Opinion
The pecking order is chosen is on performance – not only results. It takes into account tactics, coaching and the manner in which the teams played; including their ball movement, pressure, scoreboard pressure and accuracy.
Round 7 may raise a few eyebrows, as some tough decisions were made. Find out what they were!
1. Port Adelaide kicked the opening three goals in four minutes. They started with a clear objective to move the ball quickly and back themselves. The effort was impressive, but the Blues were ultimately too good for them in the first quarter.
The two teams were evenly matched from there on. Ultimately, the Power deserved to come away with the four points. They withstood Carlton’s pressure and won the game with the last kick after the siren to Robbie Gray.
It was the game of the season and shows Port deservedly sit on top of the AFL ladder.
2. Melbourne came to play. After they conceded the opening goal, they outplayed, outworked and outhunted Hawthorn. It’s not often you say Alastair Clarkson was outcoached but, in Round 7, the Demons appeared better prepared for the game.
Melbourne still have areas to work on; they didn’t finish off well defensively, but the game was a foregone conclusion by then. Their display in Round 7 is now the standard that they need to be at every game; they need to prove that they can perform to their optimum level week in, week out.
3. To their credit, Carlton kicked the next three goals after falling behind early, which gave them the ascendancy and arrested Port Adelaide’s momentum. Remarkably, the Blues took a one-point lead into quarter time.
Harry McKay has to be mentioned when he levelled the score at six goals, four behinds for each team. Sam Walsh took an inspirational contested mark in the defensive fifty in the third quarter and then kicked a fantastic goal in the fourth quarter.
4. Gold Coast came to play early with Izak Rankine scoring a freakish soccer goal in mid-air. They justified the decision to re-sign Stuart Dew – an outstanding coach. Every Suns player appeared to make a contribution. Their performance can be summed up by when Rankine handballed to Lachie Weller when he could’ve kicked the goal himself.
The Suns played team-first football and should now be considered premiership contenders. Rankine brought youthful exuberance in just his second game kicking the second last goal of the third quarter giving Gold Coast a 22-point lead. They kicked 13 goals from 27 shots on goal, which shows they were proficient with their inside 50 entries.
Izak Rankine and the Suns look good. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
5. Brisbane came to play; it was no fluke that they kicked the opening four goals. Their pressure inside forward 50 was impressive and relentless. Harris Andrews ensured the Lions had a 13-point lead at quarter time. Brisbane weren’t afraid to take risks and move the ball through the corridor.
The margin was 32 points in the third quarter as Brisbane were clinical with their goal kicking. They worked as a team and performed impressively.
6. Richmond’s pressure around the ball was phenomenal with the first 11 inside 50s. They had reasonably good skills, but they failed to capitalise as much as they should’ve. To lead by 26 points at halftime was unacceptable given they controlled the tempo for the majority of the first half.
The second half was much like the first; the Tigers controlled the tempo and ran out winners by nine goals with Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt kicking one each in a team effort. North Melbourne kicked two goals and eleven behinds -that’s why Richmond are only sixth on the pecking order; there was no opposition.
7. The Western Bulldogs started the game reasonably well and brought a reasonable amount of intensity to the contest. Josh Bruce kicked two shots out on the full within the space of a few minutes amongst a number of opportunities in the first quarter.
They were their own worst enemies with their use of the footy not always the best.
Patrick Lipinski gave the Western Bulldogs a 13-point lead with an intelligent snap late in the second quarter, which gave them the momentum just before halftime. They carried that into the second half and absolutely dominated the game, because they kicked straight.
8. Collingwood played at a high intensity early, with the tempo high, but didn’t create enough scoreboard pressure.
Jordan de Goey was the difference between the two teams, kicking five goals. Collingwood looked like a different team without Mason Cox; they didn’t look one-dimensional and predictable.
9. The Giants were missing Toby Greene and Callan Ward through injury. Despite that, they would have been disappointed with their start. They didn’t bring the same intensity Brisbane did.
It’s difficult to fathom Round 7 being Tim Taranto’s first game of the season as he was kicked a couple of important goals to keep the Giants in the game. In the third quarter, the Giants managed to find a way to stay in the game on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, they had a poor fourth quarter when the game was there to be won, but the Lions were that good they made the Giants look elementary at times.
10. West Coast would be disappointed with their ability to cope with Fremantle’s pressure and ball movement, following kicking the opening goal. In the second quarter, the Eagles withstood Fremantle with a couple of quick goals. Jake Waterman kicked a couple of important goals; one in the second quarter and the other in the third quarter. West Coast had too much class for the Dockers in a lacklustre contest.
11. St Kilda appeared too good for the Crows early in the contest. They were clearly motivated by their loss in Round 6 where they gave up a big lead to Fremantle to eventually lose the game.
The Saints would be disappointed with their performance in the third quarter, until Dan Butler kicked a goal. They played some average footy in a game that wasn’t a great standard.
12. Sydney’s average performance was understandable given they had injuries to two key players in Josh Kennedy and Isaac Heeney. Regardless, the Swans have plenty of deficiencies.
They did manage to bring the deficit back to nine points in the third quarter. Tom Papley showed why he is the Swans best player kicking his second goal in the third quarter to give the Swans some hope. Gold Coast were simply too good.
Tom Papley couldn’t get Sydney over the line. (Cameron Spencer/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
13. Adelaide brought a good intensity early on. They failed to take their chances though, missing a couple of elementary opportunities. The players were clearly playing for the coach – Matthew Nicks certainly hasn’t lost the players despite the fact the Crows sit on the bottom of the ladder. Their endeavour was great.
14. Essendon started the game quite well. They appeared to have the ascendancy even though the scores were even. The Bombers played undisciplined footy and didn’t appear to have a game plan that could match the Bulldogs. Essendon’s skill execution and ball movement weren’t at their optimum level.
15. Geelong did play with two injured players, but their slow ball movement made it look like they almost were scared to risk losing the game by more in order to win it.
16. Hawthorn kicked the first goal; that’s what they could take out of the first quarter. It was a disappointing display from a team that’s struggling. It didn’t appear like they were playing for each other. They appeared to be disgruntled, disoriented and devoid of an adequate system.
The Hawks are just fortunate that Fremantle and North Melbourne performed worse than they did in Round 7. Hawthorn did lose Tim O’Brien through injury, but that’s no excuse.
17. Fremantle responded to the West Coast kicking their first goal with a goal to Matthew Taberner, but played too conservatively in the second quarter. They had a number of uncontested possessions. Their problem was they failed to take any risks. The game was a forgone conclusion late, with the Dockers not taking enough risks with their ball movement through the corridor.
18. North Melbourne didn’t turn up, with the exception of Kyron Hayden who was concussed in a brave effort and Shaun Higgins had 36 disposals. They have a lot of work to do.
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