The Tackle: Jay Clark’s likes and dislikes from round 10
Nine years ago, the Cats stole Patrick Dangerfield from the Crows and he won a Brownlow. Jay Clark writes, Bailey Smith could be set for the same fate as his judgement day nears against the Dogs.
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On Saturday, both the Cats and Dogs made serious statements, now all eyes turn to Thursday night – the Bailey Smith Cup.
Jay Clark gives his likes and dislikes from round 10.
LIKES
1. BROWNLOW BAZ?
Western Bulldogs will feel totally dudded on the deal.
When Bailey Smith packed his bags for a French seaside town for a few weeks this time last year it was clear his season was not only done, but that he was bound for the Cats.
And at trade time, Geelong said their pockets were essentially empty when they handed over pick 18 and change for a man coming off an ACL.
It’s a wonder Geelong footy boss Andrew Mackie kept a straight face as he signed-off the paperwork after doing a good job of keeping a lid on the Cats’ excitement about landing him.
Football lightning had struck twice.
It was nine years ago superstar midfielder Patrick Dangerfield won the Brownlow Medal in his first season at the Cattery polling 35 votes in 2016 after crossing from Adelaide.
And history might just repeat this year.
Ahead of Smith’s blockbuster first showdown against Western Bulldogs on Thursday night, ‘Brownlow Baz’ is second favourite to win the most coveted individual award only a whisker behind Collingwood jet Nick Daicos in the betting stakes.
The hype is real, too. In the coaches’ award, Smith is fourth only three votes behind leader Connor Rozee. That’s the validation.
On Saturday against Port Adelaide, Smith’s blistering run helped carve-up Port Adelaide and ensure he will again be in the votes with 30 touches, 10 score involvements, seven clearances and five tackles.
Whereas Danger was a sledgehammer in 16’, Smith is the razor-blade.
It’s his wheels and deft touch which cut up the opposition.
Geelong used to be one of the slowest and most controlled sides in the league a few years ago.
But Smith and Max Holmes, or the ‘Dash Brothers’ as Leigh Montagna coined them on Fox Footy, have brought the jumper leads, and transformed the Cats’ engine room into one of the most powerful and damaging running teams in the game.
And if Smith, 24, goes head-to-head with the red-hot Ed Richards, 25, in an individual showdown on Thursday night, we will witness one of the most compelling one-on-one match-ups for the season.
Whether there is any genuine lingering bad blood or just a cheeky tension between Smith and the Dogs we will find out on Thursday night.
Often these sorts of games between players and their old teams have turned into a love-in in recent years, other than Rory Lobb’s tense first clash against Fremantle.
But when you stop following Smith on social media, as some of his former teammates have done, it’s a fair sign some sort of line has been drawn.
Smith was frozen out of the engine room at the Kennel despite his pleas to spend more time inside, so he will be a man on a mission inside the centre square on Thursday night.
The expectation is the Dogs will attempt to catch Smith out on transition in the event the gun ballwinner is all-in for the Sherrin, but not necessarily his man.
Cats’ coach Chris Scott is the master chess player and Bulldogs’ boss Luke Beveridge is in the coaching form of his life, according to his troops, so the tactical battle will be fascinating.
We’ve lauded the Hawks for their celebrations and style over the past 12 months.
But when it comes to footy’s box office, the man in the headband at Geelong is the real Hollywood story in 2025.
2. DOGS CAN GO ALL THE WAY
Western Bulldogs were hit by a haywire week on the eve of last year’s finals series.
Luke Beveridge’s men were arguably the form team of the competition in the back half of last season before the distraction around Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s absence from the club and his limited preparation for the Hawthorn final blew-up internally.
Inside the camp, the disturbance was significant, and the eventual elimination final no-show cut-deep.
But approaching the midpoint of the season, the Dogs have shown they are once again one of the best teams in it.
And it’s a combination of the superstar performances from the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Ed Richards and record-breaker Bailey Dale and the remarkable growth of some of the lesser lights such as Rhylee West, Buku Khamis and Joel Freijah which make the Dogs such a complete side, despite a horror injury run.
They can go all the way this season.
And the win over Essendon offered more insight into the workings and mindset of the team than just a regulation victory.
Limiting the Essendon ball movement machine to only 37 inside 50s was a tactical masterclass against the Bombers’ uncontested game style from the Dogs’ coaches’ box.
Essendon’s biggest strength is the way it moves the footy but the Dogs annihilated the Bombers out of the middle and them denied them space in their short kicking chains.
But above the shoulders there is a big story to be written at The Kennel, too.
Complacency has been a problem for the Dogs over the journey.
Beveridge said it himself.
They have never finished top-four and even in 2016 had some flat spots and mental meandering.
“We have had the team which has won the flag and we were pretty good,” Beveridge said.
“But there were still times when we had some complacency, and that is the challenge of the long year.
“Is this the group that doesn’t find complacency when it is easy?
“And is this the group that remains sensitive to the challenges of the week-to-week and meets every opponent totally head on because we haven’t yet had that group.”
So imagine Beveridge’s delight when the Dogs put the foot on Essendon’s throat in the 91-point win on Saturday night after basically shutting the door on the opposition by quarter time.
It’s a ruthlessness driven by desire and the selection pressure which has been built by some of the strong selection decisions.
Senior stars Liam Jones, Adam Treloar and Sam Darcy, in a couple of months, can all come back in.
Imagine the lift it will give the club, too, when Beveridge inks his new deal.
Currently, he in the mix for coach of the year.
3. BARRIER BROKEN
It might have been the biggest player hoodoo in the game.
Across nine seasons and 161 matches North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin had never tasted victory on the MCG.
If the Kangaroos were ever going to graduate to the next level of its rebuild phase, this next step at the home of football was a doozy.
But it is perhaps no surprise the Kangaroos players rushed to Simpkin at the final siren after holding on against Richmond on Sunday.
Simpkin had lost his grandmother as part of an emotional week for the gun playmaker after last week fumbling the crucial play on the wing which cost them victory against Brisbane Lions.
But the club found an unlikely hero in key defender Toby Pink who not only pulled off an inspirational chase down tackle early in the last term to trap Thomas Sims bounding down the wing on his own.
Pink also took the match winning final minute intercept mark on Tom Lynch with a little shove in the side which brushed aside the Tigers’ veteran.
Pink has been in and out of the side but this was a clutch play from the man who is fighting for his career.
Luke Davies-Uniacke also showed more of the power and clean-ball handling which had escaped him at times this year after signing the bumper deal to stay at Arden St.
And youngsters Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw and Colby McKercher combined for 30 tackles and 81 pressure acts in an improved sign of their defensive commitment.
Broadly, this was a much better effort at the death from North Melbourne which had faced criticism for its lack of scenario-based training to help stimulate close game finishes.
They had blown in the past couple of weeks but after making some time for it at training during the week, Alastair Clarkson’s men came up trumps.
4. GOODWIN KEEPS FIGHTING OFF THE NAYSAYERS
This was a validating win for Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin.
The man who was under more pressure than any other man in the game at the start of the year has maintained strong faith the “new way” at Melbourne will click this season.
Against the Brisbane Lions, the Demons snapped their run of poor final quarters to stun the reigning premier in their own backyard on Sunday night.
Now, the Goodwin sacking campaign has been extinguished.
And the most criticised move in football worked.
After curtailing Jai Newcombe last week, the Demons’ ballwinner was effective again in his role on Lachie Neale as Max Gawn produced another herculean effort in the ruck, Jake Melksham nullified Harris Andrews and the kids again looked like they can become elite players.
Goodwin has for a long time wanted more balance in Oliver’s game and the move to send him to the opposition’s best player has given him a starting point.
While it’s unlikely to be a long-term move, the Demons believe it is a string to his bow which perhaps previously didn’t exist.
And Kysaiah Pickett is moving like a man headed for an All-Australian jumper, if only he kicks straight.
Harvey Langford is already a big tick but it was the classy Xavier Lindsay on the outside who continues to make smart decisions.
And in a season which has tested its resilience more than any other, they lifted in the last term to kick four goals and seal the win which has reignited their season.
DISLIKES
1. FIELD DALE
Essendon had to disrupt Bailey Dale’s flow.
The Western Bulldog racked up a club record 49 touches coasting around Marvel Stadium on Saturday night in All-Australian mode.
But one week after David King on Fox Footy said clubs had to wake up to applying more shut down pressure to the game breaking rebounding defenders, Dale did what he wanted.
Essendon coach Brad Scott said the Bombers tried several things to curb his influence but wanted to continue to attack the game rather than close it down.
But the Bombers’ methods failed. And it was embarrassing for the red and black.
At their worst the Bombers can be easy to play against, and at some point Essendon had to put more effort into stopping Dale even for 10 minutes to help take him out of the game.
But does Essendon have that sort of hard-nosed utility who can sacrifice their own game to play that sort of cooler role?
Will Setterfield went to Marcus Bontempelli who still had 24 touches and two goals including a mesmerising major which he snapped in as much room as a phone box.
Essendon had beaten some lower-placed sides so far this year and the 91-point pounding from the Dogs showed there is a significant gap between the top sides and Essendon.
And when Zach Merrett isn’t having a blinder the team is vulnerable.
The turnovers in the forward half and inability to link up through the middle left the club with only goal to half time.
But next time Essendon come up against one of the best defensive playmakers in the competition they can’t be allowed to have a field day like Dale did.
2. WHERE’S JESSE?
Carlton has a small forward problem.
At their prime the Blues’ livewires can crank up the forward pressure, but Michael Voss won’t want to count only on Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay to hit the scoreboard.
Curnow has bagged 21 goals for the season but he is only one of two players in double figures for the season with Corey Durdin the next best on 10 majors for the year.
Jesse Motlop has averaged six possessions in each of his past four games leading into the clash against GWS Giants, putting his spot in jeopardy.
He was taken pick 27 and sometimes looks brilliant, but 50 games into his career Motlop is still a long way from finding the consistency which is difficult to achieve from the forward pocket.
Currently, he is on one of the leanest runs of his 50-game career, booting only one goal from the past month and six majors from the first 10.
With Zac Williams and Orazio Fantasia out injured, Matt Owies traded to West Coast and Francis Evans still trying to cement his spot, it’s an area which will be top of the club’s whiteboard at the end of the season.
In the modern game, small forwards have become crucial.
While we’ve lauded the spine, it’s the ground level stocks which require attention if the Blues are going to keep this premiership window open.
3. JACKSON’S THE MAN
Fremantle need to rewrite its ruck script.
On Saturday night Luke Jackson made a compelling statement to those who doubt his ability to carry the number one ruck mantle.
The criticism is that Jackson can only have an impact when he comes on in short bursts as the relief ruckman for Sean Darcy.
But that argument is struggling to hold up.
In the commanding win over GWS, Jackson had one of the better Fremantle games of his career showing his tap craft and athleticism with 21 touches, 15 contested possessions, seven clearances and six score involvements.
If Darcy’s knee is on the blink, Jackson looks ready to take over as the big banana.
Darcy will attempt to prove his fitness but his future may lie at another club, such as Geelong, if Jackson continues to flourish, as expected.
The Dockers have been adamant Jackson’s future is as a mobile forward and part time ruckman, but it seems almost certain that tune will change.
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Originally published as The Tackle: Jay Clark’s likes and dislikes from round 10
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