Early Tackle: All the likes and dislikes from Round 14 of the AFL Season
Trent Cotchin turned the clock back to his Brownlow best on Saturday night but Tim Taranto was best on. Could he win the Tigers’ next Charlie?
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Port Adelaide has won 11 on the trot, the AFL has hijacked its own game and last year’s grand finalists might be done for 2023.
Sam Landsberger names his likes and dislikes from round 14.
LIKES
A VERY GOOD TEAM
Port Adelaide has won 53 out of 75 home-and-away games since 2019. That’s equal No. 1 in the AFL with Brisbane, ahead of regular finalists Geelong (52), Melbourne (51), Western Bulldogs (44), Collingwood (42 and a draw) and Richmond (39 and four draws). Twelve of Port’s 22 losses came in the 2022 outlier season – but seven of those were by 12 points or less. Ken Hinkley has coached a good team for a long time and after 11 consecutive wins the 2023 version looks like a very good team. The challenge is to replicate the 2004 side by transforming finals fizzes to glory. Chairman David Koch has been given in-game coaching transcripts and likes what he reads. They would be fascinating documents and word from opposition players is that on-field audio would be similarly juicy because Port’s bold and brash youngsters don’t mind giving a bit of lip. Zak Butters looks like he could be in a boy band but, boy, he didn’t bite his lip against rugged Bulldog Tom Liberatore last week. You have to love that energy and that can breed intimidation, although it was interesting that Port’s demise from 11-4 to missing finals in 2018 played a part in the decision to delay a call on Hinkley until August. St Kilda signed and sacked Brett Ratten last year, but Hinkley is September-bound and you wonder whether a win in the final game of July – the Showdown against Adelaide – would be the perfect entrée to a contract announcement.
A SPARKLING NIGHT
Footy is about mateship and the intangible lift Sam Powell-Pepper got from running out alongside mid-season draftee Quinton Narkle on Thursday night was heartwarming. They are second cousins – Powell-Pepper’s nan and Narkle’s pop are siblings – and they were inseparable as teenagers, alongside fellow West Australian and Wesley College border Shai Bolton. It was heartwarming to watch their interactions at Adelaide Oval. Powell-Pepper presented Narkle his No. 47 jumper and threw him an encouraging thumbs-up when Narkle’s kick inside 50m trickled out of bounds in the second quarter. Then, they started to tear the Cats to shreds. Narkle’s knock was fitness last year and so when a diving mark at halfback led to his own goal at the other end it highlighted how hard he has worked since Geelong delisted him. Narkle and SPP sat next to each other during the halftime forwards meeting with Chad Cornes and next month their pregnant partners are both due to give birth.
THE GIANT GEM
In the purple corner stood a premiership ruckman and Rising Star winner who commanded a seven-year contract worth about $6 million. In the orange corner stood a 23-year-old from Pennant Hills in New South Wales who started the season behind Braydon Preuss and Matthew Flynn in his team’s pecking order. By the time Greater Western Sydney had munched Fremantle it was even clearer its bargain boy Kieren Briggs could hold his own against the old and the new in AFL ruck circles. Last week, Briggs beat North Melbourne champion Todd Goldstein. On Saturday, Briggs broke even at a minimum against Luke Jackson. Briggs re-signed until 2024 last year on what must’ve been minimum chips. This was not about Jackson or his rich salary, more that the Giants have unearthed a gem. Briggs played league, union and soccer as a kid, won Australian junior titles in shot put and was a regular in the NSW athletics team. The jack-of-all-trades is similarly diverse on the footy field. His second and third efforts are desperate and he kicks goals, wins clearances and tackles. Are there shades of Richmond captain Toby Nankervis in the way he plays? The Giants won centre clearances 16-6 (it was 15-3 at one stage) against the Dockers and Briggs (who won four himself) has to take a lot of the credit. They inflicted Fremantle’s biggest loss in the Justin Longmuir era and that should sting the coaching group as well as the players. With Sam Taylor the game’s full-back of the future and Brown, Callaghan, Ash, Idun, Daniels, O’Halloran and Riccardi (seven marks inside 50m on Saturday) to boot, there are so many pieces in place for the burgeoning Giants.
MIKE OPEN?
Former Herald Sun chief football writer Mike Sheahan has emerged on Twitter and last week picked up the phone for a radio interview with Daniel Harford. As someone who grew up admiring Mike it was thoroughly enjoyable. Mike’s takes included echoing Matthew Lloyd that Gillon McLachlan should hand the reins to Andrew Dillon now, that no Carlton player had improved this year and the bottom five or six wouldn’t get a game in any other team except West Coast and that Eagles coach Adam Simpson was doomed with his team worse than the late Fitzroy. He was also stunned Marcus Bontempelli was snubbed in the coaches votes against Port Adelaide last week.
TRENT TIME
Trent Cotchin became the 103rd player to celebrate 300 games on Saturday night. How many have ignited their own party like ‘Cotch’? Can remember Eddie Betts kicking six in 2019, Paul Roos having 30 disposals and two goals in 1996 and Brad Johnson’s famous finish in 2008. ‘Johnno’ blew out the candles and got the dancefloor moving at his party by kicking three goals in the final minutes to pinch a three-point win against Adelaide. Whereas Cotchin brought the cake, streamers and balloons to set up his big bash with a vintage first half. Cotchin’s 19 disposals and two goals in the first half and eight crucial last-quarter disposals were a powerful reminder of what a beautiful onballer he has been. The old timers got this done for their good mate. Dustin Martin had 34 threatening disposals and in a game of scrubby yardage Jayden Short gained 713m. Cotchin is Richmond’s heartbeat and Shai Bolton and newcomer Tim Taranto (who ran 16.5km) iced his cake. Cotchin was the Tigers’ last Brownlow Medallist. Could Taranto be their next?
FINALS FLURRY?
Cotchin’s 300 games includes 16 finals. Could he play a 17th final in 10 weeks? Could he play on in 2024? Is Andrew McQualter making a Paul Roos-like charge for the senior job if he wants it? Those were the pertinent questions Cotchin’s milestone celebration posed. The Tigers head to the bye sitting ninth and have games against Sydney (MCG), West Coast, Hawthorn, St Kilda and North Melbourne to come. Damien Hardwick texted Cotchin during the week reminiscing on their journey together and then sat in the MCG stands sipping beers surrounded by Wayne Campbell, Mick Malthouse and Kevin Bartlett on Saturday night. How sweet it must’ve been for Dimma to sit back and enjoy the Tigers getting their mojo back.
DISLIKES
HIJACKING THE GAME
The AFL has hijacked its own game. Charlie Cameron could’ve broken out of his Harry Cunningham funk to kick a match-winning goal of the year and the wash-up spotlight wouldn’t have swayed from the moment umpire Andrew Stephens told Jarrod Berry: “I’m reporting you for rough conduct”. Berry’s ‘dangerous tackle’ on Will Hayward even dominated Channel 7’s commentary for the next 30 minutes with the game up for grabs. Matthew Richardson’s flinch reaction was: “You’ve got to go from fierce competitor to being gentle in a split second … you can’t”. Then, in the last quarter, Brian Taylor warned: “At this rate there’ll be no tackling by the end of 2024-2025”. Richo replied: “I couldn’t agree more. We’ve got to draw the line here”. It was all for nothing because the MRO threw the report out. But as that happened Fox Footy commentator Anthony Hudson exclaimed: “That’s another one!” as Lachie Whitfield was penalised for tackling Jordan Clark. Mike Sheahan grizzled last week that every TV footy show opened with a dissection of bumps and tackles and not our game’s great athletes. It’s unhealthy and the elephant in the room is that roughly 70 players are on track to be ineligible for the Brownlow Medal, yet nine months ago the AFL crowned Patrick Cripps the fairest and best player despite concussing Callum Ah Chee. Make no mistake, the league thought runner-up and 2020 Brownlow winner Lachie Neale was the fairest and best player in 2022.
GRAND FINALISTS GONE?
Geelong and Sydney – last year’s grand finalists – were on the end of blitzes that felt like footy’s version of the Baz Ball phenomenon that confronted Pat Cummins’ Ashes attack on Friday night. The 6-6-6 rule felt like the equivalent of T20 fielding restrictions for the Cats, who were powerless to stop Port Adelaide pounding the ball forward after every blistering goal. In a 23-minute burst during the third quarter the Cats lost disposals by 30, clearances by eight, inside 50s by 10, tackles by 16 and were outscored 7.1 (43) to 0. Speaking on SEN, Isaac Smith said you could hear crickets in Geelong’s forward line and just 24 entries after quarter-time explained why. In the final three quarters Port – coming off three six-day breaks – dominated clearances and inside 50s by 20 and outscored the Cats by 37 points from stoppages. It was a similar story after the 16-minute mark of the second quarter at the Gabba, where the Swans were monstered in contested ball by 27, clearances by 11, inside 50s by 21 and were outscored 10.15 (75) to 7.5 (47). Champion Data’s expected scores had the Lions winning 108-65 and that score felt a true reflection of the dominance. The Swans took only four marks inside 50m while the Cats conceded 17. Are the grand finalists gone?
FIXTURE FLOP
Speaking of Baz Ball, the pressure is set to come on the night AFL fixtures because – much like British rockstar Robbie Williams at last year’s grand final – England plays with a ‘Let me entertain you’ mindset. Brisbane Lions-Sydney on Friday night would’ve appealed when the fixture was done last year. But it was surprising when the AFL released the rounds 16-23 fixture in May that it stuck with the Swans for so many primetime games given they were 3-6 and had been smashed by 93 points in the grand final replay. The battle of the remote will see the Ashes go head-to-head with matches including Brisbane-Richmond, Sydney-Geelong, Richmond-Sydney and Collingwood-Carlton in the run home.
WHAT THE PELL
Does the presumption of innocence apply to players and not AFL officials? Richmond’s Marlion Pickett and North Melbourne’s Tarryn Thomas are free to play despite being charged by police in decisions the AFL has surely approved. But former umpire Michael Pell – who has not been charged by police – was knocked back to umpire at school level recently and is playing footy for Hadfield. Footy. It’s worth remembering incoming AFL boss Andrew Dillon stated that Pell did not impact the outcome of last year’s Brownlow as “the allegations relate solely to the leaking or improper communication of the 3,2,1 voting outcomes”. Ex-Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said when discussing Pickett: “Whatever the situation, they’re your people – you’ve got to look after them”. But the league quickly moved on from Pell.
SUNS MIGHT LOSE IF THEY WIN
Beach boys Jake Rogers (Broadbeach), Jed Walter and Ethan Read (Palm Beach Currumbin) are Gold Coast academy kids you will hear a lot more about in coming months. But if the Suns play finals — they can climb into the eight with a win against Carlton on Sunday — they might lose access to one of them. An AFL draft rule presumably written long before it was conceivable that a northern academy could produce three top-20 talents state that a club can only match one top-20 bid if it finishes in the top four of the ladder, and two top-20 bids if it finishes fifth to eighth. But that doesn’t apply to father-sons, which enabled Brisbane Lions to match bids for Will Ashcroft (No. 2) and debutant Jaspa Fletcher (No. 12) last year despite finishing fourth. If the Suns qualify for September they could still trade back into the draft to ensure they land all three locals, so there is flexibility. But these kids are first-generation Suns supporters – they were five or six when the club was born – and given the history of retention issues it would make sense for them to play at home. Walter – a 195cm forward similar to Charlie Dixon – is the pick of the bunch with some recruiters thinking he or Zane Duursma sit behind No. 1 prospect Harley Reid.
DINKY DOUGAL
A teetering St Kilda comes up against a Brisbane Lions attack featuring Joe Daniher and Eric Hipwood on Friday night. Will Dougal Howard be there? Or will he become the latest senior Saint sent to the VFL after Jack Billings and Tim Membrey? Coach Ross Lyon was clearly frustrated with Howard when he substituted the defender early. The 27-year-old took a rare kick in – not sure if that’s in the plan – and frustrated fans once again with his decision making and dinky handballs in defence. The Saints would’ve been three games safe in the top eight with a win, but instead they remain in the pack, albeit at the top of it. Max King, Mattaes Phillipou and Jack Higgins did not score from three shots in the last quarter and the Saints were blown away with a burst of goals before the rain came. Ouch.
SEAGULLS AND SECONDS
Minor one, but the nine parallel wires strung across the top of the MCG have been removed – apparently for Spidercam – and that has contributed to the surge of gatecrashing seagulls. Might be time to get those wires back because the sight of seagulls by the hundred is irritating. And the 20-point margin rendered it unimportant, but did 15 seconds disappear from the clock when Ben Miller took a downfield free kick in the last quarter? Daniel Rioli was taken high by Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (it was accidental and the classy kid stayed with Rioli to check on him) but by the time Miller took the free the clock had dropped. Broadly, reckon the AFL needs to tighten up its countdown clock. Even the lost two or so seconds for every recalled umpire bounce is a waste of what can be precious gametime.
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