Early tackle: All the likes and dislikes from Gather Round
Luke Darcy blindisded controversial media commentator Kane Cornes with criticism when the latter was invited onto Triple M but it was the former Port star who landed the knockout blow.
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The AFL world is currently in Adelaide and there’s been plenty of talking points from Gather Round already.
From the disappointing Dons and Roos to the powerful midfields of Melbourne and Port Adelaide, Sam Landsberger names his likes and dislikes so far.
LIKES
BIGGEST BOGEY IN FOOTBALL
Not sure what more Western Bulldogs can do to beat Geelong. It might be the biggest bogey in football. The Cats have won 22 out of their past 26 matches, and one of those four Bulldogs wins was a dead rubber for Geelong when it rolled over in the final game of last season. On Saturday night, Liam Jones gave Tom Hawkins a bath, Tom Liberatore and Marcus Bontempelli were the best two players on the ground, Adam Treloar wasn’t far behind, Taylor Duryea threw himself at everything and Rhylee West, Buku Khamis and Sam Darcy probably enjoyed career games. It was baffling that so many Bulldogs produced brilliant individual performances and still it seemed this game was on the Cats’ terms until they fatigued in the final quarter. ‘Libba’ had 28 contested possessions (equal fourth-highest of all time) and 19 clearances (equal third-highest of all time) while Jones and Khamis combined for 19 intercepts, for goodness sake. Chris Scott is now 11-3 against Luke Beveridge and the Cats are 4-0 for the first time since 2017. Wonder whether the Dogs seek clarification from the AFL over the score review that awarded Tyson Stengle a mark on the goalline in the third quarter when the soft call was a behind. It was a big overrule. The kicker is that the Dogs yet again have to travel to GMHBA Stadium later this year, which will make it nine trips in 10 seasons excluding 2020 (played in the Gold Coast hub).
GREATNESS BECKONS
Brisbane Lions had Akermanis, Voss and Black in their triple-premiership heyday. West Coast was next with Cousins, Judd and Kerr. Those six champions shared six Brownlows and so it is clearly a premature call, but is Port Adelaide’s triple threat of Rozee, Horne-Francis and Butters capable of rising close to those glorious heights? They have a long way to go, and that is not to ignore Melbourne’s mix of Oliver, Petracca, Viney and ruckman Max Gawn, who still hold the mantle of the No.1 engine room. But, boy, they are penetrating, powerful and potent players who pedal back defensively as well. Willem Drew might be the under celebrated glue in this sparkling midfield and new ruckman Ivan Soldo is the big, bad ruckman who is helping illuminate them even brighter. On Friday night it was a blinding performance.
SMELLS LIKE 1995
It was dour, it was over-umpired, and it was a bizarre choice of jumpers. For three and a half quarters it bordered on unwatchable. It was looking like a nightmare for Orazio Fantasia when he left Jeremy Sharp unchecked as Sharp snapped the lead back for Fremantle in the final quarter. It was up to the big boys to break the deadlock. Nat Fyfe had the first laugh when he helped set up two goals from centre bounce. But new dad Patrick Cripps and his Blues had the last laugh. Cripps willed himself at stoppage, barrelled Jaeger O’Meara in a tackle and flung the ball free to Zac Williams to set up Charlie Curnow’s final goal. It was a special one-handed mark by Curnow. What happened at the finish was farcical. Matthew Cottrell put the Blues in front after marking a ball the Dockers claimed was touched. They trailed for 105 minutes, but found themselves 10 points in front when Matthew Kennedy sealed the four points with a double goal for umpire dissent. Defence is in the Dockers’ DNA and they restricted this a 19-goal game. But it wasn’t enough because of that wild finish. The Blues are 4-0 for the first time since they were premiers in 1995 and have Sam Walsh to return next week.
REAL REID ON WEST COAST
Harley Reid tugged at his jumper as the prince of Perth snapped his first AFL goal. West Coast coach Adam Simpson slammed the phone in anger at Mt Barker oval. Both were acts of emotion Eagles fans would’ve embraced. Those arguing the Eagles are regressing are off the mark. Last season their percentage was a Fitzroy-ish 53 per cent and their profile was putrid. They lost their first 13 quarters of 2024, but green flags have emerged. They have become mid-table for clearances and even last week against the Western Bulldogs they broke even for inside 50s, but they lacked the class forward of the ball to score. In the first three games it appeared EPL powerhouses Arsenal and Liverpool scored goals with greater ease than the Eagles. But on Saturday they won groundballs, won inside 50s, won centre clearances and kicked 5.6 in the second quarter. Layer by layer, their identity is becoming more identifiable. It started at stoppage and against the Swans there were signs of their improved ball movement. The headlines will again centre on Harley Reid, but hopefully some are also starting to get a more accurate read on West Coast.
BLUE AND REDBACKS
Melbourne fans praying for a premiership have had their hopes transformed in the City of Churches. They banked eight premiership points in back-to-back matches at Adelaide Oval with gutsy performances fuelled by some South Australian talent. The Demons have drafted Kysaiah Pickett (No.12 in 2019), Tom Sparrow (No.27 in 2018), Kade Chandler (2018 rookie), Harrison Petty (No.37 in 2017) and Alex Neal-Bullen (No.40 in 2014). As Adelaide Advertiser social media wiz Edward Holland pointed out, the Crows overlooked all of those locals. They took Fischer McAsey (No.6) over Pickett, Chayce Jones (No.9) and Ned McHenry (No.16) over Sparrow and Chandler, Fogarty (No.12) over Petty and Harrison Wigg (No.35) over Neal-Bullen. Ouch. Fears from rival recruiters that last year’s haul might backfire adds to Adelaide’s alarm at 0-4. Some were surprised the Crows swooped on three halfbacks, given Dan Curtin is not seen as a key defender at AFL level and Oscar Ryan – the club’s final pick – was ranked nowhere near No.27 on most talent boards. Time will tell.
LIONS UNITED STATES-MENT
Brisbane’s 70-point win flattered North Melbourne. Champion Data’s expected scores marked it a 138-42 game (96 points). The Lions won entries 62-49 against Carlton, 56-48 against Fremantle and 56-43 against Collingwood. But they dropped marks in attack and failed to capitalise. Finally, their footy overpowered external talk as they won entries 71-31 against North Melbourne and clunked a staggering 22 marks inside 50m. Those who listened to wise vice-captain Josh Dunkley would’ve expected it to click. “We’re as close as we’ve ever been,” Dunkley told his podcast with bestie Adam Treloar. “These types of situations bring you closer. Not one player has stepped aside and been like, ‘Nup, this is not working for us’. A bit of a motto of ours is if you don’t lose, you learn.” Dunkley talked the talk and then walked the walk (31 disposals, seven clearances and 10 score involvements) and it is characters like him who galvanise under-fire football clubs. Brisbane director Leigh Matthews called the US trip story a “beat-up” on Saturday as he criticised one of his colleagues for a false report of a media boycott. “Where did that come from? I mean, seriously. There was never any talk about it. There might be one player who got his nose out of joint, but certainly no club boycott,” Matthews told 3AW.
DISLIKES
CALLS FOR CAPTAINS CALLS
Sometimes the footy gods simply don’t smile on you. Yes, George Hewett’s hurried kick to Matt Cottrell grazed James Aish’s tricep. Technically Cottrell’s mark shouldn’t have been paid. But, seriously, umpires have a hard enough job without being expected to pick up on glances like that. The Dockers would’ve had 40 seconds to win the game back from a centre clearance if Jordan Clark had not of given away another goal for umpire dissent. Clark carried on and now some are suggesting a captain’s call to review umpiring decisions in those situations. It wouldn’t work in football. Perhaps if Fremantle had kept its cool then it would have had a shot at stealing the four points back. Instead Clark vented his frustrations and the Blues are now 9-0 from their past 10 games decided by 10 points or less.
WASTED FUNDS
The combined salaries of Caleb Daniel, Jack Macrae, Rory Lobb and James Harmes would total around $2.5 million. That is a lot of money to be spending on one game instead of four. Lobb and Harmes are in the VFL while on Saturday night Macrae and Daniel were substituted in and out respectively. The Dogs got 11 disposals out of Daniel and six out of Macrae. It is a huge chunk of the salary cap being spent for minimal impact on matches.
TIME FOR ROOS TO TRADE TOP PICK
North Melbourne is 1-24 from its past 25 games … and that win, against Gold Coast in the final game of 2023, cost the club Harley Reid. The 2024 draft is littered with gun midfielders – but the Roos do not need another onballer like Josh Smillie, Sid Draper or Finn O’Sullivan. Underrated onballer Tom Powell laid 15 tackles against the Lions and alongside Luke Davies-Uniacke, Jy Simpkin, Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Colby McKercher and hybrid forward Zane Duursma the midfield of the future should be set. Instead they should place their top pick – possibly No.1, 2 or 3 – up for trade to entice a contracted star stopper. The Roos overpaid for injury-prone defenders Griffin Logue and Aidan Corr. Charlie Comben’s six intercept marks and eight spoils were a positive, but he cannot do it alone. Time to rip a gun defender in the ilk of Tom McCartin or Sam Taylor out on monstrous seven-figure contract to put a stop to the buffet of bags. Key forwards have feasted on 22 hauls against them in that 25-game stretch. The spread is: Six goals – Jesse Hogan and Charlie Curnow; five goals – Joe Daniher (twice), Harry McKay, Darcy Fogarty and Ben King; four goals – Taylor Walker, Bayley Fritsch, Kyle Langford, Eric Hipwood, Ollie Henry, Curnow and McKay. A further eight players have kicked bags of three. This does not include pocket rockets like Cody Weightman (six goals) and Izak Rankine (five) filling their boots.
ESSENDON EXCUSES
The Essendon edge has transferred over the fence. It is the supporters who are once again edgy, and it is the club which is once again offering excuses. Coach Brad Scott’s honest answer that his club’s soft tissue curse is a problem is valid. Joint injuries are uncontrollable and so the Bombers need to investigate why so many of their young guns are suffering soft-tissue setbacks. But Scott also warned in pre-season that he was “somewhat concerned” about how his team would start 2024 as Todd Goldstein, Xavier Duursma, Ben McKay and Jade Gresham slotted in. “It’s a real risk for us,” Scott said. But Port Adelaide pieced Esava Ratugolea, Ivan Soldo and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher into its puzzle with little disruption, and it was without Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines and Sam Powell-Pepper on Friday night.
BOMBERS GOING NOWHERE
Port Adelaide has Connor Rozee. Essendon played Ring Around the Rosy. The Bombers had 243 possessions in the final three quarters – 169 of which were in their defensive half. They had 21 possessions in their attacking 50m in the first quarter, but only 10 for the rest of the match. They had more of the ball but were literally going nowhere. These Bombers will be OK when they are competitive at clearances, as they had been in previous games, but Port obliterated them at centre bounce and they simply aren’t good enough yet to recover that field position. Essendon lost centre takeaways 19-6, with Jason Horne Francis’s seven pipping Essendon’s tally on his own. Little wonder they scored just 21 points after quarter-time.
MEDIA WARS
Kane Cornes delivered a knockout punch. Not to Nathan Brown in the boxing ring, but to Luke Darcy on Triple M. Invited on to a rival station to speak about his fight, Darcy blindsided Cornes by calling his critical commentary style meanspirited, nasty, out of the Piers Morgan playbook and intimated that Cornes was friendless in the industry. But Darcy struggled to back any of that up with evidence outside of Cornes’ comedy skit where he took the mickey out of Channel 7’s Talking Footy … which was humorous and, ironically, very Triple M-ish. Thought Cornes floored Darcy with his response. He said: “It’s better than people saying nice kick, nice handball, nice chest mark. I consume a lot of the American content – you wouldn’t last three years in the media in America if you’re going, ‘Nice kick down the line, great mark’. To me that’s boring, so I try to be the media performer that I would like to listen to.” Amen.
Originally published as Early tackle: All the likes and dislikes from Gather Round
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