The Tackle: All the likes and dislikes from round 20 as Bombers fans ‘ashamed’
Fans want to be proud of their teams, not ashamed of them. But, once again, Essendon fans are demanding answers to the same damning questions they have for years. MARK ROBINSON names his likes and dislikes in The Tackle.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Western Bulldogs have toppled the top three in three consecutive weeks, claiming the biggest scalp in the Sydney Swans, while Essendon fans are once again tearing their hair out. MARK ROBINSON names his likes and dislikes from Round 20.
DISLIKES
1. WHERE’S THE SPIRIT?
Brad Scott said it was a lack of “effort and intent” which lost Essendon the game on Saturday. He’s right. So, at Round 20, with everything to play for, who’s to blame for that? It’s the players and the coach together. Effort is about attitude, the basic want to compete. The Essendon players didn’t want to do that. That’s on them, and it’s also on the coach. They are Scott’s players, it’s his game plan, and he sets and demands the standards. Essendon played finals in 2021 under Ben Rutten and Rutten was run out of town 12 months later. Scott, on arrival, said fixing the defensive aspect of the game was a priority.
On Saturday, St Kilda kicked eight consecutive goals. The week before, Adelaide put on eight consecutive goals. Where’s the defensive standards? What’s the coaching box doing to stop that? Almost every player can be questioned. Ben McKay is being paid $1.4 million and was gobbled up by Caminiti and Sharman. Nik Cox is lucky to get a two-year contract. What’s happened to Langford and Redman? Gresham hasn’t kept his end of the bargain. Peter Wright is in a maze. Are Menzie and Laverde the future? What to pay Jake Stringer on his next contract? Is Draper a bona fide number one ruckman? Is Perkins a bust? It seems like every year these sorts of questions are asked of the Bombers. On Saturday, that lack of “effort and intent” hurt the most. Fans wanted to be proud of their team, not ashamed of it, especially when there was so much to play for.
2. THE SWANS HATE THE BULLDOGS
Sydney’s halftime score of 2.1 (13) was their lowest score since they kicked 2.1 (13) against the Bulldogs in Round 3, 2002. Their final score of 48 points was the worst score of the season. Their injuries are a reason, but that doesn’t excuse the effort. It was so unlike what we’ve seen from Sydney, so they do get a mulligan, but former Swan Jude Bolton still said the review would be brutal. Overall, the margin flattered. Their ball use was poor, they lost contest, lost clearance, lost territory and they got walloped in ground balls.
It was the profile of Essendon’s effort, not one expected from a team on top the ladder. Chad Warner had a rare ‘mare, while the Amartey-McDonald-McLean trio kicked three goals and took 10 marks between them. That group has been there all year, but they are camouflaged a little by the scoring impact of the midfield. The mids didn’t score on Sunday and neither did the big guys. Since Amartey’s nine goals seven games back, he’s kicked just four goals. He wasn’t the problem on Sunday, though. Sydney’s highly-talented midfield group and running defenders couldn’t get it on their terms because the Bulldogs didn’t allow them.
3. CLARRY TALK
We’re about to enter a period where words such as could, if, might and may will dominate the trade narrative. It was off and running last week with Clayton Oliver’s name thrown on the trade table. Unless Oliver has a plan to get out of Melbourne and hasn’t told the Demons, then the rumour is rubbish.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin – and well done to him for leaving hospital to coach – was emphatic with his response. “He’s a Melbourne person through and through, he’s not going anywhere,” he said.
“He’s a proud Melbourne person, we love him. We love the work he’s done and we’ll get his footy right and he’s going to be here for a long, long time.” The will-he or won’t-he discussion on St Kilda’s Josh Battle, meanwhile, continues. A free-agent, he has clubs chasing him, but every time he speaks, and he spoke to Fox Footy after the game on Saturday, I get the feeling he wants to stay a Sainter. That’s not a rumour, that’s a gut feel.
4. SUNS SET ON DIMMA
Gold Coast won’t play finals. They couldn’t win on the road and they needed to win this one at home to keep their finals hopes alive. Those believing triple-premiership coach Damien Hardwick would be able to sprinkle his magic dust on this team would be disappointed. Footy doesn’t work like that. The Suns simply aren’t good enough. The main issue has been their scoring and connection inside 50m, which Fox Footy commentator David King argues is about system more than personnel. On Saturday, they had 51 entries and kicked 65 points. The Lions had 60 entries for 93 points. In every important measure, the Suns couldn’t match the Lions. They lost clearance by 12, contested ball by 23 and the Lions took 128 marks to 81. Earlier this season, Hardwick said he hoped his Suns could evolve like GWS did last year. Under Adam Kingsley, the Giants went from 16th in 2022 to a preliminary final last year, and that’s after losing seven of their first 10 games. The Suns didn’t evolve near enough, if at all. They are 13th with a 9-10 win-loss record, a game ahead of St Kilda. The expectation was greater than that.
5. BLUES IN A FLAP
We’re still not panicking about the Blues. On a five-day break, they were beaten by two goals without three of their best six players – McKay, De Koning and Acres – and as the game evolved it was clear they didn’t have enough big guys to compete in the air. It was Charlie or bust. For Port Adelaide, it was Aliir and Ratugolea who thrived. Carlton’s defensive profile is the most talked about defensive profile in the competition. It’s not great, and there seems to be a bit Blighty about how the Blues go about it.
You guys can kick 15 goals, but we’ll kick 16 goals. They have four games to correct their stoppage game. They also have four weeks to improve the health of Sam Walsh. If he gets himself right, the stoppage game will improve. The query is what to do with Cincotta. He tagged Butters which meant the midfield was Cincotta, Cripps, Hewett and an unhealthy Walsh. When Walsh was out, the Blues were probably too blue-collar. It’s complex because you want toughness and you also need some pop. A fit Walsh is the key component. If he can get back to the level of last year’s finals series, then the Blues are in there swinging.
6. TIMES HAVE CHANGED
If Charlie Curnow wins the Coleman Medal, he will be the first player to win three in a row since Gary Ablett Snr. No disrespect to Charlie, but having those two players equal on any measure is difficult to comprehend. Curnow kicked 64 goals in 2022, 81 goals in 2023 and has kicked 56 goals to date this year. Ablett’s run of three consecutive medals, from 1993-95, returned 124, 113, and 119 goals. Curnow is rightfully lauded as a modern-day star, but the other bloke will one day be a Hall of Fame legend. The great pity, as the game has evolved, is the slow death of full-forwards kicking bags of goals. It just doesn’t happen. Is it the style of football being played or is it because players of today simply don’t have the same individual brilliance of, say, an Ablett, Dunstall, Lockett, Lloyd or a Modra? Indeed, is football breeding out that brilliance?
LIKES
1. Three-headed monster. There’s two questions that can no longer be asked of the Bulldogs. 1) Is Luke Beveridge’s future in question and 2) Can the Bulldogs play three talls in the forward line? The one question that can now be legitimately asked of the Bulldogs is: Can they win the premiership? On Sunday, they Dogs obliterated the premiership favourite and in doing so elevated themselves to eighth on the ladder. It’s been a superb month. After losing to Port Adelaide, they have gone bang, bang, bang and knocked over Carlton, Geelong and Sydney.
Ugle-Hagan’s third consecutive haul of four goals has put him in the sphere of Curnow and Hogan as the game’s premier forwards. He and Naughton are a commanding presence – they took 14 marks – while Darcy is the third man-up. Ugle-Hagan is playing like he believes nothing is beyond him. He’s flying for marks and he’s swatting away opponents at ground level. In the blink of an eye, he’s become a swashbuckling player. On the deck, the Bulldogs were manic. Remember their dog hungry 2016 attitude? That’s what it was like on Sunday. They won the contested ball by 27. The stars starred, led by Adam Treloar, but it’s players like Bramble, West, Poulter and McNeil really buying in. So, can they win it all? Their form and attitude says yes.
🥵
— Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs) July 28, 2024
pic.twitter.com/M5JPTip4cU
2. THAT’S MORE LIKE IT
Champion Data’s ratings system is not how everyone likes to rate the players. AFL great Leigh Matthews couldn’t believe that Collingwood captain Darcy Moore was, before this weekend, rated in the top five Magpies this season. They were Nick Daicos, Crisp, Cameron, Pendlebury and Moore in that order. Matthews believed Moore had had an average season, whereas the ratings begged to differ, although it must be said Moore’s rating wasn’t high compared to other key defenders. On Sunday, however, Champion Data and Matthews would’ve agreed that Moore was back to his best. He had 18 disposals at 100 per cent efficiency, a season-high 13 intercepts and 13 spoils, which was the second most in a game this year. It was the complete game from the skipper. Collingwood had winners in every area of the ground. Moore was the linchpin at the back, the Daicos brothers, Cameron and Pendlebury controlled the midfield, and Bobby Hill bounced around everywhere in the forward 50m. Certainly, not many teams are beating Collingwood when Nick Daicos has 42 disposals. It will be a fun month if the Pies end up making the finals. They are a game out of the eight and play Carlton, Sydney away, Brisbane at the MCG, and Melbourne at the MCG. Surely, it’s too big of an ask.
3. TIME TO REASSESS
For 15 weeks, Geelong’s Zach Guthrie was the competition’s most underrated player. Can we all now agree that Guthrie is no longer underrated and in fact he is highly rated. Especially now that there is another player who lays claim to being the most underrated player in the competition. He is Hawthorn’s Connor Macdonald. He doesn’t get the fanfare or headlines of his two rascally teammates, Nick Watson and Jack Ginnivan, but his contribution is on par. Ginnivan has kicked 21 goals, Watson has kicked 12 goals and Macdonald has kicked 22 goals. On Sunday, and in what was another deep contribution from the Hawks, Macdonald had 28 disposals as a full-time forward, he kicked two goals and had 14 score involvements. The next best Hawks were Chol and Moore with eight score involvements. There Hawks share the load which is the hallmark of a good team. It’s now 10 wins from 12 matches and if not for the rampaging Bulldogs, they would be in eighth spot. With four rounds remaining, they need to keep winning and they need either the Bulldogs or Port Adelaide to stumble. The excitement builds.
4. STUNNING SAINTS
This season St Kilda has kicked fewer than 70 points in 10 of their games and at one stage was accused of being the most boring team in the competition. On Saturday, they played like the Harlem Globetrotters. Orchestrated by Mr Smooth (Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera), the ball whizzed around Marvel Stadium and when it went forward, the Saints shot the lights out.
It was a box office performance. The Saints destroyed Essendon’s short-ball and possession game by denying them uncontested marks. St Kilda took 133 and Essendon took 95 in a low pressure game (Essendon was 167 and St Kilda was 169). Caminiti and Sharman took 18 marks between them, while Essendon could only manage seven marks inside 50. It’s funny how often football provides opportunity. With Max King out injured, coach Ross Lyon heaped the responsibility on Caminiti and Sharman. They didn’t let him down. In fact, some Saints fans will ponder if the Saints forward set-up is better without King. Certainly, Caminiti and Sharman attacked the ball with more vigour than what we’ve seen, at times, from King, but one good game doesn’t mean Lyon will up-end his forward structure. King will be the main man, but Lyon knows he has two youngsters champing at the bit behind him. Getting the three of them to work together will be the key.
5. BIG MOMENTS PLAYER
James Peatling is compiling hero moments. In Round 6 against St Kilda, he ran back with the flight of the ball and took a mark with 30 seconds to play. The Giants won the game by one point. On Saturday night, as Melbourne was making its last desperate lash at an unlikely victory, Peatling landed a tackle on Caleb Windsor. If Windsor broke the tackle, he would’ve launched the ball to half-forward and anything could’ve happened. Instead, Peatling stopped Windsor, the siren sounded soon after, and the Giants won by two points. A mid-season draftee in 2021, Peatling is trying to cement himself in the Giants team. On Saturday night, he had a career-high 28 disposals, laid a game-high 11 tackles and won eight clearances. Playing as an inside mid, it was clearly the best game of his career.
6. WHO’S ON THE OTHER FLANK?
There’s only one player who is a lock in the All Australian back six. He is Dayne Zorko. He’s an incredible story. He was considering retirement at the end of the 2023 campaign and is now on track to win his sixth club B&F. He had 32 disposals on Saturday and is averaging 26 across the season, and it all came about because Keidean Coleman got injured. Times of desperation can generate great coaching and the move by Chris Fagan to send Zorko to half-back has been one of the moves of the season. Making a run for the other half-back role in the All Australian team is Lachie Whitfield. The Giants playmaker had 35 disposals against Melbourne on Saturday night. If Whitfield is having 35, rest assured the tsunami is rolling. It’s not as though the Demons let him do what he pleased. They assigned Alex Neal-Bullen to him for parts of the game, yet he still knocked up getting the ball.
Originally published as The Tackle: All the likes and dislikes from round 20 as Bombers fans ‘ashamed’
Three clubs who could pounce after Blue told to pursue trade
With several clubs looking for midfield depth, Matt Kennedy is set to spark interest from several of Carlton’s rivals. JOSH BARNES names the clubs who could be in the mix.
Sad career news after SANFL star’s horror pub fall
Sam May’s club has revealed what the 24-year-old said to his teammates in an emotional address last week.
‘Remarkable’ young gun setting Lions alight
At just 20 years of age and coming back from an ACL injury, the Brisbane Lions young star set the finals alight last week and earnt high praise from his teammates.
Free trade tracker: Every player linked with your club
Trade requests, the latest rumours and every player linked with your club. Stay across every big AFL trade story and see who could be on the move in our Trade Tracker.
‘Disgrace’: ‘Sore loser’ Hawks torn to shreds
Sam Mitchell had been widely praised for his handling of Friday night’s fiery final — but Hawthorn’s antics have now been branded “pathetic”.
Home, Brew: Top Bee bolts off with VFL’s JJ Liston Trophy
Before the start of the season, a driven Dom Brew told his Werribee coach that he would win the VFL best and fairest, the JJ Liston Trophy. Last night he did exactly that, matching a famous name with his bumper vote tally.