The Swans have indicated they will give their goalkicking ace every chance to prove his fitness but coach Paul Roos' early assessment did not seem overly hopeful.
"It's a bit of an unknown until he starts getting into things this week. In three or four days we'll see whether he can run and whether he can strap it – all those sorts of things. He's probably less than 50-50," Roos was quoted as saying in the Sunday press.
Hall suffered the injury early in the 16-point victory over Richmond and was largely ineffectual when he returned to the field. Emerging full-back Daniel Merrett loomed as the natural match-up for the three-time All-Australian.
Aside from Hall's injury, Sydney's first win of the season was notable for its workmanlike nature, an excellent display in the ruck from Peter Everitt and the return to form of 2006 Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes. The Swans started strongly and would have won by more with better accuracy in front of goal, while Goodes, quiet against West Coast the week before, was a valuable contributor.
Everitt, on the other hand, was best afield in only his second game as a Swan and will present an enormous challenge for the Lions ruck brigade, which has dined out on the comparatively weaker big-men stocks of Hawthorn and St Kilda.
In other weekend results, Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr were superb in West Coast's 12-point win over Collingwood, while Geelong inflicted a 78-point reality check on pre-season surprise packet Carlton. Port Adelaide is unbeaten headed into the round three ‘Showdown’ with cross-town rivals Adelaide following am 18-point win against the Kangaroos, while the Crows are also in form, having thumped the Western Bulldogs by 38 points on Sunday.
Fremantle's poor start to what many envisaged as a potential premiership season continued when it went down by 10 points to the vastly improved Essendon, while another 2006 finalist, Melbourne, is also without a win after being beaten by 22 points by Hawthorn on Monday.
For standout individual performances, it's difficult to go past the dynamic duo Kerr and Judd – particularly the former, who had 36 touches and six tackles against the Magpies. Judd wasn't half bad, either, contributing 29 possessions and a pair of goals. Andrew McLeod showed he and Adelaide are far from spent forces with 35 telling touches in the Crows' emphatic demolition of the highly-fancied Bulldogs.
Among the wreckage of the Bulldogs' loss was an unfortunate 250th game for ex-Lion Jason Akermanis, who suffered the ignominy of a team loss, an injured hamstring and being among six senior players highlighted by coach Rodney Eade as being well below-par in their performance. Akermanis is expected to miss at least two weeks.
Sydney 13.10 (88) d Richmond 11.6 (72)Sydney chalked up its first win of the season but might have lost star forward Barry Hall for the round three clash with the Lions in the process. Hall injured a knee early in the game and, although he returned to the field of play, he was ineffectual and must be regarded as highly doubtful for Sunday's match. Hall dramas aside, it was a successful afternoon for the Swans, who would have been more comfortable winners with some better conversion inside the forward 50m – their second term netted 2.6. Peter Everitt was adjudged best on ground in his second game as a Swan, while Nick Malceski, Ben Mathews, Adam Goodes and Amon Buchanan were also influential. For the Tigers, Brett Deledio was best, with Kelvin Moore doing a good job of keeping the dangerous Adam O'Keefe quiet.
Geelong 24.18 (162) d Carlton 12.12 (84)Star father-and-son recruit Tom Hawkins enjoyed a fairytale three-goal debut, as the Cats brought pre-season premiers Carlton back to earth with a 78-point footballing lesson. Cameron Mooney and Nathan Ablett kicked five goals each for Geelong, with Hawkins' first goal in league football, a booming conversion from beyond 50m, an indication of his talents. The Cats' score was a new record against the Blues, as was the margin, breaking previous benchmarks established in 1925 and 1933. Carlton's golden run through the NAB Cup and round one came to an abrupt halt. Brendan Fevola was held goalless after being continually double and triple-teamed and Lance Whitnall was again scratching around for any semblance of form. Gary Ablett and David Wojcinski battled it out for best afield honours for the victors.
West Coast 12.15 (87) d Collingwood 11.9 (75)Reigning premier West Coast could be headed for another Brownlow quinella if Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr can maintain the form they displayed in Saturday's 12-point win over Collingwood. Kerr, who appears to have emerged from a controversial off-season without harm, was nigh on impossible to tackle or corner in gathering 36 possessions, while Judd was at his hard-running, precise-delivering best. Kerr finished a close runner-up to teammate Ben Cousins in the 2005 Brownlow, the year after Judd took out football's highest individual honour. Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse lamented his team's "butchering" of the football post-match but most observers would more kindly have described the Pies' effort as a brave one against high-quality opposition. Anthony Rocca kicked four goals for the Magpies, including several trademark long bombs, but was reported for charging West Coast defender Jaymie Graham in the second quarter. The report was subsequently withdrawn. David Wirrpanda, a surprise starter up forward, topped the Eagles' goalkicking with three majors, including a freakish effort from the boundary in the first term that will surely be a contender for goal of the year.
Port Adelaide 17.20 (122) d Kangaroos 15.14 (104)The Burgoyne brothers, Shaun and Peter, starred as Port held off the determined Kangaroos to preserve its perfect record with an 18-point win. Both Burgoynes were prolific in an entertaining second term in which the Power turned a narrow quarter-time deficit into a 10-point half-time lead. The home side kicked on in the third quarter and led by 33 points half-way through the term, before the Kangaroos ground their way back into the contest. Two late goals by Brent Harvey had the gap back to 15 points by the final change. When Harvey goaled again early in the final stanza, a Roos comeback victory looked a distinct possibility. The Power, however, steadied and a goal to Nathan Krakouer – nephew of Phil and Jim – sealed the result. Brett Ebert booted five goals for Port Adelaide, with Corey Jones and Harvey contributing four apiece for the Kangaroos. Dean Laidley's side must defeat Hawthorn in Rivalry Round next week to avoid being winless when they "host" the Lions at Carrara in round four.
Essendon 19.8 (122) d Fremantle 17.10 (112)Essendon continued its dream start to the season, in the process maintaining Fremantle's nightmarish beginning, with a gutsy 10-point win. The Bombers, coming off a round one upset of Adelaide, were again sparked by speedy youngsters and led by Scott Lucas, who kicked five goals. Andrew Lovett and Alwyn Davey were particularly electrifying, and their tireless chasing kept the Dockers under pressure throughout. Having trailed from the opening minutes, Fremantle hit the front half-way through the third quarter, only to see the Bombers kick five of the next six goals. For the Dockers and their long-suffering fans, there was, at least, the promise of the Chris Tarrant-Matthew Pavlich combination (eight combined goals) and another dominant rucking peformance from Aaron Sandilands to take solace in. But there wasn't much else and Brett Peake's suspected broken collarbone could see him added to the list of absentees for Fremantle's round six date with the Lions at the Gabba.
Adelaide 16.14 (110) d Western Bulldogs 11.6 (72)Ex-Lion Jason Akermanis' 250th AFL game was memorable for all the wrong reasons – courtesy of a 38-point Bulldogs loss, a last-quarter hamstring injury and Rodney Eade's post-match assertion that six of his stars, including ‘Aka’, were among his side's worst eight players. The Bulldogs went into the match with confidence after a win over Geelong but ran into a red-hot Adelaide team stung by a shock season-opening loss to Essendon. The Crows possessed a slender four-point lead at quarter-time but turned it on thereafter, with their tackling pressure, numbers around the football and superb organisation notable features. Andrew McLeod was in sublime form for Adelaide across half-back, constantly breaking up Bulldog attacking moves and driving the Crows forward. The only negatives for the Crows, who travel to the Gabba for round seven, were another inefficient display in front of goal and injuries to Robert Shirley (hand) and Graham Johncock (ankle).
Hawthorn 17.14 (116) d Melbourne 14.10 (94)Melbourne joined Fremantle as finalists from last year without a win in 2007 when they went down by 22 points to Hawthorn. Needless to say, the Hawks played much better football than they did in their round one loss to the Lions, overcoming a slow start to dominate play in the second and third terms before holding off a late Melbourne charge. Mark Williams kicked six goals for the Hawks, receiving good support from Tim Boyle (three goals) and good service from midfielders such as Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis. It was an all-together unenjoyable afternoon, however, for the Demons, who lost forward mainstays David Neitz and Russell Robertson to knee injuries in the first and last quarters respectively. Melbourne will host Geelong at the MCG on Sunday.
