Odd Couple: All hail the Legend Messiah, Blight is King

CHRIS “Bone” McDermott and Michelangelo “Rooch” Rucci look at the big issues in Australian football today.

1. ALL HAIL Malcolm Blight, the Legend. It is surprising he did not have this status long ago from the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Bone: ON THE MONEY

THEY say better late than never!

As a Woodville lover from birth, I will admit to a slight bias here. But “Blighty” is a true great in every sense of the word. A true Hall of Famer, a true legend of the game. There is no debate, no argument.

His football journey has been a great one, from his humble start at Woodville back in the late 60s when the Peckers struggled to win a game except, of course, for the Coca-Cola Cup, if my memory serves me correctly.

He is the 1972 Magarey Medallist. A North Melbourne premiership player in 1975 and again in 1977. He captained both Victoria and SA. He kicked the greatest goal we’ve ever seen to win a game for the Shinboners, but missed an absolute sitter to cost them one. He was human after all!

I remember playing a State game with him in the mid 80s against WA at Subiaco Oval when he was 35 - and older than our coach Neil Balme - and he kicked 6.5. I watched from the bench in absolute awe.

After a coaching stint with the Warriors in the 1980s, he went to Geelong and came so close to a premiership before the amazing back-to-back success at the Crows. It was a short and disastrous stint at St Kilda, but ... Has there been a better ride in any sport? I think not.

Rooch: ON THE MONEY

GREAT call from the Australian Football Hall of Fame selection panel, isn’t it Christopher.

Malcolm Blight is now a Legend in the AFL Hall of Fame.

2. DUMP the runner. Surely in this era of full-time training and professional football, the players can think for themselves.

Bone: DON’T BE CRAZY

YOU can’t be serious? Rooch, think of the bums on seats you’ll cost the game? You think I’m joking don’t you?

Well, let me remind you of the most famous of all runners, one of your mob back in the John Cahill “golden era” at Port Adelaide. Need any more hints? David Arnfield, of course. Arnie. You could not possibly have forgotten him.

No Arnie, no premierships I say! What a serial pest he was. Great for Port Adelaide no doubt, but fair to say the rest of us didn’t love him all that much. My Glenelg team-mate Ross Gibbs especially, if my memory serves me correctly? Not sure Gibbsy got reported but he should have. Or got a medal. One of the two.

In all seriousness, the runners are part of the game and not a problem. The AFL is in this grizzly mood, wanting someone to blame for the state of play. Ban the bounce but leave the runners alone.

Rooch: ON THE MONEY

IT was always interesting at Port Adelaide best-and-fairest counts as to how many votes David Arnfield would score. Of course, he was never going to get any from the umpires in the Magarey Medal count. And that is where the issue should end - with the umpires sending off the runners when they become a team’s 19th man on the field.

But it would be interesting to turn back football to the grand old days before the 1960s when there was no runner. The players would have to think for themselves. They would play as footballers rather than robots. Try it for a while.

The runner talks to Nick Riewoldt during the Saints win against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.

3. PORT Adelaide is top four. Is it the real deal, however?

Rooch: DON’T BE CRAZY

SAVE all thoughts on this question until July 1 when the Power hosts Richmond at Adelaide Oval. Heavens, the Tigers being a litmus test.

Port Adelaide is certainly better than it was in 2015 and last season. But it seems short of what fans recognise as a “top-four team”. Now the label of “real deal” needs to be put away with all that champagne Christopher has ordered for some premiership party on Black Diamond Corner at Port Adelaide.

Bone: ON THE MONEY

Not sure how to answer this one. You can’t be serious, I think. Of course, they are real and of course they are contenders, especially in a year where no-one wants to be a contender.

That said, I didn’t like anything about the 40-point win against Brisbane on Saturday. Maybe Robbie Gray, Darcy Byrne-Jones and Paddy Ryder aside. And Ollie Wines. But even that foursome wasn’t at its very best.

Port Adelaide is good enough to play off in the decider. It is good enough on the day to beat anyone. Getting it right on the day is the challenge, as it is for every other team. The Power needs to play another tall in attack and needs captain Travis Boak to be at his best.

4. CROWS must break the bank - and even their own model for player payments - to keep young defender Jake Lever?

Rooch: ON THE MONEY

OPEN your wallet Christopher. Jake Lever is one of the luckiest men on the planet today. His salary is to sent into the stratosphere ... and Adelaide cannot afford to lose such a talent from its defence. Remember how losing Nathan Bock and Phil Davis from defence to the expansion franchises hurt the Crows? Adelaide cannot afford for a repeat with Lever. Every rule has an exception - and this is the one for Justin Reid at West Lakes.

Bone: DON’T BE CRAZY

YOU can’t be serious? Break the bank? They’ve broken the bank and broken their promise on player payments for years. Why not break another?

What the Crows should do is overturn that previous statement on list management and make it clear like every other AFL team, they will pay what they can afford, when they have to and to whom they have to.

They will negotiate every contract on the player’s merits, but with the “big picture” of a premiership always top of mind.

Now, you’re going to win some and you’re going to lose some, but not as many as they have lost in recent times. Do the names Patrick Dangerfield, Jack Gunston, Kurt Tippett ring any bells?

Jake Lever is a 300-game, 10-year player and pivotal to a premiership tilt. Adelaide must do everything to keep him. But if it comes down to matching a $1 million-a-year offer then it’s goodbye. And it is also good luck getting to the team you want Jake. He will have his payday. If he wants it in 2018, someone is going to lose and it MUST NOT be the Crows. Not sure Jake would want to play at Brisbane.

Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats catching up with former team-mate Jake Lever of the Crows.

5. BYE. To bye or not to bye? The AFL needs to rethink the mid-season break.

Bone: ON THE MONEY

THE AFL needs to rethink many things. The mid-season break is one of them because the three weeks of split rounds or four, as it was this year, does not work.

It has been tried and tested and it’s time to change it. Week off for all I say.

And sorry to the broadcasters if it doesn’t suit them, but the players want a break, the game wants a break and television can have a re-run of Gilligan’s Island or replay an old game. Play State-of-Origin, but with the past players not the current ones. Make it a “nostalgia weekend.”

It’s not hard to fill the weekend off mid-season in comparison to the week in between the minor round and the finals. Just make the call. But I agree it’s bye bye, bye!

Rooch: DON’T BE CRAZY

THERE must be a bye. But it cannot be a weekend without footy in the middle of the season. Christopher, not even a re-run of Glenelg appearances in the SANFL grand finals would be satisfying while the grass grows at Adelaide Oval.