Round 22 of the 2025 AFL season is in the books. So, it's time to react ... or overreact to the biggest talking points of the week.
Would Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera leaving St Kilda rip the soul out of the club? Do the Crows deserve premiership favouritism?
Let's get to this week's overreactions, where we judge a few major takeaways as legitimate or irrational.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera leaving St Kilda would rip the soul out of the club
With just two weeks left in the season, Saints gun Wanganeen-Milera still hasn't made a public decision about his footy future. St Kilda CEO Carl Dilena on the weekend said he was "7.5/10 confident" in retaining the star. So, does he remain at St Kilda and help the club out of the doldrums, or does an offer from Port Adelaide -- or any other team, for that matter -- manage to pry him away?
Verdict: Not an overreaction
We can only speculate on where Wanganeen-Milera will be playing in season 2026, but if he was to leave the Saints, it would be as disastrous as it gets in a footy context.
Wanganeen-Milera has proved over the past six weeks he could very well be a generational player for the club. Only 22 years of age, and still with enormous upside, the Saints desperately need to hold onto him. Remember, St Kilda has forever been starved of true superstars.
Not since Nick Riewoldt has this club had a player on its list so marketable. Not since Robert Harvey has it had someone capable of winning the Brownlow Medal. You cannot underestimate the value of having a player like that. It makes everyone else walk taller, it instils confidence, and generates much needed buzz around a club which has been crying out for it.
Perhaps we're jumping the gun a touch, but Wanganeen-Milera has the potential to go down as an all-time St Kilda legend. If he delivers a premiership, he may go down as their most important player ever.
On the flip side, if he were to leave, it would be totally crippling. A loss of Wanganeen-Milera would likely set the club back years, both in talent and culture. It would be a gut punch to every Saints player, coach, and fan. How can you possibly recover? The Saints simply must find a way to get this deal done.
The Crows deserve to be premiership favourites with two weeks left
With two rounds remaining, Adelaide sits on top of the ladder with the most wins in the league, the best percenatge, and probably the most dynamic forward line. Their skipper could very well win the Brownlow Medal, and the club may wind up having up to four All-Australians come the end of the season.
Verdict: Overreaction
Sorry, Croweaters, but regardless of where they sit on the ladder, and how far ahead they are, if there's a Victorian team in the top two (or, top four, even), they have to be the flag favourites.
We're taking nothing away from the Crows, who have been excellent this season, but that MCG advantage the Victorian teams enjoy is too much to overlook. Let's play a little hypothetical game. It's Grand Final day, and the No. 1 ranked Crows are playing Geelong or Collingwood. Are you confident they beat them? In fact, only twice in the last 20 years has a non-Victorian team beaten a Victorian team in the Big Dance.
Not that we want to dig up the past, but this exact scenario played out on that fateful afternoon eight years. In 2017, the Crows won the minor premiership and were hot favourites to beat Richmond on Grand Final day. We know the rest of the story.
To that end, the Cats are currently the -- deserved -- premiership favourites. Prove us wrong.