TV Wrap: Daisy says Jack Silvagni owes Carlton nothing, Swann says wildcard a real chance
The new football performance boss has weighed into several contentious discussion topics, including the introduction of the wildcard and the last-touch rule. Plus a Dee is on North’s radar.
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The new football performance boss weighs in on the AFL’s most contentious issues.
And the Hawks are loving having their backs against the wall when it comes to top 8 predictors.
Here’s everything you missed on Tuesday night’s TV viewing.
GREG SWANN READY TO MAKE CHANGE
New football performance boss Greg Swann finished off his second official day at AFL House with a lengthy appearance on AFL 360.
He covered a series of contentious topics, most of which he’ll directly influence in his new role.
WILDCARDS AND A CHANGE TO THE TOP 8
Swann flagged there could be a change to the finals structure, but only once the league reached a 20-team competition.
He shut down the idea of conferences with a resounding “no”, but he was more open to the introduction to a wildcard finals series once the league reached 20 teams.
“Probably,” he said to Gerard Whateley’s question as to whether a wildcard round would be introduced.
“It might be a final 10 for example instead of a final 8.
“They’re some of the things that’ll be worked through but again that’ll be others as well who decide that.”
STAND RULE
Swann says the stand rule will likely stay, but it needs to be policed.
He called it a “problem for the umpires”.
“(We’re) probably retaining, but a stand is a stand, you can’t run off the protected zone,” he said.
“It’s sort of defeated the purpose, because the stand was to help open the play but now the player gets back and it clogs up again.
“If it’s stand, it’s stand.”
SCRAP THE SUB
Swann says there are 18 club coaches that want the substitute rule to be scrapped.
While he didn’t clarify if that meant he wanted four or five on the bench, he said the AFL would “have a look at that one, definitely.”
“I don’t think there’s too many coaches that want the sub,” he said.
“There might be other reasons that it’s brought in in the first place that I don’t know about, there might be some stats around it that change it.
“I don’t think anyone wants the sub from what I’ve heard.”
INSUFFICIENT INTENT
The AFL will look to the SANFL to potentially adopt a unique rule, changing the insufficient intent free kick to a potential last possession free kick.
Swann says it has “almost morphed” into a last possession rule anyway, with the change clarifying the umpires’ decision making.
“I think that’s something that definitely will be looked at,” he said.
“It’s almost morphed into that now anyway.
He said it would be limited to just between the arcs, and “people will get used to that.”
HOLDING THE BALL
Labelled “the hardest one in the book” to fix, Swann conceded he wasn’t sure how it could be changed.
“I reckon that’s the hardest one in the book. Talking to the umpires, prior opportunity and all those things that come with it, it’s something that’s always front of mind,” he said.
“That’s a tough one that comes with it.
“It is a discussion piece … but it’s a difficult rule to get 100 per cent right.”
SCORE REVIEW
Swann is eager to cut down the length of the total game day product, without reducing the 80 minutes (plus time on) of footy getting played.
He’s got a focus on the score review, saying “we’d all like” an upgrade to the technology used.
“There are some people that are coming in to present some upgrades to what we’ve already got,” he said.
“Hopefully that can happen.
“You’d like it to be definitive, to be really clear, and supposedly there is some technology out there … that you can definitely see it hit the finger or definitely misses.
“If we can do that, obviously it’s a plus because at the moment it’s good … but hopefully we can get better.”
CARLTON LEGEND, A PIE?
Former Carlton and Collingwood forward Dale Thomas has come to the defence of Jack Silvagni, who is weighing up offers from both the Blues and the Pies.
A famous Carlton name, Silvagni is the third ‘SOS’ at the club, following his grandfather Sergio Silvagni and father Stephen Silvagni.
But Thomas said the defender, who is enjoying a career-best season, owes Carlton nothing.
“If I’m Jack Silvagni I’m sitting there going, ‘why do I stay, what do I actually owe this club? I’ve carried the burden of the father-son’,” Thomas said on Agenda Setters.
“There’s no reason for that, it wasn’t put upon him for any other reason than his dad was an absolute superstar, but that has been something he has carried.
“He’s been last in, first out so many times, he’s been played as a forward, then put in the ruck, put the shin pad on, used as a tagger, and then settled down back.
“The fans are in such uproar because they know when they come to the footy … he’s bringing maximum effort, he plays with the heart and soul you want in a footballer.”
HAWKS READY FOR FINAL TEST
Hawthorn midfielder Will Day says the club is ready to be written off by outside noise, saying they prefer it that way.
The Hawks will need to win two of its final four games to make the top eight, with finals-like clashes against Adelaide (AO), Collingwood (MCG) and Brisbane (Gabba) to come.
Day said he had stopped short of doing a predicted ladder, but he knows what was at stake.
“It’s hard not to see all the outside noise, and at the moment everyone’s prediction has us missing, which in a sense we love,” he said on AFL 360.
“We love being bet against, we know we have a fairly tough draw, but if we want to get to where we want to go, we see it as great finals prep.
“It just means (there are) more teams we we’ll be able to leapfrog on the ladder.
“I haven’t (done a predictor), I’ve just thought if we win the rest of them we’ll finish in a pretty good spot.”
JAKE LEVER TO NORTH
North Melbourne could be looking to bolster its key defensive stocks in the off-season, with reported interest in premiership Demon Jake Lever.
The veteran back is likely done for the 2025 campaign as he battles a troublesome ankle, but during a lean campaign he was dropped by Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin.
Channel 9’s Tom Morris said there was “preliminary interest” from the Roos for Lever.
North Melbourne’s key defensive stocks include Charlie Comben, Wil Dawson, Matt Whitlock, Aidan Corr, Griffin Logue and Toby Pink.
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Originally published as TV Wrap: Daisy says Jack Silvagni owes Carlton nothing, Swann says wildcard a real chance
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