Early Tackle: Scott Gullan’s likes and dislikes from round 17
When your nickname is ‘The Flying Viking’ and you’re a cross between Trevor Barker and Nick Riewoldt, there’s a lot to live up to. But the Alix Tauru hype is real, writes Scott Gullan.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There’s plenty of action to come in round 17 — but there’s also already plenty to talk about.
Carlton’s third defeat on the trot has them under immense pressure as Collingwood continue their premiership assault.
Plus, umpire contact is on the agenda again.
Scott Gullan names his early likes and dislikes here.
DISLIKES
TDK CHAT TIME
It’s time for Tom De Koning and Graham Wright to have another chat.
Last month the Blues ruckman had a sit down with the incoming CEO to discuss his vision for Carlton given St Kilda were offering a fortune for him to leave Ikon Park at the end of the year.
Word is the meeting went well and De Koning was seriously agonising over his decision, desperate to find a reason to stay because the reality was the money – $1.7 million per year – was almost certain to be too good to refuse.
If he was stressed about it then, TDK looks like he needs to be in a padded room now given how bad his form has been since.
You can’t help but feel for the kid, it’s not his fault St Kilda is waving the biggest cheque ever in football at him. The problem is the way he’s playing is hurting his brand and there would be Saints board members wondering why their club is breaking the bank for him.
De Koning looked lost starting forward against Collingwood and then struggled for impact when he replaced Marc Pittonet in the ruck. Like many of his fellow followers, he is best used when he can roam far and wide, exerting his physical presence across the ground as a full-time ruckman.
The issue for coach Michael Voss is that he knows De Koning is virtually out the door so he needs to get Pittonet up to speed for next year.
If Voss is there or not is a whole other debate – and the last three weeks are surely not helping his job security – but the TDK conundrum needs to be addressed.
Wright knows the AFL isn’t ready to follow the NRL lead and have players announce months out – sometimes even longer – that they’re moving to another club the following year yet continue to play out the season.
But maybe this is the time for some mature thinking because it’s in no-one’s interests to see De Koning continue to hurt himself and the club over the next seven weeks.
WATCH YOUR STEP
You could have taken short odds that an umpire would hit the deck this round.
After a week of controversy where the AFL put clubs on notice that they were willing to suspend a player who repeatedly crashed into umpires, there was always going to be another incident.
But this time it was the umpire’s fault, well you hope the AFL, acknowledge that because if Essendon young gun Nate Caddy cops a fine for his run-in then the game has lost its way.
Caddy was watching the play on the opposite wing and attempting to get into the Bombers defensive 50m when he cleaned up field umpire Robert O’Gorman.
O’Gorman went down hard and Caddy also had the wind knocked out of him with the replay showing it was actually the umpire who was at fault, moving into the path of the Bombers youngster.
All eyes were on Gold Coast star Matt Rowell at Marvel Stadium given the umpire contact crackdown had him in particular in the gun given he’d already been fined four times over the past two years for running into the men in lycra.
There was no obvious change of behaviour from Rowell despite a couple of close calls at centre bounces and he was clearly not impressed with the crackdown afterwards in a post-match interview.
“I’ll just be me,” he said on Fox Footy.
The umpires were also under scrutiny on Friday night in Perth where a decision branded “the worst of the year” was awarded against GWS Giant defender Leek Aleer
Aleer bumped West Coast’s Jack Hutchison perfectly with his right arm tucked in, going shoulder to shoulder with no high contact, yet it was deemed a free-kick. The result was a goal to the Eagles which thankfully didn’t mean much in the scheme of things as the Giants galloped away.
But fears for the death of the bump were raised with SEN commentator Kane Corners alarmed by the free-kick.
“Now I’m hoping it was just a bad decision, but I have my suspicions that this is the path that we’re going to go down where any bump is now illegal,” Cornes said.
“We’ve seen the AFL come out and release statements over poor umpiring decisions before, I want a statement on this one.
“This should send shudders through the game that we’ve all loved and the physicality that we’ve all loved about our game were a perfectly executed bump, when the ball is there. He times it beautifully, the Giants would have run away with the footy instead it’s a free kick.
“I want a statement and I want to know if that was just a poor decision or if this is now the way that the game is going.
“I’m worried that we’ve gone way too far.”
LALOR’S CRUEL BLOW
These are matches for Richmond fans which are all about the future.
Playing Geelong in Geelong is an impossible task for most teams, so when you’re rebuilding it becomes all about seeing how your young talent matches up with the best.
Sam Lalor was hailed as the next Dustin Martin when he was taken with the No.1 draft pick and has shown in glimpses throughout the first half of the year that there is certainly something special in there.
Seeing how Lalor handled himself against the likes of Patrick Dangerfield and Max Holmes in the stoppages was something worth coming to have a look at for Tigers fans.
That lasted less than two minutes.
In a shocking turn of bad luck Lalor blew up his hamstring – the same one which had kept him sidelined for the previous six weeks – when executing a tackle.
The sight of the teenager slowly walking from the ground was devastating and more than likely means the Tigers best youngster won’t be seen again this year.
Richmond had been careful with the initial injury, holding him back for an extra week but they now need to investigate further because they can’t go into 2026 with any body issues surrounding their prized asset.
LIKES
THE FLYING VIKING
It’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement even if Alix Tauru was only playing his third game.
When your nickname is ‘The Flying Viking’ and you’re a cross between two St Kilda legends, Trevor Barker and Nick Riewoldt, you’re already got a lot going for you.
And then when there are fans in the crowd wearing Viking hats in your honour, it could be a lot to handle but Tauru showed again he looks more than capable of living up to the hype of the Saints next big thing.
His spoiling last week against Fremantle was a highlight and he again lined up in defence against Hawthorn but it was a rare foray forward in the second quarter which had everyone at Marvel Stadium in raptures.
Tauru launched himself at a pack and took a spectacular mark which had Barker and Riewoldt all over it. While he missed the shot for goal, he had former legends Garry Lyon and Jonathan Brown almost giddy in the Fox commentary box.
In time, there’s no doubt Saints coach Ross Lyon will explore the youngster as a forward because with that leap, courage and a nice streak of hardness he’d be a handful for any defence in the competition.
While the Saints were dirty after losing free agent Josh Battle to Hawthorn, they turned the compensation pick they received into Tauru at No.10 in last year’s national draft.
That’s looking like good business and already has fans of the clubs who were in front of the Saints in the draft raising eyebrows about how ‘The Flying Viking’ got through their clutches.
TALL TIMES
Richmond changed the narrative about what premiership forward lines look like.
Jack Riewoldt and his fleet of smalls led the Tigers to three flags in four years which understandably had rival clubs trying to copy.
But maybe the wheel is starting to turn back the big boy’s way in the forward half. Adelaide has well and truly put its stake in the ground by going with Taylor Walker, Riley Thilthorpe and Darcy Fogarty with great success this year.
And at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon it was the land of the giants fiesta.
Ironically Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick, who instigated Richmond’s successful mosquito fleet plan, is committing to a big three forward structure and they were again influential in getting the win over Essendon, led by Ben King (four goals), Ethan Read (three goals) and Jed Walter (one goal).
The Bombers have also found themselves a big three with rising young superstar Nate Caddy (three goals), Archer May (three goals) and Peter Wright (one goal) all having their moments against the Suns.
Caddy continues to excite every week while May, a mid-year draft pick, is making a mockery of recruiters who’d overlooked him in the past.
The 20-year-old caught fire in the third quarter, kicking three goals in five minutes to ensure the camera was permanently fixed on the great Dermott Brereton in the stands who is the partner of May’s mother.
While Essendon coach Brad Scott has a lot of things he has to get fixed, the unexpected success of Caddy and May has provided him with a great foundation to build a proper team around.
MORE THAN JEZZA’S MOMENT
When Jeremy Cameron kicks his 700th career goal and then starts giving away goals for fun, it’s easy to focus on the offensive weapons Geelong had at their disposal against a hapless Richmond.
But there will be one player Cats coach Chris Scott will single out ahead of the likes of Cameron and Co.
Tom Atkins is the heart and soul of this midfield and at half-time with the game already put to bed, he had 13 tackles to his name.
The AFL record is 20 by Adelaide’s Rory Laird so tackle-watch was instigated at GMHBA Stadium but unfortunately with the heat out the game, Atkins wasn’t required to keep up his manic attack on the man.
He still ended up with 17 tackles and 17 possessions although it still wasn’t enough to have the honour of the round’s best tackler, he had to share that with Gold Coast star Matt Rowell who had 17 tackles and 15 touches against Essendon.
There were a couple of other contributors from the Cats who might have gone under the radar given the ease of the victory. Former Blue Jack Martin has got his speed back and could be an X-factor later in the year while debutant George Stevens looked at home in the middle of the action.
The South Warrnambool product was straight into the centre square and picked up eight clearances – the most on the ground – in his 21 possessions and one goal.
PIE LOVE
Watching Collingwood live gives the full appreciation of the connection the premiership favourites are currently fuelled by.
Without fail every Magpie goes out of their way to high-five a teammate or turn up on mass to help a mate get up off the ground. It might sound trivial but it’s clearly a concerted effort to spread the love around.
It was particularly obvious against Carlton because they wouldn’t be able to find the word connection if they looked it up in the dictionary.
The Pies body language is infectious and you could see the excitement they were feeling about the return of Brownlow Medallist Tom Mitchell and the debut of Roan Steele.
Mitchell, who hadn’t played since Round 8 last year, slotted back seamlessly with 26 possessions in the middle of the ground and almost every touch was celebrated by his teammates.
Steele, a mid-season draft pick, wore the No.45 and looked like he’d been at the caper for a couple of years rather than a couple of minutes, picking up an impressive 19 disposals.
Whether Mitchell can carve out a spot in the Pies midfield when everyone is up and running – you’d think he is battling it out with Ned Long for that midfield spot – is up for debate but there was a lot of love for him on Friday night.
More Coverage
Originally published as Early Tackle: Scott Gullan’s likes and dislikes from round 17
Wanganeen-Milera, Burgoyne callout horrific racial vilification
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Jase Burgoyne have both been racially vilified over social media, with the star Saint calling out the horrific abuse.
Star KO’d, game brought to a standstill
An AFL star is facing a lengthy stint on the sidelines after a “reckless” act left a Melbourne midfielder out cold on Sunday.