Before I get started on this review, I just want to send a shout-out to our very talented writer and a damn good bloke, JB Eddy, who is recovering in hospital after a bit of a health scare this weekend.
I know a lot of you flitter in and out of the site via the Facebook page or whatever, and really, it is just another click on the internet. You read reviews, maybe leave a comment and move onto something else, but there are a number of people here that donate a lot of their time to produce the content, and I just want to say that everything JB has added to our little corner of the internet has been greatly appreciated over the last few years.
I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing him a speedy and complete recovery. Also… some North supporters will do just about anything to get out of reviewing Kangaroos games these days…
Anyway, in lieu of JB, you get me. I hope I can do the game justice.
Let’s jump into The Mongrel Rundown of the Dogs and Roos.
This was one of those contests where it kept you guessing until the end. It was kind of a “what if…” game. What if North could string a couple of goals together? What if the Dogs lapsed just slightly? What if North can just stay close enough?
Most of those what ifs were crushed under the heel of Cody Weightman, who kicked six goals for the game and was a metre short of a seventh, and Marcus Bontempelli, who somehow managed to notch 32 touches and three goals despite being unable to hit the ocean from the beach in the first 40 minutes of footy.
In the end, it was the Dogs by 21 points in a contest they kind of always felt in control of, but were never really able to put beyond doubt.
WEIGHTMAN-IA
There is so much to like about the game of Cody Weightman at the moment, who has made the step from annoying little free kick milker to become one of the best small forwards in the competition.
Lining up against Luke McDonald, Weightman capitalised on his opponent’s initial preoccupation with what was going on in every other teammate’s contests to find space and punish the Roos whenever he got the chance.
After a relatively slow start, Weightman exploded in the second and third quarters, kicking five of his six goals across the middle of the game to keep the distance between the sides manageable for the Dogs. Every time it seemed as though North were mounting something, it was Weightman bobbing up to snuff out the resistance.
Even after McDonald started to pay him some respect, Weightman was able to find space, using switches and overlap plays to work into open turf, mark the footy, and turn it into scoreboard impact.
He is quite adept at marking the footy under pressure, making him more of a hybrid leading forward than your traditional crumber – probably more like Jamie Elliott than Tom Papley in that regard.
His six snags were a career-high, and in a game where North hung around just close enough to continue to provide a threat, having a small forward able to impact the game as he did was likely the difference between the two sides in the end.
AND WHAT DOES THIS DEMONSTRATE ABOUT NORTH’S DEFENCE?
They have no quality small defender.
That’s about it, in a nutshell.
Look, I don’t mind Luke McDonald, at all. However, he is a middling footballer in the role assigned to him. I much prefer him as an accountable midfielder, but he has made his home in defence and despite being a below-average kick, is plonked down in the back six more often than not.
But all that does is expose just how badly North need someone who can play tight on these smalls and shut them down.
After McDonald tried and failed (and ran off him.at the stupidest times, leaving others to pick up his slack), the Roos threw Miller Bergman onto Weightman, hoping he could turn the tables. Alas, it wasn’t to be, with Weightman now playing with his tail up and looking dangerous every time he went near the footy.
North have two genuine key pillars in defence, in Ben McKay and Griffin Logue. They need a good lockdown small for games such as this, and when you combine the two mentioned above with him, and a small stopper, you have the makings of a good defensive unit. Until then, however, you’re going to get games where this defence makes some players look like All-Australians.
WHAT DO WE READ INTO NAUGHTON IN DEFENCE?
I know there are some that have been screaming for this move to be made, given Naughton has not progressed the way they hoped he would as a key forward.
I remind you – he is still just 23. Patience…
Anyway, with injuries to Liam Jones (it looked like a broken arm, right?) and Tim O’Brien (hammy), the Dogs were left with Alex Keath to defend the back half. I’ve often thought of Keath as a really solid third defender, but when he is thrust into the number-one role, things tend to go to shit pretty quickly. This is why Naughton was thrown into defence.
It was not a case of “want to”. It was a case of “have to, as the losses of O’Brien and Jones played havoc with the Dogs’ defensive structure. Naughton back there gave them better shape behind the footy, and whilst he was no standout in the role, it was a move of necessity by Luke Beveridge and I reckon that is about all you can read into it.
People forget Naughton started in the AFL as a defender. He moved to the forward half, clunked marks, and suddenly, everyone believed he was born to play as a forward. Being thrown into defence for one game may get a few of the Ï told you so” crowd up and about, but I doubt we’re going to see him down there regularly once the Dogs have other options available.
The Dogs have Ryan Gardner and Josh Bruce to plonk into the back half before they go breaking glass to use Aaron Naughton on a regular basis.
I CAN’T BELIEVE SOME PEOPLE DON’T RATE CAM ZURHAAR AND WHAT HE BRINGS.
Some of my fellow Mongrel writers think that Cam Zurhaar might be a one-trick pony in terms of his physicality.
Either I really like physicality (bum chika wow wow), or I am overrating some of the things he does on the field. For starters, his mark and goal in the last quarter, beating Aaron Naughton in the air and taking a hit from the retreating Alex Keath, was an absolute pearler.
Secondly, his hard run and multiple efforts in the contest were fantastic.
Thirdly, the way he looks inboard first when he is on a tough angle indicates that he has come a long way from the tunnel-visioned player that would have had a shot from anywhere a few years back.
Zurhaar now seems settled in the North Melbourne forward half. For the last little while, he has been playing above himself – like Alex Keath in defence for the Dogs, he has been asked to play taller than he really is. He is the ideal third forward on a team with two capable marking targets. North have one – Larkey. Following him, it’s Zurhaar.
Callum Coleman-Jones may end up being a capable second forward, but with six touches and two marks, he was not that player in this game.
I will admit that part of me likes Zurhaar’s game because he is a throwback to a time when I didn’t just love footy, but lived and breathed it. He would fit in beautifully in the 80s and 90s, and his bah and crash style would draw a crowd to him often… and perhaps not in a good way. He will not hesitate to throw his weight around, but what I like best about him is that he does that knowing that when it is his turn to go, he might cop a bit going back the other way.
And he goes, regardless.
So yes, I understand why people who want pretty footy may think he is overrated, but anyone who likes smashmouth footy would love to play alongside Cam Zurhaar. And those who are now too old to get out there and use our bodies as battering rams… well, we live vicariously through the raging bull of Arden Street.
WHY IS LIBBA SUCH A WARRIOR?
Tom Liberatore has a bit of his old man in him (about 50 per cent if we’re being pedantic) and takes enormous pride not only in winning the hard footy, but in preventing their direct opponent from having a big game.
Libba went head to head with Jy Simpkin and may have had a word in his ear from Luke Beveridge at quarter time about how easily Simpkin was getting off the chain.
Libba strikes me as the type of player you don’t have to tell twice. What do the numbers tell us?
In the first quarter, Simpkin was one of the best players on the park and played a large part in the Roos going into the first break in front. He had eight touches, snagged a goal, and added a couple of clearances as he was allowed to run his own race.
And that was about it for Mr Simpkin as a force in this game.
Libba shifted gears, started to give Simpkin the attention he deserved and limited him to just 11 possessions across the remaining three quarters, effectively cutting him out of the game. Meanwhile, Libba cruised to 26 touches, eight clearances, and nine tackles in another stellar combative effort
If you’re a fan of good, hard footy, there is simply no way you cannot enjoy the way Tom Liberatore goes about playing his footy. He is hard, accountable, and knows when to get off his own man in order to open up the game and get involved in the Bulldogs’ run. Jy Simpkin learnt a bit in this one, and the main takeaway was that when you play against Libba, you either work harder for your touches, or they simply won’t come.
BONT HAS AN ORDINARY DAY WITH 32 AND THREE
It’s almost ridiculous that we have set the bar so high for Marcus Bontempelli, that he can return 32 disposals and three goals and we go… “yes, well, he kind of wasted the footy early in the game.”
He did, and though he absolutely redeemed himself by playing the classic Bont role of meaningful clearances, big score involvement numbers, and string marks inside 50 to convert into goals, you’d probably give Weightman the three votes because, and this may sound a little unjust and harsh, you expect excellence from Bont all the time. You get this type of game from him – “Bint had 32 and three goals, 14 score involvements and 11 tackles… pretty good day for him” whereas if it was someone else with those numbers, you’d be asking if this bloke was the next superstar of the competition.
Such is life at the top of the AFL tree, I suppose.
Wish I had a few of those ordinary types of days when I was playing. I’d still be yapping about them.
THE AA RUCKMAN
When Sean Darcy went down injured, Tim English’s main competition for the All-Australian ruck role disappeared. Right now, it is the man who looks like he copes Susan Alberti’s hairstyle and then daylight to the next best big man.
His duel with Todd Goldstein was a good one, with the veteran looking good early before English’s ridiculously god tank reeled him in and surpassed his output as the game continued.
There was a time when Tim English was the whipping boy amongst first rucks, but those days are long gone, with the Bulldogs’ big man slotting in both as a big intercepting presence and a ‘Get out of Jail’ marking option for the Bulldogs. It took a long time for him to ascend to the throne, but credit the Dogs for being patient with him – they saw the oak tree in the acorn and nurtured it.
It would take a disaster for Tim English to slip ut f contention for the first ruck spot in the All-Australian team this season. Whilst he does not dominate ruck taps, he kills his opposition around the ground to the point he makes them look like statues. Goldy tried his backside off – he always does – but against this half-giraffe/half-gazelle, he was always going to be playing catchup.
QUICKIES
I did not – I finally found who George Wardlaw reminds me of. Young Ryan Griffen when he was at the Dogs, but with a better change of direction.
Interesting to see Rory Lobb start the third quarter as the main target inside forward fifty. At that stage, Aaron Naughton had just moved to defence, and as Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (whose hands have been wonderful between 50-70 metres out from goal) led up the ground, Lobb quickly enveloped the space he left behind him.
Sadly for Lobb, he was not as dominant as you’d like to see with Naughton out of the way, which continues to feed my “Naughton will be back there quickly” argument made above.
Tarryn Thomas looked good in the second quarter. Whether he is a bit of a dick, or not, he moves so beautifully with the footy in his hand and whilst I heard the complaints of many about his retention on the North Melbourne list, when I watch him play, I can see exactly why the Roos were so eager to support him and get him back out there. At his best, he is a top ten player in a premiership team – that is how good he could be.
This game was the best I’ve seen Nick Larkey look in marking contests. He had three contested grabs for the game, but it was the way he disposed of Alex Keath a couple of times that made him look a class above.
The loss of Liam Jones is going to hurt the Dogs. He has been a commanding presence in the back half and not one of those you can just switch out for another player and get a similar result. Fingers crossed his injury is not as bad as it looked.
And that might do me.
Both teams get a week off in Round 15 before they rejoin the fray for the run home, with the Dogs hosting Freo, and North travelling to Adelaide to face the Crows.
Again, thoughts with JB Eddy and family – thanks for all you do and have done for The Mongrel Punt. Get better soon, mate.
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