Richmond, West Coast, St Kilda, Essendon among Mark Robinson’s Round 7 likes and dislikes

ROUND 7 is all about trust. Richmond, West Coast and Jack Macrae have it. Fremantle, Essendon, St Kilda and the goal review don’t as MARK ROBINSON reviews the round and names his likes and dislikes.

Tim Kelly charges through two Giants. Picture: Michael Klein

ROUND 7 is all about trust.

Richmond, West Coast and Jack Macrae have it. Essendon, St Kilda and the goal review don’t.

CONTROVERSY: SWANS WEREN’T ROBBED BY REVIEW: AFL

FORM: BOMBERS WON’T RULE OUT DROPPING JOE

Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson reviews the weekend’s action.

What did you like? Have your say in the comments below.

WHAT DO I LIKE

1. Trust Richmond and West Coast

Sit one and two on the ladder with six wins and a loss from seven games and while the Tigers once again showed they are capable of demolishing teams in the second halves of games, as they did against Fremantle, it is the Eagles who have grabbed this season. Defensively strong - they have given up one 100-plus score this season - and are averaging 102 points scoring and put Port Adelaide to the sword. Set up to be a top-four finisher.

2. Trust growing with Melbourne

Huge wins against Essendon and St Kilda in past two weeks and before that they were shameful in defeat against Hawthorn and failed in the final quarter against Richmond. Numbers suggest they are on right trajectory, but they have to find consistency. Saints and Bombers aren’t much chop, so not yet convinced about their legitimacy. Trust is huge in Max Gawn and Jesse Hogan, although flopping for free kicks isn’t ideal.

Mason Wood celebrates his match-winning goal against Sydney.

3. Trying to trust Mason Wood

He’s confident. He’s talented. He had potential. And Wood thought he could breeze through his early AFL career. It’s why the coach and the playing leaders this season made him work for a spot. Played four VFL games, his last against Coburg, where he kicked six goals. He got his chance because Jarrad Waite was rested and the confidence, the talent and the potential was there for all to see. His match-winning goal with three minutes to play came after he decided to take on the game and Sydney’s defenders. Good players do that, they yearn for the moment and Wood nailed it. His challenge is to keep working because if he doesn’t, Brad Scott will have no hesitation in sending him back to the VFL.

LLOYD: WILL TIGERS STILL BE ROARING IN SEPTEMBER?

REPORT: CURSE CONDEMNS SAINTS TO DEE DEFEAT

4. Trust Jack Darling

Won’t guess what the All-Australian forward six will be after just seven rounds, but Jack Darling will be one of them. Having a career-best season with career-highs for disposals, marks, contested marks, marks inside-50, goals and score involvements per game. He has taken 19 contested marks, which is equal No.1 in the competition alongside teammate Jeremy McGovern. It is five more than anyone else. By the way, other players in the AA forward line are Hawthorn’s Luke Breust, North Melbourne’s Ben Brown and arguably Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt.

Jack Macrae collected 40 disposals against Gold Coast. Picture: Michael Klein

5. Trust Jack Macrae

Dangerfield can’t win the Brownlow, Dusty has hit a lean-ish patch, Nat Fyfe and Max Gawn are in the mix and so is Macrae, who is the most consistent midfielder in the competition. He’s a star and arguably the only Bulldog who has noticeably improved since the 2016 premiership. Once again he was best afield, this time with 40 disposals, 25 contested possessions, 22 ground ball gets, 12 clearances and 10 score involvements. He was the central figure in the Bulldogs’ clearance domination against Gold Coast. They won the clearances by 21 and got the return, generating 50 points from clearances as opposed to the Suns’ 11.

6. Trust Tim Kelly

To watch him weave and go lateral, watch his balance and his late release of the ball when he kicks is a reminder of Jimmy Krakouer. He’s heavier and a touch slower than Krakouer, but he has magic, especially in traffic and getting out of it. Similar to Krakouer - a star at North Melbourne in the 1980s - things happen when Kelly has the footy. In his first seven games he is rated elite for goals and score assists, and above average for pressure. Kelly was probably Geelong’s best midfielder against the Giants behind Mitch Duncan.

7. Starting to trust Geelong

The Cats have changed their method, or at least improved their method, from the start of the season. The numbers tell us that for the first three weeks they lived in their back half, which is not sustainable. That has changed in the past four weeks and on Friday night Geelong dominated territory, albeit against a team which was embarrassed by its own effort. Geelong was +18 for inside-50s, +8:35mins in forward half, created 33 forward turnovers and scored 36 points from these turnovers. Their winning margin should have been larger after such a comprehensive four-quarter performance.

Mitch McGovern kicked five goals against Carlton.

8. Ah McGoverns, you’ve done it again

Yep, trust the McGoverns. Here’s a quick poll. Who are the best set of brothers in the competition? The McGoverns. The Selwoods. The Crouches. Or the Jones brothers? The answer is the McGoverns. Jeremy is thinking about $1 million a year over six years and is second on the defensive throne behind Richmond’s Alex Rance. The other brother, Mitch, booted five goals against Carlton on Saturday night and with Charlie Curnow, has the best young hands in the AFL.

9. Trusting Hawthorn

The Hawks are 5-2 and although they might not have the talent of other top-end teams, their game-style under coach Alastair Clarkson makes them a difficult team to play against. Dominated the Bombers although the scoreboard didn’t reflect that dominance. They play the forward-half game better than most sides. What that means is they pressure hard in their forward half. They are ranked No.2 for turnovers created in the forward half and No.1 for points generated from these turnovers. If the footy does escape their forward half they have James Sicily at the back. Sicily gets attention for being a hot-head and not nearly enough for his football ability, but the kid will be star.

10. Trust Collingwood

Cracking game at the Gabba and that’s four wins from their past five matches. Ball movement continues to impress, although in one of the better games of the weekend, the Lions were equally impressive. Trust grows with the talented Jordan de Goey (five goals) and Josh Thomas (three goals) and those two will make it difficult for Alex Fasolo to get back into the forward 50m. By the way, trust was always in Dayne Zorko. Like Nat Fyfe at the G, he was best afield in a losing team.

Darcy Moore jumps over Daniel Rich and Matt Eagles.

WHAT I DON’T LIKE

1. No one trusts St Kilda or its goal kicking

This is not a disease, this is an epidemic. Once again the Saints gave up all chances of a competitive effort by missing goals. It is the sixth time in seven first halves this year, they have kicked more behinds than goals. It reads 7.3, 2.6, 3.7, 3.7, 5.8, 3.6 and 3.8. They are not getting reward for effort which in football can be death by a thousand miss-kicks. It ended up being another comprehensive beating and until the players can conquer the demons inside their heads, which grow uglier with each miss, they won’t beat a team.

2. Lost trust in Jack Billings

Coach Alan Richardson, all coaches in fact, need integrity at selection and the time has come for Richardson to send Billings back to the VFL. Billings’ output doesn’t deserve the honour of wearing the Saints jumper in terms of commitment and intent and most importantly form. Has had 26, 23, 17, 23, 20, 15 and 19 disposals across the seven matches and has kicked 4.11. It’s been asked what has happened to Joe Daniher this year, but equally, what has happened to Jack Billings?

3. Can we really trust Sydney?

Crazy output in its past two matches in terms of scoring. Without Lance Franklin and Sam Reid the Swans have been scrounging. Kicked nine goals on Saturday night. The week before they kicked seven goals in the final quarter against Geelong after kicking one goal in quarters two and three of that game. Take out the seven goals and they have kicked 11 goals in six quarters, which isn’t exactly barnstorming footy. Will play finals, but at 4-3 and playing the Hawks this week at the MCG am not sure the Swans mentally intimidate the opposition as they once did.

Dyson Heppell leads Essendon off after losing to Hawthorn.

4. No one trusts Essendon

Coach John Worsfold told 3AW he has external people reviewing, among other things, the game plan and that he was satisfied that what his team is dishing up is similar to what 80 per cent of teams are dishing up. If that is so, there must be plenty of bad teams out there. Every team can’t be the same, and that’s what makes our game interesting, although there are parts of the modern game that can’t be ignored by any team - that’s playing the game mainly in your forward half. Essendon plays a back-half transition game which is too easily defended against. The pressure is mounting on Worsfold and the coaching department to fix it and the players to adopt it.

5. You know why no one trusts Essendon?

Because it can’t kick scores and can’t stop scores. The Bombers generated just 39 inside-50s against Hawthorn, the equal fewest by any side this season. They created just 15 forward half turnovers (AFL average is 24) which means the pressure is not there and only Brisbane has created fewer forward half turnovers. The tackle count from Joe Daniher, Jake Stringer and James Stewart was one, which means Worsfold might have to consider pressure over talent in his forward half when he next selects his team.

6. Don’t trust Jon Patton

No one has missed Daniher this year with their criticism - colleague Matthew Lloyd said he should be dropped this week - and if there was more interest in the Giants, Patton would be feeling the heat. He has had two serious knee injuries, but he has also played damn good footy after those injuries. Coach Leon Cameron didn’t ignore his player in the post-match, saying Patton had to improve his forward craft. Is being played ruck/forward and is labouring. Against the Cats, Patton played 59 per cent of game-time in the ruck and had just two hitouts-to-advantage.

The Giants were smashed by Geelong.

7. Absolutely don’t trust the Giants

We try not to use excuses, but the Giants have been demolished by injury to a large group of their match-winners. Still, effort doesn’t require talent. They didn’t run, they couldn’t kick or move the ball. Of all the damning stats this weekend, the fact the Giants generated an inside-50 from just four of 49 chains starting in the defensive 50 is the most stunning. Their past three weeks have produced a draw against St Kilda, a slog win against Brisbane and a shellacking from Geelong. Wayne Carey said they couldn’t win the flag and if things don’t change, Carey might soon argue they won’t play finals.

8. Don’t trust Fremantle

There’s another stunning stat from the weekend to rival the Giants’ miserly four defensive chains and that was four tackles by the Dockers in the first quarter at the MCG. Repeat: FOUR tackles from 18 players on the ground. That is the fewest recorded in a quarter under Ross Lyon at Fremantle and the final score of 4.9 (33) was the lowest recorded under him at Fremantle. Seems we were seduced by the three wins at home - against Essendon, Gold Coast and the Bulldogs - and the effort against West Coast last week, because outside of the second quarter, it was horrible Dockers.

9. Are we still trusting Port Adelaide?

Umm, no. Travels to Melbourne under a cloak of despair and dispatches North Melbourne then travels to West Coast and doesn’t give a yelp. Wondered last week in The Tackle if Port plays too much on emotion and haven’t changed my mind. Have lost three of its past four matches - to Essendon, Geelong and West Coast - and rethinking the pre-season belief it will be a top-four team. The Showdown this week will answer a lot of questions.

10. No one trusts the score review

It’s either conclusive, inconclusive, bad camera angles, bent fingers, reviews initiated when the ball is back in the centre of the ground ... it’s not what I thought the score review was going to be when it was implemented. The field umpire should be the only umpire to call kicks touched or not touched off the boot.

BEST TWEETS

@LionelRitchie18: Getting in early @Robbo_heraldsun like jack macrae, stood up without the Bont and wood in this week. Extremely underrated. His September 2016 he went 24,39,25 and 33 after coming back from a very bad hammy

@marniecohen: Shaun Higgins return to footy as inspirational as any other. he is BOG less than 2 weeks after being knocked out cold on Etihad turf. Sensational performance by himself and the rest of the Roos..

@_Figgkidd_: Willie Rioli living up to the high standards set by his kin

@PeteWest_: Like: Sicily. Dislike: De Goey missing first set shot for me first goal bet and goes on to kick 5. Bloke owes me $100

@stickers_bown: Like Ben Jacobs what a star!! Opposition coaches will have to start tagging the tagger. Absolutely going to town on the games best mids

@Cpushup: Like: The cats keep getting it done with 9 walk up starters out. Dislike: The media giving them zero credit for it. If any other team had 9 of it’s best 22 out, I would dare say they wouldn’t be in 4 & 3.

@Jarrodkurpiel: I trust Jackson Macrae cause you know what you’re gonna get and that’s effort, was instrumental yesterday.

@hurkymark: like the Kangaroos - most wrote them off as irrelevant with a coach who should have walked away, instead they are very competitive with a wonderful defensive record. lots of ups and downs to come, but as long as effort is there fans along for the ride

@scottdarlow: Likes -mark Blicavs - won a B&F as a ruckman, flogged Kennedy as a tagger in the prelim, is an accomplished wingman and now a gun key defender. Had there ever been a more versatile player?

@JakeDunne12: Like: Jimmy Webster running back with the flight to spoil. Dislike: I need more characters to highlight my dislikes for St. Kilda

@sean_walshy: Like - Cam Rayner in the guts with game on the line, steps up with clearance. Dislike - Essendon doing exact same thing 3 weeks in a row

@Lazlow: Like: Willie Rioli, Jack Petruccelle, future looks bright at West Coast.Dislike: Blokes launching themselves into players knees out. Haynes and JJ Kennedy copped it, Casboult sent to hospital and out for a month.

@tromper99: Like- Fyfe just about back to number 1 player in comp. unlucky for for freo they need another 5 of him. Almost unstoppable Dislike- Essendon have gradually sucked all enjoyment out of the game with poor form, poor finals showings, poor management and scandals.

@GinoSaracino: L: Weitering 17 marks. D: Weitering 17 marks in the vfl

@simonsbargains: Starting to trust Melbourne. Getting the job done when they should, but still long way to go before total trust.

@rideitoff: Like. Brisbane they are better than Stk Ess and Carl. Dislike score review. It just stinks

@BruceMundell: Be very interested to see if Longmire puts Kizza Jack in the NEAFL this week. 0.3 including 2 sitters & looks slow. Reminds me of R. O’Keefe.

@easymmmkay: Like - The Tigers. Back to back getting more & more likely with each round passing. Dislike- The pain. When will the pain subside being a Carlton supporter?? When will things start turning?? I need a win

@chingoez: do you think Monday 360 warrants three questions to Richo? 1. Are your skills in bottom 3 of league? 2. Are you not fit enough with second half annihilations? 3. Did you overestimate quality of list? Saints fans want Leon Cameron like honesty

@Adamcooney17: Lebron

@pagedowner: Like - Angus Brayshaw. Quietly going about it, but showing the class fitting for a #2 pick after awful head knocks.

@carnthenmfc: likes: sam wright, mason wood, and shaun higgins playing well for @NMFCOfficial. dislikes: bad sportsmanship in the crowd and grant thomas bagging out former coaches

@SPiercePatrick: Jack Billings. Consecutive insipid efforts from a lad with a heap of talent is sad to see. Back to the 2nds he must go...

@madsainter: Hard questions need to be asked of Tony Elshaugh and Alan Richardson, disastrous future

@ganim_chris: can you pls ask Chris Scott if he realises Geelong have NEVER lost under him when they keep the opposition to under 80 points??

LIVE stream every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Get your free 2-week Foxtel Now trial & start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW