The Tackle: Jay Clark’s likes and dislikes from round 8
Fremantle should be in flag mode. Instead they’ve been the biggest flop of the season so far, writes JAY CLARK. And with all the coaches available, the heat is well and truly on Justin Longmuir.
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Round 8 has come and gone, headlined by one of the games of the season on Saturday night between the Cats and Magpies.
But you can’t say the same about Friday night given what the Dockers served up.
Jay Clark unpacks it all in his likes and dislikes from the round of footy.
DISLIKES
1. HEAVE-HO? FOOTY’S BIGGEST FLOP HEAPS PRESSURE ON LONGMUIR
Fremantle should be in flag mode.
But eight rounds into the season, the Dockers have delivered the biggest flop of the year so far.
And the putrid loss to St Kilda on Friday night which saw the Dockers manage only one goal to half time makes coach Justin Longmuir the most under-fire figure in the game.
The club’s own president, Chris Sutherland, rightly set the bar high in the pre-season, declaring all “the pieces are in place” and that “the time to contend is upon us”.
But this talented football team is as trusty as your pet python.
And St Kilda coach Ross Lyon would have went to bed on Friday night the happiest man in football after delivering a tactical masterclass to choke the Dockers after he was tipped out by Fremantle in 2019.
Lyon started out the week as the story for his first-term rev-up last weekend but the blowtorch will move to his counterpart’s coaches box for probably the first time in Longmuir’s six-year stint.
The discussion in the west will centre on whether Longmuir is the right man, if Luke Beveridge could be ripped out of The Kennel despite his repeated assurances like Lyon was in 2011, and if former West Coast boss Adam Simpson could become the first man ever to coach the Eagles and Dockers.
Then there’s former Swans’ premiership boss John Longmire.
Simply, Fremantle could not back in the same coaching setup for next year if they miss the eight again after only one finals appearance in 10 years, considering their list and the soft-ish run they have had through the first part of the 2025 season.
Through the first eight rounds, they have played only three teams currently in the eight, and generally underwhelmed.
The Dockers might beat up on teams at home and maybe they got lucky in a sense taking on Collingwood on Thursday night off a five-day break this week. Several Collingwood veterans will rest.
But the Dockers have been found out on the road this year, and not for the first time.
The Dockers were hammered by Geelong where youngster Murphy Reid saved them from a three-figure hiding in the season-opener, beaten by an out-of-form Melbourne at the MCG, and were diabolically bad against the much-less talented Saints on Friday night in maybe the worst performance of the season so far, given the midfield mismatch.
How a team with Brownlow Medal contenders Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw, Shai Bolton, Sean Darcy, Hayden Young until he was injured again, can be destroyed by the Saints in clearances (22-50) and inside 50s (34-61) points to a problem the club’s leadership can’t ignore.
The club will come out strongly this week and publicly support the coaches and staff, and so they should.
But the fuse has been lit, and for all the talk about how much this side is stacked with top-end talent, they are on track to underachieve again in 2025.
2. TIME TO GIVE JDG A SPELL?
Jordan De Goey looks like he is at a crossroad with his body.
After a summer interrupted with various injuries which has continued a difficult 18 months, De Goey is stuck in second gear at best and currently having his poorest season for some time.
The superstar is looking sluggish forward and even when he is in at the centre bounces, he is having little impact.
The premiership gun attended eight centre bounces for only one clearance in the thrilling loss to the Cats on Saturday night for only 57m gained.
And the 29-year-old who is meant to be in his absolute football prime will be yet to poll a single coaches vote from his first five games of the season.
Coach Craig McRae will see the upside in it because the Magpies are one of the best teams in it without getting much from De Goey to this point.
It’s impossible to forget his ability at full flight and that goal from the Nick Daicos handball which won the 2023 Grand Final is part of Collingwood premiership folklore.
But if he is underdone as it seems, there will be little time to work on the fitness issues this week as the Magpies prepare to have their lightest training week of the season with a five-day break and trip west.
Perhaps the club will consider a different approach and instead keep him home to ramp up his training this weekend in preparation for the clash against Adelaide at the MCG the following week.
3. SOS’ IMPORTANCE BECOMES CLEAR IN DAMNING BLUES LOSS
It was not that long ago Jack Silvagni’s future at Carlton was unclear.
As a third forward, it was hard to see where he fit next to the twin towers Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay.
But there can be no doubt the 27-year-old is now one of the club’s most important players as he comes out of contract again.
The Blues were ordinary against Adelaide on Saturday and were belted out of the middle as Adelaide big man Reilly O’Brien got the chocolates over Carlton star ruckman Tom De Koning.
Carlton is one of the best clearance teams in the competition but they got thrashed in the centre square (centre clearances 16-6) in one of their worst on-ball efforts in recent times after last week’s win over Geelong Cats.
Adelaide scored heavily from those centre takeaways eve with Jordan Dawson, in particular, back to his best after an unusual flat spot.
At Carlton, coach Michael Voss has never beaten Adelaide Matthew Nicks in their four contests dating back to 2022.
But without Silvagni, who is sidelined with a broken hand, the Carlton defence conceded 20 marks inside 50m to Adelaide as the Crows’ mobile targets including Dawson, Izak Rankine, Josh Rachelle and Ben Keays ran riot, combing for nine goals.
Who would have thought ‘SOS’ would be the key to the Blues’ defence in 2025 in his first year down back, but he has always been the ultimate selfless team man.
The ball lived in the Crows’ forward half and the livewire playmakers showed how potent they are in the forward half as they target a top-four berth this season.
Without Silvagni, Sam Docherty was required to play a key role down back and the popular veteran struggled, putting his spot in the team under severe threat.
Silvagni, who is an unrestricted free agent this year, is in a race against time to play the Saints on Friday night where his father, Stephen, is list manager.
Silvagni Sr did not attend the Blues’ 1995 premiership reunion for the game against Geelong last week so it’s safe to say there is no love lost between the champion fullback and his former club, adding some extra spice to the clash this week.
4. A CRUDE HIT
Swan Lewis Melican will count himself lucky for his crude hit in a spiteful Battle of the Bridge.
The Swan whacked Toby Bedford with a dangerous swinging arm which bloodied the face of the Giants’ tagger in Sydney’s win on Saturday.
But the fact that Melican will likely receive a three-match suspension and the same penalty than what Paul Curtis received for his chasedown tackle last week is not ideal.
That is why the AFL needs to restructure the matrix as senior coaches Luke Beveridge, Damien Hardwick and Alastair Clarkson all said late last week.
Reckless swinging arms to opponents’ heads which injures Bedford’s head and eye (blurred vision) is the dirty stuff or cheap shot which should attract bigger penalties than tackles with zero malice.
LIKES
1. HAWKS’ COLD WAR THAWS
IT was the first step towards peace for Alastair Clarkson and the first sign the Hawks are back on the rise.
Clarkson’s war with the Hawks over the handling of the racism saga has been one of the biggest rifts in football until he joined in on the 100-year celebrations on Sunday.
While not all is forgiven, things have thawed somewhat when he walked alongside his premiership troops with cups in hand at the MCG.
The Hawks want to build a statue of their Hawthorn heroes at the new Dingley headquarters, but Clarkson has been a tricky one while he has been throwing grenades at the club.
Regardless, hours later, the Hawks brushed aside the Tigers spreading the field and spreading the threat inside forward 50m taking 21 inside 50m marks against the Tigers.
That is where the smalls, and marking target Jack Gunston who booted his 500th goal, are the main threat with their mobility in the forward half.
But this season the Hawks’ kicking has been off and James Sicily still had some wonky ones on Sunday.
The Hawks have said themselves they have only been just going so far this season but they cruised past West Coast by 50 points and did it easy against Richmond to win by 65 points.
2. A NEW BATMAN UP FORWARD FOR THE CATS
Jeremy Cameron and Patty Dangerfield might have to swap their Batman and Robin masks.
Until now, Cameron has been the main man in the Cats’ forward setup as arguably the number one threat and forward in the game in recent years alongside Carlton’s Charlie Curnow.
But Cats’ coach Chris Scott is weaving some magic with the setup in the front half which is going to make rivals rethink the way they try and stop the Cats, including putting their best defender to Dangerfield, rather than Cameron.
And Ollie Dempsey, as the third musketeer, is confounding rivals the way he is burning down from a wing and then taking hangers in the goal square in another tactical trump card.
Dempsey plays on a midfielder but has one of the most distinct advantages in the game in the aerial battle on small opponents when he surged forward like when he flew above Steele Sidebottom on Saturday night.
The match ups must make Scott chuckle, but it’s not the only headache for rivals. As Adam Simpson said on SEN a fortnight ago “Chris Scott confuses me”.
While Cameron often gets the best defender, the Coleman Medalist’s work rate up the ground is leaving space for Dangerfield’s power to become one of the most destructive forces in the gamec loser to goal.
At age 35, the Brownlow Medalist is ploughing through opponents like Collingwood’s Ned Long on Saturday night and Carlton’s Adam Saad last week like he is breaking through tissue paper.
And when he hits them, Danger, he hurts.
Playing forward is clearly helping keep the veteran’s legs fresh late in the game as Dangerfield turned on a blinder in the last term with 13 touches, the clutch set shot goal, 10 contested possessions and five score involvements all in the fourth term.
Along with Bailey Smith’s run, the veteran goal kicker is having a brilliant start to the season in a manner which has, remarkably, put him on a path to earn a record ninth All-Australian blazer.
Jack Riewoldt on Fox Footy also said he shouldn’t be written off for the Brownlow Medal.
Collingwood fans were enraged with the free kick count and still had the last shot on goal through Jack Crisp in his 245th consecutive game to claw back from a late 17-point deficit.
But the umpires didn’t win this, the Cats did, arresting the centre clearance slide from the first half and capitalising through Dangerfield and Dempsey in attack after the main change.
Dangerfield is on track to play his 350th match against Gold Coast at GMHBA Stadium in Round 13, but 400 and beyond beckons if this is what he is going to produce in true Leigh Matthews style in the twilight of his career.
3. DOGS AND CATS BOTH WINNERS IN BAILEY SMITH DEAL
Bailey Smith became a huge challenge internally at Western Bulldogs.
The man who wanted to play on-ball was stuck on the fringes of the midfield at The Kennel and the little agitations and disagreements in the end became full-blown blow-ups in his final two years at Western Bulldogs.
He had checked out well before his trade to Geelong last year and he made it clear to people outside the club in his final few months he had fallen out of love with the club.
In the end, his departure has created room at the Dogs for others such as Joel Freijah and Ed Richards to blossom.
And the ill-feeling which goes both ways and is so often hidden from public view in football has bubbled to the surface after Smith’s cheeky Ballarat jibe after playing a starring role for Geelong in the win over Collingwood on Saturday night.
His run is one of the Cats’ most important weapons and while he is still proving to be a little bit of a handful with his middle finger gestures, Geelong is happy to take a chance on a player they know has a few rough edges and will need some guidance.
That is part of the reason why they got him so cheap in the trade for pick 17 but right now he looks the recruit of the year.
But it’s either Smith or Patty Dangerfield who will get the three Brownlow Medal votes in probably the game of the year on Saturday night which tells you how much Smith doesn’t mind the attention and spotlight.
It sets the scene for a fiery showdown in round 11 when the Dogs will come face-to-face with the man who is now formally off the club’s Christmas card list.
Expect the Dogs to test Smith’s defensive commitment and play through the man who is lined up on him, in the belief the new Cat isn’t one of the strongest two-way players in the game.
The Dogs will say they have moved on, but the open wounds from his exit last year look like they are yet to heal.
3. FOOTY’S MOST IMPROVED?
It will be a draft decision which haunts Carlton.
Back in the 2017 crop the Blues narrowed their pick 10 selection down to outside midfielders Lochie O’Brien and Ed Richards.
While O’Brien was delisted two years ago, Richards has become one of the most improved players in the game over the past two years and a genuine onball weapon after producing perhaps the best game of his career (30 disposals and two goals) to destroy Port Adelaide on Saturday.
The club could this week announce a new multi-year deal for the jet ball-winner who has taken a huge load off Marcus Bontempelli, with former Blue Matt Kennedy and warrior Tom Liberatore also in support.
It’s now arguably the best midfield in the game and against Port scored a club record 78 points from clearances and a league record 48 points from forward 50m clearances.
And that is without Cody Weightman who remains sidelined with a serious knee injury, while Adam Treloar played his first game of the year.
Originally published as The Tackle: Jay Clark’s likes and dislikes from round 8
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