Early Tackle: Glenn McFarlane gives his likes and dislikes across a massive Round 20
The greatest asset Collingwood will take into September should they play finals will be their ability to withstand pressure in tight finishes. Their record proves belief is growing.
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With only four weeks until finals, the stakes don’t get much bigger.
Who is handling the pressure and who is caving under the spotlight?
In what will be a massive Round 20, stay up to date with all the big talking points as they happen in the Early Tackle with Glenn McFarlane.
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DISLIKES
Hoodoo Blues
Carlton’s Adelaide Oval curse rolls on as the Blues stare down the barrel of crunch games against Brisbane, Melbourne and Collingwood in the final three home-and-away rounds.
The Blues have never won at the new home of footy in South Australia, losing all six games, including Saturday night’s loss to the Crows.
This one really hurt, not just because the Blues lost Corey Durdin and Nic Newman to injury, but because of what it still might mean ladder-wise.
Coach Michael Voss would be scratching his head at the mistakes made by his players.
It was a night to forget as they lost the contested possession account – their greatest strength – as the Crows beat them at their own game.
It came on a night when Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh had 41 and 40 disposals, but collectively the Blues made far too many errors.
Don’t just blame the injuries as the sole reason for the loss, though, it was more than that.
They need to clean some things up while there is still time.
Hawks’ lack of effort costly
Hawthorn may have finished like a steam train and threatened to pinch the points off St Kilda, but the real question must be why it took them so long to get going.
Having won their previous three games, the Hawks pregame gave themselves a real chance of knocking off the Saints.
But it makes it hard when you go the best part of two quarters without scoring a goal.
Jack Gunston kicked their late in the first term and it wasn’t until midway through the third term that Sam Butler kicked their second.
The margin had pushed out to 40 points early in the final term before the Hawks somehow found their mojo with a relentless attack on the ball that wasn’t as evident earlier.
They kicked the last five goals, but simply ran out of time.
Sam Mitchell would have every right to question his team on why it took them so long to find that urgency, as it might have cost them a fourth straight win.
Giant headache
Former Giants coach Leon Cameron reckons his former side could be Collingwood Mark II next year, capable of a swift rebound under a new coach in 2023.
Not on their miserable performance against Sydney on Saturday.
Cameron made the comments on SEN before the Giants took on Sydney in the ‘Battle of the Bridge’.
As the Giants search for a new coach, having spoken again to Alastair Clarkson on Wednesday, as well as assistant coaches Adem Yze and Adam Kingsley, it is hard to see them making the necessary leap into finals contention again next season.
There have been suggestions of a salary cap squeeze along with a number of players including Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper, Bobbie Hill and Tanner Bruhn potentially on the move.
The Giants have lost their past four matches and six of their last seven under caretaker coach Mark McVeigh, who is also highly rated and seen as an AFL senior coach in waiting.
They are in the race with the Crows to see who finished 15th or 16th.
They were smashed in almost every statistical measure by the Swans, with one of the most alarming being the -33 inside 50m differential.
The Giants’ 36 inside 50s was 12 down on their season average.
The new coach, whoever it is, has some serious work to do.
Braydon’s ‘brain fade’
The Giants will be sweating on a match review assessment on Braydon Preuss after Fox Footy’s Dermott Brereton wondered if he had had another brain fade against the Swans.
It could lead to Preuss’ fourth suspension of the season after he laid a bump on an unsuspecting James Rowbottom that resulted in a goal to the Swans.
Brereton said: “Is it so inherent in his nature that he can’t resist putting some punishment on somebody when the opening is there? Or is it brain fades? Because it happens too much to be consistent brain fades.”
Preuss copped a week for a crude tackle on Brodie Grundy in the pre-season, then he had a one-game ban for striking David Mundy in Round 4.
His tackle on Bulldog Tim English sidelined him for another week.
Power shutdown
Ken Hinkley has one more year to run on his contract with Port Adelaide next year and it’s no exaggeration to suggest it might be a Grand Final or bust for him in 2023.
With the finals now out of reach for the Power courtesy of their 0-5 start, they will use the last three rounds to ensure they are ready to hit the ground running next season.
Next year will be Hinkley’s 11th season as Port Adelaide coach. He’s done a wonderful job and deserves to see out the final year of his contract, despite the cheap thoughts of some wag who put a ‘Sack Hinkley’ sign over the club’s headquarters during the week.
Hinkley’s win-loss record is around 58%, which is why he has the respect and esteem of those within and outside Alberton.
But even he would know that coaches who have yet to reach a Grand Final rarely get new deals after 10 seasons in the role.
So next year is a make-or-break one for him, even if he would still be sought after from rival clubs.
There should be no excuses next year as the club’s young guns including a red-hot Connor Rozee (35 disposals against the Magpies) looked to have significant upside.
Before the clash with the Magpies, Hinkley warned rival clubs on Fox Footy: “Don’t let us in (to the finals) cause we’ll cause you some problems.”
That won’t happen now, but 2023 needs to be a different story.
Where’s the flair and dare, Freo?
The two Dockers fans who had ‘Flagmantle’ inked onto their skin just two months ago – starting a new footy catchphrase – might want to start googling tattoo removalists – at least in regard to 2022.
On Friday night’s performance, Fremantle are highly unlikely to win this year’s premiership.
Nick Riewoldt said as much on Fox Footy after their meek resistance against a freshly rejuvenated Melbourne on Friday night.
Asked if the Dockers can still win the 2022 flag, Nick Riewoldt said: “No, not the way they are playing now.”
The worrying signs in the past few weeks crystallised into one of the Dockers’ worst performances of the season.
Again, they were strangled and couldn’t score against one of the serious flag fancies.
In four of the past six weeks – against the Blues, Swans, Tigers and now the Demons – Fremantle has kicked totals of 50, 65, 52 and 39.
Their net return from those games were three losses and a draw.
Freo’s chances of securing a top four berth could rest on the clash with the Western Bulldogs next weekend, as two winnable games follow.
The Dockers were deadset boring against the Demons.
Too often they went sideways instead of straight ahead. They looked stagnant and played safe down the line minus the flair and dare we saw the last time they took on Melbourne.
And on a night when James Aish quelled the might of Clayton Oliver, the rest of Fremantle’s midfield couldn’t capitalise.
It’s high time the Dockers started taking some risks again – before it is too late in 2022.
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That’s for you, Joel
It was the eight-goal third-term blitz inspired by a champion Cat.
On a night to celebrate Geelong skipper Joel Selwood becoming the 21st player to reach 350th VFL-AFL games, the Bulldogs looked set to crash the party early on.
They pushed out to a 26-point lead early in the second term.
But just as Selwood has never let his club down across his decorated career, his teammates were never going him down on such an important occasion.
They reeled off 8.2 in the space of half an hour to turn a deficit into a domination, thanks to the intensity of Patrick Dangerfield, the creativity of Tyson Stengle, the forward craft of Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron and Tom Stewart’s seamless return in defence.
If Melbourne gave us a little reminder of their capabilities on Friday night, Geelong staked their own claim with a second-half obliteration of the Western Bulldogs.
Selwood has been feted all through the week with a host of much-deserved tributes, but his teammates gave him the only thing he really wanted last night – a win to keep them on top.
Selwood loves winning. Incredibly, he lost his first game, but he has won his 50th, 100th, 150th, 200th, 250th, 300th and now his 350th milestone match.
Maybe, just maybe, that long-awaited fourth AFL premiership medal beckons in two months.
Gin and tonic — and Jordy
Jack Ginnivan and Jordan De Goey have created more headlines – for different reasons – than any other Magpies this season.
But this isn’t about the headlines. This is about their footy.
Ginnivan admitted in the moments after his three-goal return to form against Port Adelaide that the furore surrounding his inability to win headhigh free kicks – some of them baffling – had caused him some mental health challenges.
But even though he was denied a few more against the Power – bringing a stinging response from former Magpie Dane Swan – Ginnivan was beaming with smiles after the game.
“It’s definitely taken a toll on my mental health and all that stuff,” Ginnivan told Fox Footy. “But I’m here and happy. When you kick goals and you win, I can’t complain.
“I’ve got strong leaders around me … Darcy Moore, Callum Brown is one of my best mates and he is looking after me. My family is amazing. ‘Fly’ (coach Craig McRae) is a beautiful human.
“It’s hard, coming off a s**t week, when I didn’t play my best, I got to work on the training track, and got lucky and all the boys got around me. It was good to get on the end of a few.”
AFL legend Leigh Matthews couldn’t sleep last week after being disturbed by Ginnivan’s lack of protection on the field. His insomnia might roll into this week because the 19-year-old was once more on the wrong end of a few decisions that should have been free kicks.
We’ve toned down Swanny’s tweet, but regardless his message was clear: “If these (umpires) don’t give Jack a free kick soon, we riot.” Extreme, yes, but the frustration is building.
In footy terms, Ginnivan has now kicked 32 goals for the season, which is one more than Kozzie Pickett has.
De Goey, out of contract and with many thinking he is out the door, gave us a reminder that his best football can be intoxicating.
In his return from injury, he set the scene in the first term.
You can see why Geelong and St Kilda are interested in the free agent and why Pies fans are nervous that if he does leave, it might yet hurt.
But regardless of what happens, De Goey at his best looms as a serious weapon leading into the finals.
Dan’s drought-breaker
It was the footy moment that many thought had passed Dan Hannebery by.
Twenty-four minutes into the opening term of Saturday’s clash between the Saints and Hawks, Hannebery snapped his 100th career goal – his first in two and a half seasons.
Given the injury issues that pushed Hannebery’s AFL career to the brink, his emotional reaction – and the reaction of his teammates – showed what it meant to him.
Hannebery has managed only 16 games in four seasons since joining the Saints after a decorated Sydney career, and his struggles have taken him as far as Germany for treatment.
But the 31-year-old midfielder showed he might still have a few more shots left in the locker after having 27 disposals in his first game of the season, with 10 of them being contested.
Hanneberry told Fox Footy: “A few times this year I thought it was not too far from being all over, but I was super confident in a few things I needed to change up.
“Definitely the trip to Germany worked wonders. It is a week by week thing, but I love the game and it is an amazing opportunity to play again.”
The Saints were breathing a sigh of relief after coughing up a 40-point lead as the Hawks kicked the last five goals of the game, but the 12-point win keeps their finals hopes alive.
Pies win the close one — again
It might not be good for the ticker of their fans, but Collingwood’s extraordinary ability to win the close ones across the past two months has set up their season.
Craig McRae’s faith in his team to perform in the clutch moments must give the Magpies confidence for the tough road ahead … and for what might come in the heat of September.
Collingwood has won 10 games in a row to help set up a blockbuster clash with Melbourne on Friday night.
Incredibly, the red-time Pies’ six-point win over Port Adelaide was the seventh time in the past nine games they have won by six points or less.
The Pies’ 10 wins in a row have come with the following margins – 4, 4, 26, 11, 5, 7, 5, 4 and 6. Any wonder the belief is growing.
Top-four Swans?
In a top four race that could come down to percentage, Sydney knew it needed to flex its muscles and in doing so against a disappointing Giants outfit, they also stamped themselves a serious flag chance.
Yes, the opposition was not strong, but the Swans’ intent was.
Their mix of old and new is compelling and their game style under John Longmire has them singing just a month out from the finals.
Sydney’s 73-point win was more than just about the four points and their fifth win from their past six matches. It added almost five per cent to the crucial percentage column on the ladder.
Their top four hopes could come down to a critical Round 22 showdown with Collingwood at the SCG, which separates easier games against North Melbourne and St Kilda.
Handling the Jacko dilemma
Gotta love Simon Goodwin’s mature assessment of where the Luke Jackson-to-Fremantle momentum sits right now.
Listening to his pre-game interview with 3AW Football, Goodwin all but confirmed what most of us have known for some time – Jackson is increasingly likely to seek a return home to WA.
The coach’s comments came on a night when one Dockers fan taunted the Dees with a Freo jumper emblazoned with Jackson’s name and number.
Goodwin said of Jackson’s stalled negotiations on a new Demons’ deal: “Clearly, it’s gone on a lot longer than we would have liked, but we’ve had some great discussions with him.
“We want to maximise his ability and maximise the time we have got him and make sure he can play some really good footy for us.”
Maximise the time we have got him … Was it a slip of the tongue?
Or was Goodwin telling us that the Demons are taking the approach that Jackson is most likely gone, and getting him to produce his best in the next few months might send him off with a second premiership medal?
We suspect it is the latter.
At least Jackson’s return to Perth on Friday night produced a funny aside, showing footy tribalism is still alive and well.
One Dockers fan dangled the mock Freo jumper with Jackson’s name and number on it over the Dees’ race.
Enter Jake Melksham. He spotted it, grabbed it, and threw it to the ground as the players ran out.
The same thing happened at the end of the game when the Demons showed what they really thought of the jumper.
Jack and the Dees stalk
If ruthless and relentless were Melbourne’s themes of the week leading into Friday night’s game, then no man relished the challenge more than Jack Viney.
He stalked the Dockers with such intensity that you wouldn’t be surprised if he wore blue overalls underneath his red and blue jumper.
On a night when he and his father Todd brought up a combined 400 AFL games, Jack set the scene for a game that might end up kickstarting the Dees’ renewed flag push. He was ruthless and relentless.
Melbourne has looked the hunted in the past month or so; they were back being the hunters against the Dockers.
Viney who personified their return to a flint-hard edge again, finished with 33 disposals (16 contested), four clearances, six tackles, nine score involvements and 523 metres gained.
He doesn’t get the credit or the hype that Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver so rightly attract, mainly because he isn’t quite as clean with the ball, but he’s a real Dees’ barometer.
Harry Petty and the heartbreakers
It’s not just the two-headed Dees defensive ‘monster’ (Steven May and Jake Lever) that makes Melbourne an uneasy match-up down back.
As we saw when it mattered last year, you have to include Harrison Petty as the third wheel.
The Dees’ defence restricted the Dockers to only FIVE goals – with four of them kicked by small forwards.
Big forwards Matt Taberner and Rory Lobb were kept goalless.
The credit must collectively go to Melbourne’s back six, and more specifically Petty, Lever and May.
They helped to break the spirit of the Dockers’ forwards as well as the hearts of Freo fans.
When the triple-headed defensive ‘monsters’ all play together, they are very hard to stop.
They have played nine games as a trio this season, with the Demons winning seven of them.
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