Our Odd Couple — Bone and Rooch — look at the big issues in footy

OUR Odd Couple — Chris “Bone” McDermott and Michelangelo “Rooch” Rucci — look at the big issues in football today including footy in China, the high-flying Eagles, the signature of Tom Lynch and that man Jake Lever.

Our Odd Couple — Chris “Bone” McDermott and Michelangelo “Rooch” Rucci — look at the big issues in football today, including footy in China, the high-flying Eagles, the signature of Tom Lynch and that man Jake Lever.

Jack Hombsch of the Power celebrates with the small crowd after the match at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai, China. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

1. What do you think of China, Christopher?

BONE: LOVE the China experiment. And I love what Port Adelaide are trying to do over there, but there is one really big question. Dare I use the line, “The look of the game”.

It does not look good playing in a country of more than one billion people and in a city with a bigger population than Australia with a stadium that is half full to its 11,500 seats ... or half empty.

I know the television audience is huge. And even bigger are the potential spin-offs beyond football. But it looks a failure to all those watching here in Australia. Something must be done to fix the look.

ROOCH: JUST for you (and a few others Christopher), the past two Suns-Power games at the 27,500-seat Metricon Stadium at the Gold Coast have failed to draw 10,000 fans.

Game 1 in Shanghai was tough on the fans who did not want to roast in the sun; Game 2 was under rain — and the fans preferred the tents on the side out of the camera range.

“Something must be done” ... Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas has heard you Christopher. He wants a night match — and he then needs the rain to hold off. Then there will be more chance of those seats at Jiangwan Stadium being seen as filled.

2. Is West Coast the real deal?

BONE: YES. Yes, yes, yes. Pure and simple — the Eagles have two key forwards; a solid midfield and a strong defence coupled with the best ruckman in the game.

And there is that strong home-ground advantage at a new home ground. They have a mortgage on a grand final berth, but this season does have a long way to go and an injury can change it all very quickly.

ROOCH: NIC Naitanui. Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling in attack. Jeremy McGovern in defence. And a new, younger and faster midfield with eagerness to prove themselves now that opportunity has presented with Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis moving on.

As Port Adelaide found in 2014 at Adelaide Oval, there can be an extra edge in working to a new venue. If the Oval became the “Portress”, what does Perth Stadium become?

Tom Lynch fires off a handball despite pressure from Carlton’s Cam O’Shea. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Media/Getty Images

3. Why would Adelaide hold off signing Tom Lynch?

BONE: BECAUSE the Crows have no idea on the strengths and weaknesses of their playing group.

It has been a problem for 28 years starting with the moment Darren Jarman was allowed to walk to Hawthorn when the club was setting up its first squad in 1990. Dare I mention Kurt Tippett, Jack Gunston, Patrick Dangerfield and Jake Lever?

Tom Lynch should be offered what he deserves — and not a penny less. He is a key component to premiership success. Adelaide should not want that to unfold with another club across the border.

You must keep your kings. Lynch is a king on and off the field. As part of the Crows leadership group, retaining Lynch is a must. A must!

ROOCH: CANNOT be a salary cap issue. Would never be about the Adelaide management “low balling” player managers. Might be an eagerness to see who wants to work a package deal with draft picks the Crows can use to advance into November’s AFL national lottery where there is enticing SA talent.

But, to borrow from your catchy themes Christopher, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. And, in more relevant football speak, when the ball is in Tom Lynch’s hands, you can be sure a few Crows forwards will get it too. This is gold.

Jake Lever will play his much-anticipated first game against the Crows ... in Alice Springs. Picture: Michael Klein

4. Did the AFL make a mistake by not having the Jake Lever game at Adelaide Oval?

BONE: NO it did not. The boffins at AFL House actually got it right.

I get the emotion behind Jake Lever’s departure from Adelaide, but you cannot have games for every player and club that disagree with each other. And we all know Lever left because he was undervalued when the contract talks started at West Lakes.

The game will have its own theme regardless of where it is played. Most importantly, the Crows will get the four points. That will hurt far more than any sledge.

ROOCH: STRANGE how the AFL ignored this one. Clearly, the Melbourne agenda — particularly in Alice Springs with the indigenous round — was far more important.

The Lever moment will still have a sting when the clubs meet at Adelaide Oval on July 28.

Unless Lever is as unlucky as Kurt Tippett was every time Sydney was due to play the Crows in Adelaide.

Chris McDermott approaches a Port supporter after being donked on the head from the crowd during an SANFL game between Glenelg and Port Adelaide in 1988.

5. You didn’t mind the fans reaching over the fence to pat you on the backside Christopher?

BONE: I did Rooch and you and I will both recall a day in the mid to late 80s when that exact thing happened in a Glenelg-Port Adelaide game at Glenelg Oval.

One of your “very passionate” Magpies supporters leaned over the fence on the half-forward flank and didn’t pat me on the bum but whacked me over the head with her umbrella. It was caught on camera by an Advertiser photographer much to all of our humour. No harm done and a good laugh had by all.

Those days are over!

ROOCH: MUM says that umbrella never opened again. She reckons she could have hit the side of the Glenelg tram and it would not have left such a dent in it.