The Tackle: Essendon, Charlie Curnow and Mark Robinson’s round 21 likes and dislikes
Hawthorn were cruising in the nation’s capital, then all of a sudden, the tsunami came quick and fast. Mark Robinson writes, we should have seen it coming in THE TACKLE.
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Four goals down at three quarter-time, Essendon of recent weeks would’ve found it too hard. But MARK ROBINSON writes the Bombers dug deep to find their Edge, and more. See his full likes and dislikes below.
DISLIKES
1. THREE QUARTER HAWKS
For the most part, Hawthorn was the better team. But didn’t finish as the best team. There’s a couple bullet points when playing the Giants. The first is not to let them run and move the ball. For three quarters, the Hawks gave up one goal from their defensive 50. In the final quarter, they gave up five goals from the defensive 50. Their pressure and tackling abandoned them, which in turn opened up the ground, which in turn exposed the Hawks to an issue which needs to be corrected if they are to make the finals, let alone win a final. Since Round 12, Hawthorn has conceded the fewest entries, but when they do concede, they are ranked 16th for scores. In other words, once the ball goes in, the Hawks battle to contain the scoring. In the final quarter, the Giants had 13 entries and kicked seven goals, which is offensively brilliant and defensively delinquent. “We are enormously frustrated,” coach Sam Mitchell said. “We knew how they play, we knew how they wanted to play … but we just weren’t quite good enough to hold them for four quarters.” Six of the seven goals came from set shots – Hogan two goals, Toby Greene two goals, Daniels and Darcy Jones one each – and the other was the matchwinning snap from Tom Green.
2. WHAT WAS THAT?
There’s no shame in losing to a rampant Brisbane, but there is when you lose like that. When you lose without a whimper. When you lose your self respect. When you lose half your supporter base because they shot through at half-time. Sydney coach John Longmire was at a loss to explain the events of Saturday night in Adelaide. Beg your pardon, he knew what happened, but he didn’t know how or why. St Kilda coach Ross Lyon will have the same dilemma. After three wins in four games, after blitzing Essendon the week before, the Saints were embarrassingly outclassed. The final margin was 85 points. They were munched in the main KPIs. They lost contested by 43, lost clearance by 21 and lost inside 50s by 17. The contest ball differential was the worst by a team this year behind Melbourne’s -42 in Round 12. So, how do you explain a performance like that?
3. DASTARDLY DOCKERS
They blew it. Just like the Hawks did in Canberra an hour earlier. They had control of the game, almost had Essendon resigned to defeat, yet couldn’t execute the kill. Just 44 entries doesn’t usually get it done and truth be told a lot of the game was played in Essendon’s forward half. The so-called best midfield in competition lowered its colours in the final quarter. Sean Darcy didn’t touch the ball against Sam Draper, Young had five disposals, Brayshaw and Serong eight and 10 respectively, but they were beaten by the Essendon flurry from the centre bounce. In the final quarter, Essendon won centre clearances 5-1 (Shiel two, Merrett two and Caldwell one) and inside 50s 17-11. They kicked 5.3 to 2.1. Maybe it wasn’t the biggest stage for the Dockers this season, but it was big enough to present them with a top four spot with three games to play. They failed the test. They can’t afford to fail too many more.
4. WHERE WAS CHARLIE?
The spotlight comes thick and fast when you’re ‘The Man’ and you don’t get it done. Charlie Curnow stumbled badly in last year’s finals series and on Saturday night, opposed to Collingwood’s Darcy Moore, Curnow had another dirty night on a big occasion. It’s a trend. He had nine touches, took five marks and kicked two behinds, and never looked threatening. He’s a passive forward who prefers space and in finals-like pressure, like what existed on Saturday night, space and clean delivery is a rarity. He twisted his ankle and that almost certainly restricted him, but he was struggling before that.
The big boppers at Fox Footy didn’t miss him ether:
Gary Lyon: “We don’t know how bad the ankle is, but the reality is this, he’s been held goalless for the first time in 66 matches. I think the ankle injury contributed towards it, but even towards the end where he could’ve gone to the goalsquare and hopefully drawn a free kick …”
Jonathan Brown: “He was looking for easy spots and you don’t get easy spots. When players are under pressure up the field, you’ve got to put yourself more in line, so yes, granted the injury, but we spoke about this last year with his final series, he’s got to make it easier for his teammates to get him the ball in critical moments. It’s his positioning …”
Jack Riewoldt: “It looks like he sets himself up for the perfect kick. He’s always hoping for the perfect kick, now whether that’s hoping for a 45m kick off the line that’s really hard to do, or the one going back. I’d like to see him be a ground and pound forward, stick yourself between the goals and where the ball is, kick it to me and I’m either going to mark it or bring it to ground.”
Lyon: “He’s going to be a watch as we head towards September.”
5. BLUES AND SWANS FREEFALLING
Incredibly, Carlton could miss the eight and Sydney could miss the top four. The two teams thought to be living certainties to finish top two, are floundering in the run home. At least the Blues showed some ticker, coming from 32 points down in the final quarter to almost claim victory. The Swans surrendered from the opening bounce. It was as humiliating as anything North Melbourne or West Coast has produced in their past three years and will require an astonishing coaching effort from John Longmire to correct. Where does he start? What does he do? “It’s up to us to come up with a solution and we’ll work through that as a coaching group and a leadership team,” Longmire said. “I’m not sure where it came from, so we need to work through it and see what comes out the other side. We get another chance, next week, to get things right.” The Swans were walloped in every facet of the game: contest, pressure, heart and pride. Injuries are a piece of their puzzle, but the price isn’t 112 points. That all said, it would be foolish to put a line through Sydney. And Carlton for that matter. And maybe even Collingwood who are a game and percentage behind the Blues and Bulldogs. It’s that kind of season.
6. OVERREACTIONS
Talk about feeding haters. There’s already a diversity clause in the TV rights, which Fox Footy and Channel 7 adhere to, so can everyone just chill. It’s a good business plan, if anything. It’s no secret the AFL wants to expand the game into new markets. That doesn’t mean simply injecting money into Queensland, Tasmania and the NT, it’s about expanding the number of Asians, Indians and Turks to play the game. There’s the next big market. The TVs agree. Because they’re always looking at ways to find new eyeballs. When the AFL says it wants the TVs to promote diversity to reflect footy’s fan base, it certainly doesn’t mean plonk a Turk or Indian beside Nathan Buckley and Jonathan Brown On The Couch. No, it means to continue to have a well-represented body of commentators and analysts which, over time, will expand as the game expands.
The AFL has introduced a "social inclusion clause to diversify the presentation of football" at Channel 7 and Fox Footy from 2025 onwards.@tommorris32 explains 👇@SENBreakfast | #AFLpic.twitter.com/iAqzcJYNJq
— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) August 1, 2024
LIKES
1. THE RESPONSE
‘The Edge’ comes in many forms. It’s head over the ball. It’s supporting your teammate. It’s not getting walked over. Essendon found its edge in the final quarter at the MCG on Saturday. They had to. Three losses in a row had almost killed their season. A fourth loss and it was over. Four goals down at three quarter-time, Essendon of recent weeks would’ve found it too hard. Reminiscent of the events in Canberra, the Bombers found ascendancy in the middle and pop from half-back in a stunning final quarter. The players can frustrate with basic errors, but they can also make the stands rumble with supporter excitement. That’s what happened on Sunday. Momentum is the word that best describes the 2024 season. The Dockers had it, lost it and could never recover it. It was symbolic that two of Essendon’s edgier players, Zach Merrett and Sam Durham, combined at the end. Others stood up. Jake Stringer’s four goals and 10 tackles were pivotal, Sam Draper knocked over Sean Darcy, Mason Redman had some bounce, Nic Martin’s class shoe in the forward 50m and, overall, the Bombers were too desperate when it counted. Essendon has lacked that quality in recent weeks. That and respect. They regained some of it at the MCG on Sunday.
2. THE BEST TEAM IN IT
While most of the teams in competition have wavered in some form in the second half of the season, the Lions are on a nine-game winning streak. Save for the 119-point trouncing of Richmond in Round 11, Sunday’s defeat of St Kilda was their most comprehensive win of the season. At least the Tigers had an excuse because they were ravished by injury. The Lions don’t appear to have any serious concerns. It’s the depth of contribution which stands out. Joe Daniher and Harris Andrews could be bookends in the All Australian team, Cam Rayner looks frightening and was probably best afield, Zac Bailey is nearing his best and Will Ashcroft looks more and more comfortable. The baton of coach of the year may well have settled into the hand of Chris Fagan. John Longmire held it for the longest, Sam Mitchell briefly had it, Luke Beveridge might end up with it, but as we speak Fagan has earned it.
3. THE WILL TO WIN
We often say great desperation can produce great coaching and Brent Daniels proved that again on Sunday. The Hawks had this game. They led by 28 points at three quarter-time, on the back of a dominant midfield. Giants coach Adam Kingsley needed change. He sent high half-forward Brent Daniels into the middle in a bid to win the ball and provide run. To the angst of Hawks coach Sam Mitchell, his midfield didn’t show Daniels respect.
Brent Daniels is a dead-set star. He continues to go under the radar. The Giants don’t win that game without injecting Daniels into the midfield. #AFLGiantsHawks
— Adam White (@White_Adam) August 4, 2024
That can happen at the start of a quarter, but it can’t happen for all of a quarter. Daniels provided the midfield link that enabled the Giants to record their greatest comeback. In the final quarter, he had 12 disposals, six score involvements, he kicked a goal and laid three tackles. Very rarely do you see one player change the fortunes of a team in such a short time, and when a team is five goals down. Jesse Hogan kicked two of his five goals in the final quarter and was a commanding presence, and in doing so skipped past Charlie Curnow in the Coleman Medal. In the end, with finals beckoning for both teams, the Giants kicked 7.1 to 2.1. One team wanted to win and, on this occasion, the other team didn’t know how.
4. BOBBY DAZZLER
Always, moments decide close games. Mitch McGovern’s miss from 45m to win the game was the biggest moment of the night and even though Carlton coach Michael Voss was calm about it in the post-match, stressing it was a one big moment among many, we’re pretty sure McGovern would’ve had an uncomfortable night’s sleep. How could he not? Teammate Elijah Hollands surely would’ve tossed and turned, too. His decision in the third quarter to ignore a teammate in the goalsquare, and instead kick for goal on his left foot – and kick a behind – was another big moment gone awry. To ignore his teammate like that really was unacceptable. Bobby Hill had many moments – he had 10 score involvements but none was better than his dangerous and acrobatic leap in the third quarter to tap the ball to Will Hoskin-Elliott who kicked the goal. Those two – Hill and Hoskin-Elliott – had 21 score involvements between them and tormented the Blues defence. Surely, they will be in the coaches’ votes on Monday.
5. DO WE TRUST PORT ADELAIDE YET?
They are 5-1 win-loss since the fans booed Kenny Hinkley off Adelaide Oval after Port lost to Brisbane by 79 points. It was a revolting reaction and even more ridiculous now. Saturday night’s effort was the perfect football game. Port dominated the mind and body of their Sydney opponents, so much so that if someone told you today Sydney deliberately threw the game, you’d believe it. Yes, it was that bad. It does present Hinkley with a headache though. The move of Esava Ratugolea forward has worked at both ends. Port is less cumbersome and shaky at the back and more aggressive and potent in attack, meaning Hinkley has a decision to make on what to do with Todd Marshall. Marshall has missed three weeks with injury, leaving Port’s forward group to revolve around Georgiades, Dixon and Ratugolea to great effect. Ratugolea was inaccurate against the Swans, but productive. “I think he’s playing really well in that area of the ground … we’ve had Todd out, so we’ve had to explore that a little bit,” Hinkley said. “Good on him for welcoming that opportunity because he did come with his mind set on playing back, but we knew he could play forward. Hopefully, he allows us to be flexible.” Marshall is expected to be available for selection this week.
6. TRISTAN XERRI
The 2017 national draft produced two aces down near the bottom of the pack. They just happen to be two ruckmen – Tristan Xerri (pick 72) and Lloyd Meek (pick 69) – who are now pushing Max Gawn for selection in the All Australian team. If you wanted further evidence that this is a wacky season, there it is, because no one would have predicted the helmeted big guy from North Melbourne could possibly unseat Gawn as the competition’s premier ruckman. Xerri and Richmond’s Toby Nankervis had a ripper duel on Saturday. In a battle of bustling giants, Nankervis had 15 hit out to advantage and 11 tackles, while Xerri had 11 hit outs to advantage and 10 tackles. Xerri’s ranking points in his past 10 matches are 144, 151, 109, 111, 119, 141, 111, 103, 119. His 10-week average is 124. His rise has been remarkable. Last year, he missed 12 games with injury. The year before he missed 10 games. The year before that he played just eight games and wanted a trade to St Kilda. Thankfully, the Kangaroos said no, and this year Xerri has played every game. It’s possible the Kangaroos could have three players in the All Australian team – Xerri, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Harry Sheezel – which is terrific for a team with just three wins.
Originally published as The Tackle: Essendon, Charlie Curnow and Mark Robinson’s round 21 likes and dislikes
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