The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round one of the 2022 AFL season

Nick Larkey got one over Hawk Tom Mitchell. It was smart but raises questions about being in the spirit of the game. And fans will hate it, Mark Robinson writes. LIKES AND DISLIKES

Will the MRO come down hard on Willie Rioli for his hit on Matt Rowell?

The footy is back and that means one thing: Likes and dislikes also make their return in 2022.

Here’s Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson’s takes on the good, the bad and the ugly out of round one in The Tackle.

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DISLIKES

1. Killing me softly

In their past six quarters of football – which is the second half of last year’s final against the Bulldogs and the four quarters on Saturday – Essendon has lost the contested ball by 76, clearances by 24 and the scoreboard 189-71. That’s 31.5 goals in six quarters of footy. That’s “surrender” football. If the Bombers want to grow to be a challenger for a premiership, they need to find the necessary grit and attitude required in September. The Bombers were deplorable against Geelong on Saturday. They have major issues in their forward line, and you have to wonder what Merrett (39 disposals), Parish (34 disposals) and McGrath (29 disposals) accomplished with so much ball. Bruise-free footy in round one is a terrible start to the new campaign.

The Bombers face an uphill battle with injuries and form as they turn their attention to Brisbane next week. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

2. Kangas just had to cash in

The Hawks had two players missing because of Covid protocols (Luke Breust and Ben McEvoy), while CJ, Mitchell and O’Meara didn’t play in their final pre-season game. Yet, still, the Kangas couldn’t put the foot to the Hawthorn throat. In the second half, they were outscored 47-20 and six of those seven goals came from their direct turnovers, which tells us they were sloppy with ball in hand and sloppy in protecting the turnover. They just had to win this game because the opposition is not going to get much easier than the Hawks on Sunday. Very disappointing from a team desperately needing key defenders and goal kickers.

3. The Crows will be furious …

… And so they should be. They blew the game against Fremantle on several fronts. They were woeful in the first half, then flipped the script in the third and most of the fourth quarter, but lacked the poise to see out the victory. They kicked seven of the last 10 goals but, unfortunately for them, the Dockers kicked the final three. The Crows led by 19 points at the 11-minute mark of the last quarter and couldn’t get it done. They had eight shots at goal for 1.5, while the Dockers kicked 3.3 from their six shots, plus a rushed behind. It’s a shattering loss.

The Crows had every right to feel filthy with themselves. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

4. Toothless Tigers

Former coach Ross Lyon used to like to say, there’s hunger and then there’s dog hunger. Against Carlton, the Tigers were licking milk. Only the Bombers were more disappointing than Richmond if we are looking for round one’s biggest loser. The Tigers tried, of course, but how much did they really try? Like, die-for-the-ball try? It’s only round one, but this once-great team didn’t have the edge of recent years. Success does that to most teams. Does it mean as much as it once did? Are those sacrificial one per centers to help teammates still in their DNA? They appear cooked, and not because of what happened last Thursday night. In their past 11 matches, the Tigers have won two, had a draw and lost eight.

5. Questioning a Richmond star

Questions are aplenty in footy, and one hangs over Tommy Lynch. What’s happened to the player who dominated the 2019 season? He was a colossal player then, kicking 63 goals from 25 games, clunking pack marks and marking on the lead. The drop-off in performance is a real head scratcher, notwithstanding coach Damien Hardwick’s explanation that he’s happy Lynch competes and brings the ball to ground. When it’s close to $1 million a year, you need more than “competing” in your game. Put it another way: do you think Essendon’s Peter Wright is a star? He’s a solid player, and over the past 10 games, Lynch and Wright average the exact same numbers: Twelve disposals, five marks, two contested, and two goals.

Mark Robinson says there are question marks over the form of Tiger spearhead Tom Lynch. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

6. We wait on Zorko

The bold plan to play one of the most creative forward-half players off a back flank lasted a touch over two quarters. Zorko has injured a calf muscle and will be on the sidelines for several weeks. So, the plan goes into coach Chris Fagan’s back pocket. It was a torrid win and loss for the Lions and Port Adelaide, with injuries stacked on both sides. The midfield depth will be tested early for Brisbane. Mitch Robinson will likely go, not for bumping Xavier Duursma in the shoulder, but for what was an unlucky split-second decision which had the potential to cause injury.

LIKES

1. Centimetre perfect

Another game which ebbed and flowed finally swung in Fremantle’s direction when Dockers defender Heath Chapman tapped the ball back in to play on the goal line, denying Adelaide the point needed for a draw. It was a game-winning fist with seconds to play, and Chapman’s quick thinking in that moment separated these two teams. “Game awareness,” Nick Dal Santo said on Fox Footy. “At any other stage of the game, you tap that through.” It was the play of Round 1.

2. The old and the young

Crows fans in the City of Churches will salivate over the debut of Josh Rachele, who has talent and attitude and celebrated his five goals with much gusto. This game changed in the third quarter when the Crows lifted their intensity around the ball, in both their pursuit and pressuring the Dockers. Indicative of that was Brodie Smith’s smother on Michael Frederick in the third term. Smith launched himself at the foot of Frederick as the Docker was kicking for goal when the scores were even. Later in the same quarter, Smith kicked the last of Adelaide’s six consecutive goals, which should have put the sword through an insipid Fremantle. As for Rachele, he’s a crowd pleaser and doesn’t footy love those kinds of players?

Josh Rachele? We love the boy! Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

3. Jack’s back

The Hawks unveiled their youth program on Sunday, playing their youngest team since 2005. They also unleashed a forward duo that hasn’t had a lot of time together. Mitchell Lewis (three goals) and Jack Gunston (three goals) were a significant difference between Hawthorn and North Melbourne on Sunday. It was a game we’ve been waiting for from 23-year-old Lewis. He took six contested marks, the most in a match in his career. It was not unlike a Tom Hawkins-style game. Only 13 times was six or more contested marks taken by a player in 2021. Gunston, meanwhile, had nine shots at goal for 3.4 and two complete misses, which is phenomenal for a player who missed the majority of last season. The accuracy could’ve been better but, the point is, he was dominant in the F50.

Will the MRO come down hard on Willie Rioli for his hit on Matt Rowell?

4. He’s back

The wonderkid from two years ago — Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell — is back, stronger, better and fitter. Injury-cursed 2020 and ‘21 seasons meant Rowell missed footy and footy missed him. Sunday was a triumphant return. He had 33 disposals, 22 contested, 10 clearances and 10 score involvements and looked every bit the superstar midfielder. He has the ability to be super aggressive at the contest and the opposition without being remotely considered a dirty player. He is an offensive and defensive machine and not even a heavy clash with Willie Rioli could stop him. Rioli faces sanction for the hit because he jumped off the ground and turned his back and body-clocked Rowell, who had eyes for the ball. It was reckless from Rioli and only luck helped avoid a serious injury.

Simply an extraordinary non-decision #AFLEaglesSunshttps://t.co/bp94F41AF0pic.twitter.com/dWBCtO5kUO

— James Mottershead (@mottersjames) March 20, 2022

5. Back-flanker Blakey

Every club is clamouring for a halfback weapon and the Swans have found theirs — Nick Blakey. Axed from the team last year failing to find a spot on a wing or across half-forward, Blakey was sent to defence late last year. He could be devastating in that position this season and started accordingly against the Giants on Saturday. His athleticism and potent left foot will not go unnoticed in the new-ish defensive Sydney group. Already, he’s been compared to premiership swan Nick Malceski.

Nick Blakey on a back flank worked wonders for the Swans. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

6. Faking handballs

North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey got one over Hawk Tom Mitchell, faking the handball with Mitchell on the mark, which caused Mitchell to move and give away a 50m penalty. The stand rule is a good rule, but the slightest movement prompting a 50m penalty is too big of a penalty. It was smart by Larkey, instinctively wrong by Mitchell and, as an aside, raises questions about the tactic being in the spirit of the game (whatever that means). True, the player with the ball is in control, and he could do whatever he likes, but that fake handball is going to catch out far more players than Mitchell — and that just might infuriate fans.

7. Houston, we have no problem

One of our SuperCoach experts — was it you Daisy Thomas? — was all over Port Adelaide’s Dan Houston. Yes, it’s fantasy footy but the reality is 24-year-old Houston is announcing himself as a star of the competition. He had 36 disposals and 10 score involvements from a wing position against Brisbane, telling us he may have finally made the move from halfback to more attacking areas.

8. Add CJ to the list of exciting halfbacks

After a wretched pre-season curtailed by injury, Changkuoth Jiath played like a 10-year veteran across halfback. He had 24 disposals at 83 per cent in just three quarters of game time. CJ could be an AA by season’s end. He was the second-highest ranked player at the Hawks behind emerging mid-sized forward Jai Newcombe. There’s a pair in contrast. Newcombe is a nuggety player who can play inside mid and forward, while CJ is poetry coming out of the back half. What’s sometimes unnoticed is his work without the ball. His closing speed to get a fist to the ball is almost as exciting as him galloping with the leather in hand. He led the Hawks on Sunday for spoils (six) and intercept marks (three), again, in only three quarters of playing time.

Originally published as The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round one of the 2022 AFL season