By Marc McGowan, Jon Pierik and Daniel Brettig
In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- Luke Jackson rubbishes trade talk.
- Libby Birch puts the heat on Carlton for letting panic set in during shock loss to Richmond.
- Legendary Adelaide Oval curator critical of AFL’s excuses for denying cricket final.
- Archer, Scrimshaw and Lynch all going to tribunal.
Trade talk is ‘all rubbish’, says Docker Jackson
Marc McGowan
Fremantle ruckman Luke Jackson has emphatically ruled out a playing reunion with his former Melbourne teammates ahead of his 100th AFL match against Sydney on Sunday.
Luke Jackson in the fray against Geelong on Saturday.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Speculation was rife in the past month that Jackson might be open to returning to Victoria, with the Demons considered the most likely destination in that scenario. But the 23-year-old, who was integral in Melbourne’s 2021 grand final triumph over Western Bulldogs, dismissed that possibility on Monday, saying he would “definitely” be staying at the Dockers.
“I love Freo, I love playing at Freo [and] I always wanted to play here since I was a little kid,” Jackson said.
“I grew up supporting the club. I always remember watching the games, so I’ll definitely be here, and [I have loved] my time here.”
The potential of a Jackson defection was first reported at the start of this month, before another report last week that he had told his old Demons teammates that he was keen to explore playing with them again.
Jackson is Fremantle’s No.1 ruckman while Sean Darcy is sidelined with injury.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“It’s all rubbish, to be honest,” he said. “We played them a few weeks ago here in Mandurah, and I won a premiership with them. I’ve got good relationships with them, so obviously, I’ll give them the time of day and stuff, but some of my best mates are in that team, and it was good to see them.”
Jackson successfully requested a trade from Melbourne to the Dockers after the 2022 season and has blossomed into one of the game’s best ruck-forwards.
He and Sean Darcy are arguably the No.1 ruck combination in the AFL, and he backed them to continue working together once Darcy returned from his ankle injury.
Liam Reidy is currently serving as Fremantle’s starting ruckman, with Jackson playing his usual roaming role up forward and in the ruck.
Jackson said the trade conjecture surrounding him had not been a distraction and he insisted this was not a case of a player saying one thing now before leaving later.
“I know this doesn’t hang over my head. I don’t let this stuff get to me,” he said. “I’m just really enjoying my footy, and that’s my main focus at the end of the day - to play well for Freo.”
‘Panic, panic, panic’: The ‘threat mindset’ behind Carlton’s loss
Claire Siracusa
Triple-premiership AFLW defender Libby Birch has put the heat on Carlton for letting panic set in during their shock loss to Richmond on Thursday night, saying they let themselves fall into a “threat mindset” rather than challenging the Tigers.
Birch, who works with the same sport psychologist as the Blues, told the Real Footy podcast about the “threat versus challenge mindset”.
“What I believe happened to the Carlton players on Thursday night is that they went straight into the threat mindset, which is like ‘this wasn’t the plan, Richmond weren’t supposed to be this good’,” she said.
Patrick Cripps and Jacob Weitering lead the Blues from the field after losing to Richmond.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“And when you start thinking like that mid-game, you start to see fumbling, erratic behaviours, desperation, lack of awareness; we saw so many players going up for the mark that were just up against each other.
“The opposing mindset to that is actually, ‘hey, we’re being challenged. What’s the process and game plan we fall back on, to make sure that we are composed, calm, which I think they should be with the level of players they have there.”
She said the shift from the Blues, who were 41 points up at one stage, should be pinned on the whole club.
“It’s from everyone. I believe that mindset shift that happened on the night stems from player leadership, coach leadership and the decisions that were made on the night. Because you can’t go from being 41 points up in this great mindset, to then all of a sudden going into threat mindset where you literally cannot play. Which is what happened.
“It’s not all the coaches’ fault because in the end it’s the players that are making the decisions on-field.
“You do need your leadership group to step up in those moments and show the rest of the group, ‘hey, this is the direction we’re going’. And I believe they got that wrong on the night.
“Everyone went in the direction of, ’oh, this isn’t the plan, we’re not supposed to be losing this game. Panic, panic, panic. And it comes from the narrative of potentially … what’s happened in the past [30 years, during the down patches since Carlton’s last premiership].”
She also highlighted the “small forward problem” at Carlton.
“We’re seeing the prevalence of small forwards in our game that are changing the way the game is played and I don’t think they’ve got that ... a small forward that can kick 30 goals now.”
Ex-curator lashes AFL over Adelaide Oval call
Daniel Brettig
AFL safety fears about Adelaide Oval’s capacity to host two footy fixtures either side of the Sheffield Shield final have been called out as “fictitious” and “bullshit” by the oval’s former curator Les Burdett.
Last week the AFL shot down a proposal for the Shield final to be played in between rounds two and three of the league season, stating the risks of injury to players and relocation of the games were too high.
That decision followed the refusal of a request to the South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas to waive the multimillion-dollar cost of “Footy Express” bus services to and from AFL matches during the year, in return for making the ground available to cricket that week.
A bid by CA and SACA to stage the Sheffield Shield final at the Adelaide Oval has failed.Credit: Getty Images
Burdett, who mentored the current Adelaide Oval curator Damien Hough and remains in demand as a turf consultant in Australia and overseas, declared over the weekend that the AFL’s concerns were baseless.
“None. None,” he said on FiveAA radio in Adelaide when asked what risks there were for football. “You probably need 24 hours of continual torrential rain, that’s not going to happen in Adelaide, and it’s just overkill. I just think the AFL are trying to find excuses.
“For Damien to say that he can deliver, and I know he can deliver, and I know what equipment and great support he’s got with his staff, he’d deliver it easily. I love my footy, but I love my cricket, and you’re depriving South Australians from watching our cricket team play in a grand final on Adelaide Oval when it’s doable.”
The AFL had pointed to advice from “independent turf experts” to outline the case for not having the Shield final at Adelaide Oval.
“It’s fictitious what the AFL are coming up with, and this so-called expert, I know most of the guys in Australia, I still pitch-advise Cricket Australia and I still link to these people, I’d like to know who it is,” Burdett said. “I couldn’t sit back and listen to the bullshit.
“If the outfield gets wet, hoo-haa, you’re irrigated anyway. The outfield of Adelaide Oval is designed to take six inches of rain in one hour, 150 millimetres of rain in an hour. We’re never going to get that in Adelaide, but that’s the way they design it.”
The decision to bring football back to Adelaide Oval was a contentious one. Burdett was heavily involved in making the case for drop-in pitches as a potential improvement on what had gone before.
“The whole idea of doing it is so you can play football one day and cricket the next. That was the selling point,” he said.
“With drop-in pitches you get more bums on seats, and there’s no transition period where you waste time to rejuvenate your pitches for cricket, or autumn where you soften them for football season.
“It’s all doable, and the reason the drop-in pitches came to life was so you can use the ground more. Here’s an opportunity to use the ground more and they’re saying no.”
Kangaroos to challenge Archer suspension
Jon Pierik
The AFL tribunal faces its first major test case of the season after North Melbourne opted to challenge the three-match ban Jackson Archer was given over his collision with Western Bulldog Luke Cleary.
Luke Cleary was stretchered off the ground at Marvel Stadium.Credit: Getty Images
Cleary was knocked out when Archer’s knee made contact with his head in a contest in Saturday night’s match at Marvel Stadium. Play was stopped and Cleary received medical attention before being taken to hospital.
He was back at Whitten Oval in good spirits on Monday, but will miss the Bulldogs’ AFL/VFL centenary celebration match against Collingwood on Friday night under concussion protocols.
Match review officer Michael Christian graded Archer’s actions as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, resulting in a three-game suspension.
The Kangaroos on Monday confirmed they will challenge the penalty at the tribunal.
Former Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy does not believe Archer should be suspended.
“My initial thought was it was just one of those unfortunate accidents,” Murphy said.
“We get the luxury of looking at it in slow motion, and it’s whether the tribunal thinks he had another option, and they might deem that he did. There’s definitely no malice, and it’s one of those ones where you don’t want to see players miss footy for those sort of things, but it may end up that way.”
Even Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said he did not want to see Archer rubbed out for the incident that left his player concussed.
Beveridge told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Monday night he didn’t believe Archer had any intent to hurt Cleary.
“I don’t think he should be out of the game,” Beveridge said.
Under the AFL rules, the onus is on Archer to have avoided the contact.
Essendon great James Hird told Nine’s Footy Furnace that Archer should be cleared.
“It’s a very difficult situation. Archer is coming flat out, he hasn’t got a lot to do. Could he jump over him, and what does he do to avoid contact? But, the rule is, you have the onus to avoid it. I think it’s a very difficult situation to appeal, but it would be very stiff for Jackson Archer to get three weeks,” Hird said.
“I think he should get off, but I think the way the rule says with a duty of care, it means it’s very hard for him to get off. I don’t know what else he is expected to do – he is almost at the ball.”
Geelong great Jimmy Bartel suggested that Archer could have won a free kick, for he had had his feet taken out from under him.
“We have been told to stay on our feet, and not go to ground to take the ball. We have seen free kicks even this weekend,” he said.
St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt said he would be “really fearful for the game itself” if Archer, the son of North Melbourne legend Glenn Archer, was banned over the collision.
“You can’t legislate accidents out of the game,” Riewoldt said on Triple M.
“We don’t want concussions, that point has been made, that’s why players that are now bracing and protecting themselves are getting suspended.
“Jackson Archer is lucky not to have a broken leg. It’s a violent collision. North has to appeal this decision. I would be sad if he doesn’t get off this.”
If the suspension stands, Archer will miss games against Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. His case is one of three that will be taken to the tribunal this week.
Hawthorn will challenge defender Jack Scrimshaw’s three-match ban for a high hit on Essendon’s Jordan Ridley, and Richmond will challenge Tom Lynch’s one-match suspension for rough conduct on Carlton’s Tom De Koning.
Sydney accepted Justin McInerney’s three-match ban for the bump that concussed Brisbane’s Brandon Starcevich.
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