While September success remains elusive, the Bombers made huge strides last season to make the finals, but there is a long way back from here, particularly in terms of percentage in a tight competition.

Despite being without key players, including Jake Stringer, the Dons were uncompetitive for long periods against the Cats. The only shining light for the Bombers was Nic Martin's stunning debut.

The West Australian booted five of the Bombers' 11 goals and collected 27 disposals.

Martin's first-up performance was one of several feel-good stories in the round.

Carlton's Sam Docherty kicked it off against Richmond, playing his part in the Blues' breakthrough win after shrugging off a second bout of testicular cancer. His goal in the second quarter evoked an emotional response and huge applause from supporters of both clubs.

The following night, Nick Daicos thrilled the Magpie Army on debut alongside his brother Josh, as their proud father, Collingwood champion Peter, watched in the stands at Marvel Stadium.

The younger Daicos was one of Collingwood's best in the win over St Kilda, which also marked coach Craig McRae's first premiership game in charge of the Magpies.

St Kilda's Jack Hayes was another debutant to make his mark in that game. The ruckman/forward, a two-time SANFL premiership player with Woodville-West Torrens who became a Saint recently in the Supplemental Selection Period, was important in their third-quarter revival, finishing with three goals and 18 disposals.

The next day, Paddy McCartin returned after his long battle with concussion issues to play his first game in almost four years for his new club Sydney. Reinvented as a key defender, he was a solid contributor in the Swans' victory over the Giants alongside his brother Tom.

Finally, on Sunday, Adelaide's top pick in last year's national draft, Josh Rachele, snapped a goal with his first kick and finished with a game-high five goals.

Michael Voss (Carlton) and Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn) joined McRae as first-up coaching winners with their clubs.

Luke Beveridge was justifiably chastised and sanctioned for his behaviour at his post-match media conference, but the unedifying episode and its stunning aftermath left many questions unanswered.

As the narrative shifted quickly from Beveridge's personal attack on journalist Tom Morris to the leaking of offensive audio recordings from a WhatsApp group that resulted in Morris' sacking from Fox Footy, any discussion about the Western Bulldogs' performance was buried.

Maybe that was Beveridge's motivation - throw up a distraction to cover up his team's deficiencies, an age-old tactic employed by many coaches.

For the Bulldogs, the Grand Final rematch had an eerily similar outcome to last year's premiership decider, albeit by a much smaller losing margin.

The much-vaunted Bulldogs midfield lacked the defensive mindset to control the influence of Melbourne star Christian Petracca and the attack remains heavily dependent on key forward Aaron Naughton. The Dogs' defence creates plenty of run and carry but struggles to contain the opposition's taller forwards, while Tim English was worked over by the Max Gawn-Luke Jackson ruck combination.

Clearly, there are bigger issues for Beveridge to focus on other than internal leaks about team selection.

While crowds made a welcome return to Victorian venues, the AFL faces a battle to lure supporters off their comfortable couches at home. Despite the league's best intentions by freezing ticket prices and offering other incentives such as cheap pies, people are apprehensive about gathering in large numbers.

As the spectre of catching COVID-19 remains a distinct possibility on public transport or at the venue, the days of 80-90,000 turning up to the MCG will be on hold for the foreseeable future.

Never give a sucker an even break - W.C. Fields could not have imagined his classic phrase in the 1941 movie of the same name would relate to sport, let alone that weird game called cricket.

While the comic actor would not have understood the nuances of the fascinating contest, his words seemed appropriate in Karachi last week as Australia fumbled and eventually squandered a golden opportunity to take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series in Pakistan.

Whoever made the decision to bat a second time, be it captain Pat Cummins, coach Andrew McDonald or a combination of them and others, it was a disastrous call that could cost Australia the series.

Don't buy the argument that the bowlers were tired - while the temperature hovered in the mid-30s, pacemen Mitchell Starc and Cummins bowled only 13 overs apiece in the first innings. By not enforcing the follow on, the Australians provided the Pakistanis with time to regroup mentally and set themselves for a big effort in the second innings.

If Australia does not win the third Test in Lahore this week, Cummins, McDonald and co will rue their decision for a long time.

Has Howard got it right? Email: howardkotton11@gmail.com; Twitter: @hpkotton59