AFL round 9: Scott Gullan’s likes and dislikes in the Early Tackle
Zach Reid has been the poster boy at times for the Bombers not nailing their high draft picks – but he’s well and truly put that argument to bed, writes Scott Gullan. See the early likes, dislikes.
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An undermanned Collingwood went west and continued Fremantle’s slump, Carlton withstood St Kilda in Spud’s Game and Hawthorn broke through for its first win in almost a decade against Melbourne.
Scott Gullan names his likes and dislikes from round 9 in the Early Tackle.
DISLIKES
FAIR WHACK
Surely this isn’t where the game is going?
In a battle for a loose ball in the final quarter, Essendon captain Zach Merrett clearly touched the ball first before his arm made contact with Swans defender Nick Blakey’s head.
It was the epitome of a football accident. Merrett had every right to play the ball, actually touched the ball and then accidentally clipped Blakey.
While it was unfortunate that the Swans gun was forced off the field shortly afterwards for a HIA (Head Impact Assessment) test which effectively ruled him out of the rest of the game.
But the fact the conversation instantly went to whether Merrett will be under MRI scrutiny for the incident is a sad indictment of where the game is heading.
“I thought I tapped all ball – I was about to kick the goal. I haven’t seen it, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” Merrett said afterwards.
Swans defender Lewis Mellican copped three weeks for a similar incident on Giant Toby Bedford last week but he was careless and didn’t get anywhere near the ball with his swinging arm.
The hysteria around Merrett which even saw his name suspended in Brownlow Medal betting was simply ridiculous.
THE PICKETT RULE
It’s time the AFL bunker got more responsibility and Kysaiah Pickett has given them the perfect case study.
The blatant trip on Pickett at the top of the goalsquare late in the second quarter cost Melbourne an easy goal but none of the umpires saw Hawks defender Blake Hardwick’s ankle tap so it was called play on.
On Monday, Hardwick will receive a fine from the MRP for tripping but that doesn’t help the Demons.
What if the score review boys were given the added responsibility of being able to adjudicate obvious infringements when it costs a team a scoring opportunity.
Before your eyeballs start to roll, this would only ever be utilised for blatant howlers like Pickett’s.
And only in the forward line, nowhere else around the ground as that is a rabbit hole we don’t have to go down.
In the NBA there is a clear path violation where if a defensive player infringes on an offensive player who has a clear opportunity to score – but isn’t yet in the shooting motion – then it is a foul, and can be upgraded to a technical if it’s deemed “egregious”.
Pickett had a clear scoring opportunity and was taken out of the play. One quick replay could have identified the issue and then the bunker could get into the ear of the umpires to call play back.
At worst the ball might have got up towards Hawthorn’s forward line before the message could be relayed but it can then be stopped immediately.
This bunker intervention might only happen once or twice a year – much like the send-off rule for blatant hits like Connor Naish on Gryan Miers a few weeks back if it was introduced.
And it wouldn’t be used in marking contests, when there’s a slight push or a block, but out of the ordinary incidents – like a deliberate trip at the top of the goalsquare – where there is no doubt about the infringement.
The AFL hates change and the bunker hasn’t been a glowing success yet with still some contentious score reviews happening but we’ve started down this path of using technology to help get decisions right so let’s go the next step and call it ‘The Pickett Rule’.
THE NON-PREMIERSHIP HANGOVER
Sydney’s season is done.
For most of Saturday, they looked like a broken team who were looking at the mountain and questioning whether they wanted to climb it again.
Clearly being humiliated last year by Brisbane in the GF – the second time in three years they’d been smashed on the final Saturday in September – has left them questioning many things.
At some point it gets too hard and apart from emotional spikes, like getting up against cross-town rival the GWS Giants last week, these Swans are battling for motivation,
Clearly a Saturday afternoon under the roof against a young Essendon team doesn’t get the juices flowing.
There were eight players missing from last year’s Grand Final side — and the coach — with the two biggest losses clearly led by Errol Gulden and Tom Papley while the forward structure is hurting without Joel Amartey and Logan McDonald.
Of those GF players who are fronting up most seem to be a bit off compared to previous seasons. Chad Warner was playing better when everyone was speculating that he was taking the big cheque and returning to WA.
Brodie Grundy was playing against a player that was in semi-retirement a couple of weeks ago but didn’t really impose himself on Todd Goldstein like you’d expect.
At three-quarter time the stats sheet said a lot about the Swans lack of urgency and desire. Essendon had 98 more possessions which included a 106 advantage in uncontested possessions and +80 handballs, +20 marks and +15 tackles.
The only stats the Swans were leading was the inside 50 count by seven but their inaccuracy was ensuring that was irrelevant and conceding 50m penalties (6-0).
But then when their conscience got the better of them in the last quarter they found something and played properly — kicking 3.5 to Essendon’s one point — led by a suddenly enthusiastic Warner.
In many ways it sums up the 2025 Swans, they are good in spurts but the motivation to do the required hard yards all the time – which they’ve done brilliantly in recent seasons – is simply not there.
CLUNKY TIME
Things are about to get serious for the floating Hawks who haven’t really got out of third gear this season.
Captain James Sicily summed it up wonderfully after his team had flicked the switch in the last quarter against Melbourne to register their seventh win of the year.
“We’re clunky but everyone is playing a bit clunky this time of year,” Sicily said.
It’s a great position to be in, having not really played anywhere near their best yet you’re sitting second on the ladder. And don’t forget Hawthorn started 0-5 last year.
But the holiday is over.
Floating around and just doing what you need to do against teams like Melbourne, Richmond and West Coast over the past three weeks isn’t going to cut it in the next month.
We will know a lot more about Sam Mitchell’s team by the time they hit the bye given what lies ahead.
A trip to Darwin to play the Gold Coast is next week followed by games against Brisbane (MCG), Collingwood (MCG), Western Bulldogs (Marvel Stadium) and Adelaide (Tasmania).
They will need to find some urgency in a hurry. Melbourne’s inaccuracy clearly helped them keep the game close and it took some nice last quarter cameos from Jack Gunston (three goals), Mabior Chol (two goals) and a bit of Josh Weedle magic to put the game to bed.
Before that they kicked it to Melbourne skipper Max Gawn a lot and struggled in patches with the Demons pressure which was good in periods.
When they go quick Hawthorn looks as good as anyone but they need to push the accelerator with purpose from next week.
LIKES
REID TIME
It was fitting that it was one of Essendon’s young guns who shined brightly on the day when Brad Scott’s team was the most inexperienced in the competition this round.
Zach Reid has been the poster boy at times for the Bombers not nailing their high draft picks in recent years but the No.10 selection in 2020 put that argument to bed in style.
He was clearly best on ground at half-time with 20 touches and 10 marks at centre half-back (he finished with 27 possessions, 14 marks and eight intercepts) and was a constant thorn in Sydney’s wayward forward thrusts.
It was a welcome sight for the No.31 who was given that jumper made famous by club games record-holder Dustin Fletcher because he was expected to blossom into something similar.
Injuries have been cruel with just nine games in four years and this was just Reid’s 17th game but it will be one which Bombers fans will be hoping is a career turning point.
These were serious Baby Bombers with 15 players under 100 games, seven under 20 games and a couple of debutants.
And now they’re inside the top eight and have found a quality key defender in the process.
HARVEY BANGER
Guess who Harvey Langford models his game on? Here’s some hints, he’s also a left-footer, also tall for a midfielder and was also a top six draft pick.
Melbourne fans will be hoping that Langford’s desire to be the next Marcus Bontempelli continues to evolve because he did a good job against Hawthorn of showing there is plenty of scope to aim for such a lofty goal.
While he already has a Rising Star nomination from Round 3 against the Gold Coast when he had 26 possessions, the way he lit up the MCG against the Hawks, particularly in the first half, oozed star quality.
The Demons were pumped to snare him at No.6 in the national draft as they looked to find the next Clayton Oliver or Christian Petracca. There were plenty of clubs who loved him given he had won the Larke Medal for best player of the U/18 championships.
Off the wing Langford had two goals in the first half to help keep the inaccurate Demons in the game and then added a third goal midway through the third quarter.
He finished the game with 22 touches and while the Dees fans would have left frustrated following the last quarter fade-out, there was a silver lining with the next Bont.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans deserves a little bit extra in his pay packet for his club’s Darwin arrangement.
When they first came up with the double-header idea of staying in the Northern Territory for a week and playing back-to-back games, the Suns were battlers.
It helped them win some games when they were struggling badly to do it elsewhere but now when they’re a legitimate finals side, the deal is bordering on a fixture rort.
This is the fourth consecutive year of the week long Darwin stayover for the Suns and they’re now 7-0 after wearing down the in-form Western Bulldogs in the final quarter on Saturday night.
That’s generally what happens at TIO Stadium. A team from Victoria – or Adelaide in 2023 – looks pretty good for a half before the high humidity and extreme heat kicks in.
The Suns obviously are more acclimatised to the conditions and then steam over the top. It says a lot about how well the Dogs are going that they kept coming in the last 10 minutes to give Damien Hardwick some very anxious moments.
Four consecutive goals in as many minutes reduced the margin to three points with three minutes left. It was a gutsy effort but in the end they were that exhausted they couldn’t find the legs for one more goal.
The win took the Suns to fourth on the ladder and they welcome Hawthorn next week who ironically is Evans’ former team.
SOS OF THE CENTURY
Jack Silvagni has quietly slipped into the hardest player to replace discussion for Carlton.
It wasn’t that long ago he was a third tall forward who was a week-to-week proposition about just getting a game.
Now he looks as good at centre half-back as his mum did as a hostess on Sale of the Century.
Last week Silvagni was absent against Adelaide with a broken hand and the Blues were smashed by 10 goals.
He courageously played on Friday night against St Kilda despite clearly still hampered by the injury and was outstanding again with 17 possessions and 11 marks.
Apart from his obvious toughness and great marking ability, Silvagni is also an excellent kick who is more than happy to go for the difficult centring ball than most of his teammates.
Having a defender willing to pull the trigger with a risky kick is like gold as it sets up so many scoring thrusts at times when the game can be stuck in the mud like Friday night was for the entire third quarter.
On the hardest to replace discussion for the Blues, names like captain Patrick Cripps, Charlie Curnow, Tom De Koning, Jacob Weitering will be thrown up but the son of SOS has to be in the next group.
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