The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes after round 1 of the 2023 AFL season
Aussie cricket legend Adam Gilchrist is our guest on The Tackle this week. And as a Carlton fan, he saw a lot of similarities in their draw to how the Blues’ 2022 season ended.
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Footy’s back – and where do we start?
From a dramatic draw in the season-opener to match review drama, Daicos delight, disappointing Dogs and complicated concussion questions, round 1 had it all.
One player even gets his own like and dislike.
Chief football writer Mark Robinson names his hits and misses from the weekend.
And we have a guest tackler – scroll down to see what Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist loved, and didn’t, in round 1.
DISLIKES
1. The complexity of football
Say Jeremy Howe knocked out Tyson Stengle, busted his jaw and cheekbone, and in 20 years’ time, Stengle has a jelly brain. Is that just bad luck? On Friday night, Howe broke his arm, when it could’ve easily been Stengle’s head. According to the rules, it would be impossible to decree that Howe was in the wrong – he left his opponent Jeremy Cameron, closed the space and jumped at the ball – but, at the same time, that sort of action from Howe can’t be encouraged. Howe could’ve stopped, propped, bodied out Stengle and marked the ball. Instead, he launched in the air – recklessly or carelessly or adventurously? – collecting an unsuspecting Stengle on the way through. And that’s footy? It is a sport not for the faint-hearted, and accidents are prevalent, but it was a collision which could’ve been avoided and, in today’s concussion environment, and future discussion, maybe should be avoided.
One exposed player running with the flight and eyes on the ball versus a player charging the other way with every ounce of energy he’s got is a car crash waiting to happen. Does the player charging in like Howe have a duty of care for his opponent, as much as there’s a duty of care for an exposed player who has his head over the ball? That act has been outlawed. There will come a time when Howe’s action will be discouraged, not because Howe did anything wrong, but because of its potential to cause serious injury. The complexity is, how do you curb the instinct to compete?
2. Dermott Brereton was intrigued
“I agree that it’s complex, the complexity of this sport is unreal, and that’s the beauty of it because there is no off-side,’’ the AFL great said on Sunday. “Where I disagree with you is each time we take in one of these rule changes, it becomes less of the sport that we had striven to make, as in wherever the ball goes there is a robust physical context. So, each time we take in out something to protects players, it takes away from the fact there’s no off-side rule.’’
Asked if Howe had a duty of care, Brereton said: “He could’ve had a duty of care to himself as well, but he didn’t, he was selfless. I would say that’s the nature of our sport. There’s a real attrition in our sport which people don’t want to acknowledge in this day and age.’’ Brereton said he would have approached the Stengle situation differently to Howe: “I was a little bit more nastier (than Howe) and I’m not proud to say it, but I would’ve aimed him up and kneed through him and that was our sport back then, and I know I would’ve got away with it.’’
The AFL stopped that blatant aggression, but, as said, how do you discourage Howe’s action, even if you want to.
3. Hello Harley Reid
It’s only one game, but that was quite unsettling from the Hawks. It means they might have had one hand on No. 1 selection in this year’s national draft, which is the Tongala Cup, named in honour of gun prospect Harley Reid. That’s the positive. The negatives at the MCG on Sunday were plentiful. Hawthorn’s pressure rating was 149, and no team had a worse pressure rating in any game last year. They were beyond meek. They were opened up everywhere. They lost contested ball by 14, clearance by six, uncontested ball by 27 and conceded 71 points from turnover. So, they couldn’t retain the ball, and when they lost it they couldn’t defend it. That is a horrible profile. Coach Sam Mitchell has a longish plan with his young team, and defeats will stack up, but that doesn’t preclude his team from bringing an effort level worthy of an AFL team. A rating of 149 made the Hawks look like chickens.
4. Crows midfield
The first test of the season produced a glaring fail for a team believing they can play finals this year. They won’t if they don’t grow to be killers. The Crows lost control at halftime and even though they were up by five goals, it should’ve been by eight or nine goals. They lost to a mob with two players down in 35-degree heat. It was a story of two halves. In the first, Adelaide led centre clearance 9-4 and inside-50s 32-27. In the second half, the Giants won centre clearances 9-4 and inside-50s 33-20. Izak Rankine was tantalising and frustrating. As good as he was – and he looms large for the Crows – he had eight shots at goal for the day and kicked two goals. He hurt the opposition, but could’ve killed them. And that describes the Crows – could’ve, should’ve and didn’t.
5. Oh, Freo
They looked scrappy, really scrappy. So much so that there’s more issues at Fremantle than most people thought. Going into round 1, there were questions about the defence of Brisbane and the Bulldogs, and Fremantle’s offence. Those questions remain. The Dockers have to figure out how to score. They had 65 entries and scored 52 points against St Kilda, and the fact the Saints pushed so many players back can’t be the sole excuse. Last year they averaged 78 points and only four other teams scored fewer points. Already, they miss David Mundy’s right foot. The Dockers midfield lacked class and delivery, and Nat Fyfe was a non-factor forward. He’s a blue collar giant but adding him to an already blue-collar midfield is best to avoid. Going early here, but the Dockers can’t win the flag with its misfiring forward line. A solution has to be found, and Luke Jackson as a key forward is not the answer, either.
6. There’s no complexity with Pickett or Franklin
Kozzie Pickett jumped in the air and hit Bailey Smith in the head. Case Closed. Same with Franklin. Forget the hoo-ha because it’s Buddy. It was said it will be “unfortunate’’ he will be reported, but what about the unfortunate and unsuspecting Sam Collins who was hit in the head and forced from the field because Franklin chose to deliver a cheap shot? A fine is not a sufficient punishment.
7. Shaky Suns
On a night AFL head honchos Richard Goyder, Gill McLachlan and Travis Auld flew north to celebrate president Tony Cochrane’s last game in charge, the Suns delivered a pathetic performance against Sydney. They were uncompetitive in the first quarter, and the forward line gave up in the final quarter. In the first quarter, Sydney laid 23 tackles to seven and their pressure was 211 to 160. It was a demolition. It was embarrassing. It’s 13 years since the Suns were born, with the AFL as their parents, and they still deliver that sort of uncompetitive football. Rowell and Witts gave their all in the middle, but the same can’t be said of the forward group. Mabior Chol, Ben King and Joel Jeffrey were ordinary, while Nick Holman always works hard. Gee, they were disappointing. And only 13,000 fans turned up. If they keep playing that sort of footy, that number will dissipate.
8. So were the Dogs
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge won’t abandon his plan to play three and four talls inside 50m, but it’s worth watching this space. It doesn’t help when Rory Lobb (two marks), who can be hit and miss, has a miss and Sam Darcy (one mark) struggled, and the ball was too easily run out of their forward line, which is always going to be a talking point. The Dogs conceded 12 goals from the back half, struggled to defend turnover and conceded 100 points, which Bulldogs critics would say was too big of a problem last season. Let’s hope Adam Treloar’s body is sound for the duration because his run and carry through the middle gave the Dogs some momentum.
9. So were the Lions
The flag contenders conceded 14 of the last 17 goals kicked at Adelaide Oval, and the old saying came to mind – it’s not that you get beaten, it’s how you got beaten. The Lions waved the flag. They were badly beaten up in the midfield, when it was the midfield that was bolstered in the off-season. Overall, the Lions lost contested ball by 27, clearances by seven, inside-50s by 22 and gave up seven goals from clearance. Neale, Dunkley, McCluggage and Bailey got turned over by Rozee, Wines, Horne-Francis and Butters far too easily in the second half. They play the Demons on Thursday night and the focus on that game will be extreme. No white flags this time, surely.
10. So was West Coast
In the first half, the big names of the Eagles were embarrassed by the emerging names at North Melbourne. At halftime, Kelly had 10 disposals at 33 per cent efficiency, Sheed had 12 at 57 per cent, while Gaff had 12 and 93m gained, and Ryan was towelled by Sheezel. They were horribly out-hunted. All the while North lost their ruckman in the first quarter and Eagles ruckman Bailey Williams, in his 27th game, didn’t have any influence. Indeed, Comben smashed him. The Eagles lifted after halftime, but gee whiz, where are they as a team? A long year ahead for sure.
LIKES
1. The underdog
St Kilda’s hotchpotch of round 1 players delivered a momentous victory on Sunday, adding to the aura surrounding new coach Ross Lyon. The coach often says football is not a talent contest, it’s a contest of will and physical commitment. The Saints had eight of their best 22 out, but their effort subdued and, in the last eight minutes, strangled the Dockers. The game plan, said skipper Jack Steele, was simple enough. Slow the ball movement and “crack in”. They won the contested ball by eight, won clearance by six and, more to the point, they conceded 52 points from 65 inside-50 entries. It looked like a game Lyon coached 10 years ago, but it’s understandable with so many top-liners out. Shootout footy was not them, not on Sunday anyway. Trench footy was the go, and the Saints put on their hard hats. It was low scoring, but it was gripping.
2. Sam Draper the forward
Peter Wright’s injury forced a rethink and coach Brad Scott threw his No. 1 ruck forward and Andrew Phillips into the ruck. It worked. Draper’s a huge presence. He kicked two goals and had another taken off him because Sam Durham took advantage and kicked the goal, and was one of 13 individual goalkickers for the Bombers. Archie Perkins (three goals) is one player who appears to be ready to have greater influence on games. Scott’s plan to improve team defence passed its first test, bearing in mind it was against the young Hawks. The Bombers conceded 49 entries and 65 points, and only once last season did they give up fewer points. It’s a start, but far greater tests will come.
3. Giant slaying
Numbers can’t really judge character and commitment, and those qualities delivered the Giants and new coach Adam Kingsley four points on Sunday. Five goals down and, throughout the day losing Perryman, Whitfield and Kelly because of injury, the Giants blitzed the Crows in the third quarter and then were resolute in the final quarter, as bodies cramped and collapsed in the heat. “It was the hardest game I’ve played in,’’ Giants captain Toby Greene told Fox Footy in the post-match. It was a cracking game and an even better win, a defining win. Tom Green lived up to the expectations in the middle, Stephen Coniglio was superb in the second half with six clearances and seven score involvements, Greene did “captain’’ things and Finn Callaghan, taken behind Horne-Francis and Darcy in the 2021 national draft, was the pick of the kids. He had 25 disposals and galloped up and down on the wing against Rory Sloane. He’s more than just a great runner, he’s got smarts and terrific kick – and, yes, he’s a left footer.
4. Kozzie Pickett
Park his stupidity for a second, he was clearly the best player on the ground on Saturday night. He had an array of opponents – Duryea and Dale as a forward and a collection of mids when he was in the middle, where he attended seven centre bounces, the most of his career. The Demons want to turn him into their version of Shai Bolton, and that’s a reasonable comparison. He’s bigger in the upper body, stronger, and clearly is no longer a small forward who can defend. His contract will be a talking point, and if produces regularly like he did on Saturday night, his dollars will skyrocket. Luke Jackson left for at least $800,000 and you could easily argue Kossie has more to offer than Jackson. Can the Demons afford to keep him? Put it this way, Izak Rankine went home for $800k and Kozzie is in his class.
5. LDU
Harry Sheezel was cool and calm in his first game on a back flank and won all the headlines, but it was Charlie Comben in game three and Luke Davies-Luke Davies-Uniacke in game 72 who left their fingerprints on this game. LDU has arrived as an elite player in the game. His skill set is incredible. He hunts the ball on the ground with his hands at the ready, keeps his feet, dodges bodies and wins the ball, all in heavy traffic. Then he explodes from the contests, swerving and carving through the opposition. He’s entered a phase of his career where, if he dominates, he is a matchwinner. An old Shinboner reckoned he reminded him of former Tiger Geoff Raines, who once was considered the “best centreman in Australia” until Maurice Rioli arrived at Richmond in the early 1980s. LDU had 32 disposals, 19 contested, 10 clearances and eight score involvements and was best afield by some way. Comben might be next. The 21-year-old had to ruck after Tristan Xerri was injured, and he had 11 score involvements, the most of any player.
6. Big Charlie Dixon
God love him – and hate him. He gave up two 50m penalties and a goal in the same incident in the second quarter and then missed two behinds, before kicking a goal on the halftime siren. He finished with 3.3, one out of bounds, four free kicks against and took 10 marks, six of them contested. That was the Charlie Dixon full package, worth the price of a ticket alone. The plaudits went to the young guns in the middle, especially the dazzling Jason Horne-Francis, but Dixon remains the heartbeat of this team. Still, Charlie becomes a serious issue when his negatives outweigh his positives, which they did in his temperamental and selfish second quarter. It just can’t happen again.
7. Double tag on the Daicos boys?
It’s radical, but this sport evolves quickly and plans need to be made to curb Nick and, to a lesser extent, Josh. Team defence is king, but these two are so precise with ball in hand, the flow-on means it allows their teammates to be a step ahead of their opponents. Like, teammates can run wide, into the corridor, or out the back because the brothers have the capabilities to make any kick. Teammates give them the ball, and when that happens, Pies players forward of the ball can run and create with confidence. You can go head-to-head with Josh with instructions to his opponent to be mindful defensively. Not with Nick. To try to beat the Pies, Nick has to be shut down. Against Geelong, he had 21 kicks at 91 per cent efficiency. That efficiency creates confidence and momentum for his teammates, and it will be a foolish opposition coaching box which allows Nick to play on his terms every week.
8. Stephen Silvagni’s principles
Everyone always wants a nice red bow tied around everything, but not this time Blues. The Carlton great was chastised for not being in a photograph with his son Jack and the family in the rooms, and instead chose to sit in his car. Well played, SOS. The irony of the Blues inviting SOS to celebrate with Jack and his brothers, when SOS was, in part, ingloriously punted by the club because his sons were on the list, can’t be ignored. Please, it was to be in a photo and we’re sure SOS would have thousands of photos of the family, and probably took a couple on the night anyhow. Clubs can’t throw people out with the trash and then expect them to come waltzing back in when they are invited to sit at the dining table. As someone famous said, if you don’t have principles, what have you got?
GUEST TACKLER: ADAM GILCHRIST
Like
“I was in Melbourne on Thursday and even though I couldn’t get to the game – I’m a Blues man – the hype and excitement was prevalent. Doing the walk from my hotel to the ’G on Friday night … you could feel a tribal sense of anticipation for the night and season ahead. I had 11 mates with me, we were over there for a buck’s trip and some of them had never been to the MCG. And then the game … it was everything we love about live sport and footy. That experience of everything converging to that one place, the MCG. Loved it.”
Dislike
“I didn’t like the last 90 seconds of the Carlton game. I felt like it was déjà vu from last season. At least we got some points, not the heartbreak of last year, which saw us out of the comp. The worst thing was I had to wear my mate’s Collingwood beanie after the game on Friday night. We were in the Duke of Wellington and clearly being a Carlton supporter for a long time, there was only one result I was looking for on Friday night and it didn’t come my way. And that was Collingwood to lose.’’
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