The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round 11
At home, overlapping matches can make TV viewing problematic. But when St Kilda are dishing up these kind of performances, it makes the decision to stay fixed on one channel much easier. See all the R11 likes and dislikes here.
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It’s been another big week in football as coaches have begun to speak up about the state of umpiring across the league.
But as Mark Robinson points out in The Tackle, it’s not their fault. See his full list of likes and dislikes from Round 11. .
DISLIKES
1. CONGESTION IS THE ISSUE
AFL boss Andrew Dillon knows about the complaints from Michael Voss and Damien Hardwick and, because of the discrepancies in free kicks, suspects the league will look at that game and provide feedback. But umpiring is not the issue, says Dillon. “I don’t think we have an issue, but the more interest in the game the more scrutiny on every decision and the closer the competition, which it is now, the bigger the stakes on any decision in the game.” No, the bigger issue is congestion in the game which contributes to increased numbers of tackling which puts more pressure on the umpires. Dillon agrees. “It is an issue, but how do you deal with it without bringing in zones because you want to maintain the fabric of the game,” he said.
“The footy department, with Laura Kane, Josh Mahoney, Geoff Walsh and Joel Selwood, that’s the No. 1 thing on their agenda – how we continue to stretch the game out. That’s what Steve Hocking tried to do, which he did successfully, but the more congestion the harder it is to umpire because everyone is on top of each other.”
The congestion is the fault of the coaches. They flood the contest which means there’s tackle after tackle after tackle.
Dillon: “And once you get secondary, and third and fourth stoppages, it just gets more and more congested and the thing feeds on itself. It’s something which should be occupying everyone’s mind.” For what it’s worth, Dillon said accuracy of umpiring decisions had marginally increased from last season. “And I read that umpires should blow the whistle earlier, and I get that, but if you blow it too quick you don’t give the players time to get rid of it, and you end up with more stoppages.”
2. CLOSE IS NOT ALWAYS GREAT
Then Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson first put on the agenda the lack of free kicks for holding the ball after the 2016 finals loss to the Western Bulldogs. The Hawks laid 104 tackles and received only three free kicks for holding the ball. “The game’s changed in terms of interpretation,” Clarkson said. “How can you lay 104 tackles and not even 20 of them be done for holding the ball for incorrect disposal?” Damien Hardwick borrowed that quote after Saturday’s loss to Carlton. Bemoaning how a free was not paid in the Mac Andrew-Charlie Curnow tangle, Hardwick said: “What I will say is 131 effective tackles today and there were four holding the balls for both sides,” he said. Clarkson went again in 2020 after his Hawks laid 69 tackles against North Melbourne which didn’t result in one free kick. A brief correction was made after Clarkson appealed to then-AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, but now in 2024 it appears that ‘holding the ball’ is the most urgent discussion in the game. But is that the umpires’ fault? Mass numbers, mass tackling and rules necessary around prior opportunity have brought back clusters. There were 86 stoppages in the Fremantle-Collingwood game, 84 at Geelong v Giants and 75 at Blues v Suns. The league average is 66. The tackle counts in those three games were 153, 140 and 131 and the league average is 122. You could easily argue the coaches are contributing more to how the game looks than what the umpires are. “They’re still some incredible games, there’s some attacking footy, which is what the coaches should be credited for,” Dillon said. “And it highlights the incredible athleticism and skills of the players.”
3. CLUNKY LIONS
Can we call it yet? Yep, the Lions are done. Injuries have got to them and they’re playing kids. On Sunday, they had six players under 25 games. And when their senior players lack trust in the kids, which Fox Footy’s Alastair Lynch noted, the chances of success diminish. Other than in the third quarter on Sunday, the Lions didn’t look likely. The spotlight is on Cameron Rayner. He had seven disposals and played 22 per cent midfield. In Round 5 against Melbourne, he had 25 and nine disposals and played 53 per cent midfield. There’s a reason why he’s not in the middle more often and maybe it’s because injuries have battered the forward group and he’s needed there. Still, more than seven touches is needed. Ah Chee was also quiet. And Dayne Zorko in defence had 19, when his last three games delivered 35, 26 and 40 possessions. Clearances were squared but the Hawks kicked 9.3 to 4.6 from that source. Who’s to blame for that? The mids or the defensive group, or was it the system that failed? Kids do make it clunky. So, they are 12th and have the bye and when they come back they play the Dogs at Marvel, St Kilda (home) and Port Adelaide (away). They’re not playing finals from here.
4. SAINTS IN DISREPAIR
Their past two scores were 55 and 53 points and they managed 62 points against Melbourne, but gee it was a slog and late goals flattered. Congrats to Saints fans for sticking it out but fully understand those who were on the train or in the car halfway through the third quarter. At home, overlapping games make TV viewing problematic, but when the Saints are playing like they did on Sunday, the other game on Fox Footy was enticing. At quarter time at Adelaide Oval, the Crows had kicked 46 points from 18 entries. At three quarter-time at the MCG, the Saints had 35 points from 28 entries. The Saints are neck deep in quicksand and no one has the branch to help them climb out of it. It’s that, or the players don’t know how to grab the branch being offered. It might be a hard sell for the fan base, but it’s got to be all about the future from now. The drafting and free agency will happen, and coach Ross Lyon will need to sort out his list from here on in. If last year was about exploration, this year is about exploration amid desperation.
5. FREE-FALLING CATS
That’s four in a row and we’re only concerned because that’s never happened in a single season under Chris Scott. That tells you two things. 1. Scott is a magnificent coach and 2. These Cats are vulnerable. They play Richmond this week, so that should arrest the slide. Scott said in the post-match he’s not panicking. “We were 7-0 and certainly not carried away, so now we’ve lost the last four we certainly won’t drop our bundle either,” he said. Three of the losses were by eight, six and on Saturday night four points, so Scott’s point has merit. They do lack a game-breaker in the middle, although Max Holmes is playing some brilliant footy, and Patrick Dangerfield will return soon. A slight concern is in defence which has always been the stronghold. The Giants kicked only 78 points, but the Cats conceded a score from 55 per cent of entries, which is way too high for the defensive-minded Cats.
6, A FIEFDOM OF DOOM?
Let’s not bury him, but it was Nathan Fyfe’s worst game of the season. Pointedly, at the death when the best players were needed on the park, the Docker chose to sit Fyfe on the bench. For whatever reason, nothing worked for him. He looked slow, his possessions were not threatening and too many times he chose to fly through stoppage looking for the one in 100 tap out on the run, instead of staying and fighting for the ball. He won the ball 20 times, had nine ineffective disposals, went at 16 per cent by foot, and had one score involvement. Thirteen times he was in for the centre bounce for just the one clearance and he laid only the one tackle. For the first time this season, Fyfe looked vulnerable. And so did Michael Walters. It would be foolish to declare the pair in trouble, but they are on watch.
7. NO MORE EXCUSES, TIGERS
That was about effort and energy. They lost to the Bombers by 12 points on Saturday night which was a far cry from the 119-point loss to Brisbane the week before. They virtually had the same injury list, other than veteran Liam Baker returning to the team, yet the result was 18 goals better. They were more than competitive, led by Toby Nankervis, Shai Bolton before his injury, Dustin Martin and Kamdyn McIntosh. Coaches like to explain away defeats by highlighting their youth and inexperience. Against the Bombers, the Tigers had five players under 10 games Steely Green, Kane McAuliffe, Mykelti Lefau, Seth Campbell and Tom Brown – yet almost won the game. It shows that attitude and system is more important than personnel. Look at Collingwood. They were on the road and had five players under five games – Joe Richards, Charlie Dean, Lachie Sullivan, Edward Allan and Wil Parker – and still managed a draw against Fremantle.
LIKES
1. MIGHTY FLYING HAWKS
They lost their first five games and have won three of their past five games, and lost to Port by one point and three seconds in one of the other games. They won the midfield battle and two veterans at either end had a huge say on proceedings. James Sicily’s right foot was precise coming out of the back half and one time in the final quarter, a 50m pass into the middle of Marvel Stadium, which set up a goal, typified Hawthorn’s fourth-quarter attitude. Last week against Port, they clammed up and were chased down. This week, they continued to attack and surge. “We wanted to keep the ball up tempo,” Sicily said. Jack Gunston’s role was to keep Harris Andrews busy. Gunston kicked four goals and with body positioning and little scragging was able to keep Andrews somewhat in check in the air. Andrews still took seven marks but he didn’t command the defensive 50m. Will Day was another key player. In a Hawks midfield which is hardworking, Day is the silky presence. His nine score involvements was a team-high, although James Worpel’s 28 and nine clearances might get him the votes.
2. SEVENTH HEAVEN
Unless there is a season-ending injury, Max Gawn will earn his seventh All Australian jacket. Others with seven are Craig Bradley, Nathan Buckley, Wayne Carey and Paul Roos. Those with a record eight AA selections are Gary Ablett Jnr, Patrick Dangerfield, Lance Franklin, Robert Harvey and Mark Ricciuto. All champions. The Melbourne skipper is comfortably among that group. Gawn was clearly best on ground in his match-up with Rowan Marshall, as Melbourne put up 67 entries, which was equal sixth most by a team this year. It was clinical Melbourne. And they shuffled their magnets. Ed Langdon played 80 per cent forward, Christian Petracca played 65 per cent forward and the trade-off was Alex Neal-Bullen continued to have more midfield minutes, so did Kossie Pickett, and Lachie Hunter filled in Langdon’s spot on the wing. It points to coach Simon Goodwin wanting more flexibility within his team.
3. OUT OF AFRICA
Not so long ago, players of African heritage were declared the new frontier. Well, the new frontier is thriving. The Mac Andrew-Charlie Curnow contest on Saturday matched two of the most athletic gifted players and their marking contests were sometimes breathtaking. In Round 3, we write in The Tackle that Andrew, aged 20, would be Gold Coast’s best defender in three years and in five years would be considered one the best key defenders in the game. We were wrong. Fast forward that timeline. Andrew is the best defender at the Suns and among the best defenders in the game. Curnow kicked two of his four goals on Andrew.
In that match-up, Andrew took three intercept marks, had seven intercept possessions and made four spoils. At GMHBA Stadium, 22-year-old Giants defender, Leek Aleer, was enormous in just his seventh game. He played on Ollie Henry and kept him goalless, while taking six intercept marks, including two contested marks inside a minute deep in the final quarter. The admiration came because he had the courage to go for his marks and the talent to take them. From Central Districts, he was taken with pick No. 15 in the 2021 draft. Andrew was picked No. 5 in the same draft. They were frontier first-rounders and let’s hope more are coming through.
4. IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE PRESSURE
If you’ve got pressure on the opposition you’re a chance to win. Without it, you’re dead. The Giants had lost their three previous matches – to the Bulldogs, Essendon and Sydney – and posted a pressure rating of 193, 182 and 193 in those games. Against the Cats, it was 203, which included it being at 227 in a desperate last quarter. In that quarter, the inside 50 count was 24-5 to Geelong. There’s a lot of was to unpack there. The Cats dominated the ball and territory, but were wasteful. And the Giants couldn’t find the ball but would say they were resolute in defence. And then Toby Greene sprinkled his gold dust with a brilliant banana goal. Geelong’s problem was many of their inside 50s were repeat entries, where the ball sometimes was kicked back into congestion because the Giants had so many players behind the ball. It makes it difficult to score. Some people will disagree, but having 25-plus players inside the arc doesn’t give footy a good look.
5. THEY DID IT FOR JAKE
As Jake Stringer was being carried off the ground by Jayden Laverde and Zach Merrett on Saturday night, little Nick Hind wasn’t gonna to miss out. Those four players are a gang within the gang at Essendon, and although Hind didn’t offer a shoulder to Stringer, he playfully cradled Stringer at the back so he could be part of the action. The renaissance of Hind the player continues.
He has become Essendon’s Mr Flexible. Last year he played as a defender. This year, he’s played nine games, including three of them as sub, and until Saturday night has floated between defence and wing, with an occasional stint in the forward line. Against the Tigers, it was full-time forward. He had a season-high 25 disposals, 657m gained which is an enormous number for a high half-forward, seven score involvements and kicked two goals. He won’t be out of the senior team anytime soon.
6. RUCK AND A HARD PLACE
Marc Pittonet missed on the weekend because of a finger injury which means the Carlton ruck set up is the games second most intriguing ruck discussion behind Fremantle’s conundrum of Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson. Tom De Koning went head to head with Jarrod Witts on Saturday and the Blues would’ve been pleased with the result. They had 81 ruck contests. Witts had him for hit outs (42-27), but the Blues won clearances 34-25. De Koning got him around the ground and also won 10 clearances.
While some ruck clearances are worthless, Carlton generated three scores from De Koning’s 10 and only Patrick Cripps’ output was better with four scores from his 13 clearances. It might be coincidence, but the Blues looked sharper and more energetic with one ruck (and with Harry McKay as the second ruck). We’ll know more of Carlton’s long-term plans when Pittonet’s finger is passed fit for action.
7. ADELAIDE OVAL CLINIC
The Eagles were supposed to be better. The Crows won their Round 13 clash last year by 122 points. On Sunday, it was 99 points. It was sobering for the Eagles and exhilarating for the Crows. They monsterised the Eagles on turnover. They kicked 15.5 to West Coast’s 2.5, which meant the Eagles couldn’t keep the ball and when they lost it, they couldn’t stop the Crows from scoring. Winners were everywhere starting in midfield with the skipper Jordan Dawson.
He’s been a terrific captain and on Sunday spent more time forward. Darcy Fogarty is either a tease or on the verge of tearing a game apart. He had 19, took seven marks - and had his hands on another seven others - had 10 score involvements and kicked two goals from his five shots. The Crows had 146 more possessions than West Coast, which is the largest differential in a match this year. The Crows are on the same points as Brisbane, but are charging northwards. Certainly, they are more threatening.
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Originally published as The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round 11
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