The Tackle: Robbo’s likes and dislikes for Round 3 of the AFL season
THE TACKLE: THE Hawks and Dogs played out a thriller but the Pies and Tigers stunk, and the footy world shares Bob’s pain. Replay Robbo’s live chat
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HAWTHORN and the Western Bulldogs produced a remarkable contest, the Saints showed spirit and Eddie Betts has to be the best small forward we’ve seen in recent years, but Collingwood and Richmond stunk and the football world shares Bob’s pain.
Mark Robinson reveals his likes and dislikes from Round 3.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? CHAT LIVE WITH ROBBO AT 11.45am
LIKES
1. HAWKS’ ICE MAN
JAMES Sicily’s career has taken flight. When Bob Murphy went down clutching his knee, Sicily stood towering above him with the ball in his hands. From 45m, he kicked the go-ahead goal and the winner. What a game. It was furious, edge-of-the-seat footy where neither team would yield. The Hawks are a beast of a team who never gives up, while the Bulldogs announced themselves as a contender. A fightback in the second quarter and an exhilarating third quarter from the Bulldogs was the statement of the season to the date. The Hawks responded in kind. They kicked seven of last 10 goals to win by three points it what was an epic.
2. GUTS AND DETERMINATION
QUESTIONS were asked and answered. The Saints embarrassed themselves in skipper Nick Riewoldt’s 300th game and needed to respond and they duly embarrassed Collingwood. They ran Collingwood all around the MCG and the Pies couldn’t be stuffed. Uncontested possessions were 320-205, led by Joey Montagna. The third quarter was the statement quarter. Riewoldt, Paddy McCartin and Dylan Roberton were out of the game because of injury, rotations were limited, yet the Saints kicked 6.1 to 1.2.
3. HOW GOOD IS EDDIE BETTS?
THE discussion has begun. Is Eddie the best small forward of the past 25 years? Stephen Milne and Jeff Farmer are in the mix but because Betts is in our faces every week, it’s difficult not to think he has those two covered. He kicked three goals on Saturday and had Alex Rance — the best defender in the game — as an opponent for a large period. Clearly, Damien Hardwick rated Eddie as Adelaide’s most dangerous forward.
4. BEST QUARTER OF THE SEASON?
IN the first quarter on Sunday, North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein had nine disposals, eight of which were contested, took contested two marks, had five clearances and kicked three goals. This from a ruckman against one of the emerging big men in the game in Max Gawn. The Kangaroos led 50-14 and had more points than Melbourne’s kicking efficiency which was 36 per cent. The game evened up in the second quarter and then played out to be a thriller.
5. AND AS FOR THOSE CROWS
THAT’S three games, one super competitive loss and comprehensive wins over two teams of a similar ranking pre-season. The Crows do what good teams do. Move the ball quickly, by hand and foot, defend strongly and have 18 contributors. It’s early in the season, but their best is good enough to finish top four.
6. ROBBIE GRAY CLASS IN THE MIDDLE
MICHAEL Voss is a respected judge and asked to rank the best midfielders in the game, he began with Gary Ablett and Nat Fyfe, which is no surprise. From there he couldn’t separate Gray, Patrick Dangerfield, Sam Mitchell, Luke Parker and Scott Pendlebury. Having watched Gray demoralise Essendon with 30 touches and 12 clearances, you got the feeling Voss wanted to put Gray at No.3.
7. GWS V SYDNEY
DID you see the game? It was frightening in its intensity. Contested ball was 160-148 Sydney’s way and tackles were 77-64 to the Giants. You get it, it was physical. There’s isn’t a better three starting midfield than Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery. They shared 90 disposals, 21 tackles and 22 clearances. With Lance Franklin at his best, the Swans were able to answer every challenge. The Giants weren’t disgraced, but lacked forward options. This rivalry is fierce and needs a final to take it to the next level
8. DANGERFIELD AND SELWOOD
THIS was ridiculous from these two. Torched the Lions with stunning numbers on the back of some serious high-level footy. Selwood is a freak. He missed all of the pre-season after Christmas and is at his best at Round 3 of the season proper. As for Dangerfield, what else did we expect?
9. GAWN OF A NEW ERA
ANNIHILATED in the first quarter, Max Gawn responded and he and Todd Goldstein enjoyed a terrific contest. Gawn had 18 touches (17 contested), took nine marks (four contested), had seven clearances, kicked two goals and astonishing 63 hit-outs. Goldstein finished with 19 disposals (15 contested), three marks, five tackles, nine clearances, five tackles and 38 hit- outs. God knows who will get the three Brownlow votes. Will go with Goldstein. The one vote goes to Brent Harvey, who had a career-high six goals. How stiff is Jack Ziebell? He had 19 tackles and 19 disposals and probably won’t be in the top three on the ground.
10. ABLETT AND HALL
IF we’re talking midfield tandems, not many have started as well as these two at the Gold Coast. Hall is the breakout player of 2016. Has started with 36, 32 and 40 possessions and should have more Brownlow Medal votes than Gazza. Not that Gary has been poor. He’s started with 34, 23 and on Saturday night 35. But Hall’s the one. His fitness is strong, confidence is high and he has a touch of the freaks about him as well.
DISLIKES
1. BOB MURPHY’S KNEE
HEART-breaking end to a corker game with Murphy twisting the knee with 90 seconds to play. The loss will hurt, but nothing like losing the skipper for the season. It is a cruel game if he has ripped his ACL. Years of torment was replaced by a joy that Murphy couldn’t properly explain as his Bulldogs, in crisis 16 months ago, rallied to be one of the most loved football teams. When Murphy went down, it was fair to assume all of the football world shook their heads with sadness.
2. TOO EARLY TO SAY ‘CRISIS’?
AFTER three rounds, it’s foolish to suggest Richmond and Collingwood are out of finals contention. But we might announce that after next weekend. The Tigers play West Coast away and the Pies take on Melbourne at the ’G. If both teams are 1-3, then finals are wishful thinking. Their problems are multiple. Skills poor, lack of team defence, lack of pressure and not a lot of razzamatazz in the forward lines. It means one thing: They aren’t good football teams.
3. FLUFFING AROUND WITH THE PILL
RICHMOND had 420 disposals for 25 scoring shots while Adelaide had 368 disposals for 30 scoring shots. The Crows move the ball, quickly, kick long and have a forward line full of weapons. The Tigers had 52 inside 50s and the Crows 57, yet the margin was a convincing 36 points. The Tigers like to keep the pill, but turnovers killed them this week. It seems the Tigers find a different way not to perform every week.
4. WHERE PIES ARE AT
THEY stink and injuries are piling up. Marley Williams and Darcy Moore are the latest with injury issues, but there is a greater collective concern. This group, over the past couple of years, was young and lacked the talent of other teams, but it almost always put up a fight. It pressured and harassed and made life difficult for opponents. Against the Saints, the pressure was feeble. You can accept players are out of fSCORIorm, but lacking heart for the contest is a non-negotiable. That’s what Nathan Buckley has at the moment, players lacking the required level of competitiveness. And who’s to blame for that? The players of course, but it is the coach’s job to ready them mentally.
5. SANDILANDS’ LUNGS
OUT for up to six weeks, just to make Rossy Lyon’s immediate challenge all the more difficult. There was nothing sinister, just an unfortunate collision in a marking contest. Can’t take a trick the Dockers and seemingly don’t have a lot of tricks themselves.
6. THE DOCKERS GAME PLAN
NO surprises Lyon went for the lockdown and it was a slog. It was 7.11 to 4.10 at three-quarter time before the Eagles staged a minor blowout in the final quarter. Problem for Fremantle is it couldn’t stop its opponents scoring in the first two rounds with a revised strategy and when Lyon went back to his tried and true, they struggled to kick goals. At 0-3, Lyon is in a quandary. Stick with the old which appears to be outdated for the modern game, or take the pain as they learn the new ways.
7. ESSENDON CATCH-22
THE Bombers need mature bodies, but some of those mature bodies are underdone. Let’s be blunt. Ryan Crowley should not be in the team at present. Underdone over the pre-season, he’s battling to get his game to AFL level. Had a bit of Gazza in Round 1 which was a challenge and in the past two weeks his skill level has been poor. In Round 2 it was 14 possessions and 38 ranking points. Against Port Adelaide, it was 14 touches again at 36 per cent efficiency and 28 ranking points.
8. JARRYD BLAIR TACKLE COUNT
I’m worried for Jarryd Blair. Coach Nathan Buckley directed his anger at his forwards for their lack of pressure. Blair’s game is based around defensive pressure and, on Saturday, he didn’t register a single tackle. It was a severe drop from his six and seven tackles in Rounds 1 and 2. Zero goals in his three games doesn’t help him, either.
9. DELIBERATE OUT OF BOUNDS
AM loving the crackdown, but the umpires have to understand the pressure out there. You can’t ping a player, and it happened in the Sydney-GWS game, who is being tackled or pushed as he’s kicking the ball, and the ball skews of his boot and travels over the boundary line. That is not deliberate. That is genuine pressure.
10. THE DIVING SCOURGE
BLAINE Boekhorst was the face of acting last week, but he’s not alone. Players take dives every week from every club and it’s frustrating to watch. Against the Saints, Scott Pendlebury not so much took a dive, but lowered the head and helped create the head-high contact which led to a free kick and goal. The umpire, though, should have called play on.
Originally published as The Tackle: Robbo’s likes and dislikes for Round 3 of the AFL season
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