The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round 6
The Blues have gone back to two ruckmen, and their clearance game has been well rewarded. MARK ROBINSON writes, it’s something they have to continue with in THE TACKLE.
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We’ve had the last weekend of just eight games of football for some time, but no shortage of talking points.
Mark Robinson runs the ruler across the week of football with his likes and dislikes.
DISLIKES
1. The struggle
On April 30, 2018, we made a plea to then chief executive Gillon McLachlan. The headline was: Gil, we have a problem. The same can be written today. Here’s a snapshot of footy in 2024: The fixture is too demanding, injuries are killing players and teams, outside of the 6-6-6, the game is a rolling maul, incorrect disposal is an absolute mess and the stand rule is inconsistent. Football is the hardest sport to play, yet the AFL wants games, games and more games. The fact is commercialisation and the fixture beats fairness of competition. Meanwhile, injuries are piling up at Carlton, Richmond, St Kilda, Essendon, Fremantle and Hawthorn. It’s Round 6, and we have teams exhausted and wounded because of the schedule. It’s not supposed to be like this.
2. Sorry Saints
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon wasn’t whining, but his team was dreadful. And why? They have injuries to midfielders and their depth is challenged and it’s little wonder recruiting guru Gubby Allen has the directive to spend millions to find top-end talent via trade or free agency. Be assured, it’s not only Collingwood who has millions to spend on players. That’s the future, now is the problem. From April 7 to April 18, the Saints played three games. That’s not fair. They played at Norwood, Canberra and Marvel Stadium. That’s two road games, two travel days, and Lyon admitted he was worried even before the Western Bulldogs capitulation. Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir won’t whinge, either. But facts are facts. “It’s a brutal season. The fixtures are brutal. Throws up some of these results sometimes,” Longmuir said. The Dockers played in Adelaide, Adelaide again and were then annihilated at home by West Coast on Saturday night. Melbourne stayed in Adelaide for a week to play their two games against Adelaide and Port Adelaide and then lost to Brisbane in Round 5? They, too, looked tired ahead of their bye. On Saturday, a freshened Collingwood came off the bye in Round 5 and pounded Port Adelaide. A ton of byes in the first third of the season is a) unheard of and b) unfair. Will the AFL take note?
3. The Sam Draper decision
How shallow is the AFL? It puts out a note on Saturday morning saying “technically” it was a free kick against the Bombers ruckman. Why say technically, why not just say it was a free kick? A decision like this one was always coming. This season, umpires are giving players with the ball tremendous leniency in how – and how long before – they dispose of the ball. The Draper non-decision was wrong. Taylor Walker throwing the ball moments earlier was also missed. The game as a whole was dotted with incorrect disposals. Please, can umpires take back control of the game and stop players shovelling, throwing and dropping the ball.
4. The mass of players
Despite the inclusion of 6-6-6 and the stand rule, which were introduced to open up the game, the rolling maul of players remains. As soon as the ball is bounced, the 70m bubble is deployed. All players move within it. Short kicks are prevalent, so are tackles, and players clog their defensive 50s. The Crows-Bombers game, for example, was boring. There were 89 stoppages, which was the second most in the round behind the Geelong-Brisbane clash which had 119 in the slosh. The Bombers-Crows game became exciting because it was close when time expired, but it was a game with few highlights. Adelaide averages just 66 points per game this year. Fremantle is worse. The Dockers have kicked 69, 63, 63 and on Saturday night 68 points in their past four games. The Dockers are boring as well. They mass their players to try to stop the opposition scoring and can’t score themselves. Big scores were kicked at the weekend, and some brilliant footy was played, led by the Bulldogs, Collingwood and Carlton. But some of their opposition had excuses. St Kilda was tired and injured and the Giants were injured and cantankerous. Not many excuses for Port Adelaide, though. They had two key forwards missing, but that wasn’t the issue. The so-called best midfield in the competition was blitzed, albeit by a group which had 13 days to prepare against Port’s six days.
5. Suns set in the second half
Never doubt the advantage of having a week’s rest in this competition – and at this stage of the season. The Suns cracked under Sydney’s pressure. They bowed down to it in the first quarter, bounced it in Sydney’s face in the second quarter, and fell apart in the second half. Gold Coast’s pressure quarter-by-quarter was 181, 198, 179 and 168. Sydney’s pressure was 195, 185, 199 and 184. The first half was a slog fest. There were 39 stoppages in the first half alone and the score at the long break was 5.4 to 3.5 in perfect conditions. It was boring and heavy on contest and tackling, which is footy circa 2024. When the Swans lifted their intensity even more in the second half, the Suns faltered and the game opened up. Swans forward Tom Papley acknowledged the bye was an advantage. “There wouldn’t be too many blokes complaining about two byes,” he told Fox Footy. “It came at good time for us.” And a bad time for the travelling Suns. They played a freshened team at their home off the bye. That’s not fair.
6. Kid gloves are off
The No. 1 demand of this game is effort. That can sway in application when experienced teams play younger teams, but it’s a basic requirement when two teams are in rebuilding mode, even though Hawthorn are older than North Melbourne and are slightly more experienced. North Melbourne’s second quarter was unacceptable. They laid just 10 tackles and had a pressure rating of 159. Hawthorn kicked 8.3 to 3.3 and in doing so, the Hawks laid 24 tackles and had a pressure rating of 221, which was their best pressure quarter for the year. That’s a hideous indictment on North Melbourne. The positive is they responded after half-time. Their pressure rating was 197 in the third quarter, while the final quarter was basically a dead quarter. Fox Footy commentator Jordan Lewis said he was unimpressed. “We understand North Melbourne is young and inexperienced, but you have got to be able to buy in, and chase and tackle and show the behaviours to the coaching staff that it matters,” he said.
LIKES
1. Swans punishment
A freshened Sydney kicked 90 points off turnover. That’s their second best return in their past five years. They also kicked 64 points off forward-half turnovers, which was third best in their last 10 years. It was a murderous Swans performance, at least for a half. The Swans kicked 5.4 in the first half and 12.4 in the second. Brodie Grundy was central to victory. It was his best game for his new club, winning 24 disposals, six clearances and landing 11 tackles. His dominance meant his midfielders were able to quell the Suns midfield. Outside of Matt Rowell, the Suns were found wanting. It’s hard to get a handle on the Swans. They have a funky profile. They can punish any team off turnovers if they get the game going their way, prior to the game their defence was that of a mid-tier team and there were concerns with their contest. That’s all parked for a week. Next up it’s Hawthorn and then GWS, which will put up more resistance than what the Suns did on Sunday.
2. Playing with respect
The Hawks boys attended the Hall of Fame last week and surely there was some drawing of inspiration, if not from the highlights of inductees Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell and Alan Martello, but certainly from their words and other legends in attendance. The Hawks won on Sunday in a canter. A second-quarter surge put North to the sword in a manner which would please the coach. Any pressure rating into the 200s is top shelf. The vets led the way. Jai Newcombe and Connor Nash share BOG honours. Newcombe was good at Gather Round, was poor versus Gold Coast and starred on Sunday. He needs to find his consistency, as does Nash. Dylan Moore and Jack Gunston added spice up forward, Harry Morrison was prominent on a wing and skipper James Sicily delivered his best game of the season. It’s been so long, we didn’t know if the Hawks had a 100-plus point game in them. It’s the first 100-point score of the year, after 100 points only twice last year – against Collingwood in Round 21 and West Coast in Round 10.
3. Remember me?
Nick Daicos, like his team, is warming up. On Saturday, it all clicked. Collingwood’s pressure was an average 183, but they won contested ball by 41. That’s a mauling. That’s Collingwood hunting at their most ferocious. Daicos’ split was roughly 60 per cent midfield and 40 per cent defence. In the second half alone, he had 21 disposals, 525m gained, which is phenomenal, and 11 score involvements. Those numbers are acceptable for a full game. At Round 6, Daicos would not be ranked in the Top 10 players in the competition. Those spots are filled by the likes of Isaac Heeney, Marcus Bontempelli, Christian Petracca, Jeremy Cameron, Tom Green and Max Gawn. But Daicos is looming. In a complicated game, where space is at a minimum and physical pressure is at its maximum, Daicos glides in and out of trouble. On Saturday, he helped restore faith in Collingwood and helped dent the faith in Port Adelaide.
4. Robbing Peter to pay Paul
The Blues should persist with two ruckmen. On Saturday, Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning beat Kieren Briggs and in doing so gave the Blues a decided advantage in the clearance game. In the first four rounds, Carlton played one ruckman (De Koning) and was smacked around stoppage. Against the Giants, they won centre square clearance 22-8 and scored 41 points, which is a ridiculously high amount. The week before against Adelaide, when both Pittonet and De Koning played, they squared stoppages and kicked a lousy five points. It’s a question about stoppage v transition. With two ruckmen, the Blues are stronger at stoppage, but their turnover and transition game can suffer. In plain speak, because they have a second ruckman in the team they don’t have the extra running player. When Cripps and Walsh dominate like they did, the extra runner is not missed.
5. The next generation
Geelong is the envy of the competition. Most outsiders tipped the Cats to again miss the eight after finishing 12th in 2023, but those outsiders now look foolish. The Cats are the only unbeaten team this season. The envy comes because the question is asked: How do they do it? At a guess, it’s because they have a master coach who demands and drives process and role, they have Nigel Lappin’s footy nous as Chris Scott’s offsider, their recruiting is ace and their development program is second-to-none. The Cats grinded Brisbane into the Gabba turf on Saturday night. In constant rain, it wasn’t because Jeremy Cameron dominated, or Tom Hawkins kicked goals, or Patrick Dangerfield put on his cap.
It wasn’t even won with Tom Stewart (concussion) controlling the back half. It was won because the next generation took control. The highest ranked Geelong players on Saturday night, in order, were Jack Bowes, Tyson Stengle, Max Holmes, Zach Guthrie, Mitch Duncan, Brad Close, Tom Atkins, Gryan Miers and Tanner Bruhn. They were a trade in, a delisted free agent, a pick No. 20, a rookie draftee, a rookie draftee, a rookie draftee, a pick No. 57 and a trade in. The only veteran among that lot is Duncan, who is 32 and was drafted back in 2009. The next generation aren’t kids mind you, although most of them were not even teenagers when Duncan started.
6. West Coast
Remember when it was written that clubs would pick over the carcass of West Coast? McGovern, Barrass, Duggan, Allen and Yeo topped the shopping list. But two things happened: The players said no and the club said we’re not going to trade them. Elliot Yeo was the pick of that bunch. He was 30 with bad groins and had missed so much footy, but still worth the punt anyhow. The Eagles are seeing the fruits of their patience. He was instrumental again in a consecutive and brilliant Eagles victory and with Tim Kelly (25 centre square attendances), Harley Reid (22), Reuben Ginbey (12) and Jack Petruccelle (five) assisting him, the Eagles have vastly improved their clearance and contest game. Reid is something else. He doesn’t look like he’s playing his sixth game and, in welcome news, he looks like he wants to be there. Matthew Lloyd said last week that North Melbourne should’ve lost their Round 24 game last year because if they did, it would’ve meant they would’ve secured the No. 1 selection – and Reid. Instead, North drafted McKercher and Duursma and they may well be very good players. But Reid looms as a generational player. It’s unfair on the two Kangas boys, but that’s going to be the narrative forever. Much like how St Kilda took McCartin and Billings over Petracca and Bontempelli.
7. Reading the votes
The votes for the Glendinning-Allan Medal are read out before the on-ground presentation. It’s different, but it adds a level of anticipation. Elliot Yeo won it and Harley Reid was second, although many fans believed that order was wrong. Still, it’s a process which should be adopted for the Anzac Day medal and even for the Norm Smith medal. It’s fun, if nothing else.
Originally published as The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round 6
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