The Tackle: Heath Shaw, Collingwood and Christian Petracca among the highlights from Round 9

COLLINGWOOD’s midfield obliteration, Cotchin answers his critics and Bulldogs under the blowtorch. See all Mark Robinons’s highlights and lowlights from Round 9. REPLAY LIVE CHAT.

Heath Shaw chases Jed Adcock at Spotless Stadium.

THE highlights and lowlights from Round 9.

Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson reviews the weekend’s action and gives his likes and dislikes.

REPLAY ROBBO’S LIVE CHAT BELOW

1. HEATH SHAW

Game plans, they say, don’t allow it, but there must come a day when Heath Shaw has a defensive forward applied to him. Enormous Sunday in a physical game between the Giants and Bulldogs. Shaw enhanced his standing as the best defender in the comp. You can have Alex Rance, Josh Gibson, Harry Taylor and Daniel Talia, but reckon Shaw has them beat. Best run-off defender and is terrific one-on-one and he killed countless Bulldogs plays forward.

Think it might be time for a new right boot @pumafootball #wornout #switchkick #switchback pic.twitter.com/ciScTTPGDe

— Heath Shaw (@heathshaw23) May 22, 2016

2. PETRACCA & STRETCH

Coming of age for these two young Demons. Christian Petracca gets all the glory because of his high profile and he’s playing to it. Exciting, raw, bull at gate, he is dangerous player across half-forward. Yet it is young Billy Stretch who has put together two good games. Last week it was a career-high 25 touches and Sunday against the Lions, he beat that with 31. He’s clean with the ball (he went at 90 per cent efficiency) and doesn’t panic with the ball, either. Among the Demons’ best were Hogan, Stretch, Harmes, Oliver and Petracca — all under 22 years of age.

3. COLLINGWOOD MIDFIELD

We can ask where were Geelong’s heralded midfielders and perhaps Chris Scott asked the same question at the first break. Not so Nathan Buckley. It was 7.5 to 0.3 on the back of a midfield obliteration. The quartet of Scott Pendlebury, Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom and Jack Crisp combined for 44 disposals — 31 of them uncontested so where was the Cats’ pressure — six clearances, 11 tackles and 14 score involvements. Whoever had Crisp in that first quarter (13 touches) won’t like the review and he would go on and finish with a game-high eight inside-50s. The offence was clearly working, yet it was Collingwood’s defence that Buckley would be pleased about. The Pies smothered Geelong at ground level which meant Patrick Dangerfield, Steven Motlop, Cam Guthrie and Joel Selwood did not play breakaway football.

4. TRENT COTCHIN

Hats off to the Richmond skipper. Belted for his captaincy earlier in the season, Cotchin has responded sensationally. Played with a repairing broken cheekbone, he was enormous in the conditions and it is a cliche, but he led from the front. He had a game-high 38 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 10 clearances, seven score involvements, seven tackles and gained a team-high 571m. It’s the best way to answer the critics.

Geelong captain Joel Selwood locking horns with Collingwood midfielder Levi Greenwood. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

5. RUN-WITHS (I)

Levi Greenwood on Joel Selwood. He’s taken time this season, but Greenwood has emerged as a key player in the midfield. Harassed Selwood to the point in the third quarter where, for a period, Selwood was more caught up with Greenwood than the game. Eighteen touches, six tackles, six clearances and seven inside-50s are reasonable numbers, but Greenwood would be pleased with his job. That’s twice in two years, Greenwood has got Selwood. In Round 22 last year, he helped keep him to 14 disposals.

6. RUN-WITHS (II)

Tom Mitchell on Sam Mitchell. Finally, a coach did something to curb Mitchell’s influence. Remember when Tom was thought to be lacking the necessary defensive part of his game and he was in the Swans’ reserves? From then to now and shutting out one of the most damaging midfielders in the game. Sam had 15 disposals, the fewest since Ryan Crowley cramped him in the 2013 Grand Final. Tom had 21 while sacrificing his normal instinct to hunt the ball.

7. DAN HANNEBERY

Got a spare $50? Could do worse than put it on the Swans midfielder for the Brownlow Medal. Best afield on Friday night and racked up two huge numbers. He finished with 11 clearances, the second-most of his career, and his 19 contested possessions were an equal career-high. Since Round 2, he’s returned 29, 31, 38, 28, 33, 31, 34 and on Friday night it was 33. Reckon he’s the best inside-outside midfielder in the competition.

8. CHARLIE CAMERON

Much is said about the potency of Adelaide’s forward group and it was pleasing to see Tex Walker back in the fold with five goals. Yet, the one player that is often left out of the discussion is Cameron. Plays high forward and has become a fierce contested ball winner in the vein of Cyril Rioli. Had just 12 disposals, 10 of them contested, and a game-high eight touches for an astonishing 114 ranking points. Like Cyril, it’s quality not quantity.

9. TALKING OF CONTESTED BALL

Matt Priddis had 27 possessions, 26 of which were rated as contested or hardball gets. That’s a phenomenal attitude in a game where, if the Eagles lost, the flat-track bully tag would hang savagely over their heads. Josh Kennedy kicked seven, Scott Lycett laid 11 tackles, but Priddis led the way against a Port Adelaide team that lived up to its mantra of never giving up.

10. GOOD UMPIRING

The deliberate behind made headlines, but there’s no real controversy about it. The memo went out to teams and umpires this week and umpire Ray Chamberlain clearly read it twice. It was the right decision against Fremantle’s Lee Spurr. The problem will be consistency of interpretation. At the MCG on Saturday, Corey Enright rushed a behind from 10-15m which he was lucky to get away with. Then Sunday, Pearce Hanley was pinged with Nathan Jones two metres behind applying pressure. This new interpretation will send fans crazy.

Cats star Patrick Dangerfield after a missed shot on goal. Picture: Colleen Petch

DISLIKES

1. WHAT’S GOING ON, DANGER?

The midfield bashing was one poor aspect, the other was Geelong’s set-shot goalkicking. Geelong has a set-shot accuracy of 46 per cent this season (ranked 16th). And the flaw in Patrick Dangerfield’s game is exactly that. Let’s be blunt, if he is the superstar we all say he is, he must start kicking goals. His overall accuracy from set shots this season is an alarming 27 per cent. He’s had 11 set shots and kicked 3.7 and missed the other. On Saturday, he missed a soda from 25m in the second quarter and another one in the third quarter, when the Cats were making a charge. Superstars kick goals, it’s as simple as that.

2. TOM JONAS

Gave him the benefit of the doubt when he crashed into the back of Dangerfield in Round 5, but no excuses this time. Collisions happen and, yes, it was a split-second decision to raise his arms when contact was made with Andrew Gaff. Still, the point of the elbow to the back/side of the head was avoidable. Wouldn’t say it was cowardly, would argue that football is a tough sport, requiring players to throw themselves at contests. That Jonas had eyes for Gaff and not the ball didn’t help and surely it has to be judged as intentional. Straight to the tribunal and looking at a four or five-match suspension.

3. SEND-OFFS

Never liked the idea, yet keep hearing from coaches weekly about rotations being down when a player is lost to injury. The Eagles lost Gaff for the game and Port suddenly had 22 v 21. It doesn’t seem fair and the logical solution is to boot the offending player, in this case Jonas. OK, the tribunal will deal with Jonas, but that doesn’t help the Eagles on the day. The argument is strong for a send-off rule, but the problem is there’s a fine line between intentional and reckless and an umpire might kick a player out of the game when the incident might not be as crude as first thought.

4. FREMANTLE

What a strange situation. From 9-0 to start last season to 0-9 this season, the Dockers are at a low ebb. You don’t know whether to question the coach or accept the realisation that the group is cooked and, that said, is that the coach’s fault? The effort can’t be questioned so that means it’s talent and/or game style. The fact is Ross Lyon has to go with young players, which once was tanking but now is viewed as looking to the future. To make matters worse, young defender Alex Pearce is out for the season with a busted leg.

5. HARLEY DOUBTERS

Stories abound, and maybe it’s just people are making up stories, but you have to believe Ross Lyon when he says there’s nothing sinister in Harley Bennell being out for the remainder of the season. Lyon even invited the storytellers to contact the club. He has consistently described Bennell as “outstanding’’.

Suns battling to compete with so many injuries to key players. Picture: Getty

6. SUNS BASHING

Lost four games by 70-plus points and you have to consider their injury list when assessing them. If nobody else is, at least Suns chairman Tony Cochrane is understanding of the situation. He said on Saturday that Rodney Eade would coach next year because the club needed to assess Rocket when he had a full list. Cochrane was adamant, saying he would put it in writing — using his blood — that Rocket would be there in 2017.

7. RUCK DEBATE

Sorry, Max, but Todd Goldstein still holds the mantle as the best ruckman in the game. Gawn struggled on Sunday, while Goldstein was superb against the Blues on Saturday night. The best player in a team that is 9-0 is fair standing in the game. OK, the opposition wasn’t the best and Goldstein thrived with 45-7 hit-outs against Daniel Gorringe, but it’s the work around the ground that makes him the most damaging ruckman since Dean Cox. He had 19 touches, five clearances and kicked three goals.

8. LAZY DOGS

The Bulldogs put in a game effort, but the game effort didn’t have enough contributors. Players such as Toby McLean, Fletcher Roberts, Tory Dickson, Easton Wood, Jed Adcock, Jake Stringer and Koby Stevens couldn’t replicate their Etihad form on their first interstate trip this season. That said, they were playing against a top-four team on their home patch. Actually, forget top four. Right now, the Giants could well be flag favourites.

9. BLUES

Reality check for the feel-good team of the competition. Lack of talls hurt and couldn’t get anything going in the forward half. The Blues were plus 11:31min in the forward half, which is staggering when you consider North kicked 17.1 to 6.10. One team has talent forward and was efficient, the other was anything but. A positive was the contribution of Ciaran Byrne who had 23 touches.

10. BAD UMPIRING

Twice the Hawks missed free kicks after players were legged/tripped. The first time the umpire didn’t see it, so that begs the question why the other two umpires didn’t get involved. Surely, not all three missed it. The second one was bewildering, where Jeremy Laidler still had his arms around the feet/shins of his opponent when the ball spilt out of bounds. Again, not a single umpire saw that?

TOP TWEETS

@Aunty_Patnose: Tackle this 45 mins leaving MCG car park Fri nite. Grandmas in strife not getting kids home til 12.30.

@currawoo: dislike the reemergence of deliberate rushed behind. Disgraceful. Kills the defender, ruins the game, afl got it wrong

@cthornton9: Dislike: No kick 2 kick after game 2 years in a row after the Brisbane vs Melbourne game What are they saving the ground 4?

@bradh35: Like: StKilda smalls Seb Ross & Jack Steven. Dislike: Ol man Cornes’s opinion on elbow to Gaffs head!!!

@LHumphrey6: dislike Mathieson (Brisbane ) ducking and more ducking

@Lazlow: Like: Razor Ray making the right call, more of it please! Dislike: Jonas; cheap, dirty, archaic, dangerous.

@Mr_Yellow85: D - Jonas hit on Gaff. Another D - Talking about the hit over breakfast only to realise Jonas was sitting right behind us!

@elliefeath: LIKE: pies finally showing us what they’re made of DISLIKE: how underrated Steele Sidebottom is in the comp

@_mattfletcher: like: kangas outperforming critics, dislike: naughty Kayne T

@danvicius: Dislike- Dropping at the knees -free kicks. Like- P. Roos and team has made going to the footy (for me) enjoyable again

@DPitt06: Like watching Trent Cotchin back to his best. Dislike the horrible stench coming from footy in QLD.

@Nathcore: like: Paddy McCartin slowly finding his feet.

@Billormonde_RTR: Adam Kennedy GWS overshadowed by so many great players but plays his role so effectively. Great hair too.

@MikeTheGoodOil: Dislike the Tribunal, for probably going soft on a hit we simply can’t have in footy. 10+ for Jonas if they’re serious

@luckygrizzly: dislike - prospect of GWS v interstate team GF... AFL worst nightmare .. Sound of 1 hand clapping

@ZCanavan: dislike in the beyond blue game Hawks booed buddy considering EVERYTHING everyone involved are going through

@MelPalling: L: Giants are scary good. D: Channel 7 commentators continually getting players (& even coaches today!) names wrong!!

@joegarretto: like - pies first quarter, played as a team with intent dislike - Buckley haters, it’s oh so quiet...

‏@norlanian: like - The USA chant after mason cox’ goal on the run

@therealmaxgrant: Like: Cotchins return Dislike: I doubt a journalist writes a piece to congratulate him as fast as they slag him

@AndrewR94994450: Likes. Buddy Franklin reminding us of the value of great mates. Dislike.Trend of players ducking their head.

@WattoTony: Like - Gary Rohan’s return and the excitement his pace brings.Dislike - Thuggery still existing in modern footy

@dingoderek: Like:Mathieson’s debut & better effort than last week. Dislike:Lions butchering of so many opportunities in 3Q

@GeorgiaLove71: Like: The clapping for Roughie at the two minute mark on Friday night was touching, a lovely gesture.