Todd Goldstein and Majak Daw are two riddles North Melbourne needs to solve
TWO questions about the Kangaroos intrigue everyone: Why has Todd Goldstein fallen so far and when will Majak Daw seize the day? MARK ROBINSON ponders the answers.
Mark Robinson
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TWO questions about the Kangaroos intrigue everyone.
When will Majak Daw put the “project player” tag behind him and become a fully aware and consistent AFL player? And why has Todd Goldstein’s career stalled to the ridiculous point of him playing for Werribee against Box Hill at Box Hill City Oval tomorrow?
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Goldstein first.
On Thursday night Nick Dal Santo described his former teammate’s situation as “very sad”.
Dal Santo wasn’t talking about the fact Goldstein, 29, had been dropped from the senior team, and proffered a guess about Goldstein’s mindset after being told the news.
No, Dal Santo was talking about an issue that is sort of known but not really spoken about.
It has affected Goldstein to the point where he is a player without confidence and energy, two traits he had in abundance when he was named ruck in the 2015 All Australian team, won the Syd Barker Medal at the Kangas and was clearly the best ruckman in the competition.
It was during that season that father-of-three Goldstein had relationship problems that continue to be drawn out and seemingly have worn him down.
Coach Brad Scott has been mighty in his support of his ruckman. He’s supported him privately, backed him publicly and selected him when Goldstein probably should have been dropped.
It changed on Thursday night when Scott made the decision to axe him. It would have been difficult, but probably a mixture of frustration, the long-held truth that a player has to earn a game and maybe a belief Goldy needed a release from the pressure of expectation helped shaped Scott’s decision.
It was going to happen eventually.
On June 3 against Richmond, the usually composed Goldstein committed the clanger of the year. In one play, the ball ran through his legs, he got it back via a looping handball from Ben Brown and, from 20m out, his kick for goal went out on the full.
On June 15, Scott said Goldstein was North Melbourne’s first-choice ruckman, despite his poor form.
On July 9, with 30 seconds to play against Fremantle, Goldstein missed a sitter that almost certainly would have won North the match.
On July 15, after Goldstein's worst game of the season against Port Adelaide, Scott put heat on him and Daw for their performances.
“I don’t think that they would be enthused about how they went,” Scott said.
“I thought ‘Maj’ competed OK. He got his hands to the ball a bit and ‘Goldy’, I thought he tried hard but he was pretty ineffective today.
“We’re going to have to continue to look at it, or find a better mix in there.”
Scott added: “Goldy is an A-grade player. He is just not playing at the level he or we expect from him. That’s my job to coach him and get him back into form.”
On Thursday night, Goldstein was dumped, not for the impressive but injured ruckman Braydon Preuss (back), but for a first-gamer, 19-year-old Nick Larkey, the No.73 pick in the 2016 national draft. How the mighty have fallen.
Goldstein is a hugely popular figure at Arden St and everyone feels for him and his situation.
Opposition players haven’t missed him, by the way. They sledge him on the field, which is apparently part and parcel in today’s footy, and Goldstein hasn’t bitten back.
Some at North Melbourne believe the big fella should get aggressive with the mouthy types, but that’s not Goldstein’s go.
He’s a beautiful tap ruckmen and at his best is a strong clearance player and a tremendous mark around the ground.
The lack of aggression, loss of confidence, and all the other stuff that finally has caught up with him combined to drag him down as a player. In the end, the coach had little choice.
In his past seven matches, Goldstein took only 11 marks. In three of those he didn’t take a mark.
In 15 matches this year, he’s taken 38 marks. In his All-Australian season he took 100 marks in 24 games.
Colleague Jon Ralph recently suggested the Kangas should trade Goldstein, an idea floated at the end of last year in mysterious circumstances.
It’s been suggested someone who knows Goldstein closely put up the trade rumour on social media, and it was identified quickly and quashed by Goldstein’s management and the club.
For now, Goldstein is an A grade player playing D grade footy, and once his off-field dramas can be sorted and the confidence returns, so will he — fingers crossed.
His axing gives Daw the opportunity to find himself as a footballer. Daw is not a forward because you must be more than a run-and-jump-at-the-ball player and, let’s be frank, his ground-ball awareness and defensive side remain works in progress — and maybe always will.
His best position is ruck and today against Essendon he will go up against the in-form Tom Bellchambers.
Daw is 26 and was taken at No.9 in the 2009 rookie draft. He made his debut in 2013 and because of form, ability and injuries, hasn’t played more than nine games in any of the past five seasons.
As North Melbourne embarks on its redevelopment phase, Daw needs to prove he’s not a development player, but a developed player.
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