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With another two weeks in the books, it’s time to check in on the stock watch. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept it is explained here.
Finally the all-conquering Dockers have been toppled and all of a sudden we have immense competition for every spot in the top eight. Now that the wait for Freo’s eventual loss is over, we find ourselves trying to make it through the bye weeks with only limited footy to tide us over.
With that said, it’s on to the stock watch.
Rising
Richmond
Brett Deledio was listed in this space last time, but now its time to give credit to all Richmond players for the great form that they currently find themselves in.
Facing a crossroads as recently as four weeks ago with a 2-4 record, the Tigers have pulled off four straight wins, including hard fought victories over the Dockers and Power on the road.
Most impressive about this streak is that the Tigers are winning ugly, which has not been a strength in recent seasons. We all know how electrifying Richmond has been when playing fast, attacking footy, but at the moment the players are showing a newfound level of resolve to grind out victories despite losing momentum for periods of each game.
Credit must be given to the leaders, as well as Damian Hardwick, for instilling this positive mindset into the playing group. It’s nice to see the players have learned their lesson from last year and are trying to cement a finals spot well before September.
John Barker
Two weeks ago, if you had told a Blues fan that their team would travel to Sydney to take on the in-form Swans without Chris Judd, Bryce Gibbs and Marc Murphy merely days after sacking their coach, and would lose by ‘only’ 10 goals, they would surely have taken it.
Fears of a 200-point loss were unfounded, but predictions of a greater margin were certainly justified. Sydney probably held back once the game was won, but a 10 goal loss wasn’t too far from a best case scenario.
To follow that up with a competitive performance against the Crows, who are a genuine top eight side, is a ringing endorsement for John Barker as coach. Carlton lost the tackle count again (as it has in every game bar one), but this time it was due to the fact that the Blues actually had more of the ball than the opposition as opposed to a lack of effort.
The players may just be responding to a new voice rather than responding to Barker specifically, but with more performances like that (and maybe a few wins), the Blues may not have to look too far to find their next coach.
Momentum swings
Now more than ever, games are being won and lost due to whether a team is able to score heavily when it has momentum and more importantly, if it can weather the storm when the opposition have momentum.
St Kilda was powerless to stop the Lions in the first quarter of their clash last week, and as a result Brisbane led by 28 points at quarter time. One breathtaking quarter later however, the Saints had produced a 38-point turnaround before claiming victory in a game that was relatively even in the second half.
Brisbane’s inability to stop the Saints’ momentum was the reason they lost despite having more of the ball and using it more efficiently.
We saw a similar thing happen at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night. Port was threatening to run away with the game at various stages throughout the first three quarters, before being slowly clawed back by the Dogs.
Eventually, the Power took over the game in the fourth quarter and won by a handy margin despite losing the contested possession, clearance and inside 50 battles.
Conversely, Collingwood’s ability to stifle Melbourne’s forward 50 entries after conceding a run of six out of seven goals on Monday allowed the Pies to regain control of the game and hold on to win.
Melbourne’s inability to man up Adam Oxley in favour of having its own seventh defender, who ended up being ineffective, swung the game back in Collingwood’s direction at crucial stages.
One quarter of momentum mayhem is proving to be the difference in games these days.
Falling
Charlie Dixon
It’s been reported that Dixon could command a contract worth up to $750,000 a year from a number of rival clubs in need of a key forward. If this is indeed true, the interested clubs must be rethinking, as the 24-year-old hasn’t yet done enough to justify such a mammoth deal.
The fact that Dixon has now been caught breaking team drinking rules twice over the course of about a month must be a concern for potential suitors. On top of the poor judgment and lack of respect for team rules displayed throughout the two incidents, it must be worrying that Dixon was willing to risk being suspended at a time in which his team can barely put 22 players on the field due to a terrifyingly long injury list.
Dixon is enjoying a productive season on the field, averaging 10 disposals and 2.8 goals a game while playing the all important key forward/second ruckman role.
Despite this, there are reasons for clubs to pause before offering him such a large amount of money. He has had an injury plagued career thus far (only played 55 games out of a possible 98) and is already at the age where big men usually become consistent senior players. Is there much improvement left?
The last thing Dixon needs is for clubs to be questioning his professionalism and maturity in addition to the questions surrounding consistency and injuries. If Dixon hasn’t learned his lesson this time, he may end up costing himself a lot of money.
Essendon
The Bombers are in absolute freefall right now. They’ve only won one game since squeaking past the Saints, and that was against the lowly Lions. Saturday night’s goalless first half against the Cats would have to be one of the poorest halves of footy played by any club this season.
Essendon has scored more than 60 points only three times since round 3, and the only Bombers players putting forth consistent performances are key defenders Michael Hurley and Cale Hooker, probably because they’ve had so many opportunities to get their hands on the ball with the way opponents are slicing through the Essendon midfield.
Given the Bombers’ form earlier in the season when playing with clear heads for the first time in two years, one must conclude that the impending WADA appeal is having an adverse effect on the Essendon players. It is undoubtedly a tough situation for the players, but they’ve managed to play winning footy through similar situations in the past.
If they aren’t able to lift in the second half of the season, it’s not unrealistic to think their coach may find himself under pressure.
Double standards regarding player/umpire contact
By now we’ve all seen the footage of Ray Chamberlain making accidental contact with North player Trent Dumont while running past to pay a free kick. No one is disputing that the shoulder to Dumont’s face was purely an accident, but Chamberlain still needs to be punished. If he isn’t there is clearly a double standard at play.
Before virtually every ball up in every game, we see umpires telling players where they’re going to be running after play resumes in order to avoid any contact which, no matter how incidental, will almost certainly be punished with a fine for the player. What is lost in this is that the umpire also has an obligation to get as close to the action as possible without impeding the progress of any player, which Chamberlain clearly failed to do in his zest to pay a free.
If it had been an Eagles player that ran past Dumont and unwittingly bumped him head high, you’d have to think that the player would be suspended for at least a week due to negligent head high contact.
Luckily, Dumont did not suffer any injury as a result of the incident, but Chamberlain must at least be fined for his careless approach.
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