(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images ... Coaching great Damien Hardwick once labelled July “big-boy month”. “It’s when the contenders step up and the pretenders step ...

A year on from Tasmania being handed the 19th AFL ... boy we are moving along and the support and encouragement from people is incredible,” O’Brien said. It has been a whirlwind 12 months ...

“There’ll be more coverage in the papers, especially on the Gold Coast, about AFL than the NRL this weekend ... but go and play against the big boys and see how you go.” ...

He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.

The 2025 AFL fixture has been released. So, to whet your appetite for the upcoming season, we've picked out the five must-watch games from the opening month of ... place in the Big Dance.