The Tackle: Mark Robinson’s likes and dislikes from round 19
Pies president Jeff Browne said the draft doesn’t work, but with a bare list of free agents available, MARK ROBINSON writes, they might not have a choice, even without their first round pick.
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There were upsets, remarkable football and the Brisbane Lions stamped their name on the premiership race. Mark Robinson gives his likes and dislikes from round 19.
LIKES
1. MUSIC TO OUR EARS
Is there a better 30 seconds in football than when Charlie Cameron kicks a goal in the final quarter of a tight game at a packed Gabba? The noise, the exuberances, the singing, it’s the anthem of the Gabba. Cameron had a difficult week and a difficult three and a half quarters. His only goal came at the 21st minute of the final quarter. It wasn’t the best goal of the final quarter mind you. Hugh McCluggage, who was once known for missing key goals, kicked two beauties, while Callum Ah Chee kicked the matchwinner after a brilliant gather and snap from 40m. But if you’re after the moment when the forces gather and the atmosphere erupts, you can’t go pass Charlie. Still, games aren’t won by atmosphere. This game was won because the Lions refused to lie down against the plucky Swans. It’s been the theme of their season. They were 2-5 and sick and since then have gone nine wins, a loss and a draw, and that record includes seven straight wins. At Round 14, they were 13th on the ladder. They are now third with a Molly Meldrum bullet. They won on Sunday with Lachie Neale, Eric Hipwood and Cameron quiet and Harris Andrews off the ground with HIA in the final quarter. Zorko was huge, Rayner had one of his flamboyant Rayner games and Oscar McInerney had the better of Brodie Grundy. Credit to the Lions and to the coach Chris Fagan. Together, they have resurrected a season which in Round 14 had them 13th on the ladder.
2. BACK TO FUNDAMENTALS
Didn’t hear the Carlton players in the post-match, but put your pay packet on that, at halftime, they spoke about pressure and the contest. This game changed in the third quarter. The Blues kicked 7.5 to North Melbourne’s 3.1. The key number, though, was in the pressure rating. In the first quarter, the Blues were at 183. The second quarter was a pedestrian 155. The third quarter was a bullying 214. Bingo, there’s the game changer. The Blues dominated clearance and territory, but the other noticeable change was numbers at the contest. Sometimes, it’s interesting to pause the game on TV and count the number of players from each team on the screen. The hunting, supportive teams always outnumber. The Hawks did on Saturday. The Dockers did on Sunday. St Kilda did on Saturday. The Bulldogs did on Saturday night. The Kangaroos were in for the fight on Sunday. Their pressure across the four quarters was 176, 206, 187, 150, with that final quarter rating falling away because the match opened up.
3. NO MORE STAT PADDING
After the Round 14 loss to the Bulldogs, Dockers coach Justin Longmuir didn’t hold back: “There’s no doubt that in the seniors on the weekend, guys were more worried about how many possessions they got than how they competed in the contest and how they pressured the opposition and how they defended,” he said. It was a rare whack from the coach. They are 4-1 since, which included on Sunday their second rout of Melbourne this season. How much do they love giving it to the Demons? The ease of which they won the clearance battle was frightening. At quarter time, it was 13-1. By the end, the differential was +32, which was the second largest differential in 25 years behind St Kilda’s +33 against Gold Coast in 2018. It was close to the complete game on Sunday. Clearance tick, contest tick turnover game tick, ball movement big tick, speed, talls involved, smalls involved. If that profile is maintained they certainly will be entertaining finalists. Maybe even Grand Finalists.
4. CONFIDENCE GOES A LONG WAY
All players crave it from their coach and Rory Lobb is no different. His move to key back has resurrected a career which was careering into a wall. Now, he probably can stop looking for another club and the trade writers can probably cross his name off their potential trade list. From scratchy forward to commanding key back, Lobb’s turnaround in the past month has been extraordinary. On Saturday night, he knocked over one of the game’s premier forwards, Jeremy Cameron. Read that again: Lobb beat Jeremy Cameron. He had 21 disposals and had 14 intercept possessions opposed to Cameron’s six disposals, one mark and one goal. It helped that the Bulldogs belted the Cats in almost every facet of the game, but you still have to beat your man. The other winner was ruckman Tim English. That performance was the million-dollar Tim English. You have to wonder what sort of conversation was had between English and coach Luke Beveridge after English’s former understudy Jordan Sweet beat him three games back. Since then, and in two defining games, English got the better of De Koning and Pittonet against Carlton and on Saturday night, took care of the other De Koning. Like Lobb, he certainly appears more committed.
5. THE IRRESISTIBLES
There’s always a moment when you step up or be stood on. For Hawthorn, it was back in Round 9. The Hawks were 1-7, coming off a 14-goal loss to Sydney at the MCG, and on this day were three goals down five minutes into the clash with the Western Bulldogs. “Connor Nash was on the bench,” coach Sam Mitchell says. “(He comes on) he takes the other boys and says we need to change the game, we need to change the narrative.” It was the day James Sicily busted his shoulder and went forward and kicked the matchwinner and the wizard, Nick Watson, missed a soda late in the game. From that day, the Hawks began their swashbuckling 9-2 run and have become unlikely finalists. That Nash moment not so much changed the season, it changed the attitude. And these punky Hawks have attitude. On Saturday, Nash helped set the tone as the onballer/ruckman, Sicily was again restricted by a shoulder injury and Watson, Ginnivan and Macdonald punked the Pies with an exhilarating display in the forward half. These Hawks are hungry, committed and united, so much so that Jack Riewoldt’s comment about a month ago that the Hawks “won’t win it, but they might” doesn’t sound as silly as it did then.
6. A CURLY QUESTION
A long, long time ago, AFL clubs had an award. It was called Most Improved and it went to the player who had lifted his performance from the season before. Who would win that award at Hawthorn? Lloyd Meek would be favourite, Jack Scrimshaw and Connor Macdonald maybe, there’s Josh Weddle and what about Mabior Chol? Even Will Day has gone to another level and he won the B&F last year. It’s Meek’s award. His tap work is elite because he doesn’t necessarily put the ball down the throats of his midfielders, he puts into space for them to work into.
Another award – best first-year player – is not as clear cut. There’s Ginnivan, D’Ambrosio, Watson or Chol. The more we see of D’Ambrosio the more you think: how bonkers was Essendon was not to offer him a long-term deal? As for Ginnivan, playing the ball not playing for free kick has elevated his game. He was huge on Saturday, in performance and in entertainment.
7. THE BACK FLANKERS
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick doesn’t tag. He didn’t at Richmond through the dynasty years and is not showing an inclination to change at the Suns. Would he rue not putting time into Lachie Whitfield? A lot of other clubs try to. This year he’s had James Jordan, Jed McEntee, Matt Guelfi and Matt Cottrell as opponents. Against the Suns, Whitfield had 40 disposals, 792m gained and took nine intercept marks. His running mate, Lachie Ash, in his second game back from injury, had 23 and 412m gained. Those two launched the tsunami from the back half and we all know that’s when the Giants play their best footy, especially if Whitfield can knock up getting 40. The Suns’ handball game was superb. They were +840m, which was a season high.
DISLIKES
1. SO CLOSE, AND SO FAR
Sydney has lost four games this season, by five points (Richmond), by one point (Fremantle), by two points (St Kilda) and by two points (Brisbane). That’s not the concern. Always in the run home to finals, the health of the list is paramount. Tom Papley was flying before his ankle injury on Sunday and his loss is huge. Because the Swans are not a prominent mark-and-goal forward line and rely heavily on midfield and small forward goals, Papley’s absence will be felt. At the other end, Dane Rampe has the old man injury – calf soreness – and equally his absence will hurt the Swans. Still the Swans were mighty in defeat. With Papley and Rampe off the ground, and Will Hayward carrying an ankle injury the Swans almost secured a remarkable victory. Just two goals between Amartey and McDonald highlights an area of concern, though. There’s a question or questions on every team and for Sydney the question is: Can these two be relied upon in September? Time will tell.
2. USE YOUR HEAD
The awareness of head knocks continues to be contentious. Everyone watching the game on Sunday – other than anyone at Carlton – saw Harry McKay groggy after banging heads, yet McKay was able to stay on the ground for about six minutes before being taken off for a HIA. The argument the Blues doctor was already down stairs is fair enough, but what’s the excuse for all the other officials? Someone at Carlton had to take control of the situation. Even the umpire should’ve been aware McKay was wonky on his feet. Footy hasn’t got a handle on these sorts of incidents, mainly because players want to shake it off and avoid coming from the field, and clubs always keep their fingers crossed. McKay needed to come off the ground and his teammates should’ve sent him from the ground. The AFL needs to intervene somehow.
3. WE SURE PLAYERS CAN’T ADAPT?
After a week of complaints by mainly former players that Toby Bedford could not do anything differently in his tackle on Tim Taranto, it was Bedford who put that argument to bed. In a play not dissimilar to last week’s tackle, Bedford laid a tackle on Gold Coast’s Noah Anderson. This time, instead of pinning Anderson’s arms, like he did to Taranto, Bedford still helped ride Anderson to the ground but let one arm free. It allowed Anderson to soften the impact which is exactly what MRO Michael Christian has asked for. It’s why Adelaide’s Ben Keays escaped sanction on Friday night. Despite it being an aggressive tackle, the MRO said Essendon’s Jye Caldwell was “able to get his left arm down to protect his fall and reduce the force of any impact”. The dangerous tackle crackdown doesn’t threaten the fabric of the game, it makes a manic game slightly safer.
4. WHERE TO FOR COLLINGWOOD?
In May, Collingwood president Jeff Bowne told colleague Sam Landsberger that the national draft doesn’t work. To stay on top you needed to trade and to get in free agents. It’s a curious approach because the cliff is approaching and the Pies need to restock. They have nine players aged 30-plus – Pendlebury, Howe, Sidebottom, Cox, Elliott, Mihocek, Mitchell, Hoskin-Elliott and Crisp. Do they all go on? Is there a decision to be made with Sidebottom, for example. Maybe the Pies believe they can rest up, re-gather and go again. They might not have a choice. The free agents left are Tim English, Josh Battle and Cam Zurhaar, and Bailey Smith is linked to Geelong. And their draft hand is 26, 44, 51, 87. Their first-round selection went to Fremantle for Lachie Schultz which presently looks heavily lopsided. It puts the Pies in a precarious position. There’s no free agents and there’s no early draft picks. Coach Craig McRae says the journey continues but how does it successfully continue with an ageing list? “For successful clubs who don’t want to drop down to the bottom,” Browne said, “the draft doesn’t really work for them.” That attitude will need to change soon enough because the Pies need more talented youth. They need to keep their first-rounders because this mob is one and done and need to restock.
5. THE YEAR OF THE MULLIGAN
Outside of Sydney, the competition is dotted with mulligans. So, we’re not giving up on Geelong. They were well beaten at home on Saturday night, but all clubs have failed expectations at some point. The curiosity about Geelong is that the usually consistent and steady Cats have had big wins and heavy losses, including a run of seven wins and then six losses in seven games. “I thought it was an uncharacteristic performance,” coach Chris Scott said after the Bulldogs loss. “If that happens regularly, you just become a bad team – I don’t think that’s us at the moment.” After three consecutive wins over Essendon, Hawthorn and Collingwood, Scott is right. The concern is how many mulligans can you have? By our reckoning, that’s three for Geelong this season, so another one would not be welcomed. They play North Melbourne in Tassie, Adelaide at home, Fremantle away, St Kilda at Marvel and West Coast at home. They will play finals, but did Saturday night cost them top four?
6. CAN CHARLIE CARRY THE POWER?
He doesn’t have to because it’s not his forward line any more. Mitch Georgiades is now the dominant key forward, although Charlie has to play a role. He kicked 4.2 against Richmond, and more importantly he took five contested marks. It was the Charlie of old but the query is how much can old Charlie contribute in the run home? He has to stay healthy if Port is to win the flag. It’s a big ask because he was cooked before he was dropped in Round 14. A three-week suspension in the SANFL rested the body and although his first game back last week was poor, the best of Charlie was seen against the Tigers. With Willie Rioli back for his first game after missing six weeks, Port had a more familiar forward line. If those two stay fit, their flag hopes are better.
7. IS DUSTY THE SOLUTION?
If you watch Gold Coast, you understand why they want Dustin Martin. Even Dusty in his declining years would be of some value. Two weeks ago, it was the famous day when coach Damien Hardwick said they had to grow up. They need to grow a forward line. On Saturday, they won the inside 50 count 66-47 and lost the game by 39 points. Two weeks back, they won the inside 50 count 62-46 and lost to North Melbourne by four points. The numbers tell us the problem, but it’s finding the solution which is the issue. In a nutshell, they can’t win contests in the air or on the ground, meaning the ball goes in and bounces out. They are on track to have the worst retention rate going inside 50 on record. So, it’s system and personnel. The system will work better with better personnel and that’s where Dusty can help. If he’s fit and motivated, he’s exactly what the Suns need. Someone who can win 1v1 contests and who can set up teammates by foot. It’s a big if because Dusty might even retire, but you can easily understand the Suns’ interest.
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