1. Nobody is calling for Michael Voss to be sacked anymore
Carlton’s recent history of sacking coaches would’ve been weighing heavily on the powers that be down at Ikon Park after another humiliating defeat back in Round 13. It seemed to all and sundry that Michael Voss had lost his players. Fans booed the players as they left the MCG that fateful night against the Bombers where the team only managed a paltry 33 tackles which had supporters making comparisons to the dark days of the Pagan, Malthouse and Bolton eras.
At that point, the Blues had slipped to 15th on the ladder after their sixth consecutive loss with a bleak outlook for the rest of the season. Nobody could’ve envisaged the turnaround that now sees the Blues winning the next six games in succession which included the two teams sitting on top of the ladder. What we’re now seeing is faster ball movement, better forward craft, a sound defence led by Weitering in scintillating touch and elite levels of pressure. Those calling for his head and a drastic cleanout of the team of assistant coaches can’t deny that the problems have been fixed and the players are all on board. Voss said he would not succumb to panic after Round 13, and it’s clear that he hasn’t. There’s still work to do, but Carlton, at this stage anyway, look set to play finals for the first time in ten years. And if they can maintain this incredible form they’re in, it will make the top teams ever so nervous.
Blues fans would’ve been haunted by the Round 10 exploits of Darcy Moore in their previous meeting. Moore looked good early taking a couple of intercept marks and filling Blues fans with dread, but once Carlton settled into the game, his influence was kept to manageable levels, and in the end, Charlie Curnow got well on top finishing with six goals in a best on ground performance. Adam Cerra may have got the nod for the Richard Pratt Medal had he not gone off in the third quarter after injuring his hamstring. He was clearly the best player on the ground winning clearances and setting up inside 50s at will. As great as the Blues are going, they’re now three midfield players down with Cerra, Walsh and Kennedy out injured. So far the depth has passed the tests in their last couple of weeks, but another one or two players lost to injury will pose a problem sooner or later.
For now, the Blues are sitting pretty in the eight with a game against St Kilda coming on Sunday. On form, you would think the Blues will be too good and notch up a seventh straight win, but Blues fans always prepare for the worst due to recent years of disappointment.
Collingwood are still sitting two games clear despite losing to Carlton. The Blues’ pressure exposed the Pies at times, but I’m sure they will regroup and move on pretty quickly. There were moments in the game where the Magpies could’ve reeled their rivals in, but poor kicking for goal meant the Blues had a comfortable lead for most of the second half. The Daicos brothers got plenty of the ball but the incessant pressure they were under from this determined Blues outfit made their influence on this game minimal. Daniel McStay came into the game in the third quarter and looked dangerous up forward, but he only managed 2.2 missing a couple of fairly easy shots. McRae moved Jeremy Howe up forward to try and add a spark in the last quarter, and he did just that, kicking three goals and playing havoc with the Blues defenders. Mihocek was soundly beaten by Weitering and finished the game goalless after kicking four against them in Round 10, and Jamie Elliott lost his radar on the night finishing with a couple of behinds only.
Voss definitely did his homework in what was possibly his best coaching effort against a full-strength ladder leader. The Pies take on the Hawks next week and should return to the winners’ list barring a disaster.
2. The Dockers beat the Cats twice in a season
You could be very easily forgiven for forgetting that Fremantle defeated Geelong in Perth back in Round 10. Nobody with any football knowledge could’ve foreseen them repeating the dose ten rounds later in Geelong no less, but that’s exactly what’s occurred. In what was a low-scoring game where the margin never went beyond two goals, the Dockers went into the final break with a slender three-point lead. When the Cats slammed on the first two goals of the last quarter, it looked like one of those games where the underdog stays with their opponent for three quarters and ultimately fades out late to go down by a margin that “doesn’t reflect the closeness of the contest” as they say.
Fremantle have made a habit of capitulating since the mid-season break having won just one game since then, but on this occasion, they were actually able to hold their nerve to kick the final two goals of the match and prevail at GMHBA by seven points. Brayshaw and Serong were big contributors in the midfield while Luke Ryan continued his great form with 28 touches in what is looking like a potential best and fairest year for the star defender. The Dockers’ chances of playing finals are slim to none as they would have to win all their remaining games and pray for certain results to go their way, but I’m sure they would’ve enjoyed this win which, interestingly enough, was their second win in two seasons down in Geelong. They take on the Lions at Optus Stadium and will go into that game with a little more confidence after this week’s effort.
Last year’s premier is now in serious trouble of missing finals. They’ve now lost two in a row, and the versatile Blicavs looks set to miss some football after injuring his hamstring. Tom Hawkins appears to be in the same boat, while spearhead Jeremy Cameron has been woefully inaccurate against the Dockers on both occasions this year. He has scored an aggregate of 1.9 over the two games which certainly could’ve cost his side a win in a close contest. It was all just a part of the things that went bad for the Cats on the day. They’ll be desperate for a win against the Power next week who are coming off their third straight loss. While a Top 2 finish is hanging in the balance for the visitors, a loss for the Cats will almost certainly mean they’ll miss out on September action after winning a Grand Final the previous season. If Geelong can get over Port Adelaide, they’ll then be gearing up for a massive Friday night clash against Collingwood in Round 22. With a fortnight like that coming up, you could now see why this loss may be the one that cost them their season.
3. The Giants have forgotten how to lose
When Aaron Naughton goaled at the eight-minute mark of the third term, the margin was 35 points in favour of the Bulldogs and it seemed like they were cruising to an easy victory. Well, this Giants team always seem to have other ideas, especially with a bloke called Toby Greene leading them out on the field. With his side looking down the barrel early in the third team, Toby went nuts kicking four goals for the quarter and whittling the 35 point margin down to just 8 by the final break. His fifth goal in the 22nd minute of the final term put the Giants in the lead and they eventually ran out five-point winners.
There aren’t enough superlatives to describe just how good Greene is, and he was well supported by young gun Jake Riccardi who booted three goals. Next week presents a huge challenge against the in-form Swans who will be desperate for a win to stay in touch with the eight. Greene was instrumental in the Giants’ one point win over the Swans back in Round 7. A win to GWS would be their eighth in a row, but, more importantly, it will almost see them a lock for a finals spot.
The Bulldogs are in a spot of bother now sitting just inside the eight with a growing injury list and a couple of tricky games to come. Their defence has been decimated with Jones and O’Brien on the sidelines while Bruce went down in this game with a worrying knee injury and Keath went off with concussion. Things looked very good for the Bulldogs in the first half. Bontompelli had a strong start, and Liberatore actually finished the match with a staggering 20 contested possessions. Bailey Dale topped the possession count with 37, and his last quarter goal with four minutes reaming put his side back within a kick of the Giants, but they were unable to find a matchwinner in the dying stages of the game and are now in serious danger of falling short of finals. Many think the Bulldogs have a talented list that should be playing in September, but the injury toll is a big part of their up-and-down season.
4. The Suns give a last-gasp effort for an inaugural finals spot
Don’t write the Suns off just yet. They’re still a mathematical chance! You do have to love that term. You’re basically a rank outsider when the term “mathematical chance” gets thrown around, but the reality is that nobody saw this game going the way that it did. It was apparent in the first half that the Suns had come to play. One of the knocks on this Gold Coast team was their lack of pressure at times, but their pressure rating in the first half was in the elite category. Despite this, they went into the long break just three points ahead. Most people looking on have seen the Suns play a good first half only to get overrun in many games after halftime. Not so in this one. Combined with their own accurate kicking and Brisbane’s wasteful conversions for goal, they opened up a 17-point lead at three-quarter time.
Brisbane were playing well below their best but were still in touch, so I still expected them to run over the top of them in the last quarter, but nothing of the sort occurred. In fact, after halftime, the Suns booted ten goals to just three which belied the ladder positions of both teams. The most pleasing aspect of this win was Ben King’s five-goal haul after he had failed to kick a goal in his previous four outings. Sam Flanders had yet another 30+ disposal game, while Miller and Anderson starred. The Suns have to go to Adelaide to take on the Crows next week. It could be the final nail in the coffin for their finals aspirations, but that was supposed to happen on Saturday.
Brisbane blew an opportunity to take second spot in this game. A win over their much-less fancied opponent would’ve seen them overtake the Power after their third straight loss, and their quest for a home final would’ve been looking good. Instead, they basically had their pants pulled down by a far more determined and committed side. Their kicking for goal let them down and their forwards only had modest returns with two from Cameron and one each to McCarthy and Hipwood. Josh Dunkley was probably the Lions best finishing with 30 touches while Lachie Neale was kept down to a modest 17 possessions for the match which suggests the Gold Coast coaching crew did their homework and it paid off. What would’ve looked like a pretty easy game next week against the Dockers in Perth has just taken somewhat of a twist with Fremantle finding some form after an unexpected win while the Lions look as though they’ve dropped the ball after their unexpected loss. A top-two spot is still within reach, but they’ll have to lift their game away from home, even when they’re only an hour down the road!
5. We’ll be hearing about Buddy’s calf all week
Strangely enough, after a few weeks of solid form from Lance Franklin, there were whispers of the possibility of the superstar playing on in 2024 for a staggering 20th season. All that talk seems to have been silenced now after Buddy left the field in the second term with a calf complaint. The seriousness of the injury is not known, but there’s already talk of him having played his last game and “career-ending injury” is being bandied about. So this will no doubt dominate the AFL news cycle for the coming days, and it’s understandable as he is an ornament to the game.
Meanwhile, the Swans had an impressive win over a late-charging Bombers to stay in touch with the Top 8 after four successive wins. Joel Amartey is giving some signs of being Buddy’s successor after he finished with four goals for the Swans while Errol Gulden dominated yet again with 37 touches. As mentioned earlier, another elimination final-style clash looms for the Swans in the Battle of the Bridge (honestly, who thought of that?) next Saturday against the Giants. I don’t think the Swans can afford any losses in the run home in order to make finals.
The Bombers looked gone for all money when they trailed the Swans in the third quarter by as much as six goals. They certainly finished the stronger of the two teams kicking five goals to one in the last quarter. When Jye Menzie kicked the last goal of the game to put Essendon within two points of Sydney, there was just six seconds remaining. The Bombers won the centre clearance but time got the better of them and the Swans hung on. Essendon have gone down in a few thrillers this season and can consider themselves stiff if they miss out, but it is looking that way now. They should have a comfortable win and get some much needed percentage against the Eagles, and then they have the struggling Kangaroos after that, but their final two games against the Giants in Sydney followed by Collingwood might see them come up short. Kyle Langford kicked five and Peter Wright finished with four for the Bombers. Zach Merrett returned to top form with 39 touches and there were good signs, although the three late goals to Sydney just before half time was the game-changer, and the Bombers have had lapses in recent weeks which has now seen them lose five out of their last six games putting them all the way down to 13th on the ladder.
6. The Coleman Medal is now a two-horse race
Just when we were beginning to think Charlie Curnow had all but sewn up this year’s Coleman Medal, along comes Tex Walker with a sven-egoal haul in a Showdown no less, eclipsing Charlie’s brilliant six goal effort against the Magpies. The gap between the two is six in Charlie’s favour, but there is the Round 24 clash that Tex’s Crows have against the Eagles that will be a thing of interest. We know what Charlie has done against them this year, but Walker booted ten against them in their previous encounter opening up the door for another big bag in four weeks.
And speaking of showdowns, despite Port Adelaide’s much higher ladder position, the Crows have won both encounters this season suggesting they must have the wood on the Power. Taylor Walker won the Showdown Medal for best on ground. It’s hard to go past a guy who scored a record-equalling seven goals, but I’m sure Jordan Dawson’s 34-possession game would’ve also put him in the frame for the award as well. Looking ahead, the Crows take on the Suns at home with both sides sitting on 9 wins needing to win all their remaining games to make the eight. The Crows are pretty strong at Adelaide Oval, but it’s a danger game.
Port Adelaide have hit a bit of a speed bump. After a club record 13-game winning streak, they’ve now lost three in a row and their grip on a Top 2 spot is slipping. It was a flat performance, and it seems the halt in their winning momentum after the Carlton loss has really thrown them. Losing to their cross-town rivals is annoying at the best of times, but losing by 47 points when trying to gain the rights to a home final is a disaster. The Power can only thank their lucky stars, or should I say Suns, for doing the job on Brisbane that stopped them from overtaking the Power this week. The scary thing for Port Adelaide is that next week they have to venture down to Geelong which could result in a fourth straight loss. The Cats do seem to be doing a little ordinarily against the interstate clubs at home. The Lions will be hoping the Cats bounce back and take the points to allow them to take second spot. Francis Evans for the Power had his best game for his second club kicking four goals. He was a shining light in an otherwise dark night, and we’ll be sure to hear about the 21-year-old again. The Power needs a win before people start talking about Ken Hinkley’s future again.
7. The Saints have never been outside the Top 6 all year
St Kilda’s season has been loaded with highs and lows under return coach Ross Lyon. After the opening four rounds with many of their best 22 sidelined due to injury they were undefeated and looking like a genuine top-four side. Since those heady days, the Saints have looked shaky at times and won just seven games out of their last fifteen. And yet, after posting their win against the Hawks this round, they still find themselves sitting fifth on the ladder. But before we consider them a lock for the finals, let’s have a closer look at their season to see if we can ascertain where they’re really at and how their next four games might go.
If you look at their last seven wins, four of them are against the bottom three teams. In this time they’ve only beaten two sides currently in the eight, so it might suggest their position in the Top 8 is vulnerable. Their next four weeks include a very improved Carlton, followed by the Tigers and Cats all at Marvel Stadium. The final round will see them take on the Lions at the GABBA. A loss to the Blues would see them fall below sixth on the ladder for the first time next week, and then two difficult games against the Tigers and Cats would both need to be won in order to make it. It’s not beyond them by any means, but they have been very inconsistent this year and will have to do all the right things to get through. They’ll be confident on the back of kicking their highest score for the year against Hawthorn and could make life difficult for the Blues, but you’d almost back them in to miss out if they fall short next week.
Brad Crouch was an absolute star in this game kicking three goals from his 32 touches while Wanganeen-Milera continues to impress, finishing with 33 touches and a goal. Butler was also dangerous up forward kicking four goals while Cooper Sharman did his best to keep James Sicily’s influence on the game manageable after their last encounter where he destroyed the Saints almost singlehandedly with 43 possessions in their come-from-behind victory. So there was plenty to like about the Saints who blew the game out of the water in the first term kicking nine goals to three while dominating the midfield battle.
The Hawks midfield has been great at times, but they’re a young team and the teams St Kilda have in the last month will be a lot harder to get on top of than Hawthorn’s inexperienced list. Still, it was a good win and some many thought might go against St Kilda. With a coach like Ross Lyon overseeing things, they may very well be able to eke out the two wins needed to get them home.
Hawthorn really lost this game in the opening term. They were simply powerless to stop the onslaught as the Saints just kept winning it out of the middle and scoring at will. The Hawks did an amazing job to draw within just 11 points by the final break, but the Saints settled into the last quarter with the first few goals and opened up a lead that broke the Hawthorn spirit. Luke Breust is still a major problem for opposition teams at the age of 32 and is showing no signs of slowing down kicking six goals to match his career-high tally and doing his best to keep his team in the game. He’s kicked 39 goals for the season and has more than earned his place on the Hawks list for another season. Chad Wingard had a terrific game finishing with 26 touches and two goals while Will Day continues to impress also kicking two goals from 22 touches. With another season under their belt, next year’s Hawks will hopefully be able to sustain their best football throughout longer periods in games instead of the lapses we’ve seen from them at times this year. We can see what they’re building, and it appears to be heading in the right direction.
8. The Dees have all but sewn up a double-chance
Melbourne played out a tough, high-scoring contest against a Richmond side needing to win to sneak into the eight. Midway through the third term the Tigers led by as much as 20 points and were looking good for a win, but Melbourne battled hard to wrestle back the lead to go into the final break ahead by four points. In the last quarter, Melbourne stood tall kicking six goals to two to run out by victorious by a hefty 32 point margin and make it almost impossible for any of the chasing pack to snatch away their Top 4 spot.
The Demons now find themselves two games clear of the Saints in fifth place and with a much higher percentage. With two of the four remaining games against the Hawks and Kangaroos likely to result in wins for Melbourne, the chance of them slipping down seems out of the equation. Max Gawn starred as per usual with 28 touches and was a major factor in dragging his team across the line yet again. Harrison Petty took full advantage of his reprieve as a defender kicking a career-high six goals after being put up forward. It looks like Melbourne have found another avenue to goal which has been an issue at times this season, and Van Rooyen and Melksham also had fun kicking four goals each. The Demons head down to Tasmania to take on the Kangaroos next round, but all eyes will be on the following round against the Blues which is shaping up to be a beauty.
The Tigers played well but just couldn’t go with the Demons late. Richmond regained the lead early in the last term after kicking the opening two goals, but Melbourne kicked the last six goals of the game after lifting their intensity and the final margin was not reflective of the tightness of the game. It was a classy end to the contest by Melbourne who stood up to everything the Tigers threw at them, but Richmond still aren’t out of finals calculations just yet. In fact, a win next Friday against the Bulldogs will have them momentarily in the eight while they sweat on other results. One of the more promising things in recent weeks for the Tigers has been the form of Dustin Martin. He’s playing at a level somewhere near his damaging best and finished this game with three goals from 20 touches. Three of Richmond’s four remaining games are against teams currently in the eight, including a final round trip to Adelaide to take on the Power. It’s looking like it’s going to be a huge challenge, but I’m not game enough to write them off any more. They’ve made me look silly too many times.
9. Both the Eagles and Kangaroos have forgotten how to win
One of the weirdest elements of the clash between these two bottom teams in Perth was the fact that 16 out of the 20 goals scored for the match were at one end of the ground despite there being no obvious wind advantage. If that wasn’t strange enough, so too was the fact that the Eagles got out to a lead in excess of 30 points on two occasions only to see the Kangaroos reel them both times. The record books will say that the Eagles won the match by five points, but it was obvious that having a handy lead was unfamiliar territory and it seemed they weren’t sure what to do next.
Jamie Cripps and Oscar Allen both finished with two goals each for the Eagles. I’m sure Oscar felt much better down forward this week after being given the nightmare assignment down back against Charlie Curnow in his last outing. Sheed and Kelly both performed well finishing with 26 touches each, and Eagles fans will have a better week than normal this week after finally breaking their 16 game losing streak and may take some comfort in their percentage being back over 50% for now at least.
The Kangaroos played in fits and starts. They kicked five unanswered goals during the second quarter and scored four unanswered goals in the final term while kicking just one goal across the first and third quarters. The Eagles’ story was a similar one but in reverse. It clearly looked like both sides simply did not understand what is required to win a game of football.
For the Kangaroos, Paul Curtis kicked four goals in an impressive display and Luke Davies-Uniacke was always a presence finishing with 30 touches and a goal. I see him as a future captain of this club and would urge the club to consider giving him the nod as early as next season. You can see he is a leader and he plays great team football that the club can build around. Ruckman Tristan Xerri hit the scoreboard twice as did Nick Larkey which puts him on 50 goals for the season in third place for the Coleman Medal. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, will change from next week as Alistair Clarkson returns from his break.
10. After three easy weeks, this week was a tipster’s nightmare
OK, so I’m going to brag a little here, but through rounds 17 to 19, I got just one tip wrong. It was the Adelaide v Giants game in Round 18. You could call it a minor upset as it was played in Adelaide so most pundits would’ve leaned more that way, but just as the Eagles and Kangaroos seem to have forgotten how to win, this team looks like they’ve forgotten how to lose. I’ve actually been to a game at Mars Stadium, and it’s actually a ground that is largely unguarded from the elements and conditions there are tricky. With the Bulldogs having played a few more games there, I tipped them this week thinking surely the Giants are due. But, once again, even after finding themselves as much as 35 points down in the third term, they refused to lie down going on to eventually win by 5 points. So I got that one wrong.
I’m sure most people picked Collingwood to beat the Blues. Being a Carlton supporter probably made my job a bit easier, but I genuinely believed my boys were a chance, and you know how it is when your team is some sort of chance when you’re tipping. You’re going to back them, so I got that one right and thought I might be in for a good week after that. Not quite in the end.
I’m sincerely scratching my head about the Brisbane and Geelong games. The Cats at home with so much on the line against an underperforming Dockers losing made no sense. And the Suns have been the Lions’ bitches on their last nine occasions. With a possible home final looming, they’ve slipped on a banana peel it would seem. I went for Port but my gut feeling was the Crows and I ignored that. The Power are in a bit of a trough and will need to get out of it soon before their season is shot and the knives come out for Hinkley once more. I’m annoyed I didn’t trust my instincts on that one.
I did tip the Swans but they almost let me down. So, as of Saturday night, I was two from six, but I knew some who had none right at that point. St Kilda are getting hard to judge now. They were pretty poor last week against the Kangaroos, and the Hawks should’ve beaten the Tigers, so silly old me tipped Hawthorn this week. By quarter time, I looked like a goose. That said, they teased me a little to get within 11 points at three-quarter time, but once the Saints got a couple early in the last, it was a question of “what was I thinking?”
I did tip the Demons over the Tigers so I nailed that one, and I thought surely the Eagles will beat the Roos, and they did, but not before a scare. So after three weeks where I tipped 9, 8 & 9, I only finished with 4 correct this week. I really feel I should’ve backed the Crows and Saints and a score of 6 would’ve been commendable, but I’m guessing a score of 4 this round would probably be above average. How did you go?
