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AFL Stock Watch: Round 14

Roar Pro
7th July, 2015
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The bye weeks have passed and each club is now well and truly into the second half of its season, so it’s time to look at the stock watch.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s explained here.

On to the stock watch.

Rising

It’s just a game
The AFL is one of the most intensely scrutinised industries in existence, with the performance of all involved publicly questioned on a weekly basis. The ability of 44 strangers to play a game means so much to so many people, we often neglect the human side of the game. Not this week.

The tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Phil Walsh meant that the fun and fanfare involved in the AFL wasn’t present, giving an almost eerie feel to the weekend’s footy and allowing us to put the game in perspective. Yes, it means a lot to us, but there are so many more important things in life.

Never has this been made clearer than on Friday night at the MCG when after a fierce contest between two top four contenders, 46 adversaries divided among two different tribes gathered arm-in-arm to pay tribute to Walsh.

Not only was this poignant moment replicated across the AFL, but at local and junior matches all over the country. In a time of true adversity the whole footy community stood together in a display of unity rarely seen.

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It was a timely reminder that while coaches and players will work tirelessly to perfect their craft in the public eye, they are not immune to the issues that plague society as a whole.

Gary Ablett
As if his stock could rise any further. With the captain back in tow, the Suns produced one of the upsets of the season over North Melbourne. With the club suffering through the worst period in its short history, Gold Coast supporters needed something to cheer about, and Ablett provided it in abundance.

Showing little ill-effect from the injury that kept him out for so long, Ablett was close to his sublime best as his team dominated the Kangaroos. Thirty-one disposals, 11 clearances, 10 score involvements and three goals of his own look great in the stat sheet, but it was the way in which his presence allowed his teammates to play with greater confidence that really stood out.

Youngsters such as Kade Kolodjashnij (28 disposals and a goal), Luke Russell (23 disposals at 78 per cent efficiency and seven inside 50s) and Aaron Hall (20 disposals, nine score involvements and three goals) appeared much more at home with their leader present. All three players clearly outperformed their season averages in the categories listed.

After having his leadership questioned repeatedly in 2015, it must have been a relief for Ablett to finally get back on the field and remind us all why he’s the best, while leading his team to a much needed win.

St Kilda’s recruiting
As the Saints have struggled in recent years, the club’s recruiting department has been widely ridiculed for its inability to draft impact players at AFL level during the Ross Lyon era. What appeared to be a lack of emerging talent at the club was the major factor forcing them towards the bottom of the ladder, where many predicted they would remain for a number of years.

Fast forward half a season and the Saints are clearly a team on the rise with a list full of talented young players that may be ready to push for finals as early as next year. Of the 22 that completely dominated Essendon on Sunday, eight had played fewer than 50 games. What’s even more frightening for the rest of the AFL is that highly regarded draft picks from the last two drafts such as Paddy McCartin, Hugh Goddard, Jack Billings, Daniel McKenzie and Blake Acres are waiting to make an impact of their own in the coming weeks and years.

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A rebuilding strategy aimed at making three selections within the first 25 in the draft over the last two years has fast-tracked St Kilda’s rise to prominence at an unimaginable rate. The Saints have also been clever in recruiting from other clubs, particularly when it comes to Josh Bruce, formerly of Greater Western Sydney.

After arriving at St Kilda last year as a key defender, the 23-year-old is currently second in the Coleman Medal race. Fellow forward Tim Membrey and number one ruckman Billy Longer have joined the club from the Swans and Lions respectively, and have made their own significant contributions this season.

Add another likely top 10 draft pick to this promising core at the end of the year, and the Saints will be feared across the league in the very near future.

Falling

Essendon’s midfield
With Jobe Watson averaging eight-year lows in disposals and contested possessions per game, along with a six-year low in clearances per game, the skipper has suffered through one of the most challenging on-field portions of his career, punctuated by a nine-disposal effort in his side’s demoralising defeat at the hands of St Kilda.

Deployed more often as a forward so far this year, Watson is averaging only half a goal per game and 0.6 goal assists per game, his lowest figures since 2010 and 2011 respectively. If he’s not going to have an impact in the forward line he might as well be sent to the middle.

Problem is, if Watson plays exclusively in the midfield as in seasons past, a forward line already bereft of tall targets will lose another player who can take a mark. He is, however, so desperately needed in the midfield because the Bombers currently rank 18th in the league for both centre clearances and overall clearances per game.

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Now that Watson is likely to miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, even more pressure is placed on Dyson Heppell and Brendon Goddard to carry the load in the middle of the ground.

The Match Review Panel
The inconsistency shown by the Match Review Panel when it comes to tackling has been mind boggling. Regardless of whether you feel that Bryce Gibbs deserved to be suspended for his tackle on Robbie Gray two weeks ago, it is extremely difficult to fathom how Jay Schulz’s tackle on Ted Richards could lead to a different adjudication.

Think about it: both Gibbs and Schulz pinned the arms of their opponents before using the somewhat controversial slinging motion to bring them to ground. As a result, Gray and Richards had their heads accidentally slammed into the turf, leading both to be taken off the ground on a stretcher.

In the Match Review Panel’s statement after Round 12, Gibbs’ tackle was deemed to be “careless conduct with high impact to the head”, whereas the Schulz incident was described in the Round 14 statement as “not unreasonable in the circumstances”. Watch the incidents here and here and decide for yourself.

If the panel wanted to make a point to players that the head must be protected when tackling, then the penalty dished out to Gibbs must also apply to Schulz given the similar nature of the tackles. Instead we are left confused.

North Melbourne on the road
As exciting as it was to see the Suns finally playing up to their potential with the captain back in the line-up, we can’t ignore the insipid effort put forth by the Kangaroos. To be outscored by seven goals in a half of footy against a team with only one win is simply unacceptable.

Saturday night’s abysmal performance was just the latest in a long line of poor performances interstate. The loss to the Suns puts North’s interstate record at 1-3 in 2015 (home games in Hobart excluded), with the only win coming against a Giants team in its first full game without Shane Mumford, Joel Patfull and Phil Davis.

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Most troubling is that North’s average losing margin interstate is just over 68 points. Clearly, the Kangaroos can’t handle a hostile environment.

Losing to the Dockers and Crows on their home grounds is nothing to be ashamed of, but to be completely uncompetitive in doing so is a worrying sign for a team expected to feature heavily in September.

It’s often said that the key to winning games interstate is to take the crowd out of the game. It’s safe to say allowing the opposition 55 inside 50s and 29 scoring shots per game on average when playing on the road will only fire up an already unfriendly audience.

The Kangaroos’ poor performances outside Victoria are emblematic of a club that has taken a giant step backwards in 2015.

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