Round 2 reminds competition how valuable pressure, effort really is, writes Mark Robinson
SUDDENLY the Saints-Magpies clash on Friday night looms as an intriguing battle, writes Mark Robinson. LIVE CHAT FROM 11.30am
Mark Robinson
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THE search for legitimacy is a competition-wide journey.
St Kilda found some on a hot and sweaty night at faraway Carrara on Saturday night and suddenly the Saints-Magpies clash on Friday night is intriguing.
If the Saints win, the next day’s newspaper will be more black and white than it usually is.
That’s what happens if you’re Collingwood.
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By then the questions will be about Nathan Buckley and whether he can coach. It’s a silly question because Buckley has team of young men who are trying to find their groove in the big time and Buckley is trying to lead them there.
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The Pies need patience. The Saints deserve some recognition.
There would be a rare football fan who picked the Saints to beat Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Such was gloom around them, some reasoned footy people suggested they wouldn’t win a game this season.
That was blown out of the water after Round 2.
You have to wonder what that does to the psyche of a football club, if in fact they heard it.
Then again, what Tom, Dick and Harry say shouldn’t concern anyone inside the football club.
On Saturday night, they won because they did the simple things far better the Suns.
They won the midfield, the defence of Fisher, Weller, Savage, Shenton, Dempster and Geary (who tracked Gary Ablett for a large part) won the ball and were cohesive, and the mids and forwards were creative and damaging.
Josh Bruce and Nick Riewoldt, who played a roaming role, took 20 marks between them.
Bruce was the star with six goals. Think about that: a key forward at St Kilda kicked six goals and his name wasn’t Riewoldt.
The Saints won disposals (384-358) and tackles (66-53) which is a terrific double to win because it’s evidence there was hunger on both facets of the game.
So, where were the ticks.
Jack Newnes on a wing is already a certain starter, Nathan Wright will not be the sub next week, Steven is getting better with each run, Armitage is their best mid, Savage is dangerous and dynamic off a back flank, while most of the rest of them played a role.
It sounds boring, but too often in the past 12 months the Saints have left it too few.
They ran deeper than the Suns on Saturday night and coach Alan Richardson will no doubt tell them that in the review. Twenty-two contributors win football games, not 12.
The same again on Friday night and the papers just might be black, white and red all over.
*****
WELCOME BACK, OLD FRIENDS
IT WAS a weekend to say hello to a couple of old friends, welcome back another and wave goodbye to a once-great contender.
The powerhouses — Sydney and Fremantle — reminded the competition that applying pressure is How To Play Football 101.
Essendon wholeheartedly agrees. So do the Western Bulldogs. And the Saints. A highlight clip of those three games will include the marks and the goals, when it was the pressure applied to the opposition and the appetite for the ball which earned victory.
The Bombers beat Hawthorn by two points and one second at the MCG.
It was thrilling and tough — and exhausting to watch — and it was a victory worth more than four points.
The premiership ladder will record a single W, but to the players and fans it meant far much more. And perhaps only the players and fans would understand that.
It was a pure victory, one without judgment or persecution as the backdrop. They led by six goals, lost the lead in the final quarter and earned victory in an extraordinary way.
Defender Cale Hooker was the match-winner. He took two desperate marks in defence and kicked the go-ahead goal with 57 seconds to play.
And good for him. His career highlight reel was forever to be his chase of Lance Franklin around the MCG wing and half-forward, as Buddy bounced four times before kicking a goal from the boundary line.
Hooker laid his demons to rest.
As for his team, it was about ticker and resilience and belief and all those giddy words, but it was also about a game plan which largely held up for most of the game.
They kicked short, moved the ball quick and ran hard on the back of their ferocious attack on the ball.
The Hawks were mighty as well and together, Essendon and Hawthorn, reminded us what a wonderful sport AFL is.
The Cats weren’t so wonderful.
Fremantle dismantled them after half-time and by midway through the final quarter were treating the Cats like witches hats.
It was their third loss in their past 52 matches at home, going back to August 2007, and clearly their worst.
In two weeks, the Cats have been munched by Hawthorn and now Fremantle.
They will beat plenty of teams this year, but it’s difficult to make an argument they are in the premiership hunt.
They are rebuilding a team, once a champion team, and as Jason Dunstall noted, they suddenly have lost their mystique.
The Dockers beat them inside and outside and Nathan Fyfe was electric, with 36 disposals and three goals. Don’t know if electric quite sums up Fyfe.
Is there a word to describe a player who is fearless, who takes pack marks, who reads high balls, who tackles, wins clearances, judges the bounce of ball better than most players in general play, who then goes forward and kicks goals?
Is it too gushing to say we have a 23-year-old champion of the game?
If he doesn’t get the three Brownlow votes, then David Mundy will. He’s an animal in the contest and his 39 disposals, nine tackles and eight clearances was A grade. If they don’t get it, it might be Stephen Hill, who had 10 inside 50s.
The high-end of the ladder is wide open, with Sydney, Fremantle, Adelaide, Hawthorn and now Essendon making statements in the first two weeks.
The Saints made one of their own on Saturday night. Their pressure made the Suns capitulate and then they burnt them on the spread. It was great to watch and pleasing for Alan Richardson. They wouldn’t win game, hey?
After two rounds the Western Bulldogs are 2-0. They are exciting on the run and demonic when the ball is up for grabs — a terrific combination.
The sleeping giant may also have awoken at Greater Western Sydney, also unbeaten.
After two rounds, this season is shaping as one to enjoy.
Originally published as Round 2 reminds competition how valuable pressure, effort really is, writes Mark Robinson
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