As the first month of fixtures drew to a close last Sunday evening, a belief morphed into empirical truth - 2021 is already rivalling last year in terms of unpredictability.
If you don't believe me, just take a look at the current ladder.
With the second month of the marathon season set to commence tonight, another set of questions remain ahead of both the men in the hot seat and their disciples in studded boots.
Whether flying high or having to continually dig deep for no reward, here are the latest set of quandaries facing each of the AFL's 18 teams.
Essendon
Are their efforts of the last fortnight something that can be replicated each week?
Despite finishing the last fortnight with a 1-1 record, Ben Rutten's Bombers have been arguably one of the most exciting teams in the competition.
After steamrolling the Saints to the tune of 75-points over the Easter weekend, Essendon flew north to take on the Swans in a contest that truly could have gone either way, yet sadly for Dons' fans, it ended in a three-point loss.
In the first of these contests, the second iteration of the baby Bombers were ruthless in putting the lethargic Saints to the sword right from the first bounce. In the second, it was their front-on intensity when attacking the ball carrier that kept them within touching distance โ or actually in-front โ for almost all of last Thursday night.
Room to grow ๐ฑ
Truck's optimistic about what we're bringing ๐ช
— Essendon FC (@essendonfc) April 15, 2021
Against the Saints, Essendon racked up 106-points from turnovers โ the most of any AFL team since 2008. Against the Swans, the Dons were able to create 66 turnovers, make 78 tackles (12 of them inside 50) and take 20 scoring shots.
Although these secondary efforts were not enough to claim the four competition points, they have entrenched the benchmark for the remainder of the season.
As 2021 is his first season as senior coach and he is working with an injury depleted and youthful list, Ben Rutten will be afforded an โout' if these Essendon efforts fall off a cliff in the coming months. However, as his side are fixtured to face the downtrodden Lions, the beleaguered Magpies, the unproven Blues and the previously winless Giants across the next month, there may yet be plenty more wins left before the bye.
