The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from Round 13, 2020
It’s not a crime to stage for free kicks but players who continually do it are making life very difficult for umpires. It’s time for the AFL to get serious and act, Mark Robinson writes as he names his likes and dislikes.
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Richmond star Tom Lynch is in trouble again, a victim of a series of indiscretions that has him fronting the tribunal.
But was he unlucky this time? And should Essendon’s Michael Hurley also incur judicial wrath?
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A pair of Lynch’s Tiger teammates wouldn’t have looked out of place at the Academy Awards against Essendon on Saturday night.
The AFL has a problem in trying to eradicate the practice from the game, but it doesn’t mean the players in question — Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin — deserved the tirade of abuse that was launched their way on social media.
and the Tigers may have another problem — keeping one of their in-demand young stars at Punt Rd, while a Carlton big forward is quickly developing into a star of the competition.
The Saints fell agonisingly short against the wayward Lions — despite a herculean effort from man-of-the-moment Jack Steele — and is it time to stop bashing Tex Walker?
SEE ROBBO’S ROUND 13 LIKES AND DISLIKES BELOW
LIKES
1 SAINTS’ MAN OF STEEL
He was a one-man band for three-quarters and by the end had 25 disposals. Only once in 13 matches has he had fewer than 20 possessions. Sunday wasn’t a run and gun game which is the way St Kilda plays, rather a gritty stay-in-the-contest performance. In the first three quarters, they played-on just 13 per cent of the time. In the last quarter, it was 40 per cent. It showed they never gave up trying despite Brisbane’s ability to control the game for three quarters. And then when the Lions tired, the Saints pounced and the Lions were lucky to hold on. Yes, the Lions missed chances, but so, too, did the Saints. Not sure who will be more frustrated – Brett Ratten or Chris Fagan.
2 THE MC-GOVERNOR OF DEFENDERS
I wrote like No.4 before the West Coast game and, with Luke Ryan having a fabulous year, the argument still stands, but, on Sunday night, Jeremy McGovern reminded everyone he still might be the alpha male of the defensive world. He took eight intercept marks, which is the most by any player this year, and five of them came in the final quarter when the Giants were prowling. Put it this way, if McGovern didn’t play, the Giants could’ve won.
3 WELCOME BACK JACK
It’s been a slow burn for former Saint Jack Steven and on Sunday the nuggety midfielder had his best contribution for his new club Geelong. He had 24 disposals, six clearances and seven score involvements. And if you say it was only against the Crows, then you didn’t watch the game. It was a brutal pressure contest and, in the end, the experience and big bodies of Steven, Cam Guthrie, Patrick Dangerfield, Mitch Duncan and Sam Menegola got the Cats over the line. Hopefully for Geelong, Steven has found his feet.
4 DOCTOR OF DEFENCE
At the halfway mark of the season, Fremantle’s Luke Ryan was a strong candidate for a spot in the All-Australian side. Five weeks later, he is arguably the best defender in the game. The stunning rise of Ryan is well known (from Coburg in 2016 to the Dockers in 2017) and on Saturday night he won the medal for best afield in the match against Sydney. He’s a ball winner and interceptor as key defender, which is gold, but he also is more than a capable stopper. He’s had 10 goals kicked against him in his past nine matches — five of them came against Tom Hawkins (three) and Jack Darling (two). His SuperCoach points are elite. From Round 1, he’s recorded 52, 123, 67, 79, 109, 105, 125, 118, 131, 100, 162 and 142. His first All-Australian jacket not only beckons, it’s a given.
5 A TIGER JACK IN DEMAND
Clubs will chase the out-of-contract Tiger at season’s end, and Essendon and Adelaide are reportedly on the chase. There will be others. And the Tigers will be in there swinging to keep him. What sort of player is he? Early in the season he was a wingman. Then he was dropped. He returned in Round 6 and played in the midfield for three games. Then he was dropped again. He returned in Round 12, and has become a forward-mid. That role appeals to him. He had his best game of the season against Essendon, collecting 23 touches and having a game-high 10 score involvement — yes, one more than Dustin Martin. The problem for Richmond is the financial offers for Graham will be greater than what they can offer. He’s been dropped twice this season, and if it happens again, who could blame him for looking elsewhere
6 EVERYONE’S WILD ABOUT HARRY
How can you not be excited about young Carlton key forward Harry McKay? Strong, athletic, a one-grab mark and not afraid of contact — although, that said, he might not even be the best mark in his team. Hello Levi Casboult. McKay is 22 and has played 43 games, and is the next pick in the yard of the potential superstars. Cam Mooney ravaged him with love after his Friday night’s performance. “He is a star,’’ he said. He’s everything you want as a key forward, save for one glaring problem — his goalkicking. He had eight shots at goal against the Suns, kicking just 2.4. He has recorded a shot at goal accuracy of 37 per cent across 2020, which is a career-low. No doubt, he shapes to be a star of the competition, but the next level up requires much better return in front of goal.
7 FLYING JJ A MUST FOR DOGS’ FINALS HOPES
Jason Johannisen is a point of difference in a team loaded with them. It was close to his most productive game of the year on Saturday. The Bulldogs will always be difficult to beat when Jack Macrae, Marcus Bontempelli, Lachie Hunter and Bailey Smith figure prominently on the stats column. But when Johannisen is flowing and delivering from the back half, the Bulldogs are a much better team. Indeed, they are a finals team. Against the Demons, he had season-highs in SuperCoach points (119), uncontested possessions (18) and metres gained (428). The captain’s form helps, mind you. Bontempelli’s SuperCoach point average in the past four games is 147. That’s what happens when you rely on team defence and not a tagger as a direct opponent.
8 POWER HARD NUT THRIVES IN NEW ROLE
There’s a subtle change to Sam Powell-Pepper’s role over the past month. He spent Rounds 1-9 in a 50-50 split as a forward/midfielder — his pressure to keep the ball inside 50 a plus to the side. In the past month, it’s been a 75-25 split, the majority of his play being in the midfield. He can be wayward with his kicking, but he can never be accused of shirking the contest. He’s not a goal kicker — he’s kicked four goals in 13 matches — and perhaps coach Ken Hinkley has decided Powell-Pepper’s competitiveness is needed in the hustle and bustle and a better scoring option is needed in the forward 50m.
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DISLIKES
1 LIONS’ KICKING WOES
It’s a win, but there’s a worry. Brisbane are second on the ladder and are the most inaccurate team in the competition. That’s a positive, but the negative is the goal kicking and they will get exposed at some stage. There’s psychological issues in front of the sticks despite the Lions saying they haven’t got an issue. Go figure. They kicked 6.14 on Sunday. In the third quarter, they kicked 3.7, the misses coming from Hugh McCluggage, (two behinds), Dayne Zorko (one), Daniel McStay (one), Eric Hipwood (one) and Tom Fullarton (one). In the last quarter, Hipwood kicked the only behind. It’s a massive issue because the pressure, no matter what the Lions says, is contagious.
2 GIANTS IN A WORLD OF TROUBLE
Overwhelmed by the West Coast machine in the first half, GWS played catch-up after that. Actually outscored the Eagles in the second half, but this team shouldn’t walk away with good-effort platitudes. The Giants should be livid. Clearance work strong, contested ball strong, but didn’t cope with Nic Nat in the first half and Jeremy McGovern in the second half. Need to carry that form from here. They play Fremantle, Carlton, Adelaide and Melbourne and four wins are not beyond them. One more slip up and it’s over, however.
3 FLOPPING TIGERS
Is it a crime to act for a free kick? Is it against the spirit of the game? Or is it smart? The answers are no, probably, yes and yes. Acting for free kicks will be difficult to stop. Grimes and Nick Vlastuin acted on Saturday night and the umpires fell for it. Ease up on the umpire bashing. Their job is tough enough without having to decide in a millisecond if a player has flopped or been hampered. The problem is players will keep doing it if there a chance for a free kick or a 50m penalty. Those two free kicks changed the course of the game, so the question is: What is the AFL going to about it? A $500 fine is a not a penalty. It’s time for a one-week suspension to be introduced to end this sham.
4 THE ABUSE IS ABHORRENT
One day, if we haven’t already, we’ll look back at the invention of social media and wonder if it was worth it. Vlastuin and Grimes put mayo on contact they received in a footy match and, for that, they received outrageous abuse. Death threats? Really? The Richmond pair deserve a response from the AFL, not this sort of response from idiots. I blame the social media companies, as much as I do the whack jobs. Put a name, address and birth certificate to every social media user for a start.
5 DON’T BLAME FLOPPING FOR THE LOSS, BOMBERS
Essendon coach John Worsfold was clearly frustrated after the match about some of the umpires’ decisions when he should have been more annoyed about his team’s performance. His defensive group stopped an obliteration. The rest of his team — and the coaches led by Ben Rutten — were under the pump throughout. The Bombers were -42 for inside-50s, the biggest differential recorded by a side this year. They lost the contested ball by 33 against a team that was ranked 14th for contested ball coming into this round. Essendon is easy to play against, and you are not going to win many games relying on transition from the defensive half. Clearly, they have a long-term plan so, Bombers fans, you just have to stay patient.
6 LYNCH MOB
Coach Damien Hardwick defended his key forward last week, when the angry Tigers circled the wagons, but he shouldn’t feel so offended this week. Tom Lynch threw a hand at Michael Hurley which, not surprisingly, drew media attention and MRO attention. Lynch has to front the tribunal for the sum of all parts over the recent past period. He is unlucky this time. Essendon’s Michael Hurley wheeled back in shock after the contact. But Hurley shouldn’t have been shocked. It appears he was trying to punch Lynch’s hand/arm which prompted Lynch to lash out. If Lynch is suspended, then Hurley should’ve been handed a fine.
7 TIME FOR TOM TO HEAD BACK?
If you keep doing the same thing, you will get the same result. McDonald as a key forward hasn’t worked for Melbourne. He is averaging a career-low of 60 ranking points this year playing forward and relief ruck. You have to wonder if coach Simon Goodwin will concede defeat and send McDonald back to defence. There, he could build the back group around Steven May, McDonald and Jake Lever. He has used Adam Tomlinson in defence since Tomlinson returned in Round 10. But where best to use McDonald? In 2018, he kicked 53 goals, but that hasn’t looked like being repeated.
8 END THE TEX BARRAGE
In his 200th game Crows veteran Taylor Walker had just three touches. Yes, it was another substandard offering from the one-time gun forward, although four tackles showed the intent was there. It’s plainly obvious the career is at its end, and even Walker put that on the agenda at a press conference last week. Let’s not judge Walker on his past two years, judge him on his contribution over 12 years, which was enormous for the Crows during good times and bad. Well played, Tex.
Originally published as The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from Round 13, 2020