The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from Round 12
The sight of Nathan Buckley in the coaches’ box and his players in the rooms was staggeringly brutal. Ridiculous, in fact. Mark Robinson explains why.
Mark Robinson
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How much do you pay for an inconsistent performer? If Jake Stringer wants $700k then what does out-of-contract Shai Bolton deserve?
Over to the Blues and when will Carlton fix its defensive game plan?
That is the big question for Blues fans after a lacklustre showing in a winnable game against an injury-depleted, youthful West Coast outfit on Sunday.
But while Carlton failed, Collingwood showed why its playing group is still standing behind coach Nathan Buckley with a gutsy victory on the road.
And let’s not forget Melbourne – are the Demons finally comfortable with being labelled flag favourites?
See all chief football writer Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes below.
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DISLIKES
1. Goodbye at the bye
At 4-8 and finals a distant destination, the bye won’t be a time of rest for the Carlton football department. A deep review into the first half of season is not only required, but it should be demanded by the Blues board. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Sunday wasn’t supposed to play out like it did. It was a horrible loss. West Coast was battered by injury and had no confidence on the road. Yet, the Eagles beat the Blues by 22 points. Carlton lost Harry McKay with concussion, but all teams have injuries. What it shows is they don’t have the depth to cover such major positions like key forward. Overall, their ball use is ordinary and they can’t defend turnover. The review must centre on every element of the defensive game. Stop talking about fixing it and simply fix it. Fans are over it. So are the players. It’s games like this which makes David Teague’s position a topic of discussion. This is 18 months now and you can’t see the necessary defensive improvement which has been promised time and again. Can Teague not implement it, or do the players care about themselves more than the team? It can change. Look at Richmond in 2017. Look at Melbourne this year. And the Blues have to change. At 4-8, it’s near enough to a crisis.
2. The Curious Case of Jake Stringer
Last week against West Coast, Jake Stringer he kicked three goals and it was said he deserves $700,000 a season. On Saturday night, it was one goal, two clearances and a scratchy performance and, similar to then out-of-contact Jordan De Goey, the question is: How much do you pay for an inconsistent performer? He’s curious, Stringer, because he is 192cm and an on-the-fly forward who prefers to avoid wrestling under a high ball and even attempting overhead marks. His work at ground level can be astonishing, but still erratic. He’s chasing a four-year deal at the Bombers and the likelihood of receiving $700,000 a season is a stretch. Perhaps $500,000 with incentives is the go. Put it this way, if Stringer wants $700,000, then what does out-of-contract Shai Bolton deserve?
3. Missy Higgins
OK, Jack Higgins missed goals and he probably cost the team the game, but he wasn’t the only St Kilda player to make mistakes in a meritorious performance at the SCG on Saturday. As Higgins buried his head in his hands after the siren, you’d have to feel for him. The positive, which was highlighted by coach Brett Ratten in the post-match, was that it was Higgins’ best game for the Saints. He had 23 disposals, which was the fourth-most in his career, and had career highs in marks (12), score involvements (12) and shots at goal (seven for 1.6). The other issue was the Saints had a season-high 17 centre-bounce clearances and a season-low zero points return from those clearances. So, there was a bigger issue in the Saints forward line other than Higgins.
4. Missy Naughton
Had the opportunity to put a dint in the Coleman Medal margin, but his 1.5 on Sunday night won’t get it done. He is a weapon, though. His 13 marks were the second-most in a game in his career. Let’s hope he has a 10-goal performance in him because his marking will be phenomenal. He was the dominant player on the ground against Fremantle in terms of winning his own ball, but wayward kicking will likely see him miss votes. Once again, Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli will figure prominently and at this stage of the season, both of them could win the Brownlow Medal. The Dockers, however, won the injury tally. Already a lengthy list, Nat Fyfe (shoulder), Brennan Cox (hamstring) and Sean Darcy (hamstring) will miss, which ends any hope of a Dockers finals spot.
5. Missy Tex
If the finger is being pointed at Jack Higgins, it also has to be pointed at Adelaide’s Taylor Walker. He also was a formidable presence for his team, but failed in front of goal. He kicked 2.6 and in a match decided by five points, his waywardness had as big an impact on the game than anything or anyone else. Indeed, the game was decided by accuracy. The Crows kicked 5.6 from set shots compared to Collingwood’s 8.3 and had five more shots at goal overall (25-20). The Crows’ issue was when they controlled the game in the third quarter, they couldn’t kick goals. That’s now seven losses in their past eight games for the Crows and their promising start to the season – they were 3-1 – has been swallowed by defeat after defeat.
6. Being confused again
Footy had saved itself, we thought, from the inconsistency of the holding the ball interpretation. It returned in a notorious way at Optus Stadium on Saturday night. Players, once again, were allowed to dispose of the ball without it touching their fist and/or foot, which confused fans and players. Commentator Matthew Richardson is the most fair-minded and level-headed media bloke going around, but it even took him by surprise. “I can’t remember a game where so many non-decisions were made around holding the ball,’’ he said on 3AW yesterday. Will the Bombers ask the AFL for a please explain this week?
7. Captain’s brain fade
It was high stakes on Friday night, but there’s a difference between being tough and being stupid. Lions captain Dayne Zorko received a week for clocking Tom McDonald behind play. The week is costly enough. The swing in momentum in the game was a heavier penalty. Zorko’s brain fade came at the 16th minute of the third quarter, with the Lions leading by 13 points. The free kick to McDonald resulted in a goal for Kossie Pickett and the Demons, from the time of the free kick, scored 56-21 across the following quarter-and-a-half. Coaches constantly talk of momentum, and the Zorko elbow was a momentum killer.
8. Crazy times
The quarantine rules for Collingwood, which had Nathan Buckley wearing a face mask in the coaches’ box and the players donning masks in the rooms after the game, were staggeringly brutal. Ridiculous, in fact. It’s the same, if not worse, for Richmond people who stayed in Sydney over the weekend. They have to wear their masks wherever they visit outside of their hotel rooms. The Tigers folk were tested before they departed Melbourne and again on arrival in Sydney, but because they are part of the “dirty’’ team, they have to be masked. No one else in Sydney is wearing a mask, so little wonder they would feel like lepers.
LIKES
1. Playing for Bucks
Doubts about where the playing list stood with Nathan Buckley should be finally put to bed. As Pies players triumphantly marched into the rooms after the win on Saturday, Buckley waited at the door and hand-slapped and/or hugged each player as entered the rooms. It’s symbolic of a group which has not splintered despite a withering round of off-field distraction and on-field criticism. The first telltale sign a coach has lost the players is a lack of team effort is obvious. Against the Crows, the Pies pressure rating was 202. Jamie Elliott was the standout performer, and he was simply brilliant, but the four points would not have been secured if not for the blue-collar work ethic which Buckley has instilled in his young group. Who knows what will happen to the coach in the coming months, but let’s park the commentary, please, on him losing the players. On available evidence, it can’t be the truth. By the way, 18-year-old Caleb Poulter (pick No. 30, 2020 national draft) looks to be a cut above.
2. Gutsy Eagles
Missing Kelly, McGovern, Shuey, Kennedy, Allen and Duggan and, beforehand, probably wearing sick bags on the plane because they hate travelling, the Eagles planted a flag at the SCG on Sunday. They needed to revitalise their season. They can tease, the Eagles, but it was a cracking win against Carlton. They won contested ball by 25 against a midfield which was missing no-one and won clearances by 13. It was heroic for them as it was embarrassing for the Blues. Would not be surprised if coach Adam Simpson labelled it the best win of the season. They were on song early, kicking two goals in four minutes as they waltzed through the Carlton midfield. Gee, it’s great to have Flyin’ Ryan fit and firing.
3. The unsexy back six
The commentary on Sydney is mostly always about its worth forward of centre led, of course, by the unwavering countdown to Lance Franklin’s 1000th goal and how finding a match-up for Isaac Heeney is virtually impossible (which it’s not). But I reckon coach John Longmire would have a decent amount of love for his defensive group. Tom McCartin will grow to a great defender and he nullified Tim Membrey on Saturday when Membrey played forward. McCartin’s teammates are the stopper in George Hewett, the rebounder/stopper in Harry Cunningham, rebounder Jake Lloyd, undersized key defender in Dane Rampe, the distributor Jordan Dawson and, at the weekend, the undersized Robbie Fox. It’s not exactly Worsfold, Jakovich, Wirrpanda and McKenna, is it? Still, they largely get the job done and coming into the round were sixth for points conceded by any team.
4. Unsung Demon backman
Michael Hibberd was once a flourishing rebounder at Melbourne, but now is now a rock-solid defensive stopper, which is further evidence this team has grasped the “do your role’’ mentality. Hibberd’s role in the back six allows Salem, Rivers, Hunt and Lever to attack, create, intercept and rebound while he, Hibberd, takes the opposition’s most dangerous mid-sized and small defender. On Friday night it was on Charlie Cameron and Keidean Coleman. Earlier this year, it was on Richmond’s Dustin Martin, Sydney’s Tom Papley, Hawk Luke Breust and Carlton’s Eddie Betts. The beauty of Hibberd is that he’s unconditional about how he plays the game, which is exactly the commodity you need in defence if you are to win the premiership.
5. Dreamtime at Richmond
There’s not a club as culturally rich as the Tigers. Of the 44 players on their list, nine are indigenous. That’s almost a quarter of their list and they took Matt Parker last week in the mid-season draft. Their opponents at the weekend, Essendon, once the trailblazer of indigenous talent, has five, but only Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is the constant senior player. That has to – and will – change at the Bombers. The Tigers also boast Mabior Chol who, with teammate Callum Coleman-Jones, will have teams beating down their doors. He and CCJ are out of contract at the end of the season and with senior spots scarce when the Tigers have a full book, Chol and CCJ will be offered huge contracts to leave.
6. Bolton from the blue
Richmond and the AFL have successfully covered up the Shai Bolton broken-hand episode which had to be pretty savage, seeing as a $20,000 donation was made. How there is no CCTV vision available publicly of Bolton backing up his mate Dan Rioli in a nightclub stoush is confounding. What’s not confounding is Bolton’s standing as a footballer. His gather, stumble and then twist stumble before kicking a goal in the final quarter against the Bombers was breathtaking and one of the goals of the year. Could he a do a Buzz and win mark and goal of the year?
7. Scratch matches
Five clubs pooled their Melbourne-based talent for a scratch match between two teams at Ikon Park on Sunday, a move which may bemuse locked-down Melbourne but one which the clubs say is vital as the season sits on tenterhooks. One club official said it was ticked off by the AFL and thankfully so, as players at non-Victorian teams continue to play in their second-tier competitions and thus getting match practice. You have to wonder if the State Government’s health experts believe it was a good idea.
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