a premiership list at his disposal. We're not quite as convinced, but the Hawks were a bit stiff on Saturday losing runners Grant Birchall, Liam Shiels and Isaac Smith to various injuries when the game was in the balance. Hawthorn's back six remains a concern and the forward line isn't performing close to potential. The upside is that boom recruits Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara have been outstanding. And Clarko, if you're reading, Ryan Burton needs to play every week.

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15. SYDNEY
The Swans probably deserved harsher criticism for their opening-round loss to Port Adelaide, but get nothing but praise here for a brave effort against the Dogs on Friday night. The Swans aren't fielding close to their best side due to injury and on Friday night lost Kurt Tippett early in the game. What we learned from the Swans was a) Lance Franklin is worth just about every cent they're paying him b) Sydney's coaches might be the best in the competition given how first-gamers such as Robbie Fox, Nic Newman and Will Hayward can make an impact straight away and c) midfield leaders Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery need to do just that bit more. The Swans should break their duck against the Pies on Friday night at home, but the West Coast and GWS games to follow will make or break their season.

16. CARLTON
What we saw from Carlton is what we'll likely get all season – honesty and industry, but not enough polish to go with the big boys. They made the Demons sweat on Sunday and hit the lead after a barnstorming third quarter that would have delighted Blues fans, particularly the work of former Giant Caleb Marchbank and draftees Sam Petrevski-Seton and Harrison Macreadie. And good to see Dale Thomas play better after a week of commentary, not all of it informed and some of it unfair.

17. GOLD COAST
The 'no more excuses' year isn't panning out so well thus far for the Suns, who paid a high price for their tardy start in the season opener against the Lions and then appeared to turn up their toes when it got too willing against GWS on Saturday. It was a meek performance from a team coach Rodney Eade said doesn't have too many alpha-type personalities and it doesn't help when Gary Ablett is held to one touch in the first quarter. One-time favourite son O'Meara and the Hawks come to town for a twilight game next Sunday. What sort of response will the Suns provide?

18. FREMANTLE
Hands up those of you thought Fremantle bottomed out last year? Yeah, include me in that group. The freefall seemingly continues after a non-competitive effort against Port Adelaide on Sunday. The worrying part for the Dockers is that they still have one of the oldest lists in the competition. Ross Lyon can keep playing the kids, but he doesn't have all that many, and he'll need a few more drafts and the re-signing of Nat Fyfe to get this thing going again.

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Crows shop early

Adelaide would likely have settled for a split of their opening two games of the season after drawing the Giants and Hawthorn to start with. Instead, the Crows are 2-0 and they're off and running.

Improvement has come incrementally for the Crows but what delighted them on Saturday was conceding a 24-point lead at quarter-time to a team they hadn't beaten since 2011 and had lost a few heartbreakers to (refer the 2012 preliminary final and round five last year) and turning it around from there.

They were on the receiving end of blistering start from Hawthorn but even late in the first quarter, the sense was the game was being played on their terms. It was crying out for ruckman Sam Jacobs to take control and once he did there was an air in inevitability about it all. 

"To play in different way and win in different way is a benefit to take out if the game," coach Don Pyke said afterwards, adding that the players themselves starting making the on-field adjustments to get the Crows back in the game.

The ability to adjust on the fly is the hallmark of really good teams. Two weeks in and we're ready to include the Crows in that group. 

Do yourself a favour…

If you haven't already done so, to watch the final quarter of Friday night's Bulldogs-Swans clash, which had as many twists and turns as the final stanza of the Grand Final they played in last year, but the standard of football far, far better. 

Three goals from Lance Franklin, brilliance from Jake Stringer and Marcus Bontempelli and some umpiring controversy for the Monday morning quarterbacks, this game had it all. 

When the coaches pause to reflect afterwards that it must have been a great game to watch, then you know it was one to watch over and over again. So please do.

Other observations

1. We in the football media can be prone to hyperbole but the push in the back free kick awarded to Hawk Paul Puopolo in the third term at the MCG on Saturday really might have been, as Paul Roos remarked on the Fox Footy match call, one of the worst ever paid. 

2. Dustin Martin has us all in his thrall as he makes a blistering start to the season for Richmond. But some of the work from Trent Cotchin in the second half was outstanding and played a key role in getting the Tigers home. The Tigers have been good so far but West Coast in a tasty Saturday afternoon clash at the MCG this week will represent a considerable step up in class.

3. What is it they say about racehorses? Don't back them second up after a spell? Essendon put paid to that theory at the Gabba, grinding out a 27-point win at the Gabba on Saturday night, having led by 42 points at one stage in the second term before surrendering the lead in the last. 2-0 and with Carlton to come, the Bombers should be well entrenched in the eight ahead of a trip to Adelaide in a fortnight.

4. Adelaide Oval is the place to be next Saturday night. A Showdown featuring teams one and two on the ladder. Nice. 

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5. Jordan Lewis was the poster boy for the 'unsociable Hawks' during that club's dominant era. But now it is Melbourne's turn to face that anxious wait for the Match Review Panel to do its thing every Monday morning. Lewis should just be OK for the clash with Carlton's Patrick Cripps, as should Jesse Hogan for his incident with Sam Rowe. If not, then a terrific twilight game next Saturday against Geelong will be that bit tougher for the Demons, who are 2-0 for the first time since 2005, to negotiate.

6. Brave coaching from Geelong's Chris Scott to temporarily abort the Harry Taylor forward-line experiment midway through the third term with the game against the Kangaroos slipping away. He helped stem the bleeding when he returned to his customary key defensive post, while the Cats forward line looked better without him. Whether a permanent return to the backline is on the cards is something only Scott himself would know. And in keeping with the earlier suggestion about the final 30 minutes of the Dogs-Swans game, the final stanza of Geelong-North was from the top-shelf as well, especially the magnificent leadership of Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield, who will their team over the line. How fortunate the Cats are to have them both.