Fox Footy Jury: Alastair Clarkson v Sydney, Tom Papley’s trade worth and Dusty or Toby Greene?
One footy great has leapt to the defence of Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson for questioning Sydney’s Tom Papley, while another says milking free kicks is all a part of footy.
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Was Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson right to say in his post-match press conference that Sydney’s Tom Papley “milks free kicks as good as anyone in the competition”?
On the Swans’ small forward who leads the Coleman Medal race with 19 goals, what would he be worth to Carlton if the Blues came knocking again at trade time now?
Plus, Dustin Martin or Toby Greene?
We asked two Fox Footy experts for their views on the weekend’s hot topics.
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Was it unfair of Alastair Clarkson to criticise Tom Papley, or are there still issues in the AFL with players diving?
Leigh Montagna
Two-time All-Australian with St Kilda
I think it was unfair for Clarkson to comment on Tom Papley. There’s a lot of players in the competition that try to milk free kicks and, to be fair, across world sport a lot of players try to milk free kicks or fouls. I think it’s part of sport. It’s not something that we like seeing, but it’s a competitive advantage that every player at some point tries to utilise and I think it’s unfair to single out Tom Papley, especially in the incident he was referring to.
Dwayne Russell
Port Adelaide and Geelong hero
I think it’s fair for Clarko to be honest. We want to hear what the coaches are thinking, so you can never criticise a coach for being honest as long as he’s not being too nasty. But Tom Papley is one of the most vibrant, watchable, exciting, charismatic characters in the game. So I hope Tom Papley just keeps being Tom Papley.
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If Carlton thought Tom Papley was worth Pick 9 last year, what is he worth now?
LM: I don’t think you’d give up a top-10 pick on its own for Tom Papley. He’s 25 next year and while he’s playing some pretty red hot footy, he’s a small forward. If you look at the last couple of drafts with what you can get with a top-10 pick, I wouldn’t be giving up a pick in the top-10. But maybe a late first-rounder if Carlton really wanted him.
DR: He might actually be worth more to Sydney now to keep him, because he’s just about the best player they’ve got. He’s now going to be worth more to everybody and he might now be worth a pick in the top-three. Him and Charlie Cameron are probably the best small forwards in the game and the way he’s playing and how exciting he is, he puts bums on seats. Sydney needs players like that. So Sydney’s got to have a long hard look at making sure he doesn’t leave.
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If you were coaching a side for the rest of this season and could pick only one, would you want Toby Greene or Dustin Martin?
LM: I have to stick with the man who’s got the runs on the board. I’ll take Dusty going into the back-half of the year and finals. He’s got the record that you know what you’re going to get from him. As much as I love Toby Greene, it is very hard to go past Dusty for a back end of the season and finals campaign. We know that he just cranks it up a bit in the second half of the year.
DR: I’d take Toby Greene and the Giants over Dustin Martin and Richmond, because I think the Giants have got a better premiership chance right now. But if I just had to start a team from scratch and pick one or the other, I’d still pick Dustin Martin. What he’s delivered in the past couple of years is a bit more consistent than what Toby’s delivered and he’s a proven finals performer.