We have a tearaway favourite, a logjam for positions in the top eight, and teams who are already looking forward to next year. As the season begins to heat up, we ask the big questions ahead of Round 15.

Carlton v Geelong

Can Jeremy Cameron return back to form?

When these two sides played earlier in the season, Geelong recorded its seventh win to jump to a 7-0 start, helped by Jeremy Cameron who kicked 5.1 and also had 17 disposals as he dominated all across the field. Since that round, however, Geelong and Cameron have had a severe downward slump.

The Cats have only had one win against the injury-decimated Tigers since that game against Carlton and their status as a top-four contender has significantly declined. This has coincided with their superstar Cameron struggling to have an effective impact on games as he has only kicked five goals from his last five games collectively, with his bag against the Blues now a distant memory.

As such, it will be interesting to see whether Geelong and Cameron can replicate what they did in Round 7 as a way for them to regain their early season form. Without the Cats’ star forward having an imposing presence throughout the ground, Geelong’s structures and scoring chains are less impactful and easier to defend against. Regarded as arguably the best player in the game after Round 7, Cameron needs to rediscover their form if Geelong are to achieve their goals in 2024.

Port Adelaide v Brisbane

What do Port do about Dayne Zorko?

A move made out of necessity due to Keidean Coleman’s ACL injury in Opening Round, Dayne Zorko has relished his role down at half back. Zorko has been pivotal to the Lions’ damaging ball movement in the backline, registering at least 15 kicks in their last six games as he has helped Brisbane recover from their early season slump and showcase some of their form from last year, when they were a kick away from a premiership.

So far, Zorko has largely been allowed to do as he pleases off the half-back line as teams haven’t yet identified the crucial and damaging role he possesses in Brisbane’s offensive chains. Therefore, it’ll be interesting to watch if Port Adelaide will look to stop Zorko this week and the method they employ in doing so.

Saturday’s game is crucial for Port – can they prove their credentials against significant opposition after a disappointing loss to GWS? For the Power to send a warning sign to everyone else and come away from the Gabba with four points, they need to find a way to nullify the five-time Lions best and fairest player from dictating play off half back.

GWS v Sydney

Can Sydney rectify their starts?

There is very little the Swans are doing wrong right now as they have firmly presented themselves as the undoubted premiership favourites. They currently sit a whopping three games and a hefty percentage ahead of second place. However, coach John Longmire would not want his side to get complacent and would be hell-bent on improving to maintain their gap atop the ladder.

One area which they would want to address is their poor starts. The Swans have lost their last four opening quarters and whilst they have been able to overpower sides in the back half of games, logic suggests that they can’t keep giving their opponents a head start every single week. If the Swans can start games well, it lessens the pressure on them later in games to consistently have to put the foot down and mount quick comebacks; a method that does not look sustainable week after week.

This week against GWS, it’ll be interesting to see how the Swans start the game. If they can fix their opening quarters, the competition’s scariest team to play against may just jump to another level.

Melbourne v North Melbourne

Have North learnt from their last two final quarters?

North Melbourne did so much right last week against Collingwood as they led by as much as 54 points before the Pies staged an unbelievable comeback to snatch victory and the chance for the Roos to notch back-to-back games.

It seemed like déjà vu for North Melbourne, as the week before against West Coast, they gave up a 33-point lead in the last quarter before coming back with the final two goals to win. The Kangaroos have shown a markedly improved effort in the last few weeks; however, one stage that still needs to improve is their ability to run out games.

Whilst North is still a very young and inexperienced side, for them to rise up the ladder over the next few years, they need to be able to display a full four quarter effort in order to start registering wins. Against an under-pressure Dees side, it’ll be interesting to see if North Melbourne can get themselves ahead of the game and sustain that effort throughou,t which will help them in their goal of a second win.

Essendon v West Coast

Can Essendon rediscover their stoppage ascendancy?

Whilst Essendon have had a very good season so far, they have struggled in their last two games with losses to Gold Coast and Essendon. One part of their game that has declined has been their stoppage ascendancy. In their last four games, the Bombers have been -28 in clearances collectively against their opponents as they have lacked the stoppage potency that was so dangerous for them at the start of the season.

Admittedly, this has been partially due to injuries to significant onballers such as Duursma, Parish and Setterfield. However, Brad Scott would dearly want his on-ball brigade to regain their ascendancy at stoppages if the Bombers are to maintain their form from the start of the season. The engine room of Merrett, Caldwell, Durham and Perkins need to reestablish their dominance from the coalface for them to get back to winning ways.

Against West Coast at Marvel Stadium this week, the Bombers should be too good for the Eagles, but it will be interesting to see if their prime movers can find some of their best form again and remind the competition of how dangerous this midfield can potentially be.

Fremantle v Gold Coast

How does Ryan deal with the extra attention?

Last week, it was a horror show for Fremantle as they conceded 149 points to the Western Bulldogs in a 67-point loss, the largest score they have conceded since 2018. A major reason why the Bulldogs were able to bypass the normally miserly Dockers’ defence was their role in holding gun interceptor Luke Ryan accountable and making him play one on one.

Whilst they didn’t send one player to Ryan in a hard tag, they ensured there was always one forward contesting with Ryan, meaning he could not play freely behind the ball and intercept like he normally has this season, as he was limited to just 15 disposals – his lowest tally this year.

Fremantle must now expect that teams will do something similar, and their opponents Gold Coast have already stopped one premier interceptor this season. Ben Long played a crucial role on Geelong star Tom Stewart in Round 10 as he was held to zero marks. As such, Justin Longmuir must expect for his star defender to cop some attention this week and it’ll be interesting to see how the Dockers and Ryan look to work their way through it.