AFL Round 20 Early Tackle: Glenn McFarlane names his likes and dislikes
The Demons nearly turned around a four goal last quarter deficit at the ‘G on Saturday night but were there more seagulls than fans to witness it? See Glenn McFarlane’s round 20 likes and dislikes.
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The race for the top eight — and all-important double chance — has rarely been as close as this.
With 13 teams in the mix for a finals berth, round 20 was always going to be another important weekend to shape the premiership aspirations of a host of sides.
Port Adelaide made the first statement when it continued its imposing Friday night record by defeating Carlton, which is now clinging to a top-four spot.
Glenn McFarlane names his likes and dislikes in the Early Tackle.
DISLIKES
COULD PIES PROVE PARTY POOPERS TO BLUES’ TOP-TWO DREAMS?
Things aren’t as grim for Carlton as agitated talkback caller ‘Snapper’ claimed on Friday night.
But the tipping point in the Blues’ season could come next Saturday night against an old and not-so-close friend, Collingwood.
Win it, and the top two hopes they put in jeopardy by coughing up a five-goal lead to Port Adelaide on Friday night will still be alive.
Lose it, and the Blues will likely have to travel interstate at some stage in September.
Like many Blues fans, Snapper was ropeable when he rang into Finey’s Final Siren on SEN just moments after the 14-point Power shutdown, saying: “If we lose to Collingwood, mark my words, the stands of the Carlton Football Club will crumble.”
That won’t happen, but their premiership aspirations might …
Yes, Michael Voss’ team was coming off a five-day break with some key players out, but the Blues right now are a shadow of their early season form.
They have lost three of their past four games, playing GWS, Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide back into finals contention, leaving themselves vulnerable.
The Blues’ backline was always likely to be its Achilles heel – and that hasn’t changed – but the two areas of strength (the midfield and attack) have also got concerns a month out from the finals.
Harry McKay returning will help the forward line, but with no Tom De Koning until at least the finals, the Blues have got some challenges.
Collingwood famously ended Carlton’s finals ambitions in the last round of 2022. The Pies’ own season could rest on next Saturday night in Scott Pendlebury’s 400th game.
These two ‘best of enemies’ are in for some sort of contest.
DEJA VU DONS IN FREEFALL
For Essendon fans, this was the predictable horror movie they have sat through too many times as yet another season that started so brightly looks like finishing in another bloody mess.
What the Bombers dished up against St Kilda on Saturday was nothing short of embarrassing, given what was at stake.
They were comprehensively outplayed, outworked, out-muscled and out-thought in a meek performance to cap off a listless past few months.
It’s hard to believe this same Essendon team was outright second at the end of round 11; but a relatively dry July (and a dry June, for that matter) has left Brad Scott’s team almost in freefall.
Forget about winning a final for the first time in 20 years, this team looks miles off even playing in September, given their remaining four games come against Fremantle, Gold Coast, Sydney and Brisbane.
Sound familiar?
This same slasher movie happened last year, when Essendon teased us in the first half of the season before falling in a heap.
It’s a very familiar script this year, perhaps even worse as they haven’t learnt the lesson.
Essendon lost six of its past eight matches, with their only victories in that time coming against West Coast and an injury-depleted Collingwood.
As Dermott Brereton said on Fox Footy: “If you drill down on it, they (Essendon) have lost their game … they just can’t move the ball and when they do, they look one-dimensional.”
“Their midfield … doesn’t look that hungry, their absolute rabid determination isn’t there.”
WHERE WERE ALL THE DEMONS FANS?
We won’t make any cheap ski-field jokes, but the question has to be asked - where were the Demons fans when their team’s season was almost on the line on Saturday night?
Incredibly, there were only 16,246 fans who turned up to the MCG (quite a few of them in orange) to watch the two finals hopefuls, and at times it looked as if there were more seagulls than footy fans.
It’s a shame as this was a match that went right down to the wire with Melbourne kicking the last four goals to almost claw their way back into the contest before running out of time.
It was a game of fits and starts for the Demons, who kicked five goals in the first term and four in the last, but coach Simon Goodwin will be lamenting what was left in between.
One positive was the performance of Clayton Oliver, who has endured a tough season. He had 26 disposals, six clearances, 13 contested possessions and eight inside 50s.
The loss leaves the Demons stuck outside the eight on 10 wins, with games against Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide, Gold Coast and Collingwood to come.
SHEEZ, THAT’S A FRUSTRATING FINISH ROOS!
Let’s start a negative with a positive … Harry Sheezel is a superstar and is on track for his maiden All-Australian blazer and most likely a second Syd Barker Medal to boot.
His form is off the charts, having 36 disposals (25 contested) against the Cats, and he had a hand in all but a handful of Kangaroos scoring involvements.
That’s the good news; now for the bad news.
North Melbourne has come a long way in a competitive sense since the mid-year bye, but the frustration of getting overwhelmed late by elite sides remains.
Geelong kicked eight of the last 11 goals to turn what had been an entertaining and tight contest into a comfortable 40-point victory over the Kangaroos.
Harry Sheezel is a genuine star â#AFLNorthCatspic.twitter.com/ZzZno9apKz
— AFL (@AFL) July 27, 2024
We know Alastair Clarkson’s young team is still a work in progress, but at some stage they have to turn competitive quarters and halves into four quarter efforts.
Little mistakes are hurting, including two horrible goal-line stuff ups that coughed up goals which shouldn’t have been.
The first might have been the worst of the season when Dylan Stephens was competing with Ollie Dempsey right on the line, but he missed a handball attempt to Aidan Corr.
Corr then had the chance to simply take the ball over the line for a behind, but somehow had the ball sharked off him by the enterprising Dempsey, who kicked the Cats’ opening goal.
Then, in the last term, confusion between Stephens and Brynn Teakle deep in defence meant a spilled mark ended up with Shaun Mannagh, who nailed it.
The Roos meet bottom-placed Richmond next Saturday and then West Coast in Tassie the week after.
It’s time they ticked those two games off.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TORCHED
You would have forgiven Damien Hardwick if he had let off another F-bomb in his Saturday night presser.
For his Suns won’t get a better chance to knock off their cross-state big brother Brisbane Lions.
On their home deck – where they hadn’t lost a game leading into this clash – and against a team almost bereft of big defenders, Gold Coast had the perfect opportunity to keep their hopes of a maiden finals berth alive.
But the Suns never really looked capable of upstaging the Lions, and Hardwick’s team will likely have to win all four of their remaining matches – against West Coast, Essendon, Melbourne and Richmond – to have any chance of playing in September.
Three of those games are on the road, which isn’t a good thing for a team that travels almost as bad as raw chicken on a stinking hot day.
CRIPPA NEEDS HELP, NOW
Patrick Cripps might be on his way to his second Brownlow Medal, but it’s not the medal he wants hanging around his neck.
He craves a premiership medal.
And if he doesn’t start getting some help in the midfield, it won’t be happening this year.
Carlton’s stoppage and clearance game has faltered across the past month.
The Blues have been ranked 18th for points conceded from clearances since round 16, which is simply not good enough.
It wasn’t all that long ago when it seemed as if it was ‘Cripps or Bust’ in the Carlton midfield.
This Michael Voss incarnation of the Blues has moved beyond that in recent years with Sam Walsh, in particular, stamping his impact on the team, and other midfielders stepping up.
But the last four weeks have been a step back in time that Voss needs to address.
Cripps was shadowed by Willem Drew, but still managed 25 disposals and nine clearances.
Walsh looks as if he is struggling with his body a bit right now. He burst out of the blocks after missing the first month of the season with back issues. But while he is trying his heart out, he hasn’t seemed to be at his dynamic best in the past month.
Adam Cerra, who had a good finals series last year, played mainly off half back on Friday night, with Alex Cincotta sent in to tag Zak Butters.
But the cold, stark reality is that the Blues were -10 in clearances, -7 in centre clearances and -3 in stoppage clearances against Port Adelaide.
Carlton’s midfield must get back to its collaborative best – and fast!
LIKES
HOW MUCH IS KEN-OUGH?
Ken Hinkley loves his players. And the unmistakeable thing you can take out of Friday’s gritty victory over Carlton is that Kenny’s players love him back.
You couldn’t say that about most AFL coaches who have had their jobs questioned, as Hinkley has had for most of this season.
He is contracted for next season, but with plenty of speculation around his role, what the Power does in the next four to eight weeks could determine if he coaches on.
He was externally linked this week with the vacant West Coast job, but swatted away any suggestions (twice!) of that during his postgame press conference on Friday night.
So, to borrow a line from Barbie, and an idea from Fox Footy’s Ben Dixon, how much is Ken-ough for Hinkley to lead Port Adelaide into the 2025 season?
Surely if the Power makes it through to the finals – and that’s still no certainty with a brutal month against Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle to come – and potentially win a final, then the man who has given so much to the club should see out his contract.
He had a good night from a coaching perspective on Friday – helped out by the man favoured to replace him in Josh Carr – with his match-ups getting a bit tick and with his move of Esava Ratugolea into attack aimed at stretching the Blues’ susceptible defence.
The next month will be fascinating in what has been the most even season in modern memory.
SHARMAN’S MARVEL CIRCUS
Cooper Sharman is yet to play 50 games for the Saints, but the Bombers made him look like a modern-day version of Stewart ‘Buckets’ Loewe in a St Kilda mark-athon at Marvel Stadium.
On a day in which the Saints dominated in the air – and for that matter on the ground too – Sharman was one of the standout performers.
Ross Lyon predicted last week that the Saints wanted to be the final’s ‘grinch’, delivering body blows to the September aspirations of teams in the back half of the season.
And they delivered what could yet prove a season-ending hit to the confidence-sapped Bombers, as Lyon’s team made it three wins from their past four matches.
Steele has three for the quarter 🫡#AFLSaintsDonspic.twitter.com/LIOJe9Qqw3
— AFL (@AFL) July 27, 2024
Sharman took 10 marks on the day and kicked three goals in a strong performance.
St Kilda had seven of the top eight markers in the game – Callum Wilkie (11), Sharman and Rowan Marshall (10), and nine each to Josh Battle, Mitch Owens, Jack Sinclair and Darcy Wilson. Essendon had only one player in that same bracket with Xavier Duursma (nine).
How’s this for an aerial smashing?
The Saints were +49 in marks, +14 marks inside 50 and +9 in contested marks, with their tally of 149 more than 50 ahead of their season average.
WHO’S GOING TO STOP THE LIONS’ STREAK?
Be afraid, be very afraid!
The Brisbane Lions reeled off the grittiest victory of their eight-game winning streak that dates back to May – and they haven’t finished yet.
Despite missing most of the key defensive stocks and having to play one of their key forwards Eric Hipwood in defence, the Lions bullied the Suns and never looked like giving up their Q-Clash ascendancy.
They have won 11 of their past 12 games against the Suns.
Given the way they are playing right now, it wouldn’t surprise if the Lions went into the finals on a 12-game winning streak, with home and away games to come against St Kilda, GWS Giants, Collingwood and Essendon.
They are going to be hard to stop now.
A top four spot seems almost a certainty given their current form and a top two spot (guaranteeing a Gabba qualifying final) seems highly likely. Good luck stopping them if that happens.
HOGAN’S HEROES
If Jesse Hogan misses out on winning the Coleman Medal by one goal - heaven forbid - Harvey Thomas is going to owe him a few beers.
For Thomas’ bizarre decision to not give the ball to him in the goal square on Saturday night and instead spray it into Hogan’s leg was one of the misses of the season.
In a game that was decided by two points, it could have proven costly, but the Giants managed to hold on to keep their top four hopes alive.
Hogan finished with 4.0 on a night when he broke through the 50-goal mark for the first time in a season.
He sits on 53 goals, just three behind Carlton’s Charlie Curnow (56), and incredibly he has kicked 20.1 since round 15.
The newly re-signed Adam Kingsley gave his troops a deserved spray at quarter time after conceding five goals to one in the first term, but his Giants held on to win their fourth game in succession.
The run home to the finals isn’t an easy one.
They take on Hawthorn (Canberra), Brisbane Lions (Gabba), Fremantle (Giants Stadium) and Western Bulldogs (Ballarat).
Callan Ward will next weekend become the first Giant to reach 250 games to add to his 60 games with the Bulldogs.
OLLIE’S RISING STAR CLAIM, WARLORD’S NERVOUS WAIT
Geelong hasn’t won a Rising Star award since a kid called Joel Selwood emerged in 2007, but Ollie Dempsey might change that after tightening his grip on this year’s award with a big performance against North Melbourne.
The Rising Star was always going to be a sub-plot in the Hobart game as the two current favourites – Dempsey and George Wardlaw – were on show on the same stage.
Wardlaw started the round the narrow TAB favourite ahead of Dempsey, but as good as the Kangaroos young gun was with 22 disposals, the versatile Cat staked his claim with a creative 18-disposal, three-goal performance.
It wasn’t just what he did on the scoreboard, Dempsey also set up some opportunities for his team with his nous and his game sense.
In a season in which we’ve already lost two key Rising Star contenders due to suspension (Harley Reid and Sam Darcy), Wardlaw will have a nervous wait after throwing his foot out to trip Shaun Mannagh.
It should attract a fine rather than a suspension, which would keep him eligible.
“If that’s more than a fine, the Rising Star is Ollie Dempsey’s,” Fox Footy’s David King said.
Dempsey’s statement-making game might mean Wardlaw be playing catch-up with four games left to determine who takes over the crown from Wardlaw’s teammate Harry Sheezel, who was last year’s winner.
Tyson Stengle is super classy 👌#AFLNorthCatspic.twitter.com/19Mrzx1guT
— AFL (@AFL) July 27, 2024
STEWART AND STENGLE SHOW
Geelong bounced back from last week’s GMHBA shocker in the manner that it needed to against North Melbourne and it largely came off the back of two stars with the same initials – Tom Stewart and Tyson Stengle.
Stewart was almost unstoppable, carrying on his good form over the past month following one of the most challenging periods of his career earlier in the season.
He started in the midfield but pretty much slotted in anywhere from the centre line to half back where he marshalled the Cats’ troops and set up countless counter-attacks.
He pretty much went wherever he wanted, having 32 disposals and taking nine marks, with the Kangaroos too often kicking it into him.
When North Melbourne were coming at the Cats during the third term, it was Stengle in attack who proved the difference.
He booted three goals, to take his season tally to 37, which means he is on track to mirror his 53-goal All-Australian haul from 2022.
PORT’S TACKLE-HAPPY ROLE PLAYERS
Miles Bergman laid six tackles on Friday night but two of them in the space of a few telling seconds – summed up how desperate Port Adelaide was to win this match.
It came when Patrick Cripps gave the ball off to Ollie Hollands, with the young Blue handballing back to his skipper at close quarters. But he hadn’t reckoned with Bergman’s launch at Cripps to drag him down, then his double up effort to nail Hollands when he got the ball resulting in a crucial free kick.
They were the two standout tackles of Port Adelaide’s 91 tackles for the night – 27 more than their season average and 18 more than Carlton’s tally on the night.
Bergman is having a strong season, having rejected overtures from a host of Victorian clubs including Collingwood and St Kilda 12 months ago to sign a new two-year deal with Port.
In a team with midfield stars Zak Butters, Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis, Willem Drew (with a game-high 12 tackles on Friday) doesn’t get the external plaudits he deserves.
Internally, he’s a much loved role player who just gets his job done. You could see that in the team huddle after the game when every Power player got to him and congratulated him on his selfless performance on Cripps in his 100th AFL game.
Originally published as AFL Round 20 Early Tackle: Glenn McFarlane names his likes and dislikes
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