The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes for Round 2 of AFL action
Dustin Martin and Tom Lynch look like a lethal forward line combination. Except there’s one big problem. The Tigers, Bombers and Swans are all under fire, while the Dogs head Robbo’s Round 2 positives. LIKES AND DISLIKES
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It was a memorable AFL round for all the wrong reasons for a number of teams — and one high profile AFL personality. But who was the biggest loser? Mark Robinson with his likes and dislikes from Round 2.
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DISLIKES
1 THE BIGGEST LOSER I
Essendon. The worst nightmare was played out against a committed St Kilda, plunging the Bombers into an early-season crisis. Coach John Worsfold won’t be sacked because of Saturday’s loss, but he will be if losses stack up. Another wasted season won’t be acceptable.
The first half was a rabble. No spirit and no confidence.
The second half was much better, but a half of footy doesn’t cut it. So, what does Worsfold do? He has to generate belief and morale as a priority and look at all levels of preparation. Football is mental, as former Bomber Brendon Goddard indicated post-match, and the current mindset points to a lack of care and connectivity.
That’s either between the players or between the players and coach.
Selection integrity is front and square this week. Does Worsfold back in players such as David Myers, David Zaharakis, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Mark Baguley to turn it around, or dump them with the edict — you don’t perform, you don’t play.
And now that James Hird has bobbed his head up again — never say never, he said — it makes it all a little complicated.
2 THE BIGGEST LOSER II
Melbourne. There are two areas of concern for coach Simon Goodwin, let alone being winless after two rounds.
The Demons built a tough game based on contested ball and lost the contested- possession count just once in their first 24 matches in 2018.
They have now lost the contested-possession count in three consecutive matches, starting with the preliminary final demolition by West Coast.
The other concern is the dysfunctional forward line.
They have scored 15 goals from 118 entries in the first two weeks. The No.1 forward Tom McDonald has one goal from his past three matches, and the small forwards, including Alex Neal-Bullen, Charlie Spargo, Jay Lockhart and Tom Sparrow have combined for just two goals.
More about Christian Petracca to come.
3 THE BIGGEST LOSER III
Richmond. Alex Rance first, then Jack Riewoldt for a month and Dylan Grimes for a week — and it lost on Thursday night playing what coach Damien Hardwick called an “Un-Richmond-like” way.
Dustin Martin is paid $1.2 million a year and played like a $500,000 player. He has to involve himself in the game, as pointed out by Leigh Matthews on Channel 7 yesterday.
“He looks like he’s off the ball when it comes to him being destructive,” Matthews said.
“His ball-winning and ability to fend off the tackle and get into space and create that Richmond overlap run, we’re not seeing at the moment.”
Because Martin doesn’t really defend and Tommy Lynch is one of the worst defensive forwards in the competition, when both are in the forward 50m it can create an issue.
4 THE BIGGEST LOSER IV
Sydney. There’s an interesting fact about teams being 0-2 and not making the eight, but the Swans spit in the face of that fact.
From 2010, only three of the 49 teams that have started 0-2 have made the top eight.
But look at Sydney. It has made the finals the past six times it has started 0-2.
That said, the question is: Is it an end of an era at the Swans? They have rebuilt their squad on the run and on Friday night fielded the sixth-youngest team in Round 2.
The worry is the reliance on Lance Franklin — when do we not say that? — the lost dominance at the SCG and the sudden easier avenue to goal for their opposition. Their opposition has scored from 46 per cent of its entries in 2019, ranking the Swans 15th.
5 THE BIGGEST LOSER V
North Melbourne. Why do we do predictions? Had Brad Scott’s team in the eight and the other Scott’s team outside the eight.
One team has beaten Melbourne and Collingwood, the other has lost to Fremantle and Brisbane. North needs everything to go right and everyone on the park. It was exposed on the outside by the Lions after quarter-time and critically in the final quarter.
The Roos need Ben Jacobs tagging — he would have got Lachie Neale yesterday — they need Trent Dumont playing and hunting the ball; they need Jed Anderson on deck; they need Mason Wood to become a consistent player; they need Robbie Tarrant to get match fit; they need a lively second tall forward.
They need a bit at the moment, the Kangas, because the assignment from here gets even more difficult.
6 THE BIGGEST LOSER VI
Eddie McGuire. His timing and delivery of “jokes” is the concern because he shouldn’t have to apologise as many times as he has in recent years for his lousy attempt at humour.
Everyone makes mistakes but, for a man of his standing, mistake upon mistake when opening his mouth isn’t unlucky. It’s a trend. The Swans want McGuire punished by the AFL and how that manifests itself will be intriguing.
Last week Richmond suspended a member for two years for using the word “monkey” in a social media post. McGuire, remember, has already referenced King Kong in a comment about Adam Goodes.
It’s not so much about what’s happened, it’s more what happens now and that’s squarely on the shoulders of AFL boss and McGuire’s great mate, Gillon McLachlan.
By the way, where’s the fun in having a crack at the coin tossers?
7 THE PETRACCA PUZZLE
Melbourne had picks two and three in the 2014 national draft and selected Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw.
At No.5, Collingwood selected Jordan de Goey, who plays a similar role to Petracca.
One of them is most exciting forward in the game, the other remains a work in progress. In the wet at Geelong, the Demons used Petracca as their go-to man.
He was the target 14 times inside 50, six more than any other Demon, yet the team didn’t score from one of those entries.
Petracca has the talent and if the Demons are to buck the trend of being 0-2, he has to elevate himself.
8 HEARTACHE IN ADELAIDE
One day after Jack Watts wrecked his ankle at Adelaide Oval and will likely miss most of the season, AFLW star Erin Phillips tore her ACL in the grand final at the same ground.
The Crows won, and congrats to them, but it was the scenes at the end that will be remembered most.
An astonishing crowd of 53,000 honoured Phillips as she was driven from the ground and, amid tears from her, players from both teams came and offered support.
It was a beautiful and despairing moment.
9 STRANGE DECISIONS
The deliberate out of bounds paid against Hawthorn’s Ricky Henderson in the third quarter was mystifying. He made an error by foot looking for James Cousins and it certainly wasn’t deliberate.
The free kick against James Worpel for walking through the centre circle in the final quarter was weird.
Is a free kick a little excessive when the umpire hadn’t started to walk in and bounce the ball? Reckon so.
And the free kick paid against James Sicily for manhandling — not punching or elbowing — the Western Bulldogs’ Josh Schache was a mind-boggling over-reaction to criticism of recent punching and bumping.
That was a disgraceful, match-defining free kick, and subsequent goal, for byplay that happens every game.
10 PIES’ APPEAL
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Yep, that will be the Magpies at AFL House in the morning when they lodge their appeal against the Mason Cox decision. The AFL will argue it was a headhigh hit, the Pies will argue Dylan Grimes ran into Cox, who is allowed to stand his ground surely. What’s he supposed to do? Move out of the way? Occasionally, a decision comes along which shakes the core of football and this certainly is one of them.
LIKES
1 BULLOCKING BULLDOGS
They kicked nine goals in the final quarter after kicking seven in the first three quarters, and they kicked their last five goals in 10 minutes against a Hawthorn team missing a couple of soldiers because of injury.
From their 15 entries in the final quarter, they scored 12 times, which has probably never happened under Luke Beveridge at the Bulldogs. So much for the narrative the Bulldogs can’t score enough.
Of the nine goals, Josh Schache kicked four, although he didn’t deserve his last one against James Sicily.
But what a win it was and it just might be their best quarter since the last term of the 2016 Grand Final.
2 THE CAPTAIN AND HARBROW
They weren’t supposed to win a game, they were young and lacking leaders, yet they complete Round 2 with a magnificent win over Fremantle.
Came from behind and it was the skipper, David Swallow, who had the cool head to kick the go-ahead goal with four minutes to play. He gets the pats on the back, but it was Jarrod Harbrow who deserves best-on-ground votes. Gee, he’s been a stalwart for the Suns.
He had 32 possessions and seven inside-50s, and tellingly took crucial marks in the final minutes.
How special is football when former Docker Sam Collins, who was at Werribee last year, took the final mark of the game, deep in the Dockers’ forward 50m.
3 SAINT DEFENCE
Amid the injuries, coach Alan Richardson preached opportunity and unity and the group took heed.
The Bombers were poor, part of the reason being the Saints didn’t allow them to explode from the back half. The switch was shut down, the all-ground defence evident.
Essendon started with the ball in the back half 68 times for only nine points on the scoreboard. Defence is king at St Kilda. It still allows an average 54 inside-50s, as it did in 2018, but it has curtailed scoring from those entries.
4 TOUGHENED LIONS
Comebacks with this mob have been rare in the past decade, but these Lions never give up.
After being opened up in the first quarter, they lifted their contested work, which eventually opened up the ground for them. After quarter-time, they were plus 46 in uncontested possessions and took 94 marks to North’s 43 and dominated the 50m entries 52-29.
Oscar McInerney’s third quarter was colossal and Charlie Cameron’s fourth quarter matchwinning.
Beware these Lions. They can kill teams on the outside, they score and if they square the contested ball, they will be in every game they play.
5 LUKE DAHLHAUS
That’s two from two against Collingwood and Melbourne for Geelong.
As much as the Dees have a dysfunctional forward line, the Cats are the opposite. Talk about spirit and care.
When Tom Hawkins dished to Jordan Clark, it highlighted the selfless Cats.
Dahlhaus has fitted in superbly to the forward group. He has rediscovered his best form, a hard-nosed and selfless footballer, and is also finding the scoreboard. He kicked two goals last year for the Bulldogs and already has three this season.
6 JACK CRISP
In a team sport, there are standouts and Collingwood has an abundance of them.
On the back flank, Crisp is one of them. He had 32 disposals against the Tigers and, in a defensive six packed with interceptors, led the Magpies with eight intercept possessions. He wins the ball and moves it quickly, having 533m gained.
Saying Crisp is an elite footballer is not breaking news, but he has elevated yet again. In 2018, he averaged 23 disposals, 387m gained. This season, he is averaging 29 disposals and 445m gained. Part of the Dayne Beams trade to Brisbane, Crisp could be the best “steak knives” ever.
7 TOM HICKEY
Who needs Nic Nat when Hickey plays the kind of football he did on Saturday night?
Coming off a “mare” in Round 1 — he had two disposals against Brisbane — Hickey responded with 18 disposals and 135 SuperCoach points. What he did, and which Nic Nat doesn’t enough, is command the air around the ground. West Coast won the contested-mark count 20-8 and Hickey took five of them. Saints fans may well ask where that form was for five years.
8 TRAVIS BOAK
The renaissance of the former skipper, and Tommy Rockliff, has been a beacon for the kids at Port Adelaide.
And it’s been thoroughly enjoyable to see Boak back in the middle. He has spent 76 per cent of time playing in the midfield after spending 23 per cent of his time in the middle in 2018 and 37 per cent in 2017.
As a forward-mid in those years, he failed to reach 30 disposals in a game last year.
He has returned 34 and 33 disposals in his first two matches and shares the league lead for tackles with 17.
9 CHAYCE JONES
The Crows have found one here and, if you want to compare, he has the hallmarks of a young Rory Sloane.
Against the Swans, Jones led the Crows for score involvements from just 12 disposals.
Like Sloane as a youngster, he’s all heart and soul and lacks the polish by foot. He was a midfielder in the unders, but is playing forward for the Crows. In time, a move to the midfield will happen.
10 WHAT NEXT?
And what does Round 2 set up? The 2-0 Dogs play the glowing Gold Coast at home, the 2-0 Saints play the 1-1 Fremantle away, the 2-0 Lions play the 2-0 Port Adelaide at the Gabba and then we have the so-called heavyweights — Collingwood v West Coast, Adelaide v Geelong and the Giants v Richmond. There’s also the struggling Bombers against the struggling Demons on Friday night, and the 0-2 Blues can beat the 0-2 Swans on Saturday. The AFL gets kicked about its fixture every year, but Round 3 looms as a ripper. Yes, it’s only Round 3, but best we buckle up this weekend.
Originally published as The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes for Round 2 of AFL action
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