The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes, dislikes from week two of finals
Port Adelaide took a risk going into the semi-final, and it failed. And its not the only issue the Power has to confront. See Robbo’s likes and dislikes.
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We’re down to four.
Melbourne and Port Adelaide have bowed out of finals in straight sets, leaving fifth and seventh-placed Carlton and GWS to challenge Brisbane and Collingwood for spots in the grand final.
Chief football writer Mark Robinson names his likes and dislikes from semi-final weekend.
Port Adelaide v GWS Giants
LIKES
1. Giant midfield depth
Collingwood doesn’t tag and the Giants have Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly, Tom Green and Callan Ward through the middle, with a banged up Kieren Briggs as ruck. Add Lachie Whitfield as pinch-hitter whose plays half-back and the Giants have the best midfield in the competition. Maybe Brisbane says “hello” with Neale, Dunkley, McCluggage, McInerney and one of Bailey and Zorko. The Giants have the potential to open up Collingwood. The Pies’ midfield comprises De Goey, Mitchell, Pendlebury, Crisp and Nick Daicos. There might’ve been a discussion about where best to play Daicos – at half-back or in the middle – when he’s not played for seven weeks, but with Taylor Adams out with a hamstring, Daicos will be needed in the middle to win the ball. Footy can be simple. If you don’t tag and go head to head, you have to win more ball than the opposition and it goes without saying, this match will be decided in the middle.
The Giants midfield toyed with Port’s young guns. Kelly played more wing and Ward played more inside, and Callaghan also got a run in the centre square. The Giants have stars and depth there, which is the ideal profile. Against Port, the Giants were +95 disposals, +19 contested ball, +74 uncontested ball and +16 clearances. And they scored nine goals from stoppage. To put that in context, the finals average this year has been six goals. The Pies have some thinking to do. Could they employ a tag? The coach moved Hoskin-Elliott to half-back in week one, so he’s not against unpredictability. Could Crisp get a role? Pendlebury? Because if the Giants get rolling and spreading, the Pies, like Port, could spend too much time chasing.
2. Taylor and Buckley
The defensive match-ups this week will be critical. If Sam Taylor is not the best defender in the game, he is very close, and Jack Buckley – which could be a bushranger’s name – might be the most improved player at the Giants. This week, Taylor and Buckley will be required to play on Mihocek and McStay, and Mason Cox will likely get Harry Himmelberg. We say likely, because Himmelberg is the defensive swingman. On Saturday night, he played on Rioli and Powell-Pepper but he can also play tall. He will need to if all of Mihocek, McStay and Cox are in the one forward line. They are huge match-ups. On Saturday night, Taylor stood Dixon/Lord/Finlayson and didn’t concede a goal. Buckley had Marshall and conceded two goals, but his contribution was made with intercepts. So, the Giants are settled and confident at the back, potentially frightening through the middle, and we haven’t even spoken about Toby Greene and his muster in the forward line. Collingwood is a great team – or potentially a great team because it hasn’t won anything yet, other than admiration – and the Giants’ belief is contagious. What a game it will be
DISLIKES
1. Underdone players
Charlie Dixon is the presence in the Port Adelaide forward line, but he hit the wall late in the season. He shouldn’t have played. He missed round 18 with injury, played two matches, and then missed seven weeks – not games, but weeks – prior to Saturday night. Finals are challenging enough, but when you miss seven weeks you’re not going to be hardened match fit. It’s why Jack Silvagni missed selection at Carlton. Port took a punt and it failed. Dixon can train all he likes, but he wasn’t match ready. To play key forward, you need timing in the air and good hands, and Dixon didn’t have either. He had six disposals, took three marks and kicked one goal, in the final quarter to give some hope, but it was only hope. Dixon, like most forwards, needs continuity, and he didn’t have it. Jeremy Finlayson started as sub to cover for an array of underdone teammates, and he ended up replacing ruckman Scott Lycett. Port was desperate. They put a lot of responsibility on Dixon, and it didn’t work. He wasn’t to blame for the loss, but because he was so out of whack, and Lord didn’t touch it either, the forward line didn’t function.
2. What’s happened to Darcy Byrne-Jones?
He was an All-Australian defender in 2020 aged 25. He’s got old quick. He’s turning 28 on September 20. He’s not a skerrick of that All-Australian player. So much so, he’s been shuffled out of defence and made to play as defensive forward. He and Powell-Pepper had nine touches each and kicked a collective four behinds. Byrne-Jones’ career is at the crossroads. He played 23 games this year and was moved forward after round 4. He kicked 18 goals, which sounds OK, but Port went on a 13-game winning streak, and every forward during that period was lining up to get a lick of the Paddle Pop. Against Brisbane in week one of the finals, he played on Keidean Coleman, which suggests it was another stopping role, and on Saturday night, his job was Lachie Ash. Ash had 20 and 300m gained, so Byrne-Jones wasn’t poor. But is his career going to end as a forward stopper, or can he change it up? Maybe back to half-back and AA contention again? Byrne-Jones wasn’t the only Port player who would be disappointed. All of Port’s forwards, save for Rioli, didn’t threaten, Ollie Wines couldn’t find it on a wing or in the middle when he moved there, Lachie Jones struggled, Duursma had seven touches on a wing, and even Rozee was quiet-ish. It was a whimpering end to a pretty good season.
Melbourne v Carlton
LIKES
1. Talk about moments
Blake Acres was celebrated for kicking the winner, but it was his effort a short time earlier which needs celebrating, A quick recap. Patrick Cripps has the ball between the wing and the centre and kicks it high forward. Acres runs with the flight of the ball with arms outstretched in an attempt to mark and his collected by a pack containing Max Gawn, Jake Lever and Matt Cottrell coming at the ball. Acres was crunched. It was one of the bravest acts you’ll ever see in a game of football. Understandably, Acres is poleaxed and sent sprawling to the ground. The ball is cleared away, Acres gets to his feet, he’s hurt, he might come off the ground, but instead he wanders forward unmarked, takes the mark and kicks the goal. It is a moment which will define Acres’ career, no matter what happens from here on in. Injured, he ran back into the abyss because that’s what the game required. He could’ve easily ran back, stopped and tried to be front and square but, no, he was all in. And the footy Gods rewarded him.
2. Talk about moments
In round 8 this year, Carlton’s Nic Newman found himself in a play which he won’t remember fondly. He ran one way at a bouncing, loose ball and Brisbane’s Jack Gunston ran from the other direction. Newman arrived at the ball and veered to the left, and stuck out one hand in a soft-ish attempt to gather it. Gunston bodylined the ball, won it, and ran in and kicked the goal. It was one bad moment among many on a bad night – and a bad two months – for the Blues. Newman’s effort came when Carlton overall was tentative, disjointed and lacking confidence. Newman would remember it. And hate it. Since, and including the losing streak, Newman has become one of Carlton’s core members. He plays tough and with edge, and it’s why the Gunston play was so unlike him. When asked last week about that Newman’s play against the Lions, coach Michael Voss said he remembered it.
In general terms, Voss spoke about his players’ need to stand up in moments. And Voss would be thrilled with Newman’s contribution since, and especially so on Friday night. Newman played mainly on Alex Neal-Bullen in defence and it seems Newman has a license to roll up high. Dermott Brereton, the five-timer, loved Newman’ second quarter. He had 11 disposals and four intercepts in that quarter, and the Blues kicked 3.1 to Melbourne’s 1.4. Overall, Newman had 30 disposals, 21 uncontested, 11 marks and nine intercepts. He’s turned a bad moment into a momentous season, and he should be proud.
DISLIKES
1. Talk about moments
Hawks and Cats fans should remember this because Brad Sewell, Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins would well remember this. It came in the final minute of their round 19 game in 2012. Selwood, who had been battered by Sam Mitchell a minute earlier, took a mark on the line of the wing. Sewell ran to the contest and instead of slowing and corralling Selwood so he wouldn’t play on, Sewell launched himself at the ball in an attempt to spoil. He missed. Momentum meant he fell to the ground, Selwood played on, kicked the ball to Hawkins, who marked and kicked the goal and the Cats won by two points. On Friday night, Sam Docherty took a mark about 10m from where Selwood did 11 years ago, and like Sewell, Judd McVee flew at the contest to try to spoil. Like Sewell, he missed and fell to the ground and Docherty, like Selwood, played on and kicked it long, where Blake Acres played the Hawkins role, and kicked the matchwinner. They are amazingly similar. The lesson is maybe corralling is the wiser decision than the launch.
2. Decisions at the Demons
Four consecutive finals losses can’t all be blamed on bad luck and injuries. Melbourne has to change the way it plays. And it will because we all know if you keep doing the same thing and getting the same result, it’s bordering on insanity. Ball movement and delivery inside 50m is not where it should be. It needs to change. Geelong changed the way it played from 2021 to 2022 and won the flag. The Cats still went short and with control, but they moved the ball forward instead of going immediately lateral left and right, or even backwards. It put the opposition under constant pressure by chipping through the lines and changing angles. They had the luxury of Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron, and the ball got quicker to them and not with the same defensive numbers because the opposition had to be more accountable higher up the ground. Melbourne got stuck in a long bombs plan – down the line and into the forward line. Against the Blues, they tried to kick wide and inside, but the Blues were pretty good in closing those options. Anyway, coach Simon Goodwin and his assistants will have a summer of exploration. They will change because they know they have to. They will keep the contest and pressure as their pillars, but it’s the boring ball movement which needs the tinker. The premiership window is not closed, it just needs a bit of window cleaning so there’s clarity on how to fix the problems.
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