Wreck It Ralph: Jon Ralph’s 20 key takeaways from Gather Round II
The Pies may be back to winning ways, but make no mistake, it would take a football miracle for them to win the flag again. JON RALPH assesses 20 key takeaways from Gather Round.
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Gather Round part II is in the books and after another spectacular festival of footy in South Australia, there’s plenty of hot topics to digest.
Why the Pies won’t win the flag, the club prepared to trade two first-rounders, the four Suns their rivals should target, why the homophobic slur used by Jeremy Finlayson in future must warrant suspension, footy’s best match day coach, why Andrew Dillon now has the weapons to pick a fight with the player union on drugs, can we get Harley Reid a decent nickname?
JON RALPH’S 20 TAKEAWAYS FROM GATHER ROUND 2024
1. FOOTBALL HAS REACHED THE MOMENT WHERE THE AFL IS MARKETING IT AS AN INSTAGRAM REEL-ABLE SPECTACLE AS MUCH AS A SPORTING PRODUCT.
And it is never going back.
A game once built on familiar routines – the same time each Saturday afternoon, the same seats at the footy – now realises it is built on blockbuster moments.
It is why Gather Round nails its brief so well as a must-see part of the AFL fixture and it is why the AFL will only look for more chances to build on moments like this.
It realises fans don’t necessarily care for Richmond-Melbourne at 3.20pm on a Sunday afternoon but as an Anzac Day Eve contest they will pack the joint out.
The same fans who will pay $1500 for their family to sing along with Taylor Swift at the ‘G will get in their cars at 4am to drive ten hours to Adelaide to watch a game they might have skipped if it was 1.45pm Saturday at Marvel Stadium.
The traditionalist might grump and groan but the AFL couldn’t give a stuff.
Its marketing people know the fans want to be involved in events as much as games of football.
Footy has reached its peak blockbuster era and Gather Round is all the richer for it.
2. NEVER SHOW YOUR FULL HAND UNTIL YOU NEED TO.
Adelaide might one day tire of Gather Round but the introduction of a Barossa Valley game next year will ensure the momentum keeps rolling year on year.
SA premier Peter Malinauskas wants sexy TV drone shots of vines fat with shiraz grapes and a contest that ends with the crowd flooding into pavilions showing off the region’s great export.
It is going to rock, and if it is at the expense of games in the fabulous Mount Barker venue – a ground basically surrounded by dusty paddocks – then so be it.
Just don’t invite Hawthorn to be one of the clubs to stay there.
A former senior official this week visibly shuddered when asked about the events of the club’s 2020 hub there back in Covid.
One day those events will be laid bare but they precipitated the eventual departure of Alastair Clarkson.
There is a book in that one.
3. FOOTY IN SMALL, INTIMATE SUBURBAN VENUES STILL KICKS BUTT.
The 10,000 fans who crammed into Norwood twice over the weekend – scoffing delicacies and knocking down cold cans – had an absolute ball.
It is why the AFL must do everything possible to fast-track the AFLW competition so fans are prepared to pack out Ikon Park and Windy Hill and Punt Road to watch a truly worthy female competition.
The AFL is adamant it needs full crowds for AFLW games, with AFL football boss Laura Kane stating on Sunday the league won’t play at a quarter-full Marvel Stadium despite the fortune the league gets in grants for female sport there.
The NCAA’s final four women’s basketball game featuring burgeoning megastar Caitlin Clark set a new ratings record with 14.2 million this weekend – bigger than every 2023 NBA finals game or world series baseball game.
That is the AFL’s great growth opportunity – if it can fast-track the standard of the women’s game.
4. THE SPITBALLING FROM THE AFL OVER MULTIPLE GATHER ROUNDS AT SOME STAGE IN THE FUTURE IS UTOPIA-STYLE NONSENSE.
Why did anyone believe it was worthy enough to put up the flagpole to assess the public’s reaction?
When Tasmania enters the competition there will be 19 teams so all teams won’t be able to compete given the need for nine games and only 18 teams.
There are plenty of ways to overcome that issue.
Perhaps the wooden spooner of the previous year missed out for their general incompetence.
5. HOW TO REWARD WESTERN AUSTRALIA GIVEN THE STATE DOESN’T HAVE ITS OWN MARQUEE EVENT?
Play the northern states’ Opening Round from Thursday to Saturday then a pair of marquee games in Perth?
Instead surely it is much better to have a pair of weekends that make the game a singular focus in WA, not an afterthought.
Eddie McGuire has spoken about taking two big heartland clubs – call it Carlton and Collingwood – and getting them to play Fremantle and West Coast one weekend, stay in town, then play the opposing teams the following week.
What if those games were on the Thursday and Friday of successive rounds, delivering four marquee prime contests that the state could build a series of events around?
6. HARLEY REID.
Watching his tackle-breaking and vision live at Mount Barker was a sight to behold.
Surely he needs a nickname worth of his tackle-breaking brilliance after seven in a single game.
The Tackle Breaker won’t do.
The Raging Bull is too derivative. Rampaging Reid is just plain dumb.
We are open to suggestions.
To see him step past footy’s hottest player Isaac Heeney just because he could – almost as a personal challenge – was simply electric.
7. SPEED IN FOOTBALL CHAPTER ONE.
If you listen closely to Luke Beveridge’s post-match press conference the reason for Jackson Macrae’s sidelining was obvious.
As Beveridge said, we look quicker this year as he detailed the changes with Laitham Vandermeer, Rhylee West and co as forwards and Macrae not a part of the starting midfield.
In an age of fast-forward footy, Macrae is a one-pacer who is in trouble if pushed to the half forward flank.
It feels like Beveridge is almost acknowledging that the Dogs chances of winning the flag this year are at best medium and at worst low.
So even if this is a year of transition he can get 30 games into Sam Darcy, Ryley Sanders and Harvey Gallagher as quickly as possible and 70 into Jamarra Ugle Hagan.
If that delays the flag window by a year, then so be it.
Macrae has never had leg speed, so in the modern game will another club come for him or will they be scared by his salary obligations?
In the era of cap management, would the Dogs even hand over a pick as part of a cap dump to clear cap space for Ugle-Hagan and English?
8. SPEED IN FOOTBALL CHAPTER TWO.
Ross Lyon was confident enough in speedster Darcy Wilson’s ability he mocked the clubs who had allowed him to get to pick 18 not long ago.
On Sunday as Richmond closed hard, the first-round pick came up big.
He thumped the ball clear of the Tigers inside 50 as they sat ready to pounce, danced around Nathan Broad as if his feet were in concrete and then chased down Tyler Sonsie to win a holding-the-ball free kick.
When the game was up for grabs he found a way to influence it and vindicate Lyon’s assessment.
9. SPEED IN FOOTBALL CHAPTER THREE.
We went early on Maurice Rioli and ended up with egg on our face.
In May 2022 we stated Rioli should never be dropped again.
More specifically: “Maurice Rioli Jr isn’t playing VFL again in a very long time”.
He has been dropped at least four times since then and didn’t return to the pre-season in great nick late last year.
But his chase-down tackles will sustain Tigers fans in a season that might have plenty of fighting losses.
He even dragged down the aforementioned Wilson to win a free kick.
Another Rioli name making waves is good for football.
And the kid is only 21 in a team where 23-year-old Rhyan Mansell plays an underrated pressuring role and 19-year-old Seth Campbell looks a real find.
Baby steps for the Tigers forward line.
10. ADELAIDE IS OPEN TO TRADING ONE OR EVEN TWO OF ITS AVAILABLE FIRST-ROUND PICKS AS FOOTY BOSS ADAM KELLY TOLD US ON FOX FOOTY ON THURSDAY NIGHT.
The club knows it has a talent deficit compared to the elite sides, and given its 0-4 start to the year that first-rounder might be in the top six.
The Crows have their first-rounder this year and their first-rounder next year, but have given their second-rounder this year to St Kilda.
Everything is subject to change – if the Crows end up with a very early pick they could take a draftee who could have an instant impact for 2025.
But until then rival clubs desperate for an early pick in a draft stacked with midfield talent will consider whether they might give up a quality tall to make it happen.
11. AS HE DEFENDED FOOTY’S TWIN DRUG CODES ON FRIDAY ANDREW DILLON SAID THE RASH OF HEADLINES OVER THE IDP AT LEAST SHOWED HOW PASSIONATE FANS ARE ABOUT THE GAME.
In truth the furore over the code’s failings is a huge win for Dillon in a perverse way.
If the AFL is determined to punish the ratbags who damage the AFL’s brand the relentless headlines actually give Dillon the chance to make profound change.
He can take on an AFL player union, using that negative publicity as motivation.
The league can protect players in the medical model and continue education but also whack the ratbags with a big stick.
What about significant fines for players who take drugs as part of a first strike so they know they would cough up $10,000 if they transgress?
The real challenge of a new IDP is the recent promotion of its flaws mean no player will ever believe they can secure a second strike again.
12. THE AFL’S OBSESSION WITH THE VIDEO REVIEW SYSTEM IS A NECESSARY EVIL.
In the last minute of the Richmond-St Kilda game alone the flow of the contest was stopped by two goal reviews.
But Tyler Sonsie and Tim Taranto’s kicks were both proved to be touched after reviews the AFL had to make to ensure the correct result.
We need to find a way to speed up ‘snicko’ element of balls that might have clipped the post and stop the unnecessary reviews with shots metres from the goalposts or well over the line.
But if we don’t want Ben Keays-style controversies we have to live with those reviews.
Geelong forward Tyson Stengle’s goal – a behind overruled by the ARC which it ruled a fair mark on the goal line – shows the process does work.
13. THE PRO-SCOUTS FROM RIVAL CLUBS WERE OUT IN FORCE WATCHING GOLD COAST AND GWS AS THE SUNS KIDS SHOWED THEIR HUGE POTENTIAL BEFORE FADING LATE.
After seven team changes all of Sam Clohesy, Ethan Read, Jed Walter and Will Graham showed they won’t be displaced often in coming years, with Jake Rogers’ debut not far off.
So which Suns would clubs be interested in given many former regulars might soon be surplus to requirements?
Ainsworth is the free agent the Suns fear might be offered a huge deal elsewhere, while Ned Moyle will need to move on for opportunities.
What about the likes of swingman Joel Jeffrey (recently re-signed to 2028) and big-bodied mid Alex Davies, exciting kids who could find it awfully hard to win spots in this team in coming years?
14. ESSENDON ACTUALLY NEEDS DYLAN SHIEL IN THEIR SIDE QUICK SMART.
He isn’t a superstar but as their midfield got windburn against Jason Horne-Francis and Connor Rozee the Dons needed a mid who actually explodes forward from the stoppage.
The hope is that Elijah Tsatas can be that line-breaking mid with fellow top-10 pick Ben Hobbs more of the meat-and-potatoes variety onballer.
Shiel is back in the VFL next week as he tries to win a new contract.
But this week plenty of club list management groups will have had tough moments realising their midfield might never be able to compete with the Rozee-Zac Butters-Horne Francis on-ball unit in the next decade.
15. TOBY GREENE KICKED FIVE GOALS AND IS UNDER MRO SCRUTINY AGAIN.
Dusty Martin sparkled as speculation swirled over his future.
Jack Ginnivan enlivened the crowd with his antics and another head-high free kick controversy.
The game – and more specifically the footy media – puts those players on a pedestal then drags them down when they invariably cross the line.
But by gosh they make this game richer.
16. IF YOU CALL SOMEONE THE WORST POSSIBLE HOMOPHOBIC SLUR, YOU SHOULD NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO PLAY THE NEXT WEEK.
Jeremy Finlayson might escape suspension through the Alastair Clarkson precedent – also homophobic language, a more senior figure given only a suspended sentence.
But even if Finlayson is fined the AFL should state in the strongest possible terms from now on the use of that expression is an automatic suspension.
17. IF COLLINGWOOD WON THE FLAG FROM HERE IT WOULD BE A FOOTY MIRACLE.
It’s early but they need another key back, they need another key forward, the fear factor is gone. There are too many teams like GWS, Geelong, Port Adelaide, Melbourne and even Carlton to believe they can win four finals games given a double chance looks unlikely.
18. CHRIS SCOTT IS THE BEST MATCH-DAY COACH IN THE AFL. THAT’S IT.
Ross Lyon sets his sides up as well as any, but no one coaches better on the actual day.
19. FOOTY COMMENTARY QUOTE OF THE WEEK.
“Alex Rance once got tested because Damien Hardwick thought he might be blind,” revealed Jack Riewoldt on Sunday night’s commentary.
Turns out those Dimma thought those early Alex Rance “moments” might be eyesight related.
Instead he was just a colt waiting to mature but it was a laugh out loud moments from Riewoldt, seamlessly slotting into commentary after a starring AFL career.
20. DIMMA IS HAVING A BALL.
Two weeks in Damien Hardwick dumped a third of his side.
Then he threw Jack Lukosius and Sam Flanders to half back and both were spectacular.
He might have been ripped for being less than gracious about his former list when he arrived with his new toys.
But he will be worth every cent at the Suns coach, even despite the critics who wondered if he would thrive so soon after being “burnt out” at the Tigers.
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