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Opinion
Hear me out, guys – but it seems like when two high-quality sides with similar injury lists play each other, we tend to get some pretty good footy!
I know, I know, it’s far-fetched – but given all the disenchantment with the game there has been this year, Round 12 was another great reminder that footy doesn’t always need high scores to be utterly compelling.
Neither Melbourne nor Sydney piled on the goals, but it was brutal, brilliant, uncompromising and plain awesome as the Swans fought back twice. So too was Collingwood’s thrilling win over Hawthorn, also at the MCG, as two of the year’s big surprise packets showing there’s plenty of steel to the style with an epic encounter.
Then there was Fremantle’s win over Brisbane to finish off the round. Game of the season for mine: the skill was brilliant, both sides were as tough as they were silky, and there were even a few spot-fires for the traditionalists.
Say what you will about the byes, but I’ve always liked how the spaced-out feel to these three rounds allow you to really pay attention to the build and flow of a game, rather than flicking between the channels unless there’s an exciting finish to watch. It also gives teams that don’t necessarily get enough of the spotlight their own space to show their wares – at least this Freo twilight match didn’t have to share the airwaves with another game for a half!
While there were only six games, from a staging clamp-down to all the calls for a mid-season trade period, and all the footy in between, there’s plenty for us to mull over. So let’s get into it quicker than a Freo fan checking the Melbourne weather forecast for the last Saturday in September!
Let’s get this out of the way first: umpires taking a more cynical look towards players known to either play for or exaggerate free kicks would be a very popular move.
It’s hard to know whether it’s enforceable in the long term, but on Friday night and then again on Sunday afternoon, Cody Weightman and Jack Ginnivan both found it fiendishly difficult to win frees they’ve been able to pull with no problem to this point in their careers.
The pair weren’t exactly identical – Ginnivan was repeatedly tackled crudely against Hawthorn, with the umps deeming he had initiated the contact; while Weightman will surely get ‘Shooting Starsed’ at some point by Ethan Meldrum for his ambitious attempts to spring forward to win a push in the back free kick against Geelong.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae wasn’t impressed about the treatment of his young goalsneak, confirming he’ll seek an explanation from the AFL.
“Thinking you can’t get paid a free kick because we don’t like it that you’re getting free kicks, I’m not sure that’s the case. I’ll just get some clarity around that,” he said after the Pies’ win.
He has a point – but so too did Garry Lyon on commentary during the game.
“The umpires are just about making a statement here, and saying ‘You blokes, we saw it earlier with Ginnivan, we’re not falling for it. You’re going to have to earn your free kicks,” Lyon said after Ginnivan again failed to draw a free.
Putting the situation into the umpires’ hands might also help at least curb some of the vitriol being directed at these so-called ‘stagers’. I’m all for there being an element of scorn towards players like Weightman and Ginnivan among opposition fans, going all the way up to premiership heroes and greats of the game like Joel Selwood or Dylan Grimes.
Nobody likes to see their team pinged for soft frees, especially when they lead to scoring opportunities; and the charismatic, cocky way both those youngsters play adds a pantomime villain element to the game that makes it even more entertaining.
However, the abuse of these guys – particularly Weightman – on social media has reached the point where it’s no longer responsible to ignore it. It should go without saying, but no one, let alone a 21-year old kid, should have to face death threats for being a bit annoying.
(As an aside, I really hate this social media post from the game’s major free-to-air broadcaster, further driving the pile-on just as Cornes did for Ginnivan earlier this year. Sure, show the incident, but to present it completely devoid of any context, screen-grabbing it and basically feeding on the outrage you know it will generate, just invites idiots to spew vitriol. It’s pretty irresponsible stuff.)
It’s not the first time this has happened, either: Weightman’s Instagram page was flooded with threats after four free kicks led to four goals in last year’s elimination final against Essendon. He didn’t even stage for any of those, either – not that that should matter.
If we’re about to see a trend towards not paying line-ball free kicks against players with reputations, well and good. I’m fine with the consequence of regularly playing to win frees being losing the benefit of the doubt. That the umpire didn’t fall for Weightman’s earlier attempts, but did pay an obvious one shortly after half time, was a great sign that the umps won’t just go completely cold turkey on these players and remain objective, which is what we need.
But enough with treating diving or staging as some sort of moral failing. It’s a player trying to win a contest, and then the game, for their team, in the best way they can. Boo to your heart’s content if you’re at the ground, vent angrily on the couch – but there’s a clear and obvious line to stay on the right side of.
If you’re upset after one of them wins a free against your team, and considering sending an abusive message: stop, think about what you’re doing, and pull your head in.
Cody Weightman of the Bulldogs marks. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
The consensus seems to be that Bailey Smith’s two-week suspension for his headbutt on Zach Tuohy is about right.
Given the way the MRO grading system works, calling it ‘medium’ impact is a bit of a stretch, but it does ensure that one of the dumbest and most unnecessary acts we’ve seen this year gets the punishment it deserved.
What it also highlighted, though, was that players now feel free to push the line as far as they want after a siren is blown, knowing that conceding a free kick is out of the question. It’s the second time in a month we’ve seen an incident like Smith’s – Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell was also suspended for driving an elbow into Jack Ginnivan’s head.
You rarely if ever see dirty stuff like those incidents in-play these days, mostly because the threat of giving away a free kick or worse is too great. There’s also the fact that the umpires have the power to simply ball it up, which tends to break up the majority of scuffles as the focus moves back onto the ball.
Both of those options are denied to the umpires the second a whistle blows, so fights can break out more often. And as we saw on Friday night, that can lead to some incidents that everyone agrees have no place in our game.
My proposal is this: an extra week’s suspension, on top of whatever ban is handed down by Michael Christian or the Tribunal, for ‘out of the play’ incidents. This would mostly cover post-siren acts like Smith’s or Mansell’s, where the umpires have no recourse to break things up other than appeal to the players’ wallets – because shockingly, a $1000 fine isn’t a deterrent to angry young men on six- or seven-figure salaries.
Once is an accident, twice is a problem. The AFL can certainly do more to try and ensure there isn’t a third.
While we’re on the subject of Bailey Smith, at the timing of writing it is believed the Western Bulldogs are strongly considering taking his two-match ban to the Tribunal.
And why wouldn’t they? The system these days has basically made it a free pass to do so: all you’re risking is the legal fees which every club would pay in a heartbeat for the slightest chance to have their best possible team playing the next game.
We’ve seen this move many, many times so far this season: virtually every time there’s any smidgeon of controversy in an incident. Smith makes it ten instances so far of clubs challenging suspensions at the Tribunal in 2022, from Brayden Maynard in the pre-season to Lance Franklin just last week.
The result has been consistent fuel for the content machine that is AFL media, but it’s also led to pointless cheap shots from legal counsel, inane debate over whether the latest incident is the death of footy as we know it, and just a complete waste of everyone’s time.
Some of the challenges have been legitimate – Lewis Young for his ‘bump’ against North Melbourne, for instance. But many, many more have been Hail Marys at best, because there is no consequence for throwing down the gauntlet and challenging a verdict anymore.
Franklin never had a prayer of overturning his ban last week; if the Dogs challenge for Smith, they don’t have a prayer either. So it’s time for teams to have something to ponder before wasting everyone’s time.
In the past, the demerit points system provided an effective deterrent for any Tribunal case: most of the time, if you failed, there was an extra week’s ban riding on it. Teams had to be very careful about whether a challenge was worth the risk, and so only appealed when there was a genuine belief their player had been dealt a short hand.
I don’t like the demerit points as a general rule – among their many list of problems was its susceptibility to be massaged to ensure players remained just on the edge of the threshold for a week’s suspension – but a flat one-week on top of the suspension for a failed challenge is worth a look.
Unless we want to see more ridiculous innuendo and insults being thrown by the legal teams of the AFL and its clubs – which I’d argue is beneath absolutely everyone who loves the game – then something has to give.
Bailey Smith of the Bulldogs and Zach Tuohy of the Cats exchange a greeting. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
You’d have been forgiven for thinking Brodie Grundy’s long term knee injury on ANZAC Day was the end of Collingwood’s finals push.
Instead, the Magpies are back in the eight after 12 rounds courtesy of their thrilling 4-point win over Hawthorn – and Darcy Cameron is a major reason why.
A forward-ruck throughout his time at Collingwood – even to the now-departed Max Lynch when Grundy missed two weeks through injury in 2021 – Cameron is a unique number one ruckman in the game.
He doesn’t win a whole lot of hitouts – indeed, he had just four to half time against the Hawks, half of what backup Mason Cox had amassed – yet he was still clearly among the best afield at the break. Once the ball moved away from a stoppage, Cameron basically became another midfielder; spreading wide to take uncontested marks, pushing hard into defence to support his backmen then sprinting forward to contest the long kick-in; and working Ned Reeves into the ground forward for two early shots at goal.
He had 16 disposals and seven marks at half time – those are Max Gawn-esque numbers. Cameron isn’t in that bracket yet, but with the way footy is played in 2022, he seems perfectly suited – far better, truth be told, than Grundy.
Grundy’s waning influence over the past few years following consecutive All Australian seasons in 2018 and 2019 has been derided by some, including Kane Cornes, as the product of his seven-year, $7 million deal. I think it’s more to do with the shift of the game from a stoppage-heavy, contested game into a more open, running style in recent years, brought into being by the 6-6-6 rule, the increase in playing on from kick-ins and the desire of many teams to eliminate the risk of crucial turnovers more than ever before.
In that, Cameron’s lighter, nimbler frame – though he still tips the scales at 100kg – is more suited to the demands of the 2022 ruck than Grundy’s bulkier, stoppage beast build. When the game was slower, the latter was able to traverse the ground as an extra midfielder, while exerting a tremendous influence at the coalface with his clearance work and tackling pressure. Nowadays, it’s the likes of Gawn, the Western Bulldogs’ Tim English, and yes, Cameron, who are leading the way among rucks in the game. (Plus Jarrod Witts, who’s just awesome.)
Grundy took nine marks in the first five weeks of the year, before taking six on ANZAC Day itself, including two after suffering the knee injury that would sideline him. Cameron, though has plucked (27 + Hawthorn) in his six-week stint at the main man: a mix of towering grabs down the line worthy of a Gawn, and uncontested marks running into space.
Grundy either can’t or hasn’t been doing the things that Cameron has in the past six weeks, and it has resulted in the Pies playing some seriously impressive football. Truthfully, though, the Pies would probably be better at the centre bounce with Grundy – they did leak a few important goals in the second half to the Hawks directly from the bounce, while Ned Reeves’ ruck work was outstanding. But what price is Cameron’s greater impact around the ground?
As a result, the Pies now face a curly question. Offloading Grundy can’t be discounted – but you’d be crazy to take on anywhere near his full contract given his last few years. It would also be a mistake to simply slot Grundy back into his old role and force Cameron to play second fiddle.
Can Grundy change his role and become more of an attacking option inside 50, allowing for a ruck duo between himself and Cameron? We’ll have to find out – but for now at least, Grundy faces real competition for his spot in the Pies’ best 22. If that’s not enough to get a lift out of him, then nothing will be.
Brodie Grundy is tackled by Darcy Cameron during Collingwood training. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
There were signs of life for West Coast in their 31-point loss to Adelaide – their closest match since beating Collingwood in Round 4.
The bad – and by that, I mean the entire first half – was still horrendous; but the Eagles’ ability to fight their way back into the contest after the main break and leave Crows fans sitting nervous showed that somewhere, buried deep within, is the crux of a decent team.
Of course, what it also showed is that the sort of scorched-earth, clean-slate, ruthless list cull some have been demanding of the Eagles would only leave them in a worst position in the short term. And, I would argue, the long term as well.
I wrote last week that the Eagles should look at installing someone new as senior coach instead of Adam Simpson, and I stand by that: but you’ve also got to give that person something to work with. A key trend with clubs making surprise upward trends under new management in recent years – Collingwood this year, Port Adelaide in 2013, the Western Bulldogs in 2015 – has been the influence of veterans that might have been moved on in different circumstances, from Scott Pendlebury to Kane Cornes to Matthew Boyd.
Who were the Eagles’ best players against the Crows? Luke Shuey was a powerhouse in the midfield, willing his team on at every opportunity for his best game in a good long while. Jack Darling battled manfully in dire conditions for a key forward, kicking two goals and making it back-to-back quality weeks after a poor start to the year. Shannon Hurn remains the Eagles’ best user coming out of defensive 50, and Andrew Gaff actually looked like he cared for the first time in about a month.
The Eagles will finish bottom, or best-case scenario, second-last. That means a seriously high draft pick for the first time in a decade, while they’re a pretty reasonable chance to land Luke Jackson as well if he decides being a squillionaire is worth more than winning multiple flags. Nic Naitanui could also return, and we all know the influence he has on this team; as will key forward prodigy Oscar Allen and premiership hero Dom Sheed.
No doubt tough decisions must, and will, be made: but this is already Josh Kennedy’s last season, and it wouldn’t surprise for it to be Hurn’s, too. Cull too many more – like the purported trades for Gaff, Naitanui and Darling that have been suggested by some in the media – and you’re left with a bunch of fringe players, the odd solid pillar, and Tim Kelly.
Look at North Melbourne – they’ve twice made brutal list decisions in the last half-decade, first cutting Brent Harvey and a bunch of other veterans before their time in 2016, then axing a dozen at the end of 2020. The result has been a team dependent on its youth for any signs of success, without then giving them many older role models to assist their development.
It’s going to be a long road back for the Eagles – but get everything right from here, and it might only be three or even two years before they can challenge for finals again. Stuff it up, as North did (twice!) and they might end up stuck at rock bottom for a while longer yet.
With only six games per week, it’s the silly season as far as the AFL media is concerned. Year after year, ideas are floated and debated; with their actual merits of secondary importance to the amount of controversy, outrage and engagement they can generate.
This year, it’s the turn of the mid-season trade period, something precisely no AFL fan has ever called for. But even Patrick Dangerfield is in on the idea, the AFLPA president saying it would add a ‘greater amount of excitement and intrigue’ to the game.
Leigh Matthews, though, is ardently opposed to it – and he’s bang on with his warning that a mid-season trade period would lead to ‘poaching’.
“If you’re allowed to swap clubs, there’d be lots of poaching going on behind the scenes. Approaching through managers, approaching other players to swap clubs. That could be happening all over the place,” he said on Sportsday Radio.
I’m wary of anything that gives the players greater agency in where they play their footy – the Americanised system of players shifting from team to team at the drop of a hat has always been antithetical to Aussie Rules, where the one-club player is still venerated. And given the choice, I’d say 90 per cent or more of players would prefer to play for Richmond or Collingwood than for North Melbourne or Gold Coast, and always will.
According to those in favour, a mid-season trade period would enable North to trade, say, Todd Goldstein to a club crying out for a ruckman, and receive more from a trade than doing it come season’s end. Maybe that’s right. But equally likely is that it gives other players – like, say, Jason Horne-Francis – a chance to get out of Dodge and be headhunted by a club far closer to success.
And of course, there’s the fact that clubs, particularly ones down the bottom, just can’t be trusted with this sort of stuff. Would you really want the Roos, with three key heads in their recruiting staff out the door, making snap judgement decisions that could impact them for years to come?
One trade period at the end of the season is more than enough. A mid-season one wouldn’t benefit struggling teams at all – it would simply present another opportunity for the strong to raid them.
Random thoughts
– Congratulations to Ben Reid for coming out of retirement and helping the Swans beat Melbourne. Amazing story.
– While I’m on Luke Darcy, I don’t think there’s every been a player he hasn’t ‘liked the way he goes about it’.
– Genuinely feel you could make a case for four different players to win the Rising Star – and Josh Gibcus hasn’t even been nominated yet!
– I wish an incident could go by these days without someone making the completely baseless claim that Toby Greene would have got more weeks had he done it.
– Refer to my notes last week on Michael Frederick. Enjoy the next decade, Freo fans.
– See also: Zac Bailey.
– Hook that Errol Gulden kick to my veins.
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