We've got our NPR voices ready for one of our absolute favorite bits… but that's just a snippet of a marathon episode about a round that started off as well as any in recent memory, included a lot of personal disappointment for both hosts, and ended… better than lukewarm.

Around the league we go again in a week that saw utter disappointment from our two teams, mind-boggling decisions from officials in more ways than one, and a few sterling performances that deserve 3 or 10 votes depending on what award you're thinking of.

Alternate Title: "Kindly Deeds Done for Free." Both come from Ethan.

We continue our discussion of Round 6 with the final two games of Behind Saturday. Sunday was like a sandwich with high-quality meat on bread that was not up to the task. Heck, maybe even the bread was a little off, because it was an xScore pisser. Enjoy!

Round 6 was so full that we decided to split up our recap, instead of having a marathon episode of even greater length than our earlier ones this season. The Blues are the Blues and of course Collingwood got involved in another after-siren finish, but that isn’t even the main story from Thursday. Friday’s rivalries took on very different tones in Geelong and Sydney, while Single-Digit Saturday began to take shape on the Gold Coast. There are plenty of youngsters’ performances to celebrate throughout… and then we suddenly got the funniest Tribunal / Appeals Board news possible right as we thought we’d wrap up.

Gather Round 4.0 is in the books, and we hope it (mostly) sticks in SA. The result of the Saturday night "main event" wasn't surprising, but it leaves us with lots of questions about how dire the Bulldogs' situation really is. Plus, Alex Pearce did it again, the Blues can't get out of their own way, and the Kassel Cup had another predictable outcome.

This is much more than your regular recap: we're truly going international this time! Ethan has launched a brilliant initiative, and Benjamin is completely on board. Plus, our commiserations on both our teams losing in very different embarrassing ways, and all sorts of fun with derpy moments and coaches that look absolutely lost.

I mean, most of footy doesn't have to do with that. Neither does someone wiping blood on an opponent, though, and that happened this week. Tristan Xerri will make us remember this round for a while, but so will West Coast's Jobe Shanahan, and so too will the Blues and their legendary collapse.

Spring has arrived in America, and the first Eagles win has arrived in Perth — both worthy causes for celebration. Fourth quarters turned every which way in Round 2 and occupy much of our focus, particularly in the round bookends and the Showground tilt. …Oh, and Essendon got blasted on the oval athletically, and now off the oval verbally.

So much for noises of affirmation or dissent… what about when you need to express something but don't know what to use?

Thankfully, we've got plenty to express after a full round of footy. The Thursday opener reminded all doubters how a season should truly start, while the Cats shook off a rough first 5 quarters of the season to finish strong down the highway. And who'd have thought the Des and Saints would deliver peak entertainment in the year 2026?

We're back at long last, ready for another season! Benjamin has gotten into teaching, and he and Ethan are knee-deep into state basketball playoffs, but the footy consumes all. Find out our initial thoughts on new rules, takeaways from the first five games, and our picks for round awards.