Early Tackle: Sam Landsberger’s Likes and Dislikes from round 16
On the receiving end of midfield mauling in the grand final, a key Bulldog has fought back to be one of the competition’s most watchable players and bigger accolades could be coming his way.
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A compromised AFLW draft farce, the telltale sign of a draftee asking to return home, umpire respect and St Kilda’s return to form are among the talking points from round 16 so far.
Meanwhile, who is the unheralded Bulldog who deserves All-Australian recognition?
Sam Landsberger details his likes and dislikes.
DISLIKES
BLUES, SWANS FALL BEHIND
CARLTON’S third-quarter dominance netted 1.6 and Sydney’s third-quarter dominance netted 2.8 from 20 entries. Champion Data’s expected scores had the Blues winning by 20 points and the Swans by 23 points. Instead they’ve blown games they should’ve won and blown the finals race wide open.
TANNER OUT
THE blank expression on Tanner Bruhn’s face when GWS drafted him at No.12 in 2020 had rivals thinking he wouldn’t re-sign. They are likely to be proven right. Some at the Giants are privately resigned to the inside midfielder requesting a trade this year, most likely to Geelong. Chris Scott gave the Giants a bit of a clip in May. “We would love our model to be we just bring in top-five picks every year and let the talent takeover, but that hasn’t been our lot.” It’s true, the Cats have regenerated on the run better than anyone given their lack of access to high draft picks. But the Giants have lost more stars than some clubs have. This weekend Jack Steele, Adam Treloar, Matthew Kennedy, Jye Caldwell, Jackson Hately, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Dylan Shiel, Adam Tomlinson and, of course, Jeremy Cameron will line up elsewhere while Zac Williams, Josh Bruce, Aiden Bonar and Devon Smith are injured. Meanwhile, the go-home factor to Geelong is bigger than anywhere. Bruhn could join Gary Rohan, Luke Dahlhaus, Shaun Higgins, Lachie Henderson, Gary Ablett, Jack Steven and a bloke called Patrick Dangerfield in returning home. Reckon Geelong’s first pick, likely to be No.15-18, would get Bruhn. Hopefully the Giants don’t draft another Victorian with that pick and also lose him to the Cats, which is exactly what happened when Caldwell joined Shiel at Essendon.
W DRAFT OPEN TO MANIPULATION
TALK about a compromised draft. AFLW clubs can only choose local talents … except for Sydney, which secured Victorian aces Montana Ham at pick No.1 and Sofia Hurley at No.5, and except for Gold Coast last year, which secured Victorian Charlie Rowbottom at No.1. Yes, those girls chose to nominate for interstate drafts and got to their clubs of choice. But why would a Victorian club convince a star interstater to nominate for their draft when they are a one in 10 chance to land them? It’s open to manipulation in the two-club states and some clubs have received blunt warnings from the AFL around raiding other states and must receive AFL permission to interview non-Victorians. On Wednesday night there were 10 Victorian clubs scrapping over a small pool of players, hard yakka when talent orders ran dry after about 15 local picks. Then, West Coast grabs Ella Roberts at No.14. Roberts is on par with Ham as arguably the best talent in the country, but she went at No.14 because that was the first pick in the Western Australia draft. It’s nonsense. Next year the first round must be a national draft instead of this state-based farce. AFLW clubs are well-resourced to handle relocation now and the 94 per cent pay rise for female players has made interstate moves more attractive. Clubs were overwhelmed with interstate players seeking moves to Victoria last season. As for who won the draft? Hawthorn’s golden hand was hard to muck up while Essendon took exciting talents in Amber Clarke and Paige Scott. The Tigers taking goalkicking midfielder Charley Ryan at No.38 overall looked the biggest steal. On talent Ryan was probably in Victoria’s best 10 but she will miss the upcoming season due to an ACL injury.
CONCUSSION COMMUNICATION
IF the 20-minute wait for a player to return to the field after a concussion scare has been shortened then it’s a win for common sense. The time isn’t scientifically based, it’s an arbitrary amount that’s intended to give the club doctor enough time to complete a clinical assessment and SCAT5 test. But it would’ve been nice for the AFL to tell everyone. On Friday night Channel 7 was puzzled when Rowan Marshall passed a concussion test and returned after about 17 minutes in the final quarter. The AFL apparently advised players only had to wait 15 minutes now. That was news to several players, who have had to wait the full 20 minutes in recent years.
UNWATCHABLE ROOS
NORTH Melbourne has been unwatchable this year, but Saturday night’s jumper clash took that to a new level. The 112-point loss was this season’s biggest and North’s 25 inside 50s was this season’s fewest. Seriously, why would you send full-back Ben McKay – an elite intercept mark – to full-forward for a team that can’t take territory? McKay was swung back on Tom Hawkins (6.3) with one handball to his name in the third quarter and his confidence presumably dented. The Cats, like the Crows, wore their indigenous strip for NAIDOC week and the Roos wore their normal kit. It looked embarrassing on TV. Speaking of jumpers, loved St Kilda’s shield strip and Melbourne’s royal blue clash strip. More of both, please.
DEFENDER’S KNEES
THE fear was Connor Budarick and Darcy Moore both ruptured their ACLs in the frantic final minutes at Metricon Stadium. It looked like Budarick grabbed the back of his knee, often a sign of ACL pain, and Moore’s hyperextension was ugly. Momentarily, the result seemed insignificant. Moore was stretchered from the field and then hobbled into the team song on crutches in what was a nicer moment. The Pies probably can’t win the premiership without Moore. Fingers and toes crossed scans show he and Budarick are OK. It’s been a bad week for defender’s knees. Dougal Howard hurt his meniscus and Caleb Daniel had surgery while Jake Kolodashnij will miss Thursday’s top-of-the-ladder clash with concussion.
UMPIRE RESPECT 1
THE AFL forgot about umpires. Again. At 6pm on Thursday the league sent this tweet to its 800,000 Twitter followers: “The AFL is on a journey, and we want our sport to be safe and welcoming to everyone in the LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex) community. Whether as a fan, a player, or a volunteer, everyone deserves to be able to be part of our game.” Fans, players, volunteers – but not umpires, the community which has had female and non-binary members subjected to sexual abuse and harassment described by acting AFL CEO Kylie Rogers as “horrific”. WorkSafe inspectors visited the AFL recently to make preliminary inquiries into those traumatic experiences yet umpires continue to be an afterthought at AFL House, something that will hopefully change when Lisa Lawry puts her feet under the desk as the new boss on Monday. Coaches, too, were omitted from that tweet. Wonder what Dani Laidley thought of that.
The AFL is on a journey, and we want our sport to be safe and welcoming to everyone in the LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex) community.
— AFL (@AFL) June 30, 2022
Whether as a fan, a player, or a volunteer, everyone deserves to be able to be part of our game. pic.twitter.com/I5ZiNLtBrc
UMPIRE RESPECT 2
THE AFL should show respect for field umpire Jacob Mollison by arguing for a multiple-week suspension for Eric Hipwood at the tribunal. Players who choose to bump and get it wrong suffer the consequences because the head is sacrosanct. Well, umpires are untouchable – just ask Toby Greene. Hipwood shoved Ryan Gardner into Mollison and must bear the consequence. Will Minson once escaped with a $7500 fine for touching a VFL umpire but a sanction like that would be the bargain of a lifetime for Hipwood and the Lions because it unfairly got them a goal. A fine would send a dangerous message to the rest of the competition – throw your opponent into an umpire to create separation. The argument that could help Hipwood was whether Mollisson was out of position. Some suspect he might’ve been.
SCOTT SCARRED
CHARLIE Cameron buried the Bulldogs with a burst of goals and goal assists that blew Thursday night’s game apart. Poor old Anthony Scott was the player assigned to Cameron. The electric forward might’ve been unstoppable regardless, but Jason Johannisen appeared the best match-up with Taylor Duryea and Ed Richards injured. The Dogs have games against Melbourne and Geelong this month – will Scott be given jobs on Kozzie Pickett and Tyson Stengle? The Dogs did a lot right but were messy by foot at the Gabba. They kicked 2.10 from stoppages while plenty of their clearances and field kicks sailed out on the full or straight to Brisbane’s back six. The Lions kicked 48 points out of their defensive half. Quality control might be their theme next week.
LET THE BAKERS BAKE
POWER struggles between coaches and recruiters are common. As a rule, coaches are fixated on the short-term and recruiters the long-term. Suspect Billy Gowers and Robbie McComb are examples of recruiters getting overruled at the Bulldogs. Gowers played 33 games and no finals while McComb from all reports is a quality person and star VFL player. But he also turns 27 this year and doesn’t appear to be the sort of player who will take the Dogs to the promised land. Teenage debutant Dominic Bedendo on the other hand, taken with a late pick in 2020, showed plenty of promise, particularly in the first half. All recruiters will tell you that’s the wiser investment.
LIKES
TOM THE LIONS TAMER
TOM Liberatore has never been All-Australian. He should be this year — at the age of 30 and after fighting back from two knee reconstructions. ‘Libba’ is one of game’s most watchable players right now, but if you blink you risk missing his magic. At quarter-time on Thursday night Liberatore and the Lions had both won five clearances. Libba also had a goal and it would be interesting to know why he started the second term on the bench. Liberatore was squeezed out of the centre square in round 1 on the back of Melbourne’s midfield mauling in last year’s grand final. He should be back in there when they host the Demons this month, possible with James Harmes shadowing his every move again. Which ‘Libba’ has had the better career? Tony has currently played 95 more games and won a Brownlow Medal. Tom has a premiership medal and might soon have that All-Australian blazer over hid old man. Both have a best-and-fairest and have ruptured ACLs. Think Tom and his sharper skills might finish on top.
BOMBER BOYS OK
BAROMETER Ben might be a bit much. But how good have Hobbs’ last quarters been when he’s played onball? Hobbs didn’t attend a centre bounce in the first three quarters against Hawthorn. In the last he attended four and had six disposals, one clearance and two tackles as the Bombers banged on eight goals. Hobbs attended one centre bounce in the first three quarters against Sydney. In the last he attended four and had 10 disposals, three clearances and two tackles as the Bombers banged on six goals against the AFL’s best fourth-quarter team. The Dons’ recent recruiting looks good – they’ve picked Harrison Jones, Nik Cox, Archie Perkins, Reid and Hobbs and added Will Snelling, Peter Wright, Sam Durham, Massimo D’Ambrosio and Nic Martin cheaply. D’Ambrosio, in his third AFL game, has pushed captain Dyson Heppell from halfback to the wing. The Bombers sit 16th but have far more talent than 4-11 suggests.
MACEDONIAN MARVELS
THE Rising Star is over. Nick Daicos should be that far in front that only suspension can stop him joining Jaidyn Stephenson and Chloe Molloy as Magpie winners. The pertinent question is whether coaches should now tag this delightfully composed halfback distributor, similar to St Kilda twice sending Jarryn Geary to mind All-Australian halfback Caleb Daniel in 2020. Daicos, 19, is averaging 26 disposals, but those numbers don’t do justice to the quality or his consistency. He is cream. He runs hard and runs to the right spots. On a soggy night at Metricon Stadium he cleanly collected a looseball and switched to brother Josh, who booted a brotherly goal that ignited the comeback. They often wax, and when they do the ball remains in safe hands. Nick Daicos was draft-able back in 2020 and several clubs had him ranked No.1 last year, ahead of Jason Horne-Francis. At halftime he had 20 disposals at 100 per cent efficiency. By the end it was 37 touches as the key playmaker behind the ball and three goals for Josh. As for the Rising Star – would vote like this; 5 Nick Daicos, 4 Sam De Koning, 3 Jack Ginnivan, 2 Jai Newcombe, 1 Nic Martin.
‘KIDDY’ COLEMAN
LACHIE Neale has pencilled Keidean “Kiddy” Coleman in for multiple All-Australian honours. On Thursday night he had 24 disposals, 553m gained and nine score involvements. When Daniel Rich (hamstring) stepped out, Coleman stepped up – and the Lions looked more dangerous. This kid tackles hard and has a lethal left foot. Funny to think ‘Kiddy’ rocked up to Darwin Buffaloes in 2018 and was played in the reserves. Brother Blake is also at Brisbane. As for All-Australian honours, it won’t be this year for Coleman. But it might be for Jack Sinclair who, like Liberatore, is an All-Australian virgin. Sinclair’s dancing feet and precise skills make the Saints look so much sharper.
MAX MOVING, RATTS ISN’T
BRETT Ratten will soon be locked in for two more years and it’s a signature Saints fans should embrace. The effort against Essendon was awful, but every club is allowed one stinker. Against Sydney the Saints tried hard but the scoreboard sapped their belief and against Brisbane and Carlton they were banged-up. Max King was targeted inside 50m 119 times in the first 15 rounds, which was 37 per cent (No.1 in the AFL). On Friday night he moved up the field as a linkman at times and the Saints looked far less predictable and more dangerous. Players joked Hunter Clark’s smashed nose made it look like he had been in the ring with Mike Tyson while Paddy Ryder was, again, enormous and wasn’t expecting that workload. There is also a case for Jack Steele being the game’s best captain. Boy, the Saints’ pressure goes up with Steele in the side.
RECYCLING FOR A SAFER FUTURE
RATTEN and Michael Voss are flying the flag for coaches to be given a second chance.
They are articulate, smart and insightful to listen to. It’s ludicrous to think a sacked coach wouldn’t improve after staying in the system and serving another club.
Reckon the best five coaches in the market this year are Don Pyke (Sydney), Ash Hansen (Carlton), Adem Yze (Melbourne), James Hird (GWS) and Alastair Clarkson.
Wonder if the Giants pursue Pyke, given he wouldn’t have to move interstate.
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Originally published as Early Tackle: Sam Landsberger’s Likes and Dislikes from round 16
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