Early Tackle: Glenn McFarlane names his likes and dislikes from round 24 of the AFL season

North Melbourne’s Alastair Clarkson has had his line-in-the-sand moment with the struggling AFL club. And that decision could turn out to be the making of the Roos.

Are the Magpies back? Where are the Bombers? Who gets the No. 1 pick?

In the finale to the home-away-season, plenty of questions remain.

Glenn McFarlane looks for the answers and names his likes and dislikes in this week’s Early Tackle.

LIKES

Is JDG the key to Pies’ flag hopes?

Five years ago, an explosive month of football from Jordan De Goey helped to almost sweep Collingwood to premiership success, only to be denied by a late Dom Sheed goal.

De Goey, then 22, kicked two goals, three goals, four goals and three goals in the Magpies’ four finals and announced himself on the big stage.

Magpie fans can’t expect that sort of goal return this September – given he spends more time as a midfielder now – but De Goey’s impact across the next month holds the key to Collingwood winning a 16th VFL-AFL flag.

Jordan De Goey celebrates the opening goal of the game on Friday night. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Yes, so much of what is to come for the Magpies will depend on how Nick Daicos and Darcy Moore return from injury, on what the opposition teams throw at them, and even how their ‘Team D’ (defence) stacks up.

But if De Goey, now 27 and a more seasoned, mature player, can perform in the finals as he did on Friday night, it will give Craig McRae a huge weapon.

De Goey hasn’t had a lot of luck in finals since that 2018 playoff series, for various reasons, including injury. But he looks primed and ready to go for Collingwood’s qualifying final, potentially on Thursday week.

His 27-disposal, 524 metres-gained best-afield performance against the barely competitive Bombers was super impressive.

He spoke to this reporter in an exclusive interview in March about the drive he has to become a premiership player.

“Everyone wants to be a part of a premiership at Collingwood, the biggest club in the land,” De Goey said at the time.

“Being able to bring a cup home like that, to 100,000 members, there are not too many people who have been able to do that.”

He could play a massive part in shaping that dream in the next four weeks.

Craig McRae’s ‘tough love’ is working. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Fly’s hunger games

Are the Magpies back? It’s far too early to tell!

But four key points Craig McRae identified as room for improvement - Team Defence, Contest, Territory and Forward Half Game - received a big spike on Friday night.

McRae is a players’ coach, but don’t mistake that for him not being tough enough in driving elite standards, behaviours and hunger.

Just ask any of his former Brisbane Lions teammates - and anyone who has come across his almost two decades in coaching - and they tell you he is one of the fiercest competitors they have come across.

McRae has balanced his strong support of his players with a hard edge and expectation aimed at bringing out the best in his team, including some who have faced challenges this year.

Take Jack Ginnivan.

McRae and the coaching staff made Ginnivan earn his spot back the hard way, having consigned him to the VFL for a slice of the season.

That ‘tough love’ resulted in Ginnivan turning himself into the best trainer for a period of time which guaranteed him a return to the senior team.

Friday night showed why a fit and firing Ginnivan is important for Collingwood with the energy and spark he brings every bit as important as his impeccable goal sense.

McRae also dropped Mason Cox back to the VFL a few weeks ago. But that decision unleashed a renewed hunger and urgency in Cox and he showed at stages of Friday night why the Magpies need him backing up Darcy Cameron in the finals.

Tom Mitchell returned to form on Friday night after he had been used as the sub at stages of the back end of the season. He said while the coach was always supportive, he consistently challenged the group to get better.

As Mitchell said of McRae on SEN: “When you are a competitor and I guess your hunger and competitiveness gets challenged by the coach, you want to respond to that … and hopefully we can carry that into the finals.”

Alastair Clarkson and Tom Powell after the win over Gold Coast. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Thanks, but no tanks

Creating a winning culture – and ending a 20-game losing streak – is more important than banking on one player to transform your club’s future.

That was the view of North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson – and more importantly his players – as the Kangaroos won their first match in five months, knocking off Gold Coast at Blundstone Arena.

And that’s got to be good for AFL football!

In a week where ‘tanking’ and integrity issues dominated the external narrative, the Kangaroos dared to win on Saturday, and didn’t care that it might see them lose the right to secure highly-touted likely No.1 draft pick Harley Reid.

The not-too-distant past has shown that clubs not desperate to win in order to try and protect draft positions have taken years to recover from the losing spiral that it has thrown them into.

Clarkson was determined the Roos were not going to fall for that old trick.

Besides, this is a footy club that has been through hell and back, winning only 12 games in the past four seasons.

The Kangaroos celebrate one of Nick Larkey’s nine goals. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

Just the same as Adam Simpson and the Eagles players wanted to win against the Bulldogs last week, Clarkson and his men were determined to run the risk of missing out on Reid so that they could start building confidence instead of building a stronger draft hand.

Tanking is not in Clarkson’s DNA as he told Fox Footy after the match: “As I said (to the players) before the game, we have to master our initial positions before we worry about switching the magnets too much.”

The excitement of a win was evident for the Kangaroos players after the game, including Eddie Ford, who had played 21 previous matches across three seasons without a win.

Ford was front and centre when the team belted out ‘Join In the Chorus’ late on Saturday.

And it was defender Ben McKay’s eighth win in 71 games with the club, and most probably his last!

it was the first time the Kangaroos had kicked 100 points in a game this season, and it will give them something to build on across the summer.

It might even prove to be the real kick off point for the Clarkson era

Hot Souva, rising Harry

All-Australian selector Nathan Buckley said on Friday night that the forward line for the 2023 team of the year had virtually been settled before Monday’s final meeting.

Let’s hope they had already included North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey. Because if they haven’t, they will need a quick revision to put the big forward in after his extraordinary nine-goal performance helped to lift the Kangaroos to their first win in five months.

In fairness, the selectors should have already had him in before Saturday’s win over Gold Coast, given what he has done in a team that won only three matches this year.

Harry Sheezel had another 29 disposals on Saturday. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Larkey has finished with 71.24 for the year, the best home-and-away return for a North Melbourne player since a bloke called Wayne Carey in the late 1990s.

Charlie Curnow will be the first picked key forward in the All-Australian side, but Larkey has to be on the field or at least on the interchange bench.

The All-Australian team will be named on Wednesday night at the AFL Awards night, a function where the Rising Star award will also be revealed.

That will be a tight contest, but Harry Sheezel should get the nod and become the first Kangaroos player to win the AFL Rising Star Award since Byron Pickett 25 years ago.

Will Ashcroft missed the last six weeks of the season due to his ACL injury, which has likely ended his chances, and Mitch Owens is a chance as well.

But Sheezel, who doesn’t turn 19 until October, closed out a history-making debut season on Saturday by pushing through the 600-disposal threshold.

The Roos’ 2022 No.3 draft pick recently passed the record of Collingwood’s Scott Russell (1990) for the most disposals in a debut season - since records were kept. He’s had some sort of season and has given Kangaroos fans plenty to cheer about in a tough season.

The Lions have locked in a home qualifying final. Picture: Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

LIONS LOCK IN TWO GABBA FINALS

Chris Fagan might well have been tearing his hair out for most of the game after some troubling early inaccuracy and a competitive St Kilda pushed Brisbane almost all the way.

But the Lions finally got what they were after - a win, to lock in two home finals at the Gabba.

Saturday’s 12-point win over the Saints secured a home qualifying final for the Lions, booked a second home final and closed out a home-and-away season without a loss at the Gabba.

It wasn’t without some concerns for the Lions, largely with a first term that yielded 2.8, and a match-long struggle to overcome a competitive Saints’ outfit.

The club’s Gabba streak now sits at 12, with the Lions undefeated at home since losing to Melbourne back in round 23 last season.

It means they have a direct Gabba pathway through to an MCG grand final so long as they win the qualifying and preliminary finals.

This might yet be the Lions’ best chance to win their first premiership since the famous three-peat of 2001-03.

The Bulldogs are in the eight for now. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)

DOGS ALIVE … FOR NOW AND THE BROWNLOW IS HOTTING UP

Every Bulldogs fan has suddenly become a Carlton supporter … at least for this Sunday.

The Western Bulldogs kept their rollercoaster season alive with their first win at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium in 20 years and must now rely on the Blues beating the Giants to keep their spot within the eight.

This time last year the Bulldogs relied on Carlton to lose in the last round to make the finals; now they need Michael Voss’ team to knock the Giants off.

“We’ll sit anxiously and hopefully the result goes our way,” Cody Weightman told Channel 7.

The undermanned but competitive Cats clawed out to a 21-point lead during the match, which looked set to heap more pressure on Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge and his team.

But in the end the visitors were able to run over the top of the home side.

That comeback was partly inspired by skipper Marcus Bontempelli, who had 31 disposals as he put himself in the frame for what could be crucial votes.

If the Champion Data Brownlow Medal tracker is accurate, we are set for one of the closest finishes in recent memory - and it could come down to Sunday’s clash at the SCG.

The tracker still has the injured Nick Daicos clinging to a lead with 26.81 votes heading into this weekend ahead of Christian Petracca (26.69 votes) and Bontempelli (23.08).

On those numbers, the Bont would need three votes to draw level, while Petracca has a chance to overtake Daicos.

Just like this season, the Brownlow looks like going to the wire.

Taylor Walker is now leading the Coleman. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

TEX’S LATE COLEMAN PUSH

The Coleman Medal is going down to the wire with Carlton’s Charlie Curnow needing to kick at least one goal to draw level with Taylor Walker in the AFL’s leading goalkicker award.

Curnow went into this round eight goals ahead of Walker, but the Adelaide forward stormed home with nine against the Eagles to take the lead by one with 76 goals.

Curnow has kicked 75 goals and would be very short odds to make it back to back Coleman Medals, given he has at least kicked one goal in every match he has played since round 2 last season.

Walker admitted he would be watching with interest on Sunday when the Blues meet the Giants.

“Charlie has been in form for a number of years, and I look forward to watching (the game). If he gets two Colemans (in a row), he’ll deserve it,” Walker said on Fox Footy.

On a special night of farewells, the Cats paid tribute to Isaac Smith and Sam Menegola, and the Eagles farewelled Shannon Hurn and Luke Shuey, as well as Nic Naitanui, who didn’t play.

But the big question centred on what is going to happen with Eagles coach Adam Simpson, whose future is not guaranteed, despite holding a two-year contract. Watch this space.

The Bombers walk off the MCG. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

DISLIKES

‘Careful, cautious and timid’

When Essendon’s 2000 premiership team entered the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, the induction described them as “ruthless, tough, uncompromising, classy, powerful and skilful.”

The same could be said for Kevin Sheedy’s 1984 and 1985 sides who won back to back flags with a mix of brute force, physicality, finesse and flair.

What must the members of those famous teams have made of the miserable two past decades for the once-mighty Essendon Football Club.

Or, for that matter, what must the club’s 2023 record membership base of 86,003 think, some of whom have never seen their team win a final (the last one was 2004) let alone win a premiership (2000).

Essendon’s 2023 capitulation across the final two weeks - and their fall from fifth in Round 17 - was nothing short of embarrassing.

The fans deserved better. The players need to compete better.

To show so much promise in the first half of the season under new coach Brad Scott and then to bow out of the season with a collective 196-point loss from the club’s last two games was unpalatable.

Was it any wonder Garry Lyon described the Bombers as “playing careful, cautious, timid football” on Fox Footy.

And was it any wonder skipper Zach Merrett said he was sick of the club being “mediocre”.

Scott is still learning about this group, but the lessons from the past fortnight have been stark and painful.

Will Darcy Parish stay? Picture: Michael Klein.

At every level of the club, there needs to be a renewed push towards greater professionalism - that includes list management, player development, talent acquisition, training standards and leadership on and off the field.

Fewer words; more action.

It can’t start on day one of pre-season. It must start right now, and that means every single player has to come back to the club in peak condition.

Those who don’t should pay the price.

And in regards to becoming a ruthless club again … if the Bombers are committed to not overpaying Darcy Parish, who remains unsigned, then they need to stick to it.

Parish wants to stay, but it is understood he and the Bombers are still a long way apart in terms of the finer details of the proposed contract.

If he wants to stay, he will stay.

Likewise, the Bombers must stay firm on the top end price they are prepared to pay for free agent Ben McKay, who is almost certainly on the move.

Yes, the Bombers have plenty of cap space, but since the supplements scandal, they have at times been too accommodating to their players.

Now is the time for Essendon to draw a line in the sand … on and off the field.

Suns defender Charlie Ballard after the loss. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Dimma must address Suns’ discipline issues

This wouldn’t have made for good viewing for Gold Coast’s coach in waiting Damien Hardwick, who officially steps into the role now that the Suns’ season is over.

For the second week in a row, a lack of discipline impacted Gold Coast’s winning chances and that’s one of the first things Hardwick needs to address when he steps through the door.

The Suns led Carlton last week by more than 40 points before coughing it up due to some ill-discipline and bad decision-making.

Four 50m penalties conceded - including a 100m one - allowed the Blues the chance to get back into the contest, and cost the Suns any chance of a win.

The same thing happened on Saturday, when their opponents North Melbourne simply wanted it more.

The Suns gave up a few crucial goals due to a lack of discipline when the match was in the balance, and in the end, they couldn’t match what the Kangaroos brought to the table.

Hardwick said during the week that 80 per cent of the Suns’ first premiership team is already at the club.

That might yet prove to be the case, but until some of those players can show more discipline, they will still throw in performances such as this one.

Too little too late, Dockers

This might sound harsh, given the Dockers ended their season with a strong win over Hawthorn, but Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir must be lamenting missed opportunities this year.

Fremantle should have been competing to play finals in the past few weeks. But in the end, the Dockers fell well short of expectations.

They started the year thinking they were a top four chance. They ended up with only 10 wins and with a four-game losing streak from rounds 16 to 19 which effectively ended their finals aspirations.

Add to that, a loss to North Melbourne in round 2, and you can sense the frustrations of what might have been for Longmuir and co.

The Dockers’ talented midfield brigade outpointed the even younger Hawks, Jye Amiss looks to have a big future, and this is a playing group that should be competing for finals. They fell well short of that this season and must be better in 2024.

Oh Joe, was that the miss of the year?

Joe Daniher is a must-watch player because you never know what he might do next.

He has had a very strong season for the Brisbane Lions this season and will play a big role in the club’s push for a premiership next month.

But even with all the good stuff he does, you still expect the unexpected.

When he lined up for a set shot in the goal square directly in front in the opening minutes of Saturday’s clash with St Kilda at the Gabba, it should have been the Lions’ opening goal.

Instead, he put in a nomination for “miss of the season”. He shanked the ball to the right and slammed it into the goal post as the crowd groaned.

Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy it would have been harder to miss than actually kick it, as Lions went on to score 2.8 in the first term.

He might be one of the best field kicks going around, but Joey can torch it when right in front of goal.

And while we are on it, we understand why the AFL goal umpires called for score reviews ad nauseum this round given what happened at the Adelaide Oval last week.

Some of it seemed like overkill. But better to get it right than get it so badly wrong as was the case last week, costing Adelaide a chance to play finals.

St Kilda players celebrate a Jack Hayes goal on his return from injury. Picture: Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

NERVOUS WAIT FOR BRAVE SAINTS

There was plenty to like about Ross Lyon’s team as the Saints took the game right up to the Lions and even threatened to steal the game at times.

But for all that, the Saints now face a nervous wait to find out the venue of their elimination final, with results on Sunday to decide if they have to travel to Sydney or stay in Melbourne for a knockout match.

It will come down to the Sydney-Melbourne clash or the Greater Western Sydney-Carlton game, with both sides a chance to push the Saints on the road in two weeks.

Jack Hayes made a welcome return for the Saints, but Josh Battle was subbed out with concussion after a collision with Eric Hipwood.

Battle should be right under the concussion protocols to play in week one of the finals.

They have earned the right to play finals - and showed against the Lions they won’t be a pushover on the road - so Lyon will be looking for his team to make a finals statement no matter where they are playing.

It will be Lyon’s first final as a coach since taking Fremantle to a prelim in 2015, and his first final with the Saints since a 2011 semi-final.

Originally published as Early Tackle: Glenn McFarlane names his likes and dislikes from round 24 of the AFL season