The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round 13
In the 10th year of Neale Daniher’s struggle with MND and the incredible movement to raise funds to find a cure, it’s time to renew calls for a statue in his honour, writes MARK ROBINSON.
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A round full of upsets proved a nightmare for tipsters, while some fans were left bewildered, angered and baffled by some umpiring calls.
Mark Robinson unpacks his likes and dislikes from Round 13.
DISLIKES
1. THE KILLER GAME
The one thing Adam Simpson didn’t need for long-term employment security was a loss to North Melbourne. The Eagles lost it twice: In the third quarter, when North kicked 4.1 to 0.6, and in the last 10 minutes, when North lost the lead and then kicked the final two goals of the game. It was North Melbourne’s first win this season. The respect the Eagles gained in Round 11, when they beat Melbourne by 35 points, dissipated when the pesky Roos consigned the Eagles to their 10th loss of the season.
Nothing is linear in a rebuild, but at the same time there are opportunities that simply need to be taken. In the 2022 season, the Eagles were 2-20 win-loss. In 2023, it was 3-20. In 2024, it is 3-10. Overall, it is 8-54 going back to Round 20, 2021. There’s been some shellackings in that time, some hideous losses, but there’s a different disappointment when you lose a game you are expected to win. Put it another way. North Melbourne has won six games in two and a half seasons and three of them have come against West Coast. Even at their lowest, the Kangas have the Eagles as their bunnies. Simpson has survived the rot, and is contracted until the end of 2025, but this loss once again heaps scrutiny on his future. Fancy being North’s bunnies, hey?
2. THE BYE DEBACLE
Sydney beat Geelong on Sunday off a 17-day break. Geelong had eight days to prepare and was run over after quarter-time. On Friday night, the Bulldogs were battle weary when Brisbane had 12 days preparation. The AFL has mucked it up. The scheduling is unfair. And no longer can the AFL say ‘it is what it is’. The competition is too important for that. The fight for competitive balance is the second most important issue in the game behind concussion.
The Cats on Sunday may have lost the game on a level playing field anyway, but we’ll never know. The bye breaks need to be a major consideration, and certainly ahead of the demands and want for blockbusters. We’ve got to stop the ever growing distortion of having an even playing field. Can you believe Sydney has had two byes, and Geelong, Essendon, the Bulldogs and West Coast, among others have yet to have a bye. Seriously, how can the AFL be so proud of a competition that is so mismanaged in terms of fairness? Who’s putting their hand up for this debacle?
3. WHAT’S YOUR DECISION?
Let’s play a little game. It’s called: What’s the worst umpiring decision of the year? We’ll put a podium together. I’ll go first.
1. The non-payment of holding the ball against Nick Daicos in the Collingwood-Western Bulldogs game.
2. The payment of holding ball to Jy Simpkin on Elliot Yeo in the West Coast-North Melbourne.
3. The holding the man free kick against Mac Andrew on Max King in the St Kilda-Gold Coast game.
Send your nominations to themindboggles.com.au. If the AFL ticks off the Yeo decision as correct, the fabric of the game is challenged. One of the ‘guiding principles’ for the Laws of the Game says “a priority of the laws, interpretations and officiating is to reward and protect the player who makes winning the ball their primary objective”. Yeo was on his knees, took the ball and was tackled immediately. No prior opportunity. No time to think. What was he supposed to do? Not take the ball? Suddenly, there’s a fine line between grabbing the ball and dragging the ball in. The Andrew decision came 70m ahead of the ball when Andrew and King were both grappling. Both of them grabbed each other when they didn’t have the ball, so the free kick could’ve gone either way. King kicked the go-ahead goal at Marvel Stadium. Simpkin kicked the go-ahead goal at Optus Stadium. They were huge moments.
4. A TALE OF TWO TALLS
The Western Bulldogs lost the game in the middle and at stoppage. The clearance number was frightful – they were beaten 50-32 – yet the vitriol was directed at Rory Lobb. Unfortunately for Lobb, he’s an east target and as colleague Glenn McFarlane wrote the Early Tackle, it is buyer beware for any team interested in him. Good teams probably will pass on him and rebuilding teams need to be careful about obtaining what could be considered a list clogger. Anyhow, the Bulldogs don’t need to fret because they have Ugle-Hagan, Naughton and Darcy upfront. The one area which is of major concern for the Dogs is finding a helper for Liam Jones.
If Jones didn’t pay on Friday night, the margin would’ve been 73 points and not 43 points. Alex Keath is a trier. He was OK in the air against Joe Daniher and Eric Hipwood, and only gave up one goal, but when the ball was on the ground or in Keath’s hands, time seemed to stand still. Let’s not be brutal, but he is slow on his feet and uncertain with ball in hand, which is two negatives for a key defender. Keath came into the team in Round 10 for Buku Khamis, who was the sub on Friday night. Right now, we’re not sure who of those two the Bulldogs go forward with.
5. MOTOR NEURON DISEASE AND FOOTBALL
Not for the first time, MND has been linked to collision-based sports. A New Zealand study in 2022 concluded there is evidence that repeated head injury with concussion, playing sports in general, and playing football (soccer) in particular, are associated with an increased risk of MND. A Glasgow University study in 2019 found that 412 former Scottish internationals – which were part of the study – were ‘15 times more likely to be afflicted by this devastating fatal disease’. On Monday, Australia gathers once again to help raise funds and awareness for MND. Meanwhile, thousands of Australian rules players, both professionally and amateur, are living with various forms of dementia. And some have died with the degenerative brain condition CTE, the latest player being former Wonthaggi Blues player Gwyn Pugh. Here’s an idea. Instead of fighting former players in court, and denying urgent financial assistance to players in need, such as to former Bulldog Nigel Kellett who was promised a lump sum, how about the AFL throwing its support behind an initiative to raise funds to help financially assist the former players. The rally for MND research, which the AFL is a main sponsor, is a wonderful cause. The concussion issue, which the AFLPA says is the No. 1 concern in the game, needs a similar funding regime and research project to help prevent it.
6. WHERE’S THE STATUE?
In the 10th year of Neale Daniher’s struggle with MND and the incredible movement to raise funds to find a cure, we renew our call for a statue to be erected of Daniher. It doesn’t have to be with the sporting champions, which are on the concourse of the MCG, or with the other greats which line the walkway from Jolimont Station to the ground. It could easily stand at the base of the bridge which connects Birrarung Marr to the MCG precinct. Or even at the start of that bridge on the city side. The State Government should pay for the statue, and if it baulks at the request, the money could be raised by the people. At the very least, the government should find a spot for it to be erected.
LIKES
1. THE REINCARNATION OF THE BIG SWAN
Brodie Grundy has enhanced his reputation in Sydney. He was a great player at Collingwood, disregarded at Melbourne and now is central to a profile which has Sydney clear favourites for the premiership. There’s no doubt ruckmen get better with age. The wisdom and craft is developed over a decade and at 30 years of age, Grundy has never been more influential. The Swans were a pre-season possibility. They are now a mid-season juggernaut. They gave up the first six goals on Sunday and kicked 16 goals to Geelong’s six over the next three quarters. Grundy finished with 25 disposals, 21 contested possessions, 11 score involvements and 35 hit outs. Of the hit outs, 13 were to advantage. Ask Gulden, Heeney and Warner, who are the most damaging trio of midfielders in the competition, what they think of Grundy. Ask Geelong about the influence of Grundy on Sunday. The clearance count was 43-30 to Sydney and combined with a contested ball differential of +19 after quarter-time, the Swans knocked down another contender. Who’s next to challenge them?
2. HAWKS’ SPIRIT
Media types and experts make some embarrassing calls in football. Everyone’s hands are up. That the Hawks were apparently ‘tanking’ last season, after they stripped their list to rebuild, is, as Will Days said, “laughable”. Inside a year and a half, Hawthorn has amassed a list and program which shows that with adept recruiting and development and smart coaching, the rebound can work quickly. The Hawks have several emerging stars, led by Will Day, but they also have a spirit underpinning their performances, which surely can be sheeted home to the leadership and coaching of Sam Mitchell. The players bring it, but Mitchell demands it. The brand is all-in, do your role whatever it is, and never stop fighting. For a team in rebuild, that’s all you can ask for if you’re a supporter. In the madcap final quarter on Saturday, and after a high-octane first three quarters, the Hawks landed 19 tackles and their pressure was 213. That pressure number was their third best in a quarter for the year. They kicked 4.4 to the non-scoring end and three times wrestled the scoreboard their way after giving up the lead. You can smile about the emerging moniker of being the ‘rascal pack’, but it’s real and contagious. The tanking call now looks utterly ridiculous.
3. THE SWINGMAN
Sam Mitchell pulls the trigger when he needs to. He uses Blake Hardwick as a forward and a backman depending on the circumstances, as he did on Saturday in Tasmania, and demands that his players fill the breach when required. When ruckman Ned Reeves was substituted because of injury at halftime, Mitchell turned to Conor Nash and Josh Weddle to ruck. Weddle, who was in 31 ruck contests, was beaten for size by Giants ruckman Kieren Briggs, but second-year defender didn’t give up in any contest. In fact, he won one key hit out in the final quarter which led to Connor Macdonald kicking a goal. Weddle typified the ‘get at them’ approach. As well, Worpel was superb in the contest, as was Newcombe, Moore and Day, and Calsher Dear’s late monster tackle made up for his brain fade on the line when he touched a certain Hawks goal in the final quarter.
4. OUT THEY COME TO PLAY
To see club president Sonja Hood hugging the players as they reached the rooms on Saturday was to see what it meant to all Kangaroos supporters. The players were enormous, the coach was chuffed and the fans beside themselves after winning their first game of the season. To most people, it’s ‘who cares’ because it was against the third-bottom team in West Coast. To the Kangaroos, they had finally touched the light at the end of the dark tunnel, so relief was paramount in the aftermath.
To see the smiles on the faces of George Wardlaw and Jackson Archer, for example, who had finally played in a winning team was heartwarming. For the first time in a long time, the Kangas have a full-team contribution. Jy Simpkin was in danger of being dropped before his quad injury, but his two final-quarter goals were pivotal to the win. There were countless moments of individual effort and probably the most symbolic was Tristan Xerri’s chase down on Liam Ryan. That’s what the Kangas did, they made moments count. Zac Fisher played his best game for the club – and for his career – Luke Davies-Uniacke won some big plays in the final quarter and Wardlaw himself shunted clear in the rising star market. One win doesn’t make a season, but it does make people believe.
5. A ROSSY SPECIAL
To some, St Kilda ruined a Saturday night in front of the TV. The Saints won 7.9 to 7.6, so there wasn’t much individual brilliance to cheer about. But there is a strange fascination with how the Saints could restrict the Suns to just 2.3 in the first half. Three weeks back, the freewheeling Suns kicked 26.8 against Geelong. On Saturday night, they dicked around with the ball so much that by the end they had clocked 137 marks, many of them short and wide. The Saints strangled their ball movement which is what Ross Lyon wants to achieve against every team every week. St Kilda’s problem is kicking a score. They had 56 entries against the Suns and kicked 7.9 (51). Their four previous games before Saturday night returned scores of 82, 62, 55 and 53, which highlights their problems forward of the ball. Jack Higgins and Dan Butler kicked five of the seven goals, so that’s a plus, but Max King yet again failed to have a big impact.
We say fail because, yes, he competed, but he and St Kilda are crying out for a five-for. Lyon listed all sorts of reasons for not ‘cashing in’ – missed snaps, shallow entries in their third and execution – but “we’ll keep working though it”. He rejected the insinuation the Saints were to blame for the spectacle. “They had 19 backwards kicks, we had six. I felt we went forward, we took it on, but the messy thing for us is leaving a stack of goals on the table. 56 entries is pretty good for us.” The fact is if the Saints could’ve capitalised up forward and won by 30-plus points, it would’ve been considered the perfect execution of a team tough in the contest and who likes to move the ball. It was boring but it was also worth four points.
6. A TOWN LIKE INVERLOCH
The seaside Gippsland town has roughly 6500 residents and it likes to lay claim to every one of them. It’s why some locals were bemused when Jack Hutchinson, who played his first game for West Coast after being taken in the mid-season draft, was said to have been recruited from Wonthaggi. Hutchinson, who had four touches and kicked a behind on debut, played all of his juniors with Inverloch before joining Wonthaggi for one season. Inverloch has a habit of producing good footballers.
Melbourne’s Brett Lovett was the first big name and Fremantle’s Caleb Serong its latest. Unlucky Bomber Zac Reid also played all his junior at Inverloch and his brother Archer is at West Coast. In the VFL there are Kyle Reid (Port Melbourne), Ryan Sparks (Collingwood) and Harry Scott (Richmond), who also called Inverloch home. Locals say to keep an eye on Willem Duursma, another Inverloch junior, in the 2025 national draft, and Xavier Lindsay, who is captain of the Gippsland Power who is eligible for this year’s draft.
SUNDAY NIGHT MCG TACKLE
— Sam Landsberger
LIKE - TOM DE KONING
Marc Pittonet might be becoming the Aldi version of 2023 Brodie Grundy. On the surface that may seem harsh, but the Blues are 2-4 with Pittonet and 7-0 without Pittonet this season. The dual ruck set up simply does not work when you have an athletic specimen like Tom De Koning capable of shouldering the load. TDK wins clearances, sprints back to the defensive goalsquare to make inspirational spoils and adds another dimension to the potency forward. He can do it all and he can do it alone. Unlike Grundy, who cost the Demons roughly $650,000, Pittonet is the perfect understudy as an affordable VFL back up who can help ensure De Koning can fire — instead of fatigue — all season long. But when the Blues buried the Bombers late last night it was De Koning who was the King’s Birthday eve party starter.
DISLIKE - INJURED BIG MAN
Zach Reid — the man who could be forgiven for relocating his locker to the rehabilitation room — will be a crucial part of Essendon’s push for a 17th premiership. You only had to watch Charlie Curnow isolate Jordan Ridley three times in the first quarter on Sunday night to realise it. Ridley is a remarkable player as the third defender. He is a rubbery roadblock in that opposition entries rarely make it past his outstretched arms, and usually end up rebounding back with rich kicks from his right foot. But as the second defender Ridley’s armour is weakened. He can be isolated and defeated and that is exactly what Charlie Curnow did to him in the first quarter on Sunday night. Curnow twice outmarked Ridley one-on-one and also burst 6m in front of him on the lead to another contest. It was a cracking duel, but they were the moments that served as a reminder that, in a perfect world, Ben McKay and Reid are the defensive pillars, Ridley is the roll off and Jayden Laverde is probably expendable … just as he was found to be in round 1.
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Originally published as The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round 13
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