The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from Round 22 in AFL

THE TACKLE: END of the road for Hawthorn? Eddie Betts, Adam Treloar, the Demons and injuries also headline Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes.

WITH the home-and-away season down to its penultimate round, we’re supposed to be getting excited for finals.

But instead Round 22 delivered some shocking injuries that not only ruins finals dreams but also impacts next season as Nic Naitanui and Jonathon Ceglar go down with serious knee injuries within minutes of each other.

Herald Sun Chief Football Writer Mark Robinson analyses Round 22 as he acknowledges some standout individual performances and achievements — led by Eddie Betts — but addresses the disappointment across both team and individual.

LIKES

1. Patrick Cripps. Was described recently by an opposition player as a “lingerer’’. It was taken as criticism in that when the contest is gone, Cripps’s lack of pace means he can’t keep up. It was a strange comment as Cripps’s expertise is at the contest. He obliterated the Demons midfield in the first quarter on Sunday and eventually finished with 30 disposals, 13 tackles and 12 clearances. With that output, will take a lingerer any day of the week.

Eddie Betts is chaired off after his 250th game. Picture: Sarah Reed

2. Eddie Betts. It’s not necessarily a weekend to declare the best of the bests, but if anyone wanted to pose the question — Is Eddie the best small forward of all-time? — I’m not going to argue against it. Five goals in his 250th game meant he a new career-high goals scored in a season. In his three years at Adelaide, he has kicked 51, 63 and now 65 goals and his career tally is 369 goals from 250 games. And to think a woman thought it acceptable to throw a banana at him on a night of celebration and recognition.

3. Andrew Gaff. Questions have been asked about what has helped turn the Eagles around and Andrew Gaff’s move from the wing into a more prominent inside midfield role can’t be ignored. Matthew Priddis said after Friday night’s win that eradicating “surging’’ the ball forward for better ball use around the stoppages, which effectively is sharing the ball before running with it, has been a key. Thus, Gaff’s work in the centre square has been crucial. Over the past four weeks Gaff has attended 13 centre bounces per game. Between Rounds 1-18, he attended six centre bounces per game. In beating GWS and Hawthorn, he’s returned 29 disposals and a career-high 38 disposals respectively. Tick to Adam Simpson for making the move.

Adam Treloar has starred in his first season with Collingwood. Picture: Michael Klein

4. Adam Treloar. We still have recruit of the year? If we did this bloke would come second behind Patrick Dangerfield. That’s no shame. Still believe the Pies paid overs — two first-round picks — but Treloar has expectations. Career-high 38 on Saturday night underscored a season where Champion Data has rated him elite for ranking points, disposals, uncontested possessions, tackles and above average for contested possessions, metres gained, clearances, goals and score involvements. The Copeland Trophy will a shootout between himself and Scott Pendlebury.

Ollie Wines 16 cont poss, 6 tackles, 560 meters gained, 10 clearances, 7 inside 50's. Despite result was BOG by a mile. #ShowdownMedal

— Kane Cornes (@kanecornes) August 20, 2016

5. Candid Bucks. We all thought it, but it’s official when the coach says it: If the Pies don’t play finals in 2017, the coach is a goner. Still, it was a hell of an admission from Buckley. In some ways it might’ve been best to put it on the table. The scrutiny on him and Collingwood was always going to be intense next season, but from this moment onward, no one needs to walk on egg shells. Maybe the urgency of the situation can drag consistency from the group. As for President Ed, to say Buckley’s comments were not a story — which he said on Friday night — was yet another example of when the president’s hat was on and the journalist’s hat was off.

6. Strong debate. Kane Cornes doesn’t hold back with his opinion and was true to form on Saturday night. “Ollie Wines 16 cont poss (sic), 6 tackles, 560 metre gained, 10 clearances, 7 inside 50’s. Despite result was BOG by a mile,’’ he tweeted, much to the anger of Crows fans. Adelaide’s Matt Crouch won the medal with 33 disposals, 11 contested possessions, five clearances and nine score involvements. So, who was best? This time with Cornes.

Brent Harvey was outstanding against the Swans. Picture: Getty

7. Happy Boomer. Didn’t like the undisciplined hit on Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell last weekend and still staggered he only received a fine from the MRP. Also stand by the belief grumpy old footballers don’t help their futures when they lash out. But there is a chunk of egg on the face after watching Boomer play the ball — and not the man — and do it in a game North Melbourne should’ve won. He had 32 and kicked three which is truly staggering for a 38-year-old. Also staggering is that North’s won most key areas — contested footy, clearances, inside 50s — but inaccuracy coughed up the game.

8. Good Stevey. Motlop that is. He can be infuriating at times and then can be one of the most dynamic players in the competition. On Sunday against the Lions he was the latter when he supplied his perfect game: 23 disposals, five goals. It’s too much to say he’s the key to the Cats, for Dangerfield and Selwood carry that handle, but it’s safe to say that if Motlop doesn’t produce in September, Geelong’s chances for a flag are reduced drastically.

Aliir Aliir (left) and Majak Daw (right) shake hands after Sydney beat North Melbourne in Hobart. Picture: Getty

9. Photographs. Another terrific shot was on offer after the North Melbourne v Sydney match of Aliir Aliir and Majak Daw. The two African-born footballers spent periods of the game opposed to each other and while Daw gave Aliir some problems, the Swans defender’s contribution once again was significant. Commentators keep putting up names for story of the year — McDonald-Tipungwuti, Menzel, etc — but Aliir’s journey takes beating.

DISLIKES

1. Melbourne. Don’t barrack for the Demons, but feel so disappointed. Won three in a row before Sunday, heightening finals talk, and then dished up a raggedy first quarter and couldn’t get it together after that. So much has been said about their midfield, yet on Sunday they succumbed to the might of Cripps and Bryce Gibbs. Beaten badly in contested ball early was also an indication the minds weren’t prepared for the battle. Funnily enough, perhaps it’s a sign of where Melbourne has progressed that there is so much disappointment. Twelve months ago, win or lose, the neutrals wouldn’t have give two hoots.

2. Nic Nat’s knee. There’s two pains here. 1) West Coast has reignited its season with two wins over GWS and Hawthorn and now probably can’t win it without Nic Nat. And 2) one of biggest attractions in the game won’t be seen for 12 months. That hurts the most. The 2016 season has been a career killer for Nic Nat. An Achilles injury and now a knee means, at 26 years of age, his career has a hit a wall when it appeared it was about to take flight. It will be two seasons wasted and that hurts everyone.

Nic Naitanui heads off Subiaco oval on crutches after tearing his ACL. Picture: Daniel Wilkins

3. Jon Ceglar’s knee. A quintessential Clarkson soldier who has been unlucky at the pointy end of seasons, Ceglar’s loss will hurt an already hurting Hawthorn. Ceglar’s final games in Hawthorn’s premiership seasons are 2013: Rd 19. 2014: Preliminary final. 2015: Rd 19. And this year in Round 22. His loss isn’t as big a news as the loss of Nic Nat, but the impact on structures is equally as huge. The difference is the Hawks can still win it without Ceglar.

4. OK, what about those Hawks? Beaten up badly, couldn’t take a mark forward of centre and finally someone put a shutdown on Sam Mitchell (Mark Hutchings). Major concern is the talls in the forward 50m who were not competitive. It affected everything. The Hawks game is scoring from forward-half turnovers and they are ranked No.1 in the competition. Against the Eagles, they only scored 14 points from forward-half turnovers and in four of their five losses this year, they have scored under 23 points from this source. Hard to pressure when the ball is being marked by opposition defenders.

A disappointed Luke Hodge after Hawthorn’s loss to West Coast. Picture: Daniel Wilkins

5. Lost Saturday. That the Saint-Tigers clash was close on the scoreboard would suggest this game was a nailbiter. It was anything but. Yes, the seasons are dead for both teams and experimentation is happening, but this was mind-numbing with its errors and lack of polish. The third quarter yielded just 1.6 from both teams. An appealing aspect was this game would eventually end and the Giants-Dockers would start, but that wasn’t a contest as much as the Saints-Tigers wasn’t a spectacle. Anyway, thank goodness for the Showdown.

6. Paddy McCartin. Another wasted season of sorts with concussions, games in the VFL and on Saturday a broken collarbone to ice the year. It was a pity because Paddy had kicked two goals on Alex Rance and a breakout game was looming, something which McCartin is yet to put on the board. The positive is the Saints next year will have a key forward starting (McCartin) and a key defender make his Saints debut (Carlisle) and they will be two important additions to the team.

Paddy McCartin broke his collarbone in the opening quarter of St Kilda’s win over Richmond. Picture: Colleen Petch

7. Ross Lyon. Hard line coach Denis Pagan used to say there was no need to talk yourself up, because if you’re good enough others would do it for you. Fremantle coach Ross Lyon needs to heed Pagan’s advice. Lyon’s latest offering that “there’s players on this list who describe me as a father figure’’ was not needed. Neither was the reference to Pav’s book. Neither are the references to his coaching record. Rossy, you can coach, don’t worry about what the grenade-throwers are saying.

8. Anderson and Toumpas. Strong belief Port Adelaide and North Melbourne could ignite the careers of Jimmy Toumpas and Jed Anderson after securing them in trades, but as the season closes, it hasn’t played out that way. Toumpas has played eight games and needs to find more urgency to continue his senior career, while Anderson’s season hurts even more. North gave pick No.15 to Hawthorn for him and his eight games this season have a returned an average of 11 disposals. Both were poor at the weekend and although both clubs will persevere, improvement is a necessity in 2017.

9. Home finals not at home. Let’s cheer, cheer for the red and the white, for they looked to have secured a home final. That it has been determined it will be played at Olympic Stadium and not the SCG is an indictment on the integrity of the finals series. The AFL should hang in their heads for this deplorable decision-making.

BEST TWEETS

@LeftRightBack: dislike: ACL injuries. 2 in 5 minutes on Friday night. I feel robbed. Can’t imagine how Nic Nat & Ceglar feel.

@valkorumq: Like: Lachie Neale about to break the world record for disposals in a season.

@chookie94: dislike:Paddy McCartin getting injured again when he looked dominate like: it wasnt his head

@thepackagewowee: stokes all class letting Cooney lap it up

@JustinBeck33: Brent Harvey BOG and carried his team yet again. The Question isn’t retirement, should be, when does he get some help?

@micklocke1980: def patty cripps. Best carlton player they have drafted since its inception.

@siobhan_roe: Got to have Robbie Tarrant keeping Buddy goalless in the likes. Underrated star- keeps North’s backline in tact

@LekBlog: dislike that Port fans behaviour. like Eddie Betts standing up during his milestone

@JMcCauleyHall: like Shane Yarran from Freo, checkered past, injury interrupted season, gets AFL games and makes this mark

@GrannySmith81: dislikes: crowd stupidity. likes: Kochie’s swift response. Other presidents could learn a thing or 2!

@smiffys4: dislike the actions of one person thinking it’s okay to be racist & bring shame on an entire club & supporters

@MelbDave: Gibbs. With his mate Cripps, ruining the stoppages for the Dees particularly in the 1st half.

@nattas18: Dislike: Melbourne have finals on the line and didn’t turn up to play Like: Patty Cripps

@MelPalling: L: @Adamcooney17 thanking the Bulldogs faithful after his final game #AlwaysaBulldog D: not having Pickers chair him off

@PaddySDennis: dislike @7AFL trying to broadcast a medical examination and then complaining when hawks rightly blocked it

@Lozzemarine: DL Tigers not taking time to thank fans after last home game. U/stand disappointment, but normally so good with that stuff.

@danana87: like: Geelong’s respect/acknowledgement during Merrett’s last home game. Without respect the game is nothing.

@WB34: like Jono Patten kicking 6. Been a long recovery for the big man. Dislike - NicNats Knee and Feral Port Fan

@K_M_Q: like Josh Smith’s season at the Pies, dislike Collingwood members not turning up to support

@TheMightyTigers: like: Daniel Rioli’s game dislike: Nic Nat out for 12 months.

@juddy09: dislike how regularly geelong sydney hawks crows and west coast have dominated last 10 yrs. Equalisation works?

@PaulZauch: like = @wines16 time to make him skipper. really like = swift, strong response from @kochie_online & my club

@_benlevin_: Like: Dylan Buckley.

@handers81:Like the Showdown -a great event 4 the AFL again. Dislike that the Eddie Betts media isn’t about how he won it.

@PatchToTheMax: dislike: the disappearence of holding the ball. Like: Zach Merrett

@DaniG88: dislike: P Roos coaching, left blues spare man down back unattended all game. Terrible coaching. Man him up.