The Tackle: Robbo’s likes and dislikes for Round 2 of the AFL season

THE joys of football, Essendon and Hawks’ latest goal threat caught the eye but Fremantle and Melbourne have a lot to answer for. REPLAY LIVE CHAT

THE joys of football caught the eye but Fremantle and Melbourne have a lot to answer for.

Read Robbo’s full list of likes and dislikes for Round 2 and CHAT LIVE from 11.45am Monday:

WHAT I LIKE

1. Jason Johannisen

This bloke might have six Brownlow Medal votes. If the Bulldogs are sexy, Johannisen is the pin-up boy. His cut off handball, bounce and pass to Jake Stringer was the play of the weekend. If it had been Paddy Dangerfield, the drooling wouldn’t subside until Wednesday. He has always had the pace but has improved his game awareness, which gives him great confidence. Has 62 possessions in the first two weeks at 82 per cent efficiency.

2. Rodney Eade

The doubters will be rethinking their pre-season opinions. “Rocket’’ is the oldest coach in the competition, yet his Suns are playing a brand of footy that is as fresh and attacking as any team not named the Bulldogs. They sliced open one of the best defensive teams ever and are themselves underrated as a defensive group. When the Dockers asserted physical presence in the final quarter, the Suns withstood it and kicked away.

3. Did you see Jack Martin?

The one-time prize 17-year-old who looked like he could be snapped in half arrived as a serious player at Subiaco on Saturday night. He is a Michael O’Loughlin type. Can dazzle on the ground and win one-on-ones in the air. Took 11 marks, three contested, and kicked four goals. With Tommy Lynch, the Suns have a formidable one-two punch deep in the forward line.

Suns young gun Jack Martin celebrates one of his four goals. Picture: Daniel Wilkins

4. James Sicily

Had a nightmare against the Cats in his fourth game but showed Sunday he is a real talent. The coach kept him in the team and Sicily gave him four goals, six marks, three contested and real presence in the forward 50m. Bulldogs-Hawks on Sunday looms as a must-see.

5. The joy of football

The faces of Darcy Parish and Brodie Grundy after kicking critical goals in their victories were priceless. Grundy’s matchwinner was boy’s own and Parish kicked the sealer in his second game. He’s going to be some sort of player.

6. Aggressive Giants

They beat up the Cats and played some thrilling football at the same time. In the third quarter alone, Shane Mumford nailed Mitch Duncan, Stevie Johnson nailed Josh Caddy and crunching tackles were laid by Aidan Corr, Tom Scully and Rhys Palmer on Rhys Stanley, Joel Selwood and Cory Gregson respectively. In the second quarter, Johnson poleaxed Gregson. They crumbled somewhat under Geelong heat in the final quarter, but not in the final five minutes.

Adam Cooney under pressure from Touk Miller. Picture: Getty

7. Adam Cooney

Criticised last week by Dean Rioli for basically lacking heart for Essendon, Cooney was outstanding in the second half on Saturday. Yes, David Zaharakis was huge, and Joe Daniher, Zach and Jackson Merrett, James Kelly, Brendon Goddard, Parish and Mark Baguley were outstanding, but Cooney’s final quarter was significant. It was what Bombers fans have been looking and hoping for for the past 12 months. Even Rioli would be impressed.

8. The Bombers

Well, didn’t we get that wrong. Implementing a game plan and spirit can be a journey, but coach John Worsfold was able to combine both in a stunning win over Melbourne. The Bombers moved the ball better than they have in two years and the defensive zone worked well. It was a monster day for the club and some players described it as the best win they had been involved in. Who’s the idiot who compared this season’s Bombers to Fitzroy?

9. Jackson Ramsay

Alex Fasolo and Grundy got all the attention and rightly so, but amid the carnage delivered by both teams was the 21-year-old’s display in just his ninth game for the Magpies. His 2015 was a wipeout because of a shin complaint, but he is quickly making a back flank his own. He attacks the ball with adventure and has the courage to run with it. He finished Friday night with a career-high 23 disposals.

10 Jarrad Waite

Could be in the best from of his career. Swayed the game against the Crows with three goals, seven marks and 20 disposals. Followed up with a best-on-ground against Brisbane. His contribution as a key forward was staggering. He had 23 disposals, a game-high 13 contested, six marks, five tackles, the second most behind Ben Cunnington, and five goals. “Waitey leads the charge in terms of our defensive pressure,’’ Roos coach Brad Scott said. Like Johannisen, he could already have six Brownlow votes.

Michael Walters reacts to missing a shot on goal. Picture: Getty

WHAT I DON’T

1. Fremantle

Delegation is a now a dirty word at the Dockers. Major changes coming after Saturday night’s loss. Ross Lyon has delegated plenty to his assistant coaches this year, which includes a tinkered game plan, but now Lyon will wrest back control. They were unexpectedly opened up by the Suns and we can expect a return to lockdown football. “We didn’t defend at all,” Lyon said. They’ll need to lift, they play West Coast on Saturday night.

2. Melbourne

Hate to think the Dees drank their own bath water and, as Paul Roos said, they played poorly and lost by only a couple of goals. Still, the favourite tag doesn’t sit well with them. The Bombers applied far greater pressure than the Giants did last week and, psychologically, the Demons were under siege in the second half, despite the teams kicking four goals each. Against the Giants, Melbourne’s pressure factor was 1.67. Against Essendon it dropped to 1.49. The league average is 1.78. Simply, they weren’t up for the fight. Odd that Roos said his players were tired. It’s Round 2 after all.

3. Collapsing players

The umpires’ job is difficult enough without players dropping the knees and falling forward, dragging the tackler with them, which prompts in-the-back frees from the umpires. The umpires are aware it happens, but a few still get through. It used to be called milking the free, but it’s basically cheating your way to a free kick. It’s a blight on the game.

Damien Hardwick has work to do to get Richmond back on track. Picture: Getty

4. Hunt and Griffiths

Unless coach Damien Hardwick is a forgiving type, these two might already need a spell in the VFL. Taylor Hunt had 10 disposals, five of which were clangers, several that coughed up goals. He played 23 games last year so was in Hardwick’s plans. But Hunt and Hardwick know that effort on Friday was unacceptable. Ben Griffiths has to be assertive with his football. He’s a big bugger (200cm, 101kg), yet seems to play on athletic rather than aggressive instinct. Six touches and one mark in his 50th game was frustrating.

5. Poor Tigers have mates

Yes, the above pair were not alone. Skipper Trent Cotchin is again under the pump for his leadership and organisational abilities, Ty Vickery could have made it a four-goal lead but instead lobbed a short pass from 30m and the ball was turned over. A short ball should have gone to Bachar Houli in the final minutes but instead went long down the line and the Tigers lost possession. And a fist couldn’t find the ball in the final seconds. Roosy once said Richmond had played the worst 47 seconds in the history of the game, in losing to the Suns. The last four minutes would rival that analysis.

6. Charlie Dixon

If whingeing was an national sport, Charlie would be on the podium. Beaten badly by Daniel Talia, who is one of the best man-on-man defenders, Dixon could not use his strength to any advantage. When he leaned back one-handed for a mark in the third quarter and dropped it, and Tom Lynch kicked the goal, the Crows players gave it him. He had to wear that one, but Dixon took out his frustration on the umpire. And did the same at the next contest. Not a great day for the big man, nor Port.

7. Port Adelaide

Embarrassing. The numbers were pretty even, although two aspects stood out. The Crows took 109 marks to 44 and Port had 70 inside-50s to Adelaide’s 55. And the margin was 10 goals. Port wasn’t efficient or accountable and its defensive strategies were blown apart. Said at the start of the year I didn’t trust the Power.

Patrick Dangerfield contests against Giant Shane Mumford. Picture: Getty

8. Oh, they’re tired ...

If it was said once over the weekend, it was said 30 times by commentators. I like the interchange cap. I like that players are getting tired. The games are opening up and it allows one aspect of football — fitness of a player — once again to be a factor in victory. Tom Scully was tireless in the final quarter Sunday when most players on the ground were exhausted.

9. Same old problems

Geelong recruited Dangerfield to help fix stoppages and contested ball. It worked last week. It failed Sunday. Talk about attitude being the key to footy. Geelong lost the contested ball 148-126 and clearances 39-26. “Momentum is a big part of footy,” coach Chris Scott said. “Overall the game was going our way, but to play that poorly around the ball was disappointing.”

10. West Coast

Major disappointment against a team that could not put its best 22 on the park. Whereas the Eagles seem to freewheel at home, they look sluggish at the ’G. The Hawks ran deep with contributions, which is the Hawthorn way, but the Eagles again had to carry players. Lewis Jetta was poor, Brad Sheppard dropped marks he would usually take and there were only minor contributions from Josh Hill, Sam Butler, Elliot Yeo and Mark LeCras.