Early Tackle: All the likes and dislikes from round 8 so far
Has the dreaded coaching succession tax sunken in at the Power? There will be some brutal vision to review after that shocker against the Bulldogs, writes GLENN MCFARLANE.
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We haven’t seen the best of what football has to offer in round 8 so far.
But there are still plenty of talking points to dive into.
Glenn McFarlane names his likes and dislikes.
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DISLIKES
CRISP, PIES’ HEARTACHE AS FANS FUME AT LATE DECISIONS
The Hollywood script writers didn’t quite get it right on a night when Jack Crisp broke Jim Stynes’ record of 244 consecutive games, with the durable Magpie missing a set shot after the siren to win the game.
It was an extraordinary finish that came down to the last kick, and Fox Footy’s David King reckoned the Magpies fans having every to feel a little aggrieved with the officiating.
“The umpiring has had a massive impact on tonight’s game,” King said on Fox Footy as the Pies as the Cats led the free kick tally 21-14.
There were some contentious decisions, which could have gone either way.
The Magpies get around Jack Crisp after the final siren 🖤ðŸ¤#AFLPiesCatspic.twitter.com/npiK0EDZpv
— AFL (@AFL) May 3, 2025
Bobby Hill was penalised for his remarkable rundown tackle late in the game, having been deemed to have gone too low.
Then a Lachie Schultz shot at goal went to the score review with Pies players believing it was a goal and Mark Blicavs insisting it was touched.
The soft call was touched and the score review couldn’t establish for certain it was, but the decision went against the Pies in a crucial moment.
Blicavs said on Fox Footy: “I touched it … the umpire called it touched.”
He said he felt sick in the dying seconds as Darcy Cameron got the last handball out to Steele Sidebottom whose long bomb with seconds left found Crisp about 45m out.
Crisp missed, but said later on Fox: “The ball fell in my lap, that was my moment, and it wasn’t to be.”
Full kudos to Crisp for breaking the consecutive record, but the mark of the man came when he had the courage to speak about his miss just moments after it happened.
Let’s hope these two teams meet in the finals.
BLOWTORCH ON THE BLUES AHEAD OF THE TDK CUP
Carlton’s three-week revival crashed heavily at Adelaide Oval as the Blues’ ‘snakes and ladders’ season took a nosedive ahead of a crunch match against St Kilda in a Friday night MCG showdown.
And you just know what the narrative is going to be in the lead-up!
At the heart of it will be Blues free agent Tom De Koning, who had his hands full on Saturday against Reilly O’Brien, but who has spent the past few months wrestling with the biggest decision of his footy career.
Will TDK stay loyal to the Blues and accept their big offer to remain?
Or will be tempted by a cashed-up St Kilda to take one of the biggest offers in AFL history – a $1.7million per season long-term godfather pitch?
It’s delicately poised right now and who knows what sort of impact a win or loss next Friday night could play on his decision-making.
What is certain is that the Saints had been awful for three weeks before stunning Freo on Friday.
And the Blues will have the blowtorch applied this week after a very poor effort against the Crows on Saturday.
Carlton never quite looked like it against the Crows and the stats showed why there will be a focus on them leading into the Saints’ game.
Take a look at these disparities … -69 disposals, -18 inside 50s, -26 hitouts, -8 clearances, -10 centre clearances, -17 contested possessions and -63 uncontested possessions.
They were beaten at the source – clearly – but they were also beaten on the outside too.
At 3-5, the margin for errors is tightening for Michael Voss’ Blues. That’s what makes the Saints’ game – complete with its TDK focus – so critical for the now and for the future.
MELKY’S MRO WATCH ON GOV CONCUSSION
Melbourne forward Jake Melksham will face a nervous wait on Michael Christian’s assessment of his part in West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern concussion.
As Christian Petracca launched a long ball into attack, Melksham edged out his opponent McGovern in an attack to get the ball but the Eagles defender ended up falling into Harrison Petty’s pathway.
Melksham took the mark as a result, but the umpire took the ball off him as the Demons forward motioned he had pushed him in the side.
The incident will be closely scrutinised as McGovern was immediately on the ground and in trouble. He was taken from the field, taking no further part in the game.
Melksham will argue he used his hip and had his eye on the ball throughout the action.
McGovern entered concussion protocols which won’t help Melksham’s cause as Christian makes his call.
PORT TORN APART
This was a Ballarat shocker for the Power in a third massive blowout loss from the club’s past 11 games, leaving final-year coach Ken Hinkley at a loss for answers, and the man who will replace him, Josh Carr, wondering what he might be about to inherit.
Port Adelaide is 4-4, and went into Saturday’s game off the back of three straight wins.
But so much of that good work was swept away in the chilly Ballarat wind in a miserable second half.
Is this the dreaded ‘coaching succession’ tax biting deep?
Or is it more a reflection that this playing list is in need of fresh ideas and new blood?
We might find out the real answer soon, with big games ahead against Adelaide, Geelong, Fremantle and GWS set to define their season.
Having won their previous two games against the Bulldogs at Mars Stadium, the Power looked right in the game at quarter-time.
The difference at half-time was a gettable 26 points but that was where the resistance ended as Hinkley’s side coughed up 12.8 in the final two quarters, while managing to kick just 2.4 in that same time frame.
So much of it was unacceptable and the review vision will end up being brutal early next week, as the coach tried to switch up the team – even sending Connor Rozee back into the midfield at times – but nothing could erase the wipeout.
And there will be an MRO watch on Willie Rioli’s off-the-ball clash with Bailey Dale.
The 90-point loss follows on from a 91-point flogging by Collingwood in round 1 as well as an 84-point drubbing from Geelong in last year’s qualifying final.
Port never used to lose matches like that, so the heat will come on Hinkley, Carr, the players and even the club decision makers.
OUTCOACHED, OUTWORKED AND THE SPECTRE OF THE ‘ONGOING EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT’
Less than two hours after Dockers CEO Simon Garlick said on ABC radio there was not a world in which Justin Longmuir won’t coach the club at the start of next season, a flaky Fremantle turned in one of the worst efforts in the club’s 30-year history.
If Friday night was a disastrous night for the Dockers, it was just as damning for Justin Longmuir, who admitted post-game that he was examining his own performance as much as the woefully inadequate efforts of his players against a well-drilled, disciplined St Kilda.
You shouldn’t get thrashed by what you know is coming, and Freo did precisely that!
The Saints’ squeeze was always going to be on from the first bounce, and at no stage did the Dockers look like extricating themselves from Ross Lyon’s boa constrictor-like grip.
Do you blame the players for that? Or the coaches?
Surely it has to be both.
How do you account for -28 clearances, -27 inside 50s and -48 contested possessions (the second worst differential this season)?
Freo might be 4-4, and still tracking OK in ladder terms after knocking off Adelaide in Perth last week. But every time we trust the Dockers on the road, they let us down.
Until they can change that, they will remain a million miles away from being a serious contender.
Longmuir isn’t under any immediate pressure.
But with a tough month ahead – Collingwood (home), GWS (away), Port Adelaide (home) and Gold Coast (away) – Freo will be a ‘watch this space’.
The Dockers’ decision to put Longmuir – now in his sixth season with a 50% winning record – on an ‘ongoing employment agreement” from next season makes it even more interesting.
As Garlick said about ‘ongoing employment agreements’ on ABC: “The days of signing five year contracts or 10-year contracts … and you get paid out if it didn’t work in full, they’re over. For responsible clubs that are running clubs with the right level of governance, there is a notice period of time.”
That’s all well and good when things are working OK.
But if the Dockers start to slide, or play more often like they did on Friday, the heat will be turned up on the club, and indeed, their coach.
SHAI, LOCK STOCK AND BARRELLED
Shai Bolton’s first seven games in purple have resembled a theme park rollercoaster ride, but he looked to be on the ascent after big performances against Melbourne and Adelaide.
Then came Friday night, and the stomach-churning dive (at least for Dockers fans watching) with a performance that was uncharacteristic and hard to watch.
Admittedly, it would have been bloody hard to get a kick in Freo’s attack when a midfield mauling of Serong and Brayshaw meant the Dockers only went inside 50m 34 times – a season low.
But Bolton needed to be better than that.
The high-priced Dockers’ signing was beaten badly by cheap as chips Saint defensive stopper Liam Stocker, with the pair matched for 58 minutes of the match.
In that time, Bolton had just two disposals (to Stocker’s six) and his SuperCoach haul of five points (no, that’s not a misprint) would have shocked the more than 300 people who traded him into their sides this week believing this looked to be a juicy game for him.
It wasn’t, and he needs to hit back hard when the Dockers take on the Pies on Thursday.
LDU NEEDS TO START THINKING ABOUT ‘BALL SECURITY’
Freshly-minted Kangaroos re-signing Luke Davies-Uniacke had front row access to one of the buzzwords of the AFL right now – ball security.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the one displaying it.
Zach Merrett was, and he gave a masterclass of ball security against North Melbourne on Thursday night and then articulated it so well on Channel 7 24 hours later.
The Essendon skipper spoke about how the age of the dump kick or wild possession was over and that players had to start thinking more about ball security as much as anything, especially given the 2025 umpire interpretations.
If that means getting wrapped up in a tackle, so be it!
In his role as special comments man on Friday night, he said: “You don’t want to get caught holding the ball, but you also don’t want to get caught fumbling the ball out.
“I think the general consensus now is to hold it in, just in case, and if you get caught holding the ball, at least you can set the ground up behind the ball.
“We’ll call it ball security. Hold the ball in until you can fight an opponent, get it to the outside and you can play off that.”
LDU could benefit from following this strategy.
He is getting the ball enough, but just isn’t using it as well as he could off his boot or hands.
He was ranked third for the match in terms of ball-winning – by Champion Data – but his ball use on Thursday night was ranked 25th.
This has nothing to do with his contract; it has everything to do with his ball execution right now.
LIKES
SHADES OF ‘16 AS MIDS STAKE THEIR CLAIM – AGAIN
Buddy Franklin said on his podcast with Shane Crawford earlier this week – The Buddy and Shane Show – that the Western Bulldogs should offer Luke Beveridge a five-year deal after the challenges he has navigated his team through this year.
Anyone watching the Bulldogs’ clinical dissection of Port Adelaide in Ballarat would hardly have disagreed.
This was a powerful statement from a club which has had to deal with a range of key injuries and Jamarra Ugle-Hagen’s leave of absence, but has seemingly emerged as legitimate contenders at 5-3, with a percentage sitting at almost 130%.
At what stage do we say they can replicate the 2016 run that swept them to a flag in Bevo’s second season?
It’s hard to argue against this in a year where there are few standouts.
They’ve got to where they are so far in 2025 with a great team ethos and a daring approach, but they’ve also done it with a midfield who might be wearing the AFL’s current yellow jersey.
Tim English reeled off his best game as a ruckman this season, with 27 disposals, three goals and an imposing 30 hitouts to shut-out his former teammate Jordon Sweet.
The Bont has barely missed a beat after returning last week, slotting through three majors; Adam Treloar was massive in his first game back this season from injury, having 27 disposals and kicking a goal; Ed Richards (30 disposals and two goals) is a bona fide star and his signature is poised on a massive new deal; and Matt Kennedy (26 touches) has staked his claim as one of the trade recruits of the year.
Then, there is the team-lifting Libba, who helped to carry the mids when others have been absent, and who is having another super consistent year.
The challenges are still ahead for Bevo and the Bullies, starting with Gold Coast in Darwin next Saturday, but the signs are starting to look compelling.
WAS THIS GAME OF THE YEAR?
Too right, it was. In a weekend of blowouts and snooze-fests, Geelong and Collingwood turned on a match for the ages as 82,514 fans - and millions watching on TV - were treated to one of the games of the modern era.
It had everything.
Geelong came from behind to get in front in the last term courtesy of a Patrick Dangerfield powerhouse performance (with 13 final quarter disposals) which has further enhanced his chances of winning a record ninth All-Australian blazer later this year.
Then Collingwood came again, daring to drag themselves off the canvas, with a last-ditch effort that took a 17-point deficit with seven minutes into a kick after the siren from Jack Crisp which slid to the wrong side of the right post.
They will be talking about this match for years to come … the fightback from both clubs, the Dangerfield masterclass that inspired his team, the rundown tackle from Bobby Hill that ended up being a free kick against him and the contentious score review that had Pies fans fuming.
The Cats were brave, and made up for their loss to the Blues last week.
The Pies were equally brave and will have to front up against the Dockers in Perth on Thursday night.
MAX FACTOR
How many times has Max Gawn saved the Demons from purgatory over the years?
We lost count a long time ago. But he did it again on Saturday and in the process produced one of the best quarters he has played in his already remarkable AFL career.
The Eagles were leading by a goal at half-time and a real upset seemed to be in the offing when the Demons skipper went into overdrive.
His third quarter was absolutely off the charts as he inspired his team to a seven-goal to two term, which effectively killed the Eagles’ charge.
The 33-year-old had 14 disposals (10 contested), four clearances, five score involvements and a whopping 78 SuperCoach points in that telling third term.
He ended up with a career-best 35 disposals, one more than his previous best, as he made a massive difference in shaking his teammates out of their lethargy.
COMPLETE CROWS BOUNCE BACK
This was the Crows’ fightback from a wasted trip to Perth last week that would have delighted Matthew Nicks.
They smashed the Blues by 60 points but what would have given a few rival clubs even more cause for concern was just how well Adelaide fared across every line.
Their midfield needed to bounce back after the Dockers beat them last week, and they did that, winning the ball at the contest and looking even more dangerous on the outside.
We know the Crows’ multi-pronged forward line is as potent as any in the competition when it is on song, and Nicks even added Jordan Dawson (three goals) to the mix on Saturday.
But what impressed the most for Adelaide against the Blues was the way in which the club’s often critiqued back half played out of its skin to restrict Carlton to only 50 points.
Minus Mitch Hinge (suspended) and Ned Murray (injured), the Crows did a number on the imposing Blues key position players as well as the small forwards.
Josh Worrall was outstanding, with 23 disposals, nine intercepts and seven marks, as he continued his growth as a defender.
He was ably supported by Max Michalanney (27 touches and 12 marks), while Mark Keane and Jordan Butts played good roles too.
Now, it’s time for the Showdown against the Power!
DOUBLE TON MASTERCLASS FROM ROSS THE BOSS
Ross Lyon became the 18th coach in VFL-AFL history to lead his teams to 200 or more wins with a coaching masterclass on Friday that was right up there with his best.
A week after angry Ross reared his head again, this was planned and prepared Ross who outcoached and outplanned the opposition to bring about a systematic smashing of a team some people tipped as premiership hopes this season.
He heaped praise on his assistant coaches for the way they forged a plan to make the Dockers look third-rate (and it worked), but this had Ross Lyon’s DNA stamped over it.
The match-ups were outstanding and worked a treat …
Stocker on Bolton worked; Lyon backed his mids in Jack Macrae, Jack Steele, Hugo Garcia and co to get the job done on a midfield that included Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw, without the need to send Marcus Windhager in as a hard tag; he also introduced another young talent in Hugh Boxhall to the side; and most other plans all seemed to work.
Callum Wilkie has not missed a game since he came to St Kilda and is now one of the best defenders in the game, so it is no real surprise that he kept a player of Josh Treacy’s ilk so quiet.
But a closer examination shows just how much of a match-up success this one was.
Treacy hadn’t missed kicking at least one goal in a game since round 23, 2023 – 28 matches in a row – until Friday night.
He couldn’t score against Wilkie.
In the 97 minutes he played on the Dockers star forward, Wilkie had 21 disposals and his opponent had just six. Yes, we know the ball didn’t go in much, but when it did, Wilkie always seemed to have his measure.
Ross’ 200th win would have been the last thing on his mind on Friday, given the heat he took last week for the Saints’ loss to the Lions, and his contentious first half subbing out of Garcia.
So you could understand why he let off a beaming smile from the box late in the game when Garcia nailed a goal.
‘THE GETTERS GET, THE RUNNERS RUN’
It seems as if there has been an endless debate this season about whether Jack Macrae hurts you as much in reality as much as his disposal accumulation does on the stats sheet.
On Friday night, he absolutely did.
Regardless of your viewpoint, you cannot argue that he has not been important to St Kilda in his first season outside of the Kennel.
While he might have been surplus to the needs of the Western Bulldogs midfield that boasted so many stars, he is pretty much what the Saints needed.
He showed that against the Dockers, racking up 38 disposals including an extraordinary 25 contested possessions – the most from a St Kilda player since Champion Data started in 1999.
Add to that 14 clearances, and you can see part of the reason why the Saints won this match with +39 points coming from team clearances.
Of course, the Saints could do with some elite speed and elite ball disposal talent running through the midfield – and that will come in due course – but Macrae is playing an important role in there now, albeit his past few weeks had been disappointing.
And in typical Ross-speak, he pointed out why midfielders can’t all be the same when he said: “the getters get and runners run.”
That’s simple but spot on!
MITCH, HIGGO AND SHARMAN TROUPE
Max King is still a TBC on the club’s injury list with his troublesome knee, but the Saints showed on Friday night there are some serious ‘green shoots’ in attack without the great red, white and black forward hope.
Generations ago, Jimmy Sharman Boxing troupe famously took on all comers in a variety of destinations, but the Saints’ own version in attack showed against the Dockers that they have plenty of fight in them – sans King.
Cooper Sharman kicked four goals and it should have six or seven, but has an uncanny sense of the moment. He is still a work in progress but his goal of the year contender – when he torched Josh Draper – showed how much potential he has got.
He has good mitts, a great leap and if he can tidy up a few areas of his game, he can be a real player.
Mitch Owens has serious talent. His three goals took his season tally to 14 – just seven behind small forward Jack Higgins – but his X-factor is much more than just goals.
Take that one-handed mark that very few players could think about dragging in.
The Saints have only kicked more than 100 points once so far this season – 138 against Richmond – but again on Friday night they came close with 94.
The mix will look a lot better when Mason Wood returns and ultimately when King overcomes that knee issue.
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