Early Tackle: Scott Gullan names his likes and dislikes from round 9 of the AFL season
It was a witches hat sort of effort from Richmond, writes Scott Gullan. And the embarrassing performance raises a big question – who will jump off the sinking ship? All the early likes, dislikes.
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Port Adelaide broke a 17-year hoodoo down at Geelong on Friday night, and in the same game may have worked out Tom Stewart and given North Melbourne fans more reason to shudder.
There has been no shortage of other highlights — and lowlights — set to dominate the weekend agenda.
Scott Gullan names his likes and dislikes from round 9 so far.
LIKES
SEEK, STOP AND WIN
Red alert. Stop the presses. We have a pattern.
Two coaches – let’s repeat that, two – have this round done their homework and executed an old-fashioned shutdown job.
After Port coach Ken Hinkley targeted Geelong’s Tom Stewart on Friday night, Brad Scott did the same on Giants defensive quarterback Lachie Whitfield.
The Bombers coach sent Matt Guelfi to Whitfield with the sole purpose of stopping his creativeness which is the key to the GWS orange tsunami that has been in overdrive this season.
Guelfi was superb, not only keeping Whitfield in check but also impacting on the scoreboard with three goals.
So that’s two coaches going in with two specific defensive plans and coming up with two wins. There might be something in this theory.
The Bombers deserve a lot of credit for what they did at Marvel Stadium after the Giants were in complete control in the first half.
There is some serious ticker and strength of mind about Essendon which is something we couldn’t have said for many a year.
They are now third on the ladder with games against North Melbourne and Richmond over the next two weeks.
And it must be noted what their supporters are doing in making Marvel Stadium a fortress. The noise they generate when their side starts coming must be playing a role in this red and black emergence.
DRAFT BUZZ
Nick Daicos has a fair head start as being the main man of the 2021 draft class but he’s certainly getting some worthy candidates nipping at his heels.
The Collingwood superstar went at No.4 as a father-son pick with Jason Horne-Francis at No.1, Sam Darcy at No.2 and Finn Callaghan at No.3.
While Horne-Francis is well and truly proving his worth, the upside of Darcy shows why he was considered worthy of being in the upper echelon of what is turning out to be an impressive draft.
Big blokes always take longer and the son of former ruckman Luke has been a slow burn but with each week, the excitement around him builds.
Against Richmond on Saturday night, there was a buzz every time the ball went in the 208cm giant’s area.
This was just his 15th game but he kicked a career high four goals to go with a couple of three-goal hauls this year. HIs season’s tally sits at a more than handy 16 goals.
To be fair it was a good night to play in the Western Bulldogs forward line with Richmond offering very little resistance.
There are a few more handy players behind Darcy in the 2021 draft. Callaghan has emerged this year with the Giants as a serious player while Mac Andrew (No.5) has taken over centre half-back for the Gold Coast.
Adelaide’s Josh Rachele (No.6) was next followed by Josh Ward (Hawthorn No.7), Jye Amiss (Fremantle No.8), Josh Gibcus (Richmond No.9), Neil Erasmus (Fremantle No.10) and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda No.11).
BROWNLOW DNA
Look away now North Melbourne supporters. Jason Horne-Francis will win a Brownlow Medal.
For those who like a flutter, the Port Adelaide young gun is currently $81 for this year’s medal but he needs to get in your rotation of religious bets at the start of each season for the next five years.
What he did in the first half on Friday night screamed Brownlow Medallist. All you have to do to win this award is play in the midfield, do exciting things around stoppages (ie continue running out of them with ball in hand), have a point of difference (ie genuinely tough with a great fend-off) and then at some stage go forward and kick goals.
To the men in yellow, that is tick, tick, tick when it comes to putting in their votes at the end of the game.
When in full flight, Horne-Francis does things that have a lot of Dustin Martin, Patrick Dangerfield and Nat Fyfe about them. Those three gentlemen won four Brownlow Medals.
Last year, he polled 16 votes as he was finding his feet in a new environment and interestingly that included three best-on-grounds.
Plus, you have to take into account the fact the kid is going to get better – Friday night was just his 48th game in his third AFL season.
Horne-Francis has an even closer comparison in teammate Ollie Wines who won the 2021 Brownlow Medal. Is he a more damaging player than Wines?
Hmmmmm. Maybe we need a bit of that $81.
GOOD SUBBING
Finally we have a good old-fashioned dragging with the sub.
Geelong ruckman Rhys Stanley could be the earliest tactical sub in AFL history after he was yanked off by Chris Scott at the 12-minute of the second quarter.
It was totally justified given what Port Adelaide was doing to his side – they were eight goals up – and that fact fourth-gamer Dante Visentini was pulling down his pants.
Too often coaches hold fire fearing injury instead of pulling the trigger to try and change the game. There was also a method behind Scott’s decision given he sent his starting sub, Irishman Oisin Mullin, straight to Port midfielder Jason Horne-Francis who was tearing the Cats apart in the midfield.
The fact Scott tried to spin his decision after the game as having “nothing to do with the way Rhys was playing” is playing everyone for a fool.
That is two shockers in a row for Stanley and Cats fans will be hoping the injury niggle to young gun Toby Conway and he can take the keys to the ruck in the short-term.
SUPER HUMAN
Karl Amon had a nice game for the winners Hawthorn but if Rowan Marschall isn’t hearing his name being read out for three votes on Brownlow night then the cliche that big men don’t poll is vindicated once again.
In a game between two struggling sides the St Kilda ruckman produced a performance which was head and shoulders above, not just that game, but it was up there with the season’s best.
His stats were off the charts, literally. He had 28 disposals, which included a St Kilda record 23 contested possessions, 11 tackles, 34 hit-outs and 12 clearances.
He should get double pay for what he did in Launceston compared to some of his teammates who would be sheepish putting out their hands for this week’s wage.
Funnily, his opponent Lloyd Meek actually played well himself with 12 touches, one goal and 47 hit-outs.
DISLIKES
SINKING SHIP
The Tigers aren’t helping themselves.
The case for trying to persuade premiership heroes like Dustin Martin and Liam Baker to hang around at Punt Rd isn’t helped with embarrassing performances like what they served up against the Western Bulldogs.
This was a witches hat sort of effort with the previously out-of-form Dogs being allowed to do as they please in what was clearly the worst of new coach Adem Yze’s brief career.
Yes, there are plenty of injuries but that is no excuse for the disturbing lack of effort and intensity which was on show.
Martin must be wondering if he has a lot more of this in him. The Tigers are hopeful he goes on for at least another year but you couldn’t blame him for thinking this Yze-led rebuild might be a bridge too far.
Baker has suitcases of money at his feet from both Perth clubs who are keen to get him over to the west next year so what do you think would be going through his mind as he sat in the stands watching his team be uncompetitive.
And then there is Daniel Rioli who has a long-term contract in place but was spotted on the Gold Coast catching up with former coach Damien Hardwick recently.
With CEO Brendon Gale announcing on Friday he was out of the joint as well, it’s going to take something special from what has been an extremely special club over the last seven years to keep the ship afloat.
STEWART BLUEPRINT
Tom Stewart has a problem.
Opposition clubs are quickly figuring that he is vulnerable to being put off his game by some old-fashioned niggle and general annoying behaviour.
For too long opposition coaches have said they’d back their system or back in Stewart’s opponent to be dangerous which would hurt the Cats star.
That doesn’t work.
Stewart is too smart and too good. He is the best half-back flanker in the league so you have to come with a proper plan which Ken Hinkley did in the form of Jed McEntee.
Normally the Cats acting captain wouldn’t have even given the kid a second glance but when McEntee began to niggle from the opening bounce and not stop, he soon had Stewart’s attention.
And that was the problem.
McEntee lured a 50m penalty in frustration out of Stewart who was then forced to move to the wing, and even into the middle of the ground, as he tried to get himself into the game.
Fellow defender Jake Kolodjashnij admitted the Cats were slow to react to the Stewart situation.
“We have dealt with it before,” Kolodjashnij said. “Stewie is obviously a stellar player and gets lots of attention but we were maybe a little slow to react to that.
“We spoke about it as a group at half-time and I think structure-wise we really re-set off the back of that.
“He obviously does what he does, he won some crucial contests (in the third quarter) and I think structure wise we were then more influential and had more of an impact.”
SMALL QUESTION
The Giants fresh-faced mosquito fleet has been a feel-good story over the first part of the season.
They proudly claim to have the best small forward brigade and that’s probably fair but the shine went off them when the Bombers turned up the heat.
Finals are won in tight with big contested bodies and this might be something the Giants will look at as they cast an eye forward to September.
Brent Daniels, Toby Bedford, Darcy Jones and Harvey Thomas zip around all over the place but they didn’t cope with the physicality of the Bombers which will give Adam Kingsley something to ponder.
BASIC MATHS
Sometimes a story can be told in the most basic form.
Scoring is the name of the game in the AFL with a simple exercise of calculating how many times teams have kicked over 100 points this season revealing a lot about St Kilda.
By half-way through Rd 9 every team has managed to raise the bat over the 100 mark at least once.
It’s no surprise that the high-flying Swans are on top with five centuries followed by GWS and Port Adelaide on four. Carlton, Geelong, and the Western Bulldogs are next on three.
Those teams stuck on one include the surprising pair of Collingwood and Brisbane and the not so surprising pair of Hawthorn and St Kilda who only made the list thanks to beating cellar dweller North Melbourne.
In fact the Saints only got over the ton courtesy of a Rowan Marshall goal in the final minute of the Round 8 encounter.
Before the boffins get on their high horse, we understand this stat doesn’t take into account conditions, grounds, weather, the draw and who has played who (ie if you’ve played North yet).
But what it does ram home is the fact that Ross Lyon’s team don’t know how to score. On Saturday they played 15th placed Hawthorn who were without their best defender, captain James Sicily, and could only kick seven goals.
They won almost every statistical measurement including having eight more inside 50s but still they found a way not to threaten the scoreboard.
And it’s not like they don’t have a decent target. Max King has long been hailed as a rising superstar but in this system he is finding it tough.
He got two goals against the Hawks and almost pulled down a big pack mark in the dying seconds but his season tally from six games is just nine goals.
While we understand building a defence is a key element of becoming a contender, sometimes the Malcolm Blight theory of “we’re just going to kick more goals than them” needs to get a look-in.
At 3-6 and in 14th position, Lyon needs to channel some Blighty. And quickly.
FRIDAY NIGHT DOUBLE
We understand Mother’s Day hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the AFL in terms of its draw.
That’s why they have gone with Collingwood this year to fill the Victorian slot on a day which is historically a black hole for attendance.
The Pies keep telling us that they have more members than they count so they should be able to get a reasonable crowd to Marvel Stadium to take on the Eagles.
Adelaide taking on Brisbane at the Adelaide Oval in the twilight afternoon spot is another clever move because that allows plenty of time to have a feed with mum before heading off to the footy.
So why did we have Fremantle hosting Sydney on Friday night?
The league moved the Geelong-Port Adelaide clash forward to start at 7.10pm to accommodate the move – the WA game started at 8.30pm – but unfortunately the Dockers ruined the double-header theory.
By the time most tuned in the Swans were seven goals up and the Dockers had managed just one goal for the first half. That is turn-off material and many did.
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