The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from Opening Round
It’s incredible how in a season where the AFL is protecting players against above-the-shoulder contact, a player punch an opponent in the head and escape with a fine. See Robbo’s likes and dislikes from Opening Round.
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Footy is back, well for eight teams at least.
Opening Round dished up plenty of talking points and Chief football writer Mark Robinson is here to name his hits and misses from the weekend’s action.
Check it out below.
DISLIKES
1. Get the popcorn
AFL legend Leigh Matthews didn’t like the fact Collingwood players, in late February, were at the movies eating popcorn and watching themselves win the 2023 premiership. Not great mental preparation for the new season, Matthews opined. Pies coach Craig McRae disagreed. “You’ve got to smell the roses,” he said. It was old school thinking versus new-age marketing because, let’s be honest, the Pies made money as well as memories by taking their journey to the big screen. On Saturday night, McRae said their systems were “off”, they were beaten in the air, they didn’t “capitalise on opportunities”, weren’t physical enough and gave up coast-to-coast goals. Yep, round one to the Giants. And to Matthews. That’s not to say Matthews is 100 per cent correct, but were the Pies totally mentally invested? Were they dog hungry? Did they display the same fervour that we witnessed through September last year? No, no and no. “It’s early to talk (that) it’s a reality check,” McRae said post-match. And then spoke about “reality” three or four more times. Next week, the Pies will unfurl the premiership flag in front of their fans, and that certainly won’t be a song and dance ceremony for the coach. “They (the fans) can unveil the flag, we’re getting back to work,’’ he said. Matthews would like that last comment.
2. Just a thought
The Collingwood doco, Take the Steps, was a brilliant production because it took the viewer into the worlds of Scott Pendlebury, Nick Daicos and Darcy Moore. It was brilliant for its access and honesty. I loved it. But footy is a team game. The grand final was won by 23 players and not just the three who were put up in Hollywood lights. There’s not a coach who publicly stresses the team approach more than Craig McRae – he’s accessible and a storyteller – but he would also know that human nature can be a selfish nature. Are there any Collingwood premiership players slightly put out? The Giants loss is just one game, and we might be jumping at shadows that aren’t even there, but McRae bemoaned the lack of connection in the post-match. Suppose we’ll learn more against the Swans on Friday night.
3. Forward thinking
Collingwood’s front six/seven is Mihocek, Johnson, Cox, Schultz, Hill, McCreery and Elliott. It didn’t work on Saturday. Cox couldn’t touch it (anywhere), Schultz was busy but made too many skill mistakes – he missed a goal in the third quarter and Toby Greene bananas one from the boundary in response – and Ash Johnson continued to be a work in progress. That second tall in the forward 50 is a concern. McStay is a long-term injury, so that spot is between Johnson, Billy Frampton and 21-year-old Reef McInnes. Johnson is 25. He has talent, but he needs to work on his craft. Soft answer, but there was a reason he was dumped in Round 21 last year for Frampton. He had two touches on Saturday. He needs to find ways to inject himself into the contest. Maybe the kid needs a crack at some stage. Cox had five disposals, all in the second half.
4. The biggest loser
That’s easy. That’s Brisbane. Coach Chris Fagan was perplexed about the third-quarter whitewash and said he’d have to watch the tape and talk to the players about what happened. He spoke about numbers in his post-match and not individuals. Nowadays coaches don’t spray players publicly, not like Malcolm Blight who one said of his player: “(It was) a pathetic effort from Pittman in ruck. It was the most disgraceful display I’ve ever seen from a big fella and that’s pretty hard on an individual, but he’s got to live with that.” Yes, it was another time. Fagan won’t ever be so condemning of his players, though questions need to be asked behind closed doors. And just not of the players, but of the coaching staff. Throw it all out there. What did the coaching group do to try to stem the Carlton onslaught? Did the players think they had won the game in the second quarter and took short cuts? Were they unsure without Kiddy Coleman’s input off half-back? Why did the pressure index drop to a woeful 150? The Blues kicked 7.2 to Brisbane’s 1.6 in the third quarter, but it was more than just bad goalkicking. The blue-collar Blues worked the Lions over. The coaching staff will self-reflect and so will the players. Hugh McCluggage didn’t have a single stat in the third quarter. He is a leader of this team. Zorko and Dunkley had two disposals. They are also leaders.
5. By George
Weird that the AFL launches its vastly improved concussion policies yet still allows a player to punch an opposition in the head and not be suspended. Carlton’s George Hewett received a $3570 fine for a ‘careless’ hit on Lachie Neale. In other words, Hewett didn’t mean it. Neither did Jimmy Webster mean to knock out Jy Simpkin but he was still bounced for seven weeks. Hewett threw a fist at Neale, it grazed Neale’s arm and then flushed him on the jaw. Can you believe that Neale’s instinctive reaction was not to throw a punch at Hewett’s head, but rather his midriff, which takes an incredible level of control in that moment, and be fined the same amount as Hewett? That is ridiculous. Hewett should’ve been suspended for a week. Can the ball winners please be looked after better?
6. The curious Shai Bolton
Roughly, he played 40 per cent mid and 60 per cent forward and had eight disposals. Three of them were goals and most pundits would say he did his job. Danielle Laidley once said of Brent Harvey who had 30-plus possessions. “It means he had the ball three minutes, what did he do for the other 97 minutes?” The same could be asked of Bolton. He had the ball for 15 seconds to kick those goals, what did he do for the other 99 minutes? Well, not much. He is a hell of a player and far better than an eight-possession game. In fact, he had just two possessions in the second and fourth quarters combined. We’re critical because he should be more than just an impact player.
7. Heads up
The umpires must deter players from driving forward with their heads. The players are looking for a free kick and we can’t have umpires rewarding them if there’s high contact. On Saturday, as the Tigers mounted a fightback against the Suns, Jacob Hopper gathered a ground ball, kept his head down and ran into David Swallow who was coming in to, presumably, lay a tackle. Swallow didn’t have a chance because Hopper didn’t give him a chance. Smart footy from Hopper or woeful umpiring? You have to favour the latter. Hopper kicked the goal from the free kick and the margin was back to 25 points. It was a cheap free kick in a high stakes moment that should not have been paid.
LIKES
1. Best midfield in the game?
Not yet, but hold your beer on this Gold Coast collective. They need to perform consistently and in finals, which at Round 1 is a long campaign. Still, it was a tremendous first outing under new coach Damien Hardwick. If Matt Rowell plays anywhere near how he did against Richmond for the remainder of the year, he will win the Brownlow Medal and every media award on offer. He can’t be missed. He’s a predator, with a Glenn Archer-type physicality playing on-ball. That’s rare. His 20 clearances was incredible and with Noah Anderson’s class, Touk Miller’s gut running and skill, and Sam Flanders as the fourth wheel, who is also a talented ball winner, the Gold Coast midfield mix is top shelf.
Add Jarrod Witts in the ruck and the Suns aren’t afraid of any team. On Saturday, no other player attended a centre bounce outside of Rowell, Anderson, Miller and Flanders, so midfield depth could become an issue if injuries do play a role. But let’s enjoy this one.
2. Trends afoot?
AFL great Greg Williams would be delighted and not just about his Blues knocking over Brisbane on the road. “Diesel” hates tackles. He believes less tackles is better for the game because it allows the ball to flow and the players to showcase the skills of Australian Rules. There were strange tackling numbers in the two games on Saturday. The Suns laid just 17 tackles in the first half against Richmond and that wasn’t because they dominated possession. At the half, they were +18 in that regard. Stranger still, the Giants laid just 13 tackles in the first half against Collingwood. Thirteen tackles only happened once among all teams last season, funnily enough when the Giants laid 13 tackles in the first half against the Pies in Round 9. The Giants were smacked by 65 points and coach Adam Kingsley was not impressed. Now, they’ve done it again, but this time they smacked Pies. What’s going on here? Has keepings off - which helps to avoid turnovers - gone to a higher level?
3. The Lachies; Ash and Whitfield
The lad from Shepparton continues to enhance his standing and, with Whitfield, are the tsunami starters off half-back for the Giants. Ash is a beauty. Since his debut, he’s played 82 games and missed only one game through injury. The 22-year-old started his career at half-back, had a run on the wing and even did a couple of shutdown jobs, before and coach Adam Kingsley hustled him back to defence. Together, Ash (508m gained) and Whitfield (571m) were dominant. With Ash and Whitfield the ball deliverers, and Idun, Taylor, Himmelberg, Buckley and Nick Haynes to play more 1v1, the Giants have built a dependable defensive group.
4. Jordan Boyd
Amid the hoopla of Carlton’s unforgettable win on Friday night, and with Big H enjoying the spoils, Carlton’s back group should feel plenty proud. Jordan Boyd is the largely unknown soldier of that group. The 25-year-old from Spotswood was a mid-season draftee in 2021, played seven games in 2022 and nine last season. Michael Voss must like him. He picked him for the preliminary final when hadn’t played a senior match for eight weeks. On Friday night, he had some nervous moments playing on a combination of Lincoln McCarthy, Dayne Zorko and Charlie Cameron, but he was part of a group which helped restrict the Lions to 26 points from 28 entries in the second half. It was a massive effort without Jacob Weitering. Some of that was on the Lions, for they kicked 3.8, but clearly Blues defended better than they did in the first half. The backs stayed deeper and their intercept game improved.
5. Was Round Zero a success?
Who would’ve thought 10 years ago that GWS would knock off Collingwood in Western Sydney and the Suns would beat Richmond on the Gold Coast to kick start the new season? That the two expansion teams would bowl over two of the powerhouse clubs of the AFL? Footy is national and in terrific shape. Not sure the foray into the northern states was an absolute winner however. The crowd numbers would please the AFL. There were 21k, 22k, 33k and 40k at the four games and eyeballs galore for the networks. But it was a flat atmosphere in Melbourne. Maybe a standalone blockbuster at the MCG on Sunday, say Hawthorn v Essendon, would’ve helped.
6. Footy’s warmth
Not much to be said about the season-ending knee injuries for Keidean Coleman and Sam Docherty, other than to say football can be a cruel game. The footy world - media and fans - rallied for the pair. Coleman is young and will get another crack, while Docherty’s on to his third reconstruction on top of his cancer episode. He’s 30 and footy would love to see him back.
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