AFL news 2021: Dees, Cats and Lions could be allowed into SA the day before their QF
Melbourne, Geelong and Brisbane could be allowed early access into South Australia as the government works through a slight easing of its AFL restrictions.
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Melbourne, Geelong and Brisbane could be allowed into South Australia the day before their respective qualifying finals this week.
And the state’s premier hasn’t slammed the door completely shut on a crowd increase for at least the Friday night clash between Port Adelaide and Geelong.
SA authorities have allowed teams to fly in and out of the state to take on Adelaide and Port Adelaide this season.
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But players and staff of the interstate teams have had to abide by strict restrictions to be allowed into Adelaide.
This has involved the teams having to spend hours quarantined in the Adelaide Oval indoor cricket nets before they are allowed to prepare for the game.
The teams then have to leave Adelaide that evening, although fog meant the Cats had to spend the night in the city after they defeated the Power.
But with finals beginning the travelling sides could be allowed into Adelaide earlier.
This would mean the Cats could come into Adelaide on Thursday and the Dees and Lions on Friday.
SA deputy chief public health officer Dr Emily Kirkpatrick said authorities were working through how this would look like with the AFL.
“We are working through those accommodation plans with those individual teams,” she said.
Dr Kirkpatrick said the players would not be required at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine,
and she was unaware whether the teams could stay in South Australia following the games.
This is despite players of Melbourne and Geelong especially saying they have been told they will remain on the road post this weekend’s games.
Cats star Shaun Higgins told SEN on Tuesday players were preparing to be on the road after taking on the Power on Friday night.
“It’s a bit up in the air,” he said.
It comes as SA premier Steven Marshall left the door slightly open for more fans to be allowed for Friday night’s game.
SA authorities are yet to budge from the current cap of 15,000 for Friday night’s game, despite the pleas of the Power.
Port captain Tom Jonas said on AFL 360 on Monday night he hoped there was a “sneaky chance” it could be increased.
“I know there are a fair few people who missed out on tickets,” he said.
“But regardless I don’t think you will find a louder 15,000 in a stadium, they will make a fair racket regardless.”
Marshall said on Tuesday while it was unlikely the door wasn’t completely closed.
“We are keen to get as many people into Adelaide Oval as possible especially for the Friday night game,” he said.
“But we also have to be mindful of the risk, that risk hasn’t changed in the last 24 hours.
“But we are still looking at it... I know there are a lot of people who were disappointed that they couldn’t get a ticket for Friday night’s match.”
Marshall was confident this wouldn’t hurt Adelaide’s changes of more finals matches, and even the grand final.
“The grand final is still a long way away and as we have seen this is a disease that has a lot of moving parts,” he said.
“What we are doing is putting together a compelling bid for more finals in Adelaide and also the grand final but that will be up to the AFL.”
Dees stars face pregnancy border dramas
Melbourne captain Max Gawn has revealed the family complications involving Demons players that include Nathan Jones’s wife Jerri expecting twins in the middle of September.
Gawn expects Melbourne’s players will be on the road for the next five weeks if they progress through to the grand final, with families not allowed to join the players.
Melbourne takes on Brisbane in Adelaide and will then fly to Perth or stay in South Australia, with their families to remain in Melbourne.
Gawn’s partner Jessica will be 36 weeks pregnant on grand final day so he is hopeful of having enough time to get home for a birth he is praying doesn’t come early.
But he admitted on RSN927’s The Breakfast Club on Tuesday a host of Melbourne players had children only weeks old or had partners expecting in coming weeks.
Gawn said it was a first-world problem compared to Australia’s Covid issues but admitted it was a complicating factor through September.
“They have gone pretty strong, the premiers, about families and I can understand why, it’s definitely a bad look that AFL players can jump borders, let alone family,” he said.
“I can understand the situation we are in and I am in a tricky situation, not as tricky as some, but hopefully Jess doesn’t come early and the pregnancy can hold on.
“I think she’s about 36 or 37 weeks grand final day, so I am not an expert at this but they say the first one normally goes full term so I hopefully have a couple of weeks up my sleeve to get back but we have some very interesting situations with Jake Lever and Tom McDonald having newborns in the last month and Nathan Jones has twins right smack bang in the middle of finals.
“Everyone has difficulties and we work through them as best we can but it looks like it’s a league-wide thing and the Sydney players are hubbing with their families at the moment and it looks like their families won’t be able to go to the games so everyone is having difficulties. They are first world problems when you look at what is going on in Australia.
“My gut feel is when we start isolating tomorrow, that could be it for Jess for a little bit, she keeps working so I can’t see her before I go to South Australia and my gut feel is win or loss, I am presuming our net game will be in Adelaide or Perth, so we will stay that way.”
WHY DEES STAR DOUBTED DECISION TO LEAVE SUNS
Scott Gullan
Steven May is daring to dream about what could happen over the next month after waiting 11 years to make his finals debut.
The Melbourne defender admitted it had been a “rocky” road since he left the Gold Coast Suns in search of a premiership.
“I left the Gold Coast a few years ago to come down here and try and taste some success,” May said. ”It has been a bit of a rocky couple of years but we have been building really well and I‘m really stoked.
“I can‘t wait and I’m actually glad there is no finals bye and we are straight into it.
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“You catch yourself thinking about what if, why can’t it be us? You set out as a team to have ultimate success at start of year, you write down you want to win a premiership and obviously you have little goals stemming from that.
“But to finish on top of the ladder and set ourselves up for an unbelievable opportunity to dare to dream I suppose and try and lift that cup … it is still a long way away but I‘m just so excited about where we are right now.”
The former Gold Coast skipper, who played 123 games in eight seasons with the Suns, said there were moments where he doubted his decision to come south after a horror first year with the Demons in 2019.
“In my first year we came 17th and I missed 12 weeks with a groin injury so it did not go to script,” May said. “Last year we just missed the finals, I thought we were good enough but it was in our hands and we lost so we probably didn‘t deserve to play finals being honest.
“This year it feels like a perfect storm, the last couple of years we have built some resilience and we have got a really stable game plan, really healthy list, we don‘t really have any excuses I suppose.
“We have set ourselves up and given ourselves every opportunity.”
Fellow defender Jake Lever, who played for Adelaide in the 2017 grand final, says a “new season starts now” with the Demons searching for their first flag in 57 years.
“I have already played in two finals series and understand that the new season starts now, so what we have done has probably put us in a good position in terms of on the ladder … but what we have done, it doesn’t really matter for much now,” he said.
A key reason for the Demons finishing on top of the ladder for the first time since 1964 – the year they won their 12th and last premiership – is the chemistry between the two defensive pillars.
Lever is averaging 4.3 intercept marks, the most on record by Champion Data, 10 intercept possessions and six spoils per game, while May is also in All-Australian calculations with 2.6 intercept marks and 6.5 intercept possessions per game.
“Our form has probably been a bit of a tale of the team’s for the last two years,” Lever said. “In 2019 we weren’t able to get out on the park as much together, then in 2020 it was really about building that chemistry between us.
“I think throughout the pre-season we sort of clicked and understood if someone was going to fly for it, just the communication with each other in the air.
“I remember the first couple of years we ran into each other a lot but this year it has been a challenge at times with what teams have been able to do but I think the good thing is there are two of us.”
Lever also pointed out how the development of Harrison Petty and the presence of Christian Salem meant teams such as Saturday night‘s qualifying final opponent Brisbane had a number of “weapons” to monitor.
He said all the players were feeling for former captain Nathan Jones who has been through all the dark times at Melbourne and is currently not in the best 22.
“I‘m sure that not playing in these games it might be hurting him deep down but the way that he walks into the club each day you wouldn’t know at all,” Lever said.
Dees great’s bold flag prediction after epic comeback
— Rebecca Williams
Melbourne great David Neitz has declared the Demons will be there when the “whips are cracking” in this year’s finals series, saying the team can leverage one of its great victories to launch its quest for a long-awaited premiership.
Still on a high after Melbourne’s epic come-from-behind victory over Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night to secure the minor premiership, Neitz said the Dees’ stunning final-round win could help propel the club’s flag campaign.
Storming back from a 44-point deficit, the Demons stole a four-point win to give the club its first minor premiership in 57 years after captain Max Gawn kicked the matchwinning goal after the final siren.
Neitz, Melbourne captain from 2000-2008, said the famous win should fuel the Demons confidence as they chase the team’s first premiership since 1964.
“They’ve qualified and they’ve qualified top-four, which just gives you the best opportunity and the best chance,” Neitz said.
“But I guess to qualify and then do it in the manner that they did …. the amount of resilience they showed, I guess it has to grow your resolve and your belief that in tough games and big games like (Saturday night’s) you’ve got it in your tank that you can come back from any situation.
“It certainly gives the supporters a lot of confidence and a lot of heart and I’m sure it does for the boys.
“In sport, you always draw on your experiences and to have something like that so fresh as a collective in your mind I think has to give them A, a lot of confidence and then B, when things don’t go your way you do have that past experience to draw on, which is well and truly at the front of their mind at the moment. I think it can only be a good thing.”
The Demons kick-off their finals campaign with a qualifying final against the Brisbane Lions and Champion Data analysis correlates Melbourne’s premiership profile with that of premiers across the past 10 years.
Melbourne holds a ranking no lower than fourth for key measurements this season, including points against (first), opposition scores per inside 50 (first), points from turnover differential (first), inside 50 differential (fourth), time in forward half differential (second) and defensive 50 to inside 50 percentage (second).
The premier of the past 10 years has finished top-six in all of those categories.
Neitz said the Demons had shown they could match anyone this season and expected their finals campaign to run deep.
“I think we have beaten everyone in the top four,” Neitz said.
“There is certainly the capacity there (to go all the way). I guess now it’s about doing, they have kept such level heads all the way through the season … so I think there is a strong resolve in the group and they’ll be there when the whips are cracking.
“At the end of the day it’s about performance and they’ve performed well enough to finish on top so you can’t get a better lead into the finals series.”
Neitz said it was the Demons’ even spread of contributors rather than one key player who would ensure the club’s finals success.
“It has been such a really even spread, obviously the midfield guys have been superb all year and you’ve got (Steven) May and (Jake) Lever leading the backline in a superb way,” Neitz said.
“They have been so consistent all year and Benny Brown has been really good since he’s been in the team as a key forward and Tom McDonald comes back in after a couple of weeks off.
“I guess if our forward line functions well and our midfield and forward connection keeps working, that goes a long way to where we want to be.”
Neitz, a seven-time club leading goalkicker, felt the Demons’ forward line was now settled leading into the finals.
“Obviously there has been a lot of discussion about trying to find what has been the right mix,” Neitz said.
“But I think … the last five or six games of the year have been relatively settled, everyone knows their role now, so I can’t see that changing too much.”
While the Demons won’t be able to capitalise on their minor premiership with a home final at the MCG due to Covid, Neitz said having crowds at an interstate final would lift the players.
“I think playing in front of a crowd can be a great thing for the players,” he said.
“They want the energy, they want to feed off the crowd so I think wherever it is, having a crowd is a good thing.”
‘It was unlike us’: Cats confident collapse was one off
— Mark Hayes
Geelong coach Chris Scott was quick to downplay the significance of his side conceding the last eight goals to Melbourne, losing the match at GMHBA Stadium and the minor premiership in the process.
Scott, a past master in sending a positive message to Cats fans and players in a crisis, said the 48-point turnaround and resultant four-point loss to the Demons would have little bearing on his side as it progressed to a sixth straight AFL finals appearance.
“It’s hard to completely dismiss the fact that we had control of the game and didn’t win in the end,” he said after Demons ruckman Max Gawn sealed his club’s first minor premiership in 57 years with an after-the-siren goal.
“But we were always of the mindset that whatever happened tonight, we need to focus on the next game really quickly.
“It was always very likely that if we won, we would play a final in Adelaide, and if we lost we’d play a final in Adelaide.
“The only thing that was really going to change was that we might play an opposition on their home deck (against Port Adelaide next weekend).
“So the reframing of the position is really important because it would be easy to dwell on what happened late in the game – irrespective of how dominant we were early in the game – and it’s not the most important thing for us.
“The most important thing is moving forward and focusing on how we’ll play our best footy next week, which the guys are really steeled and galvanised to do.”
Scott said the form his charges showed to get to their seeming position of power midway through the third term had been impressive.
“For a large part of the game, we showed how well we can play,” he said.
“For the last 30 minutes of the game, we just couldn’t get our hands on the ball and it’s hard to work out why that’s happening.
“One theory is you’re 40-odd points up in the last home-and-away game for the year and you know you’re playing in Adelaide the following week, so it’s very difficult to stay in the moment and not project forward.
“But I’d like to think that when the stakes are higher and we’re in that position, that we would be able to stay in the moment better than we did.
“We certainly made some mistakes and Melbourne played well … (but) that last 30 minutes was unlike us.
“I think the first 4-5 minutes of the final term, we had eight touches to their 40-plus, so if you’re giving up field position from the centre bounce, it can be hard to do the things you need to do when you’ve haven’t got the momentum.
“That was an issue for us, but we need to balance that with what happened earlier in the game and I thought we were very good in that area.”
Scott said his team’s 21-point victory against Port Adelaide in Round 13 was something he would draw upon this week.
“We’re really confident we can play well. The last time we played them over there helps a little bit, but more importantly we think our game’s in pretty good shape, notwithstanding the final 40 minutes of this game.”
Demons tops after comeback for the ages
OH. MY. GAWN.
Melbourne had seemed destined to be minor premier for large parts of 2021, but not even Norm Smith would have scripted an eight-goal comeback to be capped my skipper Max Gawn after the siren.
For the first time in 57 years, the Demons took top honours after the home-and-away season with a comeback for the ages.
Geelong had nine fingers on the minor premiership when Gary Rohan booted a seemingly soul-snapping end-to-end goal that put the Cats 44 points up almost 20 minutes into the third quarter.
And having earlier given up nine majors in a row, surely this Demon miracle would finally come unravelled.
But somebody forgot to tell Clayton Oliver, who inspired his team to one of the more remarkable red-and-blue swings since Smith’s powerhouse teams of the 1950s and early 60s.
That it came down to veteran skipper – and notorious set shot misser — Gawn after the siren just made it even sweeter for long-suffering Demon fans.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has vowed his team will quickly work through one of the club’s most memorable nights as it sets its sights on premiership glory.
The Demons booted the final eight goals of a shootout for the minor premiership against Geelong, roaring back from a 44-point deficit to snatch a four-point win for the ages after the siren at GMHBA Stadium in what Goodwin said was an “unbelievable effort”.
The truly remarkable victory, set up by Clayton Oliver’s best afield heroics and sealed by Max Gawn’s matchwinning goal after the finals siren, gives Melbourne its first minor premiership in 57 years – and the confidence that no situation is too dire.
Gawn’s goal sparked remarkable scenes with all players and many staff huddling en masse in the forward pocket at the Cattery in celebrations rarely seen outside finals.
But Goodwin said the party would be short-lived.
“What you saw after the game was just genuine emotion from a playing group that worked incredibly hard to get back into a game,” he said.
“But we’ll reset ourselves, refocus ourselves. We know that’s one season down and a new season will begin next week.
“We’ll enjoy this moment for what it is. But come tomorrow, our players will be firmly focused on the task at hand.
“We’re only halfway through what we want to achieve.”
Goodwin had a broad smile when asked what the comeback, the victory and the minor flag would mean to long-suffering fans of the red and blue.
“It’s been a long time since they’ve seen their side compete and show character the way they showed tonight,” he beamed.
“I’m sure they sit at home incredibly proud of the boys’ performance, not only tonight but throughout the whole season so far.
“I think they sit there with hope that this team can continue their form and compete really strongly when the time comes and it really counts.
“I think they’ll be incredibly proud of their team and their club – it’s been a long time, they’ve been starved of success and they should enjoy this moment.”
Goodwin didn’t downplay the achievement, but understandably said the club would quickly sharpen its focus to Brisbane, most likely in Adelaide next week.
“Deep down it means a lot to our footy club, but it’s been a long time since we’ve been in this position.
“But this (home-and-away) season is done, we’re in the position we’re in and now it’s time to turn our attention to what really matters and we need to have one of the best months of footy we can to make sure our club can stay in the position we’re in.”
Melbourne will now face Brisbane, most likely in Adelaide, in the knowledge that after their previous nine minor premiership, they have conveted eight into flags.
Geelong, which had led since early in the second term, conversely has the distinct disadvantage of being the only team to face a genuine home team in the first week of the finals, travelling to Adelaide to face the red-hot Power next week.
Everything had pointed to a thriller.
Pulsating finishes in meaningful games between the Dogs and Power, then the Lions and Eagles – plus the less consequential draw between the Tigers and Hawks – had set the scene perfectly for the minor premiership decider.
Those thoughts were reinforced when the two heavyweights slugged out a tense first quarter.
But when the Cats’ midfield went berserk for 15 minutes in the second term and there was a 45-minute drought between Melbourne goals, there was no sign of the drama or ebbs and flows that were to come.
But these Demons are made of stern stuff, particularly Oliver, and their own eight-goal run to end the game, including Gawn’s mark and goal from 20m out, sparked scenes of unbridled joy.
It will be hard to top the drama of the first couple of days of Round 23, but if that’s the sign of the final ahead, it should be an epic September.
RUN-UP RESOLVED
We might finally have the reasoning behind the Michael Holding-length run-up that Ben Brown employs in set shots.
The former Roo took a mark in transition midway through the first term adjacent to the centre circle, jogged back to give himself a more routine 5-6m gap to the mark. Then, in his haste to keep the ball moving Melbourne’s way, he took just one step and proceeded to kick an inverted shank so bad that it went out of bounds at true centre wing.
Less than a minute later off his traditional 40m runway after a mark, the ball had barely left his boot when he celebrated the Dees’ second major.
A RUCKING MESS
One of the “modern” rules that causes consternation among fans is teams having to nominate a ruckman at each stoppage and the almost inevitable delays the process causes. Throw in the ability that this delay gives teams to reset their backline, and you can see why it’s a hot topic.
The AFL will argue its reasons for having the rule, but there can be NO EXCUSE at all for umpires delaying play further while a distant ruckman makes his way to the contest.
It happened in the second term after a ball-up was ordered 40m out from Melbourne’s goal and Tom McDonald immediately threw up his hand to compete. But big Cat Rhys Stanley was 40m further afield in the centre square, yet the umpire waited for his trundling arrival as the Cats reset.
TOM VERSUS TIME
Geelong coach Chris Scott has been at pains to point out that his star backman Tom Stewart has not been officially ruled out for the season after Lisfranc surgery earlier this week.
And while some medicos have been eager to point out that it’s an extreme longshot that Stewart could make a miracle finals return, there was something to bring a smile to the eye of his legion of fans at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night.
Stewart, albeit on crutches, was sufficiently enthusiastic and capable enough to sit on the Cats’ bench and even hobble out to the line coaches’ addresses at the breaks with his left foot in a moon boot.
GEELONG 2.110.212.312.5 (77)
MELBOURNE 2.33.56.712.9 (81)
GOALS:
Geelong: Hawkins (4), Cameron (2), Rohan (2), Dangerfield, Dahlhaus, Selwood, Close.
Melbourne: Pickett (3), Oliver (2), Brown (2), Spargo (2), Fritsch, Viney, Gawn.
BEST
Geelong: C.Guthrie, Selwood, Henderson, Hawkins.
Melbourne: Oliver, Gawn, Salem, Harmes, Petracca.
INJURIES:
Nil
REPORTS:
Nil
CROWD: 0 at GMHBA Stadium, Geelong.
VOTES
3: Oliver (Mel)
2: Guthrie (Geel)
1: Gawn (Mel)
Originally published as AFL news 2021: Dees, Cats and Lions could be allowed into SA the day before their QF
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