The biggest winners of Round 1 were...
The Gold Coast Suns, by far. "It was only West Coast," some may cry. But the Suns have been notoriously poor travellers for years, hence their ongoing inability to make the finals, and they even lost this corresponding matchup last year despite starting as -14.5 point favourites.
On this occasion, they had an -8.5 point handicap with the bookies but covered that within the first 20 minutes and never looked back from there, blowing the Eagles out of the water to register their largest ever victory - a whopping 87 points to finish the round with a percentage of 277!
Jarrod Witts recorded the seventh-highest hitout count in V/AFL history (68), falling one short of his personal best 69, and the Suns' core midfield of Matt Rowell, Touk Miller and Noah Anderson dominated the clearances 50-33 to help them record twice as many inside 50s (67-33) as their hosts.
The Suns won just two away games in both 2024 and 2023 and so to already be halfway to matching that total after just one game is precisely where Damien Hardwick and his men would want to be.
The biggest losers of Round 1 were...
The Sydney Swans have, for the first time since the 2019 season when they finished 15th with just eight victories, started a season with consecutive losses.
Many had tipped the Swans to be on the downslide in 2025 after missing their Premiership window last year, particularly with a debutant coach at the helm of a side that has an extensive injury list.
2012 Norm Smith Medallist Ryan O'Keefe was especially scathing of the performance (or lack of) offered up by his club, slamming it as "not AFL standard" on radio.
Head coach Dean Cox wasn't too discouraged by the results, telling reporters after the game: "When we play our best footy, we're as good as any team in the comp. We've shown that against two of the best teams in the comp. We've just got to make sure that we do it for longer."
Goal of the Year: Round 1 nominees
Persistence paid for Gold Coast forward Ben Long, who combined with Bailey Humphrey for most of the ugliest one-twos you'll ever see - but boy was the result spectacular!
Poor old Bailey Smith might not be hoping this stunning boundary line shot from Gryan Miers is replayed too often this year, for it was his inaccurate kick from the centre square that Miers had to chase down and make the most of.
Adelaide's Josh Rachele picked up the final nomination for this impressive snatch, grab and snap in the Crows' 63-point win over St Kilda.
Mark of the Year: Round 1 nominees
"Ben King, taking to the sky!" This fly could be the clubhouse leader for quite some time.
Tom Barrass took just three marks in Hawthorn's win over Essendon but made sure one of them will be remembered.