Three more hot takes from AFL Round 5

Anzac Day has seen two more games of footy snuck into the middle of the week – so here’s some bonus hot takes from Round 5. Don’t I take good care of you?

Pies vs Tigers set for a belter at the MCG
So often in the modern era the Collingwood Magpies and the Richmond Tigers have been the sleeping Giants of the AFL.

The Pies woke up for a while under Mick Malthouse at the turn of the decade of course but just when it seemed they might be set for a dominant era, turned narcoleptic again.

Richmond on the other gave Rip van Winkle a run for his money with a 37-season snooze that finally ended when they won the premiership last year.

The Tigers have been breaking membership record after membership record this year as the Pies were doing five years ago.

Fair to say both of these giants have awoken from their slumber now, and their scintilating form in recent weeks sets the stage for a massive meeting this weekend at the MCG.

Richmond won a flag last year on the back of tough tackling and disciplined pressure. Nathan Buckley said the Pies wouldn’t copy them – but in many ways they have.

By the numbers, Collingwood could make an arguement for being the best tackling team in the competition right now, and while there’s still progress to be made, their ability to convert that into points on the board is starting to catch up.

Richmond certainly are still the more clinical side of the two. They have so many dangerous options in their forward line and it works like well-oiled machine.

What’s maybe most impressive is the depth they’ve shown in recent weeks in the absence of players like Josh Caddy and Daniel Rioli unavailable. It seems like whoever comes in is ready to play their role and play it well.

Although the Tigers copped a hiding from Adelaide in Round 2 they’ve otherwise been very impressive this year and it’s no coincidence all four wins have come at the MCG.

If they were an interstate team we might be looking at their form so far this year and worrying whether or not they can win away… but with the decider set to be played at their home ground for the next 40 years, why worry?

Richmond haven’t lost at the MCG since Round 13 last year – can a revitalised Collingwood be the next team to knock them off at home?

The form they’re in, they’re as good a chance as anyone.

(AAP Image/Julian Smith)

Essendon needs a marquee midfielder, like, yesterday
I’m of two minds when it comes to assessing Essendon’s offseason. On one hand all three of their trade-ins plays a valuable role, but on the other hand, only Devon Smith went some way to addressing their biggest need.

Jake Stringer clearly isn’t a midfielder as seen in Rounds 1-3, but has settled forward and gives the Dons the flexibility to play Cale Hooker in defence. Tick.

Adam Saad does what Adam Saad does. He hasn’t starred just yet but he’s a solid player and the price paid for him was about right. Tick.

Smith has been the most valuable inclusion though and, with the exception of Michael Hurley, in the conversation for Essendon’s best player in the early part of the year.

GWS’ midfield depth was so great in the time he was there that it was easy to forget the aptitude he has for that part of the ground.

What he must be commended for the most is that his average of nearly eight tackles per game this year is far and away career-best numbers.

He also boasts the most pressure acts per game average in the league right now and his 47 in Round 1 is the most by any player in a single game this year.

This is what the Dons need more of. I noted in my preview of today’s game that they know how to score when they get the opportunity, but they aren’t getting the opportunity enough.

Pressure creates turnovers creates opportunities, and if you can capitalise on that you win football games. The Bombers need someone who can set the tone for the entire midfield in terms of delivering that pressure.

Dyson Heppell sometimes can do that but today he certainly didn’t. Only two tackles for the day in a side that was so desperately under the pump in the middle was a poor effort.

Brendon Goddard can walk the walk, but seems more likely to get into a barney with his teammates than inspire them to follow his example.

I said in February that Rory Sloane is the man Essendon must target and I stick by it. According to Champion Data Adelaide scored more points as a result of his pressure on the opposition last year than any team did from any other single player. He would be the perfect recruit.

More and more as the season goes I feel he’s likely to come home to Victoria. If Essendon aren’t already deep in discussion with his management, they need to get the conversation started as soon as possible.

(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

“A step forward”? Spare me, Simon
I was a bit nervous opting not to tip Melbourne in my Anzac Eve forecast on Tuesday as I did feel that, like many teams have this year, they could come out and respond on the field after a week under the pump.

Turns out I need not have worried.

The Dees did play okay footy for the first three quarters of the match, but in the last quarter they fell away pretty poorly – something that’s hard to excuse when you’ve had more than a week’s break since your last game – conceding seven goals and losing the match by a significant margin.

“The effort and intensity and the way we want them to play was better, but it’s got to be sustained for a longer period of time,” said Simon Goodwin after the match

“We’re probably more looking at it as a step forward from last week. I thought last week didn’t resemble anything of the way we wanted to play.

“This week was a step forward for three quarters. I thought the effort and intensity was strong all night until the last quarter, but there are clearly some things we have to work on.”

Goodwin isn’t necessarily wrong because this was an improved performance over last week’s absolute debacle but surely at the very least he’s got to be smarter about how he phrases his post-match comments.

Melbourne fans have been getting by on the smell of an oily rag for a decade now and honestly if I was a fan who has just sat through the team’s last two weeks and then saw the coach described a seven-goal loss as ‘a step forward’ I would run grievously unimpressed.

The Dees just about won this game last year – succumbing to a fourth-quarter comeback from the Tigers – and before that had won their last three matches in a row against Richmond. It’s their worst loss against this club since 2012.

I have a bit of sympathy for where Melbourne are at. They’re missing two of their most important players in Jack Viney and Tom McDonald, they’ve faced some tough opponents in their first five, and were probably made to look worse than they really are by Herculean efforts of Hawthorn last week.

But unless you want your fans to suffer permanent ocular injuries from rolling their eyes too much you’ve gotta pick smarter words than that, Simon.

(AAP Image/Julian Smith)

Quick and nasty
– On the topic of the positives from Melbourne’s game, Jake Lever was the big one. Against a smaller forward line he was able to play his natural game and finished with 13 kicks, 10 intercepts, six marks, six rebound 50s. The Dees must find a way to let him play like this against taller sides also.

– Welcome home to Western Australia Shai Bolton. With Jack Higgins kicking snags at senior level and Sam Lloyd seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order, surely he’ll make the choice to request a trade to the Dockers or Eagles at the end of 2018.