The Tackle: Jay Clark’s likes and dislikes from round 22
Jason Horne-Francis was mocked in his departure from North Melbourne. He was dubbed petulant and immature, now we’re seeing what a truly competitive beast he is, writes JAY CLARK.
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In a massive weekend of upsets, JAY CLARK steps into Mark Robinson’s shoes for a bumper edition of The Tackle.
LIKES
1. TEN-YEAR PLAN
Jeff Kennett said it might take Sam Mitchell up to 10 years to be contending for flags again. When Mitchell took over from Alastair Clarkson at the end of 2021 the former president said the rebuild was a five to 10 year project. But that calendar is being flipped forward. Three years into his stint at senior coach, Mitchell on Sunday took the club, which won four flags not that long ago, back into the eight with a team of hungry, confident, skilful, flamboyant and hardworking youngsters who look to be loving playing big games of footy. And for the clubs who have not had success in a long time (memo St Kilda and Essendon in particular), rivals are not ready for the Hawks to be good again so quick.
The way the Hawks cut apart the Blues and exposed their defensive flaws was a significant statement and quite remarkable for a team which started the season at 0-5. Like the Cats back in 2007, the Hawks take the game on through the corridor, use handball to overlap and attack, and have a fleet of dynamite goal kickers at ground level. Plus key forwards Calsher Dear and Mabior Chol taking hangers. You have to credit the leadership for instilling faith after the disastrous start to the campaign and then fuelling the fire as they hunt a finals berth, and maybe even, a September victory in 2024. Goal kickers Jack Ginnivan and Nick Watson and Co aren’t daunted by the big stage.
And what a return to Waverley it has been for former Lion Jack Gunston. If it was tough to leave Brisbane after one disappointing year there are no worries now as he snapped another goal on Sunday to finish with three majors for the game. Josh Weddle is one of the most pulsating linebreakers in the game. And the skipper, James Sicily, is playing courageously with a shoulder which has been twice dislocated and crying out for a rest. You wonder about what strapping or jabbing is required under that long sleeve jumper.
But when he came off the ground with minutes to go on Sunday after torching Carlton he looked to the crowd with a smile like a split watermelon and clenched his fist. This comeback from the Hawks has been hard-fought and the brown and gold never gave up on the year or the belief they can be something sooner than most think. And this turnaround has not been a draft-centric rebuild. They have brought in Ginnivan, Massimo D’Ambrosio, Karl Amon, Lloyd Meek, Chol, Jack Scrimshaw and Gunston from other clubs, and hit the target on all fronts.
2. ALL-AUSTRALIAN X
Tristan Xerri wanted to leave North Melbourne three years ago. The workhorse big man requested a trade to St Kilda at the end of 2021 after 12 games in two years. And as awkward as it can be sometimes, North pulled a masterstroke denying his move.
Xerri is on track to become this year’s All-Australian ruckman after another massive day out in the loss to West Coast on Saturday, gathering an extraordinary 30 disposals (23 contested possessions), 33 hitouts and 12 tackles. It may have hurt Roos’ fans last year when Todd Goldstein left but the club’s faith in Xerri has been justified as he has eclipsed Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy as the best big man in it.
That makes Xerri the most improved player in the competition in 2024. And the beauty of his game is his workrate, effort and appetite for the contest. Who was the last ruckman we have seen tackle like Xerri? He’s had at least 10 in three of his last four games and caught Liam Ryan with the tackle of the year to ignite the Roos’ season in Perth.
He signed a four-year deal this year, meaning the big man is going nowhere. But with up to four Richmond players considering walking out this year, sometimes it pays to say no.
3. THE SUPERDRAFT
The 2021 draft already had special ingredients in it. As a top-four go, Jason Horne-Francis, Sam Darcy, Finn Callaghan and, of course, Nick Daicos, look like they could all have extraordinary careers.
But on Saturday night Gold Coast’s Mac Andrew also joined the crew, showing that he could be the most exciting athlete the game has seen since West Coast’s Nic Naitanui.
Andrew, who was taken pick five in 2021, was seen as a punt because it was unclear what position he played and whether he could perform consistently. But in truth he might be able to do it all.
And with his match winning mark and goal to sink the Bombers Andrew showed he is ready to shine in the biggest moments in only his third season. What a weapon to have up your sleeve, considering he already looks like one of the best intercepting backmen in the game, to be able to swing forward and boot four goals at Marvel Stadium. He will become a cult figure at the Suns, a club which could do with someone like him to thrill crowds around the country with his aerial prowess.
The Suns will go hard for Rioli to break lines from half back and surely play finals next year. With Jed Walter, Ben King, Noah Anderson and Matthew Rowell, plus the super exciting Andrew they couldn’t blow it again in 2025 when they again get another friendly draw.
4. THE COMPETITVE BEAST
Jason Horne-Francis was mocked in his departure from North Melbourne. He was dubbed petulant, immature, showed poor body language, and not as professional as he should be because he missed a couple of ice baths, it was reported at the time.
The ‘Hornet’ wasn’t happy, missed home, and to be fair, had some growing up to do, as is common for teenagers. But the script has most certainly flipped in his third season, and second at Port Adelaide.
In his 60th game against Melbourne on Saturday night, the tough midfielder led the Power to a thrilling win producing some massive efforts in the air and at ground level like he was Patrick Dangerfield.
His frustrations might boil over at times, and there will be more emotional fireworks across his career. But one thing is true about Horne-Francis. He is a competitive beast. A bull. Someone who absolutely hates losing.
Which explains why it didn’t go so well in his first year at Arden Street. Geelong and GWS Giants’ champion Steve Johnson said Horne-Francis had a Joel Selwood edge to his game. “He is a young player still who impacts the game when it is on the line,” Johnson said on Triple M.
“And that is what you are looking for from your absolute stars of the competition. He is a competitor who doesn’t like to lose. You love that in your team and he has probably done that 10 or 12 times in his career. When the game has been there to be won he goes to another level. He is having an outstanding start to his career and I can see them (Port) going a long way in the finals if someone like him takes the rest of them on his back.”
5. MERRY-GO-ROUND
Every year a ruckman becomes a key target in the trade period and Essendon’s Nick Bryan will be that man in October. It has taken until late in the season but Bryan, 22, played his third game of the year on Saturday night and was encouraging racking up 15 touches, four clearances and 18 hitouts.
Rivals will come for him because Draper is the No. 1 man at Essendon and veteran Todd Goldstein was also preferred over Bryan earlier in the year.
Bryan is contracted for one more season but clubs such as West Coast, St Kilda, Richmond and Melbourne could all inquire as well as the Western Bulldogs if they lose free agent Tim English.
The Saints could play Marshall as more of a floating target if they had another prime big man and Melbourne would be in all sorts if Gawn was ever out injured.
The Tigers have been forced to turn to Noah Balta at times after losing Ivan Soldo to Port Adelaide. English is believed to be leaning towards staying at the kennel, but every year there is a ruck merry-go-round.
Draper had some horror moments late in the loss to Gold Coast losing some key contests to the Suns’ Sam Collins. Bryan’s exit meeting at the end of the season will be fascinating as he is likely to ask Brad Scott for either more senior games next year or a trade.
DISLIKES
1. BLUES FALL APART
Defensively this was a train wreck for Carlton. At half time, the signs were bad before the injury carnage truly took hold. The Hawks had already put 57 points on the board and were poking holes in the Blues’ defensive setup, continuing a trend all season.
The Blues haven’t kept an opponent to less than 79 points in each of the past six weeks. And even if they do crawl into finals Carlton is unlikely to be successful in September unless they get their defence in order when the pressure rises.
It looked messy in the second term when Mitch McGovern and Brodie Kemp had words after Mabior Chol drafted across and took a mark on McGovern without any aerial support.
Fingers were being pointed on the field, and it will be on Michael Voss to get things sorted from a system perspective for the final clashes of the season against West Coast and St Kilda. And neither will be a pushover for the Blues to round out a year many were calling Carlton the team to beat after making the preliminary final last season.
2. BULLDOGS’ MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION
This was not a good day for a man vying for a bumper contract extension. Tim English was belted in the ruck by Adelaide’s Reilly O’Brien 55 hit-outs to 16 on Sunday night as the Western Bulldogs botched their chance to sew up a finals spot.
Instead, if the Dogs topple North Melbourne as expected this weekend, it will come down to knocking off GWS Giants in Ballarat for a top-eight berth on Sunday in Round 24.
Good thing Dogs’ fans are used to wild rides as the club’s recent rough run in South Australia continued notching up their fifth-straight defeat across the border with the loss to the Crows. It left the door ajar for Carlton and Essendon to sneak in to finals, and it would be an all-out disaster if the Dogs lost to North this weekend after going down to West Coast late last year. And 9.18 was an horrific performance in front of the sticks. English booted a goal late but he had a poor one as he weighs up his future, including a free agency offer from West Coast. The Dogs were one of the hottest teams in the league after a strong month toppling Sydney, Melbourne and Geelong, but they hit the skids against the Crows, pulling the handbrake at the wrong time of the year.
Adelaide spoiled the September party and will head into the Showdown desperate to cause an upset. The results mean that in Round 24 if the Dogs beat GWS, Carlton will know exactly how much they need to beat St Kilda by at 3.20pm on Sunday to make the eight and leapfrog the Dogs. What a dream result for the AFL as we get set for a dramatic finish.
3. DEES’ GOALKICKING WOES
Melbourne has been active in the market hunting a second banana key forward. They missed on Tom Hawkins, thought about Taylor Walker, had a lick at Jake Waterman and weren’t interested in Rory Lobb.
But if they can’t land someone to clunk more marks (and Harry Petty hasn’t worked) a move for Port Adelaide’s Dan Houston can still help. A trade for the dashing playmaker is in the works because he can help electro charge the ball movement from the back half, helping sharply improve the connection forward.
Port is in the market for a couple of extra draft picks this year and will ask the Demons for at least their first-round pick which currently sits at pick six. Melbourne would be happy to give its future first-round choice, hoping the club climbs back up the ladder next year in search of the Demons’ first finals win since the premiership.
But this where all the argy-bargy will get interesting in the trade period because the jungle drums suggest Houston is headed home at season’s end and the Power want the draft capital. The Demons talk a lot about contest and defence but it’s the other phase of the game, the scoring capacity which has held the club back in 2024.
Despite the big game style change at the start of the year, Melbourne has scored more than 100 points only three times this season and on Saturday night managed only 51.
It was a grind to watch and only 17,000 fans showed up at the MCG.
Christian Petracca will come back, Clayton Oliver will aim to be better next year and Houston would help the flow into the forward-50m, but the Dees will have to stump up.
4. TAKING IT TOO FAR
You can understand Nick Vlastuin’s frustrations to a point. But the skirmish with former teammate Jack Higgins with two minutes left in the Saints’ win on Sunday seemed over the top.
Vlastuin gave away a free kick to Higgins when he got Higgins high in a tackle. But it was after that when the umpire blew his whistle and Vlastuin thrust the ex-Tiger’s head into the ground that things went too far.
The game was lost, Higgins had secured the shot on goal and Vlastuin knows Higgins has had brain surgery. The doctor checked on Higgins and gave him the all clear but there was no need for the MMA move late in a dead rubber.
The Saints piled on 99 points as they squeeze everything possible out of the season while the spotlight will continue to burn bright on Shai Bolton, Liam Baker, Daniel Rioli and Jack Graham and whether they’ll all leave Richmond at season’s end. Bolton snagged two goals from 12 touches but it seems he and Rioli, who are both in contract, are exploring ways to get out.
6. NUMBER ONE SNUB
Number one draft picks have been some of the most overhyped players in the game. There’s so much fanfare, pressure and expectation it can be a poisoned chalice.
But there is one number one pick who somehow goes so deep under the radar he’s rarely mentioned. GWS Giants’ superstar playmaker Lachie Whitfield gets nowhere near the credit and acclaim he deserves for another outstanding season averaging a whopping 31 disposals a game.
We know how polished he is, igniting that orange tsunami from half back, and when the Giants play finals this year you know he will be the one the opposition will have to shut down.
He should be right in the mix for his second All-Australian guernsey on a half back flank alongside Nick Blakey and Dayne Zorko but with the lack of conversation about him Whitfield is no guarantee to even make it in the squad. And wouldn’t that be a snub.
The only number one pick to become something of a forgotten man.
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