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Opinion
Welcome to the power rankings for the Sir Doug Nicholls Round, the annual celebration of the contribution of Indigenous Australians to our great game.
But in Melbourne it may as well have been known as the Rona Round, the empty stadiums of the city eerily empty, particularly in comparison to the vocal crowds of Perth.
Before I get onto this week’s power rankings, here is the table from last week, Round 10, which I was unable to do:
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
18. Collingwood Magpies (down two)
The Magpies are bereft of confidence, playing a game style that makes the holes on their list even more apparent. The Magpies did not score a goal for the entire first half. They dragged the Geelong Cats down to their level in what was one of the single worst games to watch across this season. The solitary highlight was Trent Bianco’s debut, taking the Pies to seven debutants across this year.
17. Hawthorn Hawks (no change)
This was one of the games most impacted by the COVID outbreak in Melbourne as they had to move it from Darwin down to Sydney. They desperately need something to take from this year, as the only highlights on the calendar for the Hawks is game number 400 for Shaun Burgoyne and the hopeful returns of Denver Grainger Barras and Will Day.
Beyond those highlights the Hawks have nothing. They’ve got an ageing list alongside a youth component that cannot get on the park, leading to pressure being placed at the feet of their preternaturally gifted coach.
16. North Melbourne (up two)
This is almost certainly bias on my part, but I just feel that North is starting to string together some quarters and may end up surprising some sides towards the end of the year. I also think they’re closer to their next premiership than both the Pies and the Hawks, which is why they find themselves up the power rankings this week.
15. Carlton Blues (down three)
The Blues went up to Sydney needing to prove they could beat opposition of quality, but unfortunately they capitulated in the last quarter, kicking one goal and three behinds to four goals four. The Swans went in missing their key ruckman while the Blues are recovering players, yet even with these factors in their favour Carlton failed to take their chance.
The Blues are the teasing side. They have failed to improve anything in their offseason.
14. St Kilda Saints (up one)
Well, I suppose they won, so that’s good, but it was against a historically bad North Melbourne side. The Saints won but in the most unconvincing manner possible. They certainly tried to lose the game. Despite that, there was positive news to be found in the inclusion of Mason Wood, who kicked three goals, and the first game of the season for Luke Dunstan, who recorded 26 disposals and a mammoth 13 tackles. It’s not all bad for the Saints, but I think they are easily the most underperforming team of the year.
13. Gold Coast Suns (up one)
They won – they more than won – but they desperately need a ruckman to pressure sides and have shown the pattern that has been typical of the Suns of late where they drop out in the second half of the year. It was finally good to see Izak Rankine putting in a good performance along with the ever-reliable Touk Miller and superstar Ben King. The Suns need to win more games in the second half of the year to remove the hoodoo surrounding their poor form.
(Photo by Matt Roberts/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
12. Fremantle Dockers (down one)
The big sticks, Freo. You need to kick it through the big sticks. Much has been made of the struggles of Freo and their talismanic captain Nat Fyfe. They have kicked more points than goals in nine of their 11 games and continue to have the yips, especially away from home. They never really pushed Port Adelaide, and their scoreboard never showed the effort they put in.
11. West Coast Eagles (down two)
Yes, they had injuries. Their average winning margin at Optus Stadium is nearly six goals. I do think the injuries were exceptionally inopportune, but they ran out of gas against the red-hot pressure of the Bombers. It was good to see the elder statesman Josh Kennedy wind back the clock and kick three goals, while Josh Rotham and Dom Sheed also provided plenty of highlights for the distraught Eagles supporters.
10. Adelaide Crows (no change)
The Crows are playing some good footy currently; they really took it up to the Tigers in the first half of their match in Sydney this week. Taylor Walker must be part time lord, because he has wound back the clock to put together one of his best seasons. Additionally, they’re also relying less on the big veteran at goal, as there were points this season where they relied on the big Texan for 40 per cent of their scores.
(Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
9. Greater Western Sydney Giants (down four)
The Giants were embarrassed by the Lions – embarrassed, I tell you. They do have injuries worse than most, but to put the performance they did when they’re a finals smokey after having an extremely under-pressure coach was just, well, embarrassing.
The Giants have a seemingly endless supply of first-round draft picks to continually be around the top half of the ladder. This match also became the first match that Shane Mumford was on the field, yet the Giants lost. I still believe GWS can make the finals, but it becomes a substantially bigger lift after their loss on Saturday.
8. Essendon Bombers (up five)
The big critique of the Bombers up to now is they haven’t beaten anyone of consequence – they’ve only beaten sides below them or thereabouts. Saturday night is the first time Essendon have beaten a side of consequence with our backs against the wall. I hope against hope that we can parlay this into another few wins.
The leadership and composure of Dyson Heppell out the back struck me as a major positive as he repelled multiple forays into the Essendon forward line. Finally, Jayden Laverde is quietly putting together a season that has Essendon supporters such as myself ecstatic to see him string together the longest stretch of games he has had in his short career.
The one thing I would say the Bombers need to improve on is reducing the ability of opposition sides. They’ve been compared to the Tigers in their high-pressure game built on forcing long kicks down the line yet have failed to develop the seamless backline that the Tigers were known for in 2017-20.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
7. Geelong Cats (down three)
The Cats have developed a trend of barely winning games in which they should obliterate the opposition. I was tempted to have them lower on the list, but they still won. That and they still have numerous players to come back in, which will make them a far better side. They missed the outside run and carry of Mitch Duncan and the grunt leadership of Patrick Dangerfield, both of whom are set to come back before the end of the year.
6. Sydney Swans (no change)
The Swans won as was expected. They did enough in a purely team-based performance. They are also an outside chance to make the top four, which sees their rank here smack bang in the middle of the bottom eight. The forward line of the Swans functions like a well-oiled machine, with Tom Papley, Isaac Heeney, Lance Franklin – on his journey to 1000 – and Will Hayward combining for 11 goals as the Swans ground out a 22-point win, kicking seven of the last ten goals.
5. Port Adelaide Power (up three)
They beat the Fremantle Dockers despite having fewer scoring shots, which speaks to the skill and the quality of their inside 50 entries. Sam Powell-Pepper was able to fill the rather large void left by Zac Butters as he got three goals, Charlie Dixon has been shown to be a revelation as a back-up ruckman, using his contested bodywork to help outmuscle opponents, and Aliir Aliir continues to put forward a case as the recruit of the year. The recent knee injury to Orazio Fantasia will be a concern for Port, and their inability to do the job against other premiership threats would annoy Ken Hinkley.
(Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
4. Richmond Tigers (up three)
The Tigers have not won consecutive games since Round 2 of this year. Yet with Essendon coming up and a win over the Crows already in the bank they face their best prospect of two wins. The Tigers strangely appear a better side without Tom Lynch attracting all the focus, enabling players like Mabior Chol and Callum Coleman-Jones to put in a more than able performance to surprise the young Crows. There was also the simple matter of one of the bravest marks I’ve seen on the footy field, with Jack Riewoldt taking a contender for mark of the year.
3. Brisbane Lions (no change)
The Brisbane Lions have set up an intriguing clash against the Melbourne Demons this week. They absolutely obliterated the Giants, and it wasn’t the key forwards against the undersized defence; it was players such as Mitch Robinson (four goals), Dayne Zorko (two goals) and Rhys Mathieson who made life difficult for the Giants as they parlayed their way into their seventh win in a row. They also don’t look like losing to any sides – though we will know more when they face Melbourne this Friday.
2. Western Bulldogs (down one)
The Bulldogs went into Friday night eager to prove they could play with their backs against the wall in the shadow of the coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne, but they found they were unable to work their way through the Demons rolling zone, which shut down their run-and-carry game.
Caleb Daniel had multiple clangers, while Tom Liberatore was effectively shut out of the game and unable to get the first use of the ball to ensure the Bulldogs could use the handball game that has dominated their games this year.
Melbourne Demons (up one)
The Melbourne Demons started the week as the underdogs against the Bulldogs in a scintillating top-of-the-table clash. Their high press and rolling zone made for promising viewing for Demons fans as they intercepted the ball a massive 75 times. The 28-point margin is not an indication of the sheer domination the Demons had over the Bulldogs for large parts of the night, effectively shutting their opponents out of the contest.
Their first top-of-the-table clash in 30 years sees them rise to the head of these rankings, as they’ve repeatedly shown their inherent ability to win and develop their game style to respond to any side this year.
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