The pressure to succeed and the unpredictability of the modern AFL game was never more evident than in last weekends round of matches .

The Cats thrashed the Lions at the Gabba', Western Bulldogs beat in form team Sydney and the Saints suffered their third loss in a row to a speedy , youthful Bombers side .

The Richmond Tigers looked poised to breakthrough with their first win of the 2010 season only to have it snatched away by their Hawthorn opponents in the dying moments of the game.

A  youthful Melbourne Demons team were no match for a rejuvenated West Coast Eagles who beat them soundly at the MCG.

Interstate results saw Carlton hold off Port Power at AAMI stadium and the Collingwood Magpies beat vastly improved Fremantle Dockers at Subiaco.

Many fans, tipsters and media commentators would have expected different results to those posted in this round of matches .

Fans were out everywhere in their jumpers , jerseys , guernseys to cheer their team on and to will them to succeed.

Nic Naitanui's Jumper

AFL team , the Collingwood Magpies packed their famous black and white team colours jumpers , jerseys , guernseys to travel interstate.

They played Fremantle Dockers at Subiaco , Western Australia on Friday night .

The iconic black and white colours triumphed over the predominantly purple and white of the Dockers .

AFL Football Teams will travel interstate to play footy with mixed success.

On friday night in Western Australia , the black and white's triumphed .

Fans were resplendent in their black and white jumpers , jerseys, guernseys .

AFL team Collingwood's players ran off the ground in their black and white jumpers , jerseys, guernseys exhausted but triumphant .

Collingwood Magpies Football Jumper

All jumpers, jerseys , guerneys are distinctive colours . Whenever you think of a football club you always think of those colours.

St Kilda evokes red, white and black , Swans red and white and Collingwood black and white .Hawthorn brown and gold , and Carlton Navy Blue and white etc . So it goes.

These colours are reminscent of the club and its colours as worn in their teams jerseys , jumpers , guernseys.

New clubs to the afl have a limited choice of colours as most combinations are already taken by the victorian clubs.

Fremantle has had much success this year and their distinctive white with a purple anchor are unforgettable .They have forged a brand with a unique colour combination.

red and white

Richmond Tigers played the Western Bulldogs on Easter Sunday , 4th April, The Tigers ,who were the Home Side wore their traditional black guernsey , jersey , jumper with the yellow sash.

The Western Bulldogs, the Away side , wore the white clash strip that is becoming more popular with clubs .

It provides a distinctive contrast to the other team especially if one of the teams is wearing black .

More evidence of this trend was at the Essendon Bombers versus the Fremantle Dockers Match on Easter Sunday .

The Bombers wore their traditional Home strip of black with a red sash . The Dockers wore their all white clash strip with the purple anchor emblazoned on the front .

Results from both games saw big wins to the white or clash strip wearers. A victory to the whites versus the blacks .

With the resounding success enjoyed by the non traditional white jumper wearers will more teams adopt this white clash strip?

Only time will tell but these white jumpers , jerseys , guernseys will probably become highly collectable .

white / clash

The first round of the NAB Cup is over with the winning teams continuing in the competition to decide the premiership team. Some clubs like Port Adelaide Power are sporting a completely new style of strip. Gone is the fist / lightning bolt etc to be replaced with a more traditional 3 colour v neck guernsey .
All the other teams retained their traditional colours but some favoured a re - vamped version on the old theme eg st kilda's reworking of its traditional strip. Some clubs again used the trend of recent years by playing in white with a distinctive motif eg the fremantle dockers and west coast eagles. The Brisbane Lions have a new Lion mascot . The well known clubs such as Carlton and Collingwood prefer to play in their traditional strip / colours . If you have a very famous distinctive strip such as these two teams perhaps it is wise not to tamper with a tried and tested popular formula.
These slick , sleek football guernseys are the modern day incarnation of the old woollen model . This model is still keenly sought by collectors and fans alike and even by those who just want to play kick to kick with the boys pre and post match .

old style

kangaroos hop up the ladder

Winners are grinners and the Saints are smiling all the  way to the top of the AFL League ladder after effectively demolishing the Fremantle Dockers on saturday night. Four wins in a row all against interstate clubs have secured St Kilda's top spot ahead of Geelong who are second on the ladder also with four wins .

Other winners at the weekend include Collingwood who  beat the Lions in front of their  home town crowd at the Gabba, and the Cats who held off a determined Adelaide side at AAMI stadium. The Power out-powered last years premiers the Hawks by 3o points at the MCG and the Eagles beat the Western Bulldogs over in Subiaco .

The Kangaroos held off the young Bombers to secure victory in a lack lustre  game and Richmond Tigers woes increased as they were beaten by a spirited Melbourne  Demons side .The Demons celebrated whilst the Tigers continued with their four game losing streak which sees them languishing on the bottom of the AFL ladder emphasizing their poor start to the Season.

Up in Sydney the Swans beat Carlton and some Carlton players  like Fevola continue to struggle with inaccurate kicking .

The AFL staged a staggered round of matches to accommodate the Easter holiday break .

In Round 3 of the  fixture the Saints , Bombers , Bulldogs , Cats , Lions , Power , Hawks and Crows all won their matches .

Collingwood , Carlton , Eagles , Tigers , Swans , Demons ,North  Melbourne  and the Dockers were all losers.

The Blues were beaten by only 4 points against a young determined Bombers side and the Cats, Saints and Bulldogs continued on their winning way with all three sides being undefeated at the close of play of round 3 .

St  Kilda are on top of the AFL ladder after defeating three interstate teams , the Swans, Crows and Eagles. They take on another interstate team in the Fremantle Dockers in round 4 at Etihad Stadium on saturday night the 18th of april.

an old style vintage football jumper with button up front

signed Saints guernsey (number 9 Fraser Gehrig 08)

Saints are on a high after beating Adelaide at home at AAMI stadium in front of a parochial home town crowd .The Saints ran out victors by 15 points and welcomed back crowd favourite ex skipper Lenny Hayes into their midfield line -up.

The Western Bulldogs beat the North Melbourne side by the same margin of 15 points at the MCG on sunday afternoon .The Doggies managed to hold off the Kangaroos in a fiercely fought physical contest .

Collingwood out to reverse their poor form over the Crows in round one at AAMI stadium were successful victors over the Melbourne Football Club at the time honoured venue of football the MCG on Saturday afternoon at 2.10pm .The Magpies victory was tainted post match when the father of Demons player Nathan Jones was viciously attacked outside gate 4 at the MCG by 3 young Collingwood supporters . Charges have been laid and Collingwood Football Club has stated that they will cancel the attackers memberships.
West Coast playing at home in Subiaco ran out winners over financially beleagured Port Adelaide Power.
Geelong has continued on its winning way claiming victory over a Tigers side playing without star recruit Ben Cousins .How long will fans be happy with Richmond languishing on the bottom of the AFL ladder?
Carlton treated their success starved fans to a win over the Brisbane Lions in front of a capacity home town crowd at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Sydney playng at home were able to beat the young post premiership Hawks who proved they are making a sluggish start to the 09 season with  2 losses in a row  .Sydney's ex - captain Brett Kirk has been charged with bumping an umpire highlighting the AFL's seriousness in their crackdown on player conduct towards on field umpires
Essendon outplayed a struggling Fremantle Dockers side to grab their first taste of success for the season.

The Easter Weekend is a split round of matches with the curtain raiser game being played this Thursday Night between  Geelong and Collingwood at the MCG at 7.40pm.The AFL determined not to break the tradition of no football on Good Friday will not host any games on that day..The easter break promises to provide a wide choice of matches for footy fans.

Further matches will be spread over the Easter period with one day game and three night games being played on Easter Saturday and three day games being played on Easter Sunday culminating with one Easter Monday day game. This final game of the round will be played at Etihad Stadium between  Richmond and the Western Bulldogs and is guaranteed to attract a sell-out crowd .Lots of games , times and venues are giving footy fans a football feast over the Easter Holiday.