The Tackle: Mark Robinson lists his likes and dislikes from Round 9 action
JOE Daniher’s goalkicking yips have been forgotten, for now, after he bagged another five-goal haul. Check out this week’s best tweets and re-cap Robbo’s live chat.
Mark Robinson
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ESSENDON turned up the pressure at Etihad Stadium and West Coast wilted, helped by a brilliant display from the Bombers’ own version of ZZ Top.
There are questions everywhere for Richmond after another close loss and while Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin and Damien Hardwick have to cop the blame, an umpire on Saturday afternoon should be under just as much heat.
Joel Selwood, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Liberatore and Nathan Buckley also make the list of Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from the weekend — for good and bad reasons.
Read his full wrap of Round 9 below.
AFL DAILY: ALL THE FOOTY NEWS THROUGHOUT THE DAY
BELIEF: FUTURE BRIGHT AT THE BOMBERS
CONTROVERSY: COACHES BACK AXING THE BOUNCE
CHAT WITH ROBBO FROM 11.45AM (EST) ON MONDAY
WHAT I LIKE
1. Pressure
If you didn’t see the Essendon v West Coast game and you want to know why the Bombers won, just study the photograph below. For three quarters before the game petered out, Essendon hunted the Eagles, who, worryingly, surrendered early. The maligned Essendon midfield lifted on the back of fierce desire and quick and precise ball movement. Essendon won the clearances 34-28, contested ball 143-113 and the marking differential was a joke. Asked after the game where the Bombers won it, five-goal hero Joe Daniher went to the source. “It was around the contest,’’ Daniher said.
2. World War Z
Zach and Zaka helped put the Eagles to the sword, with Zach Merrett underlining his standing in the game and David Zaharakis further announcing his return to big-time footy. They patrolled the ground between the arcs and clocked 68 disposals, 16 marks, seven clearances, eight tackles and nine inside-50s between them. They are Essendon’s linkmen and when they are allowed to roam, as they did against the Eagles, the Bombers are lethal with the ball.
3. Nathan Buckley
‘‘I was thinking about driving home 20 minutes into the first quarter,’’ Buckley said. He wasn’t alone and media types were thinking about their opening paragraph to accompany the headline: The Bucks Stops Here. It didn’t eventuate. Buckley has been under all sorts of pressure and to coach his team out of this mess was magnificent. Hopefully it is the turning point in his coaching career. Buckley talks aggressive, risky football, but it didn’t happen until after halftime. Why the players don’t play like that from the start is the question. Safe football, retention football kills the spectacle and, you’d think, kills the instinct in players. Open their minds, move the ball with flair and get it in quick to the forward line and it’s amazing what happens. Exhibit A was Saturday. Kudos to Bucks.
4. Leadership
Buckley can demand it, scream for it and beg for it, but it’s up to the players to respond. Belief is one of those words in football which means more when you haven’t got it than when you have it. The Pies didn’t believe in the first and believed in the second. The leaders believed. Scott Pendlebury is mostly always out of the discussion when it comes to the best captains in the game — he shouldn’t be. Ripper game with 36 disposals, nine tackles and seven clearances.
5. Leadership II
Still reckon it wasn’t his greatest moment when he challenged Pendlebury on the siren against Collingwood three weeks ago but maybe — and it’s been argued — Joel Selwood is the ultimate competitor. There’s numbers everywhere to judge a player but you they can’t be used to value willpower. Selwood knows only one way, and that’s brutal attack, and because of it he is among the most inspiring captains of the generation. Selwood, Hodge, Voss, Hird, Ricciuto, Paul Kelly, Carey, Riewoldt and Judd make up most of that group.
6. Charlie Cameron
Runs like Andrew McLeod. Wears McLeod’s No. 23 jumper and on Saturday night played like McLeod. He will never reach the heights of the 340-game Hall of Famer, but that’s not the point. Watched the third quarter and that was enough. It was reminiscent of Chris Judd’s monster half against Brisbane in 2003. In the quarter, and as recorded by the Crows on twitter, Cameron had “nine disposals, five marks, four goals and one land-speed record’’.
7. Who pays the Perryman?
Leon Cameron should pay him from his own pocket after two remarkable efforts which saved the game for the Giants. In his first game, Harry Perryman had seven disposals and seven tackles, second only to Callan Ward’s eight. More importantly, he had two smothers. In the final minutes he launched himself at Jack Riewoldt to apply the first and then moments later launched himself at Shai Bolton to get a finger on Bolton’s shot at goal. Matchwinning. Inspiring.
8. Dan Hannebery
The ridiculous assertion that Hannebery had to start drinking again to improve his footy stays the joke that it was. He had a slow start and is now back to best. He’s more dangerous this year as well because he seems to be playing more minutes in the forward line, as most midfielders are doing this year. He kicked 13 goals in 26 games last year and has seven from nine games this year, including two goals in the first quarter on Saturday.
9. North Melbourne
It was a bruising, even game, but the Roos were more accomplished, more assured in the final 15 minutes. Goldstein was huge, although Melbourne won the clearances, Cunnington equally so after a knee injury early, but most if all it was names such as Brown Turner, McDonald, Wood, Hrovat and Garner who would make fans smile. It was high stakes and that group played it’s role in the final quarter. That’s three from four for the Kangas and while others don’t see a big future for this group, coach Brad Scott surely does. Big scalp.
WHAT I DON’T LIKE
1. Bad luck or bad management?
Bad luck dogs Richmond, but this was more than that. The players and the coaches box failed Richmond in the final 90 seconds — again. It continues to seriously harm their season. The Tigers have lost their past three games by five, two and three points. If they had won those games, they would be a game clear on top of the ladder. Coulda, woulda, but didn’t. Agree with coach Damien Hardwick that the Tigers are much improved and challenging the best teams, but the past three weeks tells us the coach and the players fail when the game has to be won.
2. So what went wrong?
Richmond allowed Nathan Wilson to play on and gain metres. They knew Wilson would go long down the middle. They knew someone would try to knock it on. So why weren’t there more Tigers at that contest and behind that contest? Why was there five Giants on two Tigers when Jeremy Cameron kicked the winning goal? Why was there three loose Tigers in their forward 50m when Wilson kicked out? What’s frustrating is the score review gave them time to set up — the Giants used that time wisely — and still there were failings. Coaches and leaders were to blame — yet again.
3. And it wasn’t just at the end
The Tigers kicked five behinds in the final quarter, and three of them were close to gimmes. Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin and Jason Castagna all missed set shots. They all helped Richmond lose the game. If Dusty wants a million dollars he has to kick those goals. If Riewoldt is the leader we want him to be, he has to kick those goals. If Castagna wants to cement his spot in the team, he kicks those goals.
4. Bad luck or bad umpiring?
It’s bad umpiring. Not paying a 50m penalty against Jeremy Cameron for creeping — sorry, charging — three metres over the mark to smother Dustin Martin was as poor a decision we’ll see this year. Richmond’s players and coaches are being belted around the ears for what happened, and so too should the umpire. As much as the Tigers lost control of the fundamentals of the game, so did the field umpire who got lost in the drama and allowed Cameron to do what he did. The 50m penalty would have meant a goal to Martin and a win to Richmond. The AFL can’t defend this one. They should admit it was wrong and apologise to the Tigers.
5. Why not tag Selwood and Dangerfield?
The 18-man defence should be a 16-man defence against the Cats. Dangerfield had a blinder against the Dogs with 36 disposals, four goals, 12 tackles and 10 clearances, while Selwood had 29 disposals 11 clearances and eight tackles. Why don’t teams just put a cooler on them and restrict their influence? According to Champion Data, Selwood had Lin Jong (for 19 minutes), Lukas Webb (18), Mitch Wallis (17) and Jack Macrae, and none of them could cut into Selwood’s willpower. Dogs’ coach Luke Beveridge admitted on Saturday he mucked up with Dangerfield early. For the record, Dangerfield had Jong (24 minutes) and Wallis (23) and others for minimal minutes. Surely it’s time to try to clamp these two.
6. It’s happened again
Melbourne beats Adelaide on the road and then fall to North Melbourne at home, which means they haven’t beat the Kangas since 2006. That’s the history. The present hurts way more. Melbourne takes a step forward and a step back. Their form reads WWLLLWLWL, and two of those games were lost by two and three points. There’s so much to like, such as the performances of Hunt, Frost, Oliver, Hannan and Petracca, but on Sunday, in a tight game, Bugg kicked four behinds and Garlett didn’t touch it, and with Hogan missing, the Demons couldn’t quite kick a winning score.
7. Tom Liberatore
He was out of Friday night’s team because he isn’t fit enough. That’s inexcusable. There’s only a few reasons why a player is unfit at this time of the year: 1. He’s not training; 2. He’s not training with attitude when he trains; 3. He’s partying too much. Let’s hope it’s not the third option, which has been a discussion in the past. Beveridge said Libba was not dropped because any off-field indiscretion, so it sounds like footy’s not as important to Libba as it should be.
8. West Coast
We know it’s tough going on the road, but this was deplorable. The Eagles take two steps forward and one step back and yet they still find themselves in the top four. Sunday was bottom-four football. Essendon isn’t exactly Ivan The Terrible when it comes to contested footy, but the Bombers beat up on the Eagles. Once again, the leaders were found wanting. Eagles fan @hambones87 on Twitter said it perfectly. “I’ll give you my dislike now — 9 goals in last 6 quarters for @WestCoastEagles. Should be alarm bells for a top 4 team.’’ Midfield was scorched under the pressure from the Bombers and they had no answers. No run. No leadership. No momentum swings until the game was over in the final quarter.
9. The Saints
Met the gang from Sydney and wilted under the pressure. Coach Alan Richardson said his team butchered the ball and they did, even when the Swans weren’t climbing all over them. The pressure, maybe the significance of the game, and certainly the opposition all combined to sink the Saints. They were clumsy and lacked the talent to threaten victory. And Patty McCartin. It didn’t happen for him again — 11 disposals, three marks, one goal — but let’s hope Richardson gives him another crack it this week.
BEST TWEETS
@jlcsmith23: Dislike. The holding the ball rule. Early rounds it was over umpired. Now the complete opposite. Interpretation changed.
@Bombergrl2000: Likes- Umpire Eleni! A wonderful moment in AFL history!
@chooka_harry: Where’s the free kick/ 50m penalty gone for impeding the player who has just disposed of the ball? Fair bit going on. #bringbacktheonetwo
@ugfat69: Like:Ben Cunnington, the best player on the ground after most people thought he wouldn’t even come back on the field from the injury.
@YannickOda: Dislike: holding the ball rule interpretation change. Like: tight and tough footy. Why tinker with the product?
@SeanPeterBudge: Dislike: the unbelievably dire state/quality/consistency of umpiring. Someone with a platform call them out on it, please.
@Rommas: Dislike- Another pretenders moment supreme from my Eagles in Melbourne. Simmo’ gotta start making some tough decisions on players now
@mambadownunda: Dislike: pitiful StKilda.
@tim_michell: Like - 26 disposals, 6 tackles. 2 goals. What a comeback by Mitch Wallis
@realaffofficial: Likes: @nmfcofficial winning dislikes: @RalphyHeraldSun tweeting up the f bomb after his tigers lost.
@DeanMillson: Like: Marley Williams this year Double Like: The Dees trying to be tough guys and getting shown up exactly where they are at #pretenders
@nicofooty22: Likes: Giants n pies coming back and Dangerfield show. Dislikes: hype around quantity of junk crapola possessions not quality
@bomberdi: Like: Josh Green’s tackle on Sam Mitchell and what a great team effort Bombers 🔴 ⚫
@troy__himself: I reckon @freodockers have to be a like. Quietly moved up to 5th and are under the radar.
@Freaky_bill94: Likes: Scott Pendlebury’s class. Dislikes: west coast’s plethora of passengers - you take your pick
@sean_zimm: Just plain tough by the Roos. Dees put it on them physically, and they stood up. Best win for the year. This Roos team has plenty of upside
@royslions: dislike- constant media commentary on Josh Schache like- there isn’t a clear flag favourite
@RayCapo79 : Like: Connor Blakely. Dislike: Nothing about Connor Blakely #gun #draftsteal #AFLFreoBlues #BunburyBoy
@toolz2112: Dislike: Collingwood inconsistency. How can a team be both so awful and so decent all within one game?
@b0ycee 1h1: Liked Hugh Greenwood’s debut, Eddie’s goal (was no fluke) and Charlie Cameron’s 3rd quarter
@britto2611: like Footy community making noise towards Tassie footy just remember we are heartland we have given more legends per capita
@lilTelfer: Likes: turns out the “CG” is silent in the saying “Eagles can’t play at MCG”
@mfagan18: Like: Brad Scott, made tough decisions, ridiculed, tipped to be bottom 4 but NM have been exceptional Dislikes: spotless stadium surface
@jonesmatt_1: Like: Mitch Duncan. Dislike: Criticism of Tom Mitchell. Im not a fan of his but to criticise him is ridiculous.
@AndrewR94994450: likes. Mick Thomas playing at Sutton s house of music. Took my mind off tigers. Dislikes fans blaming umpires for loss.
@samuelangus32: Like: Essendon’s pace, years of being to slow, now we have tippa, green, orazio and co. So exciting to watch
@stkildamatt: Dislike the roof being open Fans at the ground hate it, People watching on TV hate it and the players hate it. So why do they still open it?
@ljrocca: Like: Michael Hurley defending as good as anyone else in the comp. Dislike: Melb & Saints had a chance to cement themselves as contenders.
@OntheHunterHunt: Like Ross Lyon, never listened to outside noise. Dislikes WCE & Melbourne- pretenders - nothing more, nothing less!
@procs06: joe daniher. since kicking 1.6 against dees he has come out and kicked 13.2 the next 3 weeks
@aperebus: Dislike : the utter tripe served up by @stkildafc on Saturday.
@Christo34017703: dislikes- whether we like it or not eagles can’t travel tag sticks and we have to swallow it!
@billyhyde_: Like - Mitch Duncan 18 tackles. 1 last week v dons
@VWGTI82: Now robbo time give joe daniher a bit of a wrap! He’s been brilliant the last few weeks when everyone criticized him
@thirstyjack9: Full credit to North, they deserved to win and were the best team by a mile in the day, but.......Matt Nicholls umpiring was horrendous
@jessclark_1804: Like: Ben Brown. All the love for Daniher, but Brown’s performing equally as well.
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