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Four Points

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Bailey Smith is one of the competition’s biggest stars.

Fireside diplomacy: Why the AFL chief drove 90 minutes to break bread with Bailey Smith

Andrew Dillon wanted to reinforce to Smith how important he was to the game – and how important the game was, and could be, for him.

  • Michael Gleeson

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Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera.

Before splashing their cash on TDK, Saints need to look after their own best player

Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera’s ability is well-known to all, it seems, except Melbourne, who left him to run unchecked, it seemed, on Sunday in Alice Springs.

  • Michael Gleeson
Mark Keane takes a game-saving grab against Port Adelaide.

It wasn’t a screamer, but this should be a mark of the year contender

He didn’t get the elevation of, say, Sam Durham against the Swans on Saturday. But it was as courageous as you will find

  • Michael Gleeson
Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield.

Danger zone: The key area 35-year-old Cats skipper is producing career-best numbers in

Patrick Dangerfield’s game on Saturday night as a counterpoint to that of Jordan De Goey, 29, could not have been stronger.

  • Michael Gleeson
Carlton stars Jacob Weitering and Patrick Cripps.

Are the Blues back? The signs are promising

A victory like Sunday’s in front of nearly 70,000 at the MCG against a top-six team is a moment to enjoy and speculate just how good the Blues can be when they play like that.

  • Michael Gleeson
Christian Petracca and his teammates had yet another forgettable night.

Simon Goodwin’s day of reckoning is about to arrive, unless his side can fix this glaring issue

Petracca, Oliver, May and Fritsch seemed to forget somewhere along the line they are playing a team sport. Right now they appear incapable of being selfless on the footy field.

  • Peter Ryan
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Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell has been offered a three-game ban by the AFL’s match review officer for rough conduct after he shoved his Saints opponent Liam O’Connell into a marking contest.

Rhyan Mansell and Richmond should cop his three-match ban

Also in Four Points this week: much of what’s gone wrong at Carlton has been out of Michael Voss’ control. But the Blues have won just two of their past 10 games, and face a huge match against Collingwood this week.

  • Michael Gleeson
The Bombers’ defensive efforts against the Crows were poor.

Get defensive: The glass-half-empty view of the Bombers

Essendon gave up 25 goals to the Crows, lost by 10 goals and were defensively weak. Again. The same old problems re-emerged. Is there a glass-half-full way of looking at it?

  • Michael Gleeson
Michael Voss is not under immediate pressure to keep his job, but Thursday night’s loss to Richmond was worrying.

Blues must respond or pressure will mount; The recruits who dazzled in round 1

The Blues’ loss was the worst of the Michael Voss era, and as bad anything they’ve served up in recent memory. Their restless fans will be expecting an emphatic response this week, but the challenge awaiting them is significant.

  • Michael Gleeson
Carlton’s Nic Newman after the Blues’ loss to Collingwood.

If Carlton can fix these two problems, they can still win the flag

Carlton slumped from fourth to eighth in a bad weekend for the navy blue faithful, but they are still closer to success than Mitch McGovern’s kick was to scoring.

  • Peter Ryan

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/four-points-6gng