AFL Early Tackle: Sam Landsberger names his likes and dislikes from round 17
Charlie Curnow has now been soundly beaten in seven of the past eight quarters. Is there cause for concern? And did the Blues get ahead of themselves last night? SAM LANDSBERGER names all his round 17 likes and dislikes.
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The Bombers made their statement on Friday night.
But what’s up with Collingwood?
Sam Landsberger unpacks the fallout from the MCG blockbuster as he names his round 17 likes and dislikes in the Early Tackle.
DISLIKES
THE WATCH ON KING CHARLIE
Charlie Curnow was OK in the final quarter on Saturday night. The man on track for a third Coleman Medal kept his goalkicking streak alive as he hit the scoreboard for the 63rd consecutive game. But Curnow was soundly beaten for the previous seven quarters. Last week fringe Tiger Ben Miller kept Curnow to just seven disposals. Curnow kicked one special goal in the first term and then went unsighted until a second goal in junk time. On Saturday night, Jack Buckley completed blanketed the special talent. In the first three quarters Curnow registered just three touches and zero marks. His form has dropped away, although that appeared a positive last week given the Blues still managed to bang through 20 goals from a spread of 11 players. But after a second quiet week there is a watch on King Charlie.
DID BLUES GET AHEAD OF THEMSELVES?
How do you explain Carlton motoring to a 39-point lead in the first quarter and then falling 36 points behind in the third quarter? Did the Blues get ahead of themselves as they wandered to the quarter-time break? If so, this might serve as a welcomed reality check for a team still relatively inexperienced at being talked up as arguably the best team in it. Perhaps that is disrespectful to the Giants. They busted their guts to turn the tide and their deadly accuracy – particularly from 40-50m – was something to behold. The work-rate of Kieren Briggs, Jesse Hogan, Brent Daniels and Callan Ward and the ball use of Connor Idun was that of a club fully aware its season was on the line. The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. And if the second and third quarters are sustainable the Giants cannot be discounted from the flag race just yet.
PIES’ PREPARATION NO AMUSEMENT
Collingwood is set to slip out of the top eight just days after Isaac Quaynor and Nick Daicos slid down the water slides at Wet ‘n’ Wild. It seemed a peculiar decision to allow players to remain on Gold Coast for a six-day break and it is absolutely fair to question on the back of Friday night’s un-Collingwood-like performance. The Magpies were unpredictable to each other and privately admitted they did not know what their teammates were doing with the ball at times. Collingwood’s knack of locking the ball in for stoppages or turning it over was absent as the Bombers laid 56 tackles. Usual defender Jeremy Howe was clearly the most threatening forward – and Howe elected to fly home to Melbourne on Sunday morning. Premiership Pie Dale Thomas said last week a couple of Craig McRae’s men skipped over to Bali for the recent bye. Clubs trust their players more than ever these days, but sunning it up in Seminyak and amusement parks seems less ideal when September is no sure thing.
PREMIERSHIP DEFENCE MIGHT HAVE SEVEN GAMES LEFT
The TAB has the reigning premier a $2.25 chance to crash out of the top eight in what would be a shock repeat of Geelong in 2023. Six of the Pies’ final seven games will be played in front of packed crowds at the MCG. They might all seem like mini finals, given Collingwood needs four more victories to book their finals ticket. A couple of those matches have looked far easier than they do now, which underlines that the season really is a marathon. Consider this – after round 4 Brisbane Lions were winless and after round 8 Geelong (7-0) and GWS (6-1) were all the rage and Hawthorn (1-6) sat 17th. Since then the Lions have swooped, the Cats and Giants have spun out of control before powerfully reemerging and Carlton – which dropped to 11th after round 11 – started to munch teams as Sydney’s clear rival for premiership favouritism. Port Adelaide fans bayed for Ken Hinkley’s blood two weeks ago and now they are equal fourth. For all of the twists and turns it is an injury-whacked Collingwood who is losing ground approaching the final straight of the home-and-away season.
NOT SO SWEET
This should have been underperforming All-Australian ruckman Tim English’s statement game. Port Adelaide ruckman Jordon Sweet spent the previous four seasons playing exclusively second fiddle to English as teammates at the kennel. Instead, it was yet another sour day for one of the few remaining restricted free agents. Curiously, English started forward as Sam Darcy went up against Sweet at the opening centre bounce. Sweet’s tap to Ollie Wines to set up a forward 50m stoppage goal to the Brownlow Medallist looked more like Polly Farmer than a player who eked out just 11 out of a possible 63 games as a Bulldog. English will never be Shane Mumford, but last season he recorded at least 20 disposals in nine out of his first 14 games. But English has had 20 disposals in just one out of his past 15 games. One of his 17 disposals on Saturday was a silly sideways kick to Nick Coffield with Mitch Georgiades breathing down his neck. English is not worth $1 million per season, as colleague Mark Robinson contended pre-season. Even in that All-Australian year, English only finished seventh in the best-and-fairest for a club that missed finals. He was far from the Dogs’ worst against Port Adelaide and did kick two goals. But it was a sweet reunion for the South Australian who the Dogs wanted to keep on their list last year.
DOG-BACLE
Every club is allowed an outlier performance or two for the season. The Dogs served one up in their season-opener against Melbourne. Their second came against Port Adelaide on Saturday. This was not the Bulldogs team that had earned so much respect in the previous seven weeks. Sam Darcy and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s set-shot shockers in the first quarter showed something was off, as did the stats sheet. Connor Rozee (18 disposals, the most by any player in a quarter), Zak Butters and Wines had 45 disposals, two goals and 13 clearances between them. You’re not switched on when that happens. Ugle-Hagan is out of form and, like a traffic cop, often uses one hand instead of two in marking contests. The Dogs were fumbly, outcoached and have still not beaten Port Adelaide since the 2021 preliminary final. Suddenly, Aaron Naughton is concussed and the stretched defence could enter Saturday’s game against Carlton without Liam Jones, Alex Keath or James O’Donnell. Charlie Curnow already has 14 goals in his past three games against the Dogs. Following that it is the resurgent Geelong at GMHBA Stadium and Sydney at the SCG. It doesn’t get any tougher than that.
OFF THE BALL BLOWS
Suspect there is a bit more to play out from the Port-Dogs clash on Saturday. Late in the second quarter Ken Hinkley told Zak Butters to stay calm in what was an intense discussion regarding off the ball incidents. Butters has been stung almost $15,000 this year, mostly for lashing out at taggers. But the obvious incident involved Port Adelaide’s Brandon Zerk-Thatcher’s swinging arm collecting Aaron Naughton. It looked like an innocuous, glancing blow. But the fact is Naughton was concussed with a splattered nose. There were shades of Willie Rioli’s strike to Jordan Ridley last year, which Port Adelaide had downgraded to a two-match ban at the tribunal.
FRAUD SQUAD
Gold Coast was 7-9 when it sacked Stewart Dew. Triple-premiership coach Damien Hardwick has the Suns 8-8 exactly 12 months on from the decision to axe Dew. The long-time basket case club still cannot be taken seriously and has now dropped its past 14 away games. Saturday’s loss to North Melbourne effectively handed back all of the credits received for knocking off reigning premier Collingwood last week. They are frauds on the road and, to put it bluntly, until that stops they will be wasting everybody’s time when talking about the possibility of breaking through to play finals. Ben Aisnworth had the chance to be the hero, but his miss summed up a wasteful last term (38 per cent accuracy with 3.5). It was the first game they lost despite winning the inside 50m count this year. Perhaps there is an element of karma involved. Hardwick has coached nine games at Marvel Stadium since preciously declaring “I hate coming here” – for eight losses and one draw.
BE ANGRY, NOT PLEBBY
The AFL must fine Damien Hardwick for dropping the F-bomb early in his press conference. “As a footy club we’ve got to grow the f--- up, to be perfectly honest. Excuse the language,” Hardwick said out of nowhere. He had every right to be angry, and plenty will endorse the emotive response from a club coated in mediocrity. But he had no right to be coarse publicly. Yes, players occasionally drop the F-bomb in on-field TV interviews when the adrenaline is still pumping. But a senior coach talking 30 minutes after the game has finished must articulate that anger cleanly. How classless would the AFL appear if every coach was allowed to describe their team’s performance with colourful language without being sanctioned?
LIKES
RIVETING ROOS
North Melbourne’s past five games comfortably standout as the club’s best stretch since it started the 2016 season 9-0. It has netted two wins, three losses by an average of just seven points and one all-important rung climbed on the AFL ladder. It was a rung that looked unscalable for the first 13 rounds. Alastair Clarkson’s smile in the coaches’ box on the final siren might have been his biggest since the 2015 grand final. The elation pouring out of Luke Davies-Uniacke as he stood waiting to speak to Fox Footy’s Ben Dixon seconds later also had shades of the pure joy usually reserved for September wins. And what about the wide grin on Colby McKercher’s face as the Kangas sung the song in Victoria for the first time in 469 days? Importantly, so many of the Roos played like winners in key moments on Saturday. Harry Sheezel and Paul Curtis slammed home critical goals from 50m when the game hung in the balance. They wanted their moments and it is as if there has been no mental scarring from the previous stretch of one win from 31 games. Almost all of those fixtures were a chance for neutrals to take a breather from the couch. But four out of the past five games have been riveting, largely must-watch TV. That means the Roos have provided a rapid refurbishment to a small part of the overall product.
NO TRADE FOR TRAINOR?
North Melbourne’s future all-star midfield might already be assembled. On Saturday these Joeys destroyed Gold Coast’s highly-regarded onball division at the coalface. They won clearances 45-29 and out-tackled the Suns 63-55 with George Wardlaw (concussion) sitting in the stands. Colby McKercher, who plays in Zach Merrett’s mould, had 37 disposals, Sheezel had 35 disposals and 10 clearances and Luke Davies-Uniacke had 30 disposals and nine clearances. They each kicked a goal, too. So if the Roos finish with the No.2 draft pick should they split it and target 196cm intercepting defender Luke Trainor in what would be a reverse of the GWS decision to trade up to No.1 for Aaron Cadman? Maybe not. Trainor is superior to Dan Curtin (No.8 last year) at the same stage and if the Roos slide back they could miss out on the kid who perfectly suits their list needs, given Trainor is every chance to go in the first five picks of the open draft.
CATS ROLLING AGAIA
Geelong’s form is spinning faster than Jupiter both on a macro and micro scale. The Cats started the season 7-0 and then went 1-6. Leading into last week’s Country Game, the Cats had conceded 37 goals in seven quarters where they were outscored by 122 points. Since halftime against the Bombers, they have kicked 26 goals in six quarters where they have outscored their opponents by 101 points. The reversals are crazy but importantly they are once again rolling at warp speed in the right direction. Minutes into Saturday’s demolition of Hawthorn you could tell this was going to be one-way traffic. The ball barely escaped Geelong’s attack and by the final siren the Hawks had managed just 40 inside 50s. The Cats won the stat by 23, which equalled their season-high for differential. If Geelong’s wasteful 6.12 from set-shots was 12.6 this would have been far uglier.
SDK IS THE ONE
The longest-running positional debate in football is finally over. You have to go back all the way to Brad Ottens’ retirement in 2011 for the last time Geelong had a star ruckman. The spot has spent the best part of the 13 years since unsettled and often in a state of flux. The Cats have not had an All-Australian ruckman since Steven King in 2000 (excluding utility Mark Blicavs) and the best they have drafted since King were Shane Mumford and Mark Blake. But premiership full-back Sam De Koning – who was drafted as anything but a ruckman, with Chris Scott revealing SDK was a halfback flanker before a late growth spurt – is the man. Yes, the debate is over. De Koning has all the attributes and his craft is impressively strong given his inexperience in the middle. It is a reverse Jordan Roughead situation, a settled full-back who went on to be a premiership ruckman in 2016 (Western Bulldogs). Watching Sam and then Tom (Carlton) ruck in back-to-back games on Saturday showcased how exciting the brothers will be to watch playing around the ball for many years to come.
CADDY’S CHUTZPAH
Some players desperately want the ball in their hands for the big moments. Think Robbie Gray, Jamie Elliott, David Mundy, Tom Hawkins in recent teams. They have all been kings of the clutch kick after the final siren. Other players are less certain in their ability to get it done when it matters most. Daniel Motlop winced before missing his chance for post-siren glory in 2006 and last week some have suggested Logan McDonald didn’t look totally comfortable taking on the responsibility from 50m against Fremantle. Well, Nate Caddy looks like he well and truly belongs in that first bracket of players. The teenage full-forward launches at the ball like his life depends on it and his presence as an almost cocky teenager was a pivotal factor in Essendon drafting him at No.10 last year. The greats of the game usually have those traits and it is hard to remember a key forward drafted with the immediate ability to impact matches. Some skinny totals have won Essendon’s goalkicking since Matthew Lloyd retired – Angus Monfries’ 24, Jake Stringer’s 30, Stewart Crameri’s 30 and Joe Daniher’s 34. When Caddy’s career catches fire those numbers might quickly become a thing of the past.
ONE RUCK AND ROLL
Brad Scott promised childhood Dons fan Todd Goldstein that he would persist with two ruckman when he signed the free agent. It surprised rivals as early as pre-season given pairing Goldstein and Sam Draper along with Peter Wright, Harry Jones and Nik Cox made the Bombers extraordinarily top-heavy. But Scott simply must renege on that promise for the rest of the season. He probably should have far earlier given how better balanced the Bombers are playing Caddy instead of a genuine second ruckman. They are 3-0 with the kid while Jones’ surprise move to the wing is looking OK. Essendon’s depth has gone from a kids pool to an Olympic diving pool in one off-season after they changed the composition of their list from 36 senior players and six rookies (2022-23) to a full primary list of 38 players and four rookies. It was like Ben McKay and Goldstein replacing delisted rookies Rhett Montgomerie and Patrick Voss on the list. They have replacements in every position as evidenced by Dylan Shiel’s brilliant return against Collingwood. There are several reasons the Bombers are finally trustworthy. Depth and rapid improvements of what they already had – think aggressive onballers Jye Caldwell and Sam Durham – along with a beefed-up defensive system top the list.
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