Round 20 of the AFL season has been run and won, so what were the big stories of the weekend? Take a look at our talking points from Round 20 and let us know what you think.
Brisbane needs more than just a change of coach
Don’t get me wrong – I’m definitely of the opinion that the Lions need a change of coach, and with Brisbane announcing a review of Justin Leppitsch’s position after their 138-point loss on Saturday night, it looks like that will happen soon enough.
However, it would be a major mistake if the Lions thought that the answer to all their problems was simply to switch one coach out and one coach in.
There’s a lot that needs to happen before they’ll be back on the right track.
Every area of the club needs to be subject to a serious third-party review to determine where there’s rot and how to fix it. At the moment, it doesn’t feel like there’s a single aspect of their program that is working the way it should.
If you plant a fresh sapling in bad soil, it’ll look nice and new for a while, but it will eventually whither and die. That’s what has happened to the Leppitsch era – he was put in a situation where he was doomed to fail, and really wasn’t that great a candidate to start with.
The Lions do need a new sapling, a new coach, but they also need new soil – and that’s a much harder, much more thorough task. It’s time for a new era to begin.
The Dees may be finally coming out of the wilderness
The Melbourne Football Club has spent a fair chunk of the past decade being the AFL’s laughing stock – an organisation that has experimented further than any other into the depths of just how much pain you can put your member base through.
These past few seasons under Paul Roos however, have seen the Demons very gradually turn it around, and Saturday’s 29-point win over Hawthorn will turn out to be the crown jewel of Roos’ tenure as Melbourne’s senior coach.
I’ve said a few times earlier this year that the Dees are on the road to somewhere great.
The centre-square combo of Max Gawn, Jack Viney, Angus Brayshaw and Clayton Oliver will someday be the hardest to play against in the league, and the emerging class of Dom Tyson, Christian Petracca and Billy Stretch is more impressive with each passing week.
Point that all towards Jesse Hogan and Sam Weideman in the forward line and you’ve got something very exciting.
That’s not to say they’ve arrived. They’re still an inconsistent bunch. But they will get more consistent as time goes on and their maturity increases. And as that process continues… who knows? The sky is the limit.
The gulf between sides is pretty big
Port Adelaide are arguably the best side not in the top eight, or at least they’re in the mix for that title along with St Kilda and Melbourne, but on Saturday afternoon they were given a 67-point smacking by Sydney.
When you consider that they themselves just a week ago walloped Brisbane by 94 points, it’s pretty clear that we’ve got a major gulf between the top, middle, and bottom tiers of the competition at the moment.
Probably more concerning for the AFL is that those top teams aren’t too different from what the top teams were almost a decade ago – Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney in particular have all been not too far off the mark for a very long time now.
Consider the fact that what many see as a fading Hawthorn could easily trade in Jaeger O’Meara this year and then sign Nat Fyfe as a free agent at the end of next and you’ll get a sense of what I’m concerned about.
Look, I’m not one of those doom-predicting types who likes to say that the AFL is struggling or collapsing at the drop of a hat. But it’s something to think about.
The Giants are still average away from home
I said in The Roar AFL Podcast ahead of this round that if the grand final could be played at Spotless Stadium, the GWS Giants would be my tip to win the flag – unfortunately, it cannot, so they’re in real trouble.
Gold Coast put in a really good effort on Saturday but the truth is that no matter how well the Suns played, give their outs, a comfy GWS should never have been in doubt. Yet, at Metricon Stadium, they were pushed hard, and nearly coughed up what would’ve been a disastrous loss.
The Giants have done some great things at Spotless Stadium this year – they’ve had smashing, memorable wins over Hawthorn, Sydney and the Bulldogs.
But on the road their best win is over Port Adelaide, and they’ve been regularly pushed by lower sides, even beaten by Melbourne. They’ll have to hit the road at some point this year in their quest for premiership glory, and when that day comes, my tip is it’ll trip them up.
The Dogs get it done despite the odds, North need to do the same
It’s one thing to be brave in the fact of injury and fight out and respectable loss – it’s quite another to turn it into a win, and that’s what the Western Bulldogs did on Saturday night.
Boasting only about half the experience of their opponents North Melbourne, the Bulldogs tactically outplayed the Roos, flooding back at every opportunity and restricting their ability to move the ball.
That’s the kind of tactic that just turns the Roos to water, and a mid-game injury to Ben Brown didn’t help affairs. Without the tall targets of Brown or Jarrad Waite to kick to, either in the forward line or pushing up the wing, North just couldn’t move the ball effectively.
The Bulldogs now have given themselves a slim chance still to make the top four, with what should be three wins left on their fixture.
North on the other hand now need to emulate what their opponents did. If Brown is added to their already lengthy injury list, they’ll need to find a way to rise above and win against the odds if they’re going to have any impact in what’s left of the season.
A loss may have come at the right time for the Hawks
If you were on social media when Hawthorn lost on Saturday afternoon, you might have mistaken it for the fall of the Berlin Wall or something other massive, planet-shaking event.
But while we’re all very quick to say that the Hawks have lost it – because so many of us really, really want it to be true – you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak if you think they’re not still in the race.
No, they aren’t the same team they were in years past, and they’re not as far ahead of the rest of the pack as they once were. They might not even be in front at all. But toe to toe, no team in the league has more maturity and confidence come final time.
This loss may prove to be a massive wake-up call that sets them back on the right track. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news – while some may say “if it bleeds, we can kill it”, I’m saying this – unless you see a boy, it’s not dead.
JJK has one hand on a second Coleman
Sunday’s Western Derby was one of the least interesting matches played between these two sides in a long time, and drew the lowest crowd to one since 1999, but Josh J Kennedy’s bag of seven goals may decide one of the season’s key awards.
If you had asked me at the halfway point of the season, I would’ve told you Lance Franklin was going to win the Coleman medal without a doubt – but he has slowed down a bit and JJK has continued to do what he does best, pick up bags against the irrelevant sides.
He’s now six goals ahead of Franklin and Tom J Lynch, he’s on 67 and they’re both on 61. It’s clearly one of those three, but has Kennedy got enough of a lead?
The Eagles have GWS, Hawthorn and Adelaide in their last three so Kennedy may have kicked his last bag for the year. Sydney have St Kilda, North and Brisbane – soft enough match-ups that Franklin is in with a real chance. With Essendon, Collingwood and Port in his last three, Lynch is still a shot too.
Always rather be leading than chasing though, and at this stage you’ve got to think Kennedy is only one more big game away from making it a certainty.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I recall Macca routinely showing up here on Mondays and lambasting all the dud tactical decisions Malthouse was making, can’t say I blame you. I must admit I have found it quite easy not to watch or go to games at various times this year – the Port Adelaide game being a good example, I just saw the teamlist and went yeah nah no chance. I can’t really blame Swann for the last few years, the club was already well and truly stuffed when he stepped in. About the worst I can say about him is that he’s done nothing to improve the situation. But then again I doubt anyone could have turned the club around off the field when the on-field action has been so dire. Let's see how he goes next year when they do have a new coaching team and a fresh start.
The Original Buzz
Guest
In 18 months, they will be in the eight.
The Original Buzz
Guest
I feel your pain, I stopped following the Blues the minute they put Malthouse in charge. Didn't see a single game for three years and have tried not to miss any with Bolton at the helm. I think a major shake up Brisbane is the go, coaching team, board, everything. Swann seems to make the same dud decisions he did at Carlton.
Dodgy
Guest
Slight correction to the article. Sydney play Richmond in Rd. 23 (at SCG), not Brisbane. But wish we did.
justinr
Guest
I think GWS have done OK away from home this season. I identified the Suns match as a problem several weeks ago, and thought that any talk of a percentage-booster was dangerous and misguided. In the two "Cook's tour" games where things didn't click, the Giants were able to persevere and edge themselves in front when an earlier version of GWS may have dropped the bundle and copped a hiding.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Pretty much
Paul D
Roar Guru
Just saw the Lions have resigned Lewis Taylor for 3 years on what is reported as $400,000 a year. This is good news. Means Taylor has accepted reality, and hopefully now will focus on developing as a footballer. Also means the club is taking a firm stand on player salary demands, which means they're going to keep space to bring in some people too. I think you will see the Lions trading their #2 pick this year, I don't see them spending it at the draft.
Paul D
Roar Guru
That's a pretty good assessment of North and a fair one - I thnk Brad Scott's credentials have taken a bit of a tumble this year.
JD
Guest
I think it's a maturity thing.
mattyb
Guest
Bee bee,there is zero intersect in AFL in Townsville,I know zero people who follow it I see no signs of it anywhere ever,it is on the tv though but I've never heard of anyone watching it and if a visitor sees me watching it they give me this strange,dumbfounded look. I'm actually starting to believe their is no interest in any sport here really. People claim to like the Cowboys but they have there diehard fans and that's about it. There also appears to be no interest in music or any of the arts for that matter but some people take an interest in gardening so the soil musnt be that bad.
Bee bee
Guest
Maybe the Lions should re-locate to Townsville.
mattyb
Guest
I'm in Townsville,my plants grow fine. My grass grows to much especially during the summer.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I did read that article about the missing girl, that was good PR for them. Even if there were a lot of jokes about not being able to spare the time away from the training paddock. Yeah I must admit I shouldn't have lumped the Suns in with the Lions, not really as familiar with them. Slip of the fingers and definitely an argument for better editing on my part, haha.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
PaulD I will defer to you on the lack of Lions activity in the community but can’t agree on the Suns. This Club is about as active as you can get in and around the Coast and regularly engage with schools and Footy Clubs. All the players are members of a Surf Life Saving Club and in the last two weeks they were front and center visiting kids at the Gold Coast University Hospital and also called off an afternoon training session to help find a missing girl which was huge news across the Gold Coast.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Yeah, you know your club is stuffed when everyone is feeling pity for you. Also shows no-one sees us as a threat anymore. I look back to that moment at the start of 2015 when that story broke how Mitch Robinson came to the Lions and said in an honesty session in pre-season training that rival clubs saw the Lions as soft and pushovers. Rockliff swore at him and pledged things were going to be different, and how dare he – 2 seasons later and nothing has changed. Well done Rocky. Got anything else in the kitbag? The whole Lions marketing strategy is fundamentally flawed anyway, it has not been tailored to the Queensland market. The #1 way to sell anything in Queensland is to market it as something that allows Queenslanders to give the finger to the rest of the country, whether it’s State of Origin, pineapples, canetoads, or voting for One Nation, Queenslanders love being different and annoying. All wildly successful in Queensland. The Lions need to start emphasising their academy players, emphasising the Queensland lads and start selling a story of atonement, repentance and rebuilding under a new coach next season. This needs to be sold as a line in the sand moment, that the club is now no longer going to tolerate unacceptable performances. Obviously the risk is that performances continue to flatline, making the words sound hollow but the Lions really need to emphasise that this is Queensland’s side, because a lot of potential fans have written the Lions off as the bastard child of Melbourne that was strangled and suffocated after being too big for its boots after 2003. That’s far too simplistic and ignores the dreadful choices the Lions made to help get to our current plight but ultimately that’s the perception within the market the AFL is dealing with in 2016. Fans are not going to commit their hard earned to supporting a club they see as having being abandoned to their fate by the AFL. The suits in Melbourne don’t give a stuff, why should we. That is the attitude that has to be combatted and won over in this city. That’s my attempt to explain why support has dropped – this isn’t just fairweather fans saying they’re not winning, I’m not going – fans continued to flood the gabba with over 30,000 crowds right up until the end of 2010, but once hope started dying and the club continued to trend downwards so did the audiences. It’s not the easiest task to get to the Gabba to support the team and the Lions haven’t given anyone a compelling reason to for a long time now.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
As a Fremantle fan, I'm not one to judge a team performing badly. But as a general fan of football, I genuinely (without any sense of sacrasm) feel bad for you and anyone supporting Brisbane, Paul. I think you're completely right in the fact that the social media/media teams at the Lions are hopeless. As a teenager, I'm active most weekends alternating between most of the social media accounts of the clubs and Brisbane's regularly seems to be the worst (mind you, it's not easy trying to put a positive spin on the performances put up recently). My folks are both from Brisbane and they (and most of my family still living in Queensland) seem to have a complete lack of awareness of what's happening at the club and would certainly struggle to name players. Do you think that it's more the bad performances or simply the fact that AFL isn't as popular up in Brisbane that is the cause of the lack of awareness, or some combination of both? (By the way, you insight into the Lions is brilliant, I definitely enjoy reading your comments)
kick to kick
Guest
Terrifying prospect for Brisbane that not only did the AFL team get flogged by 138 points but the NEAFL team went down by 135 points to the Swans on the same weekend. So there's no prospect of the reserves riding to the rescue. Leppitsch's nobody-loves-us- so-we-failed-in-life rant at the end of the game just shows why he has to go. The Lions haven't had it worse than other clubs and there are Melbourne clubs with more to complain about.. The AFL Commission has just promised Brisbane new funds. Meanwhile the Lions had the COLA as long as the Swans, even if that was overblown as an advantage. The Lions have an academy and can secure their own zone talent if they're good enough. And they've had high draft picks. However they've made poor choices and failed head coach appointments. The AFL will need to encourage a credible AFL figure to take the reins as they did once before with Leigh Matthews.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Look, it’s a balancing act between what would undoubtedly be a backwards step vs how much political and economic capital the AFL is willing to spend/lose in Queensland to drum up support for 2 clubs. Obviously the hope is that the market grows to be able to support 2 clubs – I maintain as well you will see more bums on seats once SE QLD sorts out its public transport shemozzle and you have trams running out to Metricon to attract the tourist crowd, and crossrail with a station under the Gabba in Brisbane, but that’s probably a decade away at least. They pulled the trigger a bit early on the Gold Coast, in hindsight. They should have waited until the Gabba was overflowing every week and demand was overwhelming. But they got greedy. As every other code has done on the Gold Coast at some stage or another in the past 20-30 years. I called it an Oak Island Money Pit for sporting codes and I maintain that to be the case, no-one has ever run a sporting outfit down there at a profit and I daresay no-one is going to for a long, long time to come. I’d also argue too that both Queensland clubs have done stuff all in recent years to engage with fans, certainly well below the level of what is required for what is basically 2 fringe clubs on the periphery of public awareness. The Lions have been awful since before social media even existed and so you’ve got an entire internet generation who’s grown up only ever knowing the Lions to be terrible. That’s a concern as well. Big ramifications for long-term support in Brisbane, they’re going to have to convert a lot of 20 somethings to the game who haven’t followed it at all in coming years. Not an easy task.
Wilson
Roar Guru
Breath and relax :) I picked two teams at random
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
Yeah, they did look silly. They're struggling with a high injury count and aren't getting much sympathy from the public, largely because the Bulldogs have been worse hit and yet are defying the odds through a manic team defence mantra. North seem to have less strategy but there's no doubt they have been hit by plenty of injuries and this is affecting their confidence - although I would argue in their case it's not unexpected, given their age and the injury-prone profile of a few of the guys out (Higgins, Waite, Wells). Gold Coast's season has been derailed badly through injury too - Ablett, O'Meara, Swallow, Prestia, Rischetelli, Hall.