Reaching the mid-point of the AFL season, statements are starting to be made.
The two most resounding results of the year so far have happened in the last two weeks – West Coast obliterated Richmond in Round 9, and Melbourne trounced Adelaide in Alice Springs on the weekend.
Last year’s grand finalists were powerless to stop the rising stars of 2018.
For the Eagles, it was just as impressive for them to back up the win over the Tigers with a win on the road against Hawthorn. The Hawks are in a bit of a slump after an encouraging 3-1 start to the season, but provided a stern test for West Coast on the day.
It would have been an easy game for the Eagles to drop – a game and percentage clear on top of the ladder, a psychological drop off after such a big build-up to the previous week’s top of the ladder clash would have been understandable. Adam Simpson’s men played the best football of the season against Richmond, which is often hard to back up from mentally.
West Coast have now won three games in Melbourne this year, plus have taken down Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium. In fact, they are unbeaten outside of Perth, and will hit their Round 12 bye at 11-1 with a stranglehold on a home final in Week 1 of September.
The Eagles’ kicking game has pierced through opposition teams, moving the ball long, flat and hard. Switching into this mode once they win the ball back through interception, which has long been a strength, means their opposition is left floundering when out of position after the turnover.
They also have confidence their forwards will win any one-on-one battle, or at least break even. Jack Darling has led the way in this regard with a career year, complemented by able support in the air and on the ground. West Coast’s piercingly quick ball movement has given opposition defenders no room for error.
Jack Darling (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
Melbourne’s brutalising of Adelaide had similar traits. The ball movement was swift and clinical. The Demons are mentally deciding to move the ball quickly, trusting that an option will be there, and once the decision is made, the ball is kicked with absolute penetration.
Melbourne’s forward-line is working in tandem like few others seen this decade, with almost every player between six foot one and six foot three, all of them rangy and athletic with great hands, as comfortable on the ground as they are in the air, happy to play up the field or deep forward.
Mitch Hannan, Tim Smith and Bayley Fritsch have played less than 40 games between them, but all are mature-age players that know their games and are playing their roles. Jesse Hogan and Jake Melksham are playing the best football of their careers, and Tom McDonald could probably be put in that basket too.
What’s enabling these players to be so deadly is the slicing ball movement of the Demons.
Pressure was the buzzword of the off-season as Richmond took it to unprecedented levels in their run through September, and the question was what would be the answer to it?
The answer is kicking.
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The kicked ball has always travelled faster than any player can run, but Melbourne and West Coast have taken it to new levels by ensuring the ball is leaving the boot quicker than ever before, with a premium placed on length and penetration.
Pressure relies on numbers around the ball carrier, forcing the opposition to handball to a player that can also be pressured, and so on. If a kick happens, it is often high and slow, to a defence set up to intercept it.
But you can’t pressure what you can’t catch.
Kicking is the secret sauce that the Eagles and Demons have unlocked in their rise up the ladder, and everything about it is fast. Fast decisions, fast from hand to foot, and most importantly, as fast as possible off the boot, getting the ball from point A to point B in no time.
People within the football industry will tell you that the game evolves every 6-8 weeks through a season, and it looks like it has again.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
Cam - Just thinking about you saying that the kicked ball always travels faster than a player can run, brought to mind the exception- Rowan Jones for the Eagles. I think one day he collected the handball from Michael Gardiner, who had just marked Jones' kick 50 metres down the field.Great player,Rowan
Baz
Guest
Ryan & Venables will be awesome inclusions pretty soon....
The Brazilian
Roar Rookie
Cool 'story' Elroy. Crows were robbed and Alistair Lynch is the equal of any full forward to have ever played! Lol.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
Completely correct.Don't know where that came from...
Jungle Jim
Guest
It never made sense to me - an Eagles slide to 12th or below? It didn't add up. They chopped off the dead and expired wood and replaced it with youth and pace. NN+Lycett come back in. Vardy was good last year. It was common knowledge Lecca played with a hip injury most of the season. They already had a solid back and forward line. They still had approx two thirds of their GF senior players, still on the young side. We knew Sam and Priddis were slow and needed to go. Sam came in to play with the team to impart his knowledge, then take his onfield knowledge of the team into the coaches box. Petrie was a champion and now assists around the club. Add Van Berlo and Sam as midfield coaches and there is clear intent to address our weak midfield. They have good defence, ruck and forward coaches. All they needed was for the 2nd tier from last season to step up, which has happened. Add to that the astute draft picks, which had many pulling their hair out at the time, but now makes sense. Add to that the improved fitness and preparation and using players to their strengths eg- Masten. Add to that the final secret weapon = the new training ovals and Optus oval being similar size to MCG and Etihad, they've learnt to play the wide wings. Trust me, people who wheel out the tired cliche of 'but they can't play the MCG', that argument is dead in the water. Eagles also have trained to finish out the end of quarters and to play strongly in the last quarter, an achilles heel of last couple of seasons. They are fitter, faster, stronger, hungrier, full of confidence, they play as a team, they play their roles and can be replaced by another to play that role...and they have good depth now. They finished 6th last year, I had them as 6-8th, maybe 10th at worst this season. I've already placed my bets.
User
Roar Rookie
?? Brett Kirk was never an assistant at wce, was at Fremantle
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
And Brett Kirk recently
Steven Matthews
Roar Rookie
interesting
Mark
Guest
10-1 before their round 12 bye, not 11-1.
User
Roar Rookie
Seen it with different players over the years bulking up and losing speed as a result, Paul medhurst for me is best example when freo put him on heavy weights bulking His thighs and glutes right up but end result was he lost his biggest advantage which was speed. Going the other way priddas changed his physique completely losing the muscle bulk he naturally had and lengthening his muscle making him a better runner if that makes sense.
Raimond
Roar Guru
The Tigers play an effective style of football, not an attractive one.
Raimond
Roar Guru
Player physiques are something that is under-examined in modern football discourse. Watching the Giants-Lions match live a few weeks ago, it was noticeable how much bigger the Giants players were, compared to the Lions. I'm not sure that this is a good thing, as GWS seem to be slower than than they were acouple of years ago.
Tony
Guest
If you're referring to Carlton, than it's probably because they haven't got much to point to in terms of where they would be without the injuries. It's been quite some time since they were even a good team. The same goes for the Pies. Injuries don't explain the best part of 5 years being noncompetitive. Ironically, I have a half-baked theory that some of the higher-profile injuries have made them a better side this year anyway as it cleared a path for guys like Stephenson, Phillips and Brown who add to them moving the ball a lot quicker this year. The Crows, Giants and Cats were all top-4 sides 9 months ago. The Dogs have had success, even while copping injuries, but perhaps there are other factors that explain their slide.
User
Roar Rookie
Nah, Melbourne might repeat 88&00 Pete but not their year.
Lroy
Guest
Yes, they have a good roster of assistant coaches. Champions from Geelong, Hawthorn and Crows, all top sides the last few years, you would imagine all those guys are imparting a lot of sound knowledge to the team.
Lroy
Guest
The fix will be in if West Coast and Melbourne make the final. The same crew who crucified the last two interstate sides will no doubt be assigned to ensure another Victorian flag.
Andrew
Guest
Mine happens to be one of those teams and cops so much flack it's not funny.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Surely we are not going to get three fairytales in a row? Bulldogs, Tigers and Demons? That would be way too scripted particularly if the umpires happened to favour the Dees against an interstate side in the GF.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Don't think any teams play the injury card Andrew, just us supporters do. They aren't allowed to use it as an excuse when of course it is. I have asked before if Richmond play Geelong in the 2018 Prelim minus Ablett, Selwood, Dangerfield and Duncan, can we point to injuries being a factor in a loss? Of course we can, they can't but we can. Fact is several sides this season have had their first half of the year seriously affected by injuries. GWS, Crows, Dogs, Pies, Blues, Cats for example all you would think would have performed slightly better without such injury counts. It's not that every side doesn't get a few but all these teams have had way overs.
Cameron Rose
Expert
I like that analogy Paul, that's a classic. I actually don't think Richmond have really gotten going yet this year, the Lions were abysmal that day.