Six Points: Time to crack down on Tomahawk's tactic, and why this Kangaroo deserves an All-Australian gig

What. A. Round.

After a pretty lacklustre start to the week on Friday night, footy exploded for the rest of the weekend, with game after game of captivating, thrilling football that has once again rocked the season to its core.

We had a draw, a kick after the siren, the best QClash in years, and a 20-year old number one draft pick coming of age in the most spectacular style.

And then there were the smorgasbord of spectacular highlights throughout the week – we saw mark of the year contenders aplenty and some of the season’s most ridiculous goals.

Toby Greene, Adam Saad and Mitch Georgiades touched the moon; Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Josh Daicos kicked the stars. The only question is, which mark and goal were the best of the bunch?

It was a round that will surely be remembered for a long, long time. Let’s relive all the excitement and unpack exactly what went down.

1. It’s time to crack down on Tom Hawkins’ tactic

If recent rule changes to combat Richmond’s golden years are any guide, it seems in the AFL these days being the top dog comes with the hindrance of having the league actively try to limit your dominance.

If that’s the case, then surely the time has come to address the tactic everyone knows Tom Hawkins does, yet nobody seems to care enough to stop.

Hawkins is a wonderful footballer, and probably still the smartest forward in the game. Not just for his excellent foot skills, unselfishness and unmatched strength, but in his continuing exploitation of one of the game’s most baffling grey areas.

Virtually every week, social media will light up with despair when Hawkins blatantly shoves his opponent in the back to take a mark; this week against Port Adelaide, it was Tom Clurey being shunted under the ball. Check the player above if you haven’t seen it already.

Yet only when it happens in the last minutes of tight games, such as on Brisbane’s Harris Andrews earlier this year, does it actually generate any media attention – and the conversation has always been about whether the umpire made a mistake. It’s never about whether the rule that let Hawkins get away with it is fundamentally broken.

This isn’t a crack at the umpires – the laws around pushing in a marking contest are deliberately grey to allow forwards to basically get away with murder.

The official segment in the rules of the game (18.5b for anyone interested) only refers to a player who ‘unduly pushes or bumps an opposition player’; yet its interpretation has recently revolved around whether it’s acceptable for players to guard their space with their arms.

Over years, the rule has essentially gone from ‘hands in the back are okay, just don’t extend your arms’ to ‘do what you like, Tommy, as long as you take the mark’.

Hawkins is absolutely not the only forward (or, on occasion, defender) to get away with this, either; but he’s the name every single footy fan associates with the tactic because of the sheer amount of times he does it.

It’s obvious why it involves him a lot: defenders will always play in front of him, because he’s a gigantic human who’d be impossible to spoil playing back shoulder, and good luck engaging with him in a one-on-one contest.

Your only hope if you’re Tom Clurey is to take front spot and hope the ball doesn’t carry over the back – or the ump notices you getting shoved out of the way.

Clurey took the perfect position in the above contest, and the only way for Hawkins to take the mark as he did with the kick delivered to him was via means that were – or should be – illegal. The backman has to be given the chance to compete.

The amount of hoopla seen this year over Jack Ginnivan has seen a landmark change in how high contact is interpreted – this week alone, we’ve seen dozens of tackles that would have been obvious frees a month ago waved off.

Imagine if the AFL, the media, and us as fans put as much scrutiny on a 34-year old champion who has been doing this for a decade as we did on a 19-year old with a handful of games?

Whether it’s outlawing any contact in the back entirely, or clearing up the grey area around extending the arms, something has got to be done. If Ginnivan’s tactics were enough to prompt a rule change, so too should Hawkins’.

Tom Hawkins marks in front of Tom Clurey. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

2. The draw ain’t broke, so why do we want to fix it?

As is the norm now whenever one crops up, talking heads quickly popped up around the footy world following Friday night’s Richmond-Fremantle game, wondering whether it’s time to get rid of the draw.

Surprisingly, those talking heads even included Tigers coach Damien Hardwick, who advocated for the match to continue until the next score if a match is tied up at full time, rather than the usual call for extra time.

(Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder whether Hardwick would have felt the same had it not been his team charging forward and only stopped from scoring by the final siren?)

But whether extra time or ‘golden point’ is your poison, here’s my solution: keep it as it is. What on earth is wrong with a draw?

I agree that for fixturing reasons, draws in the finals just aren’t possible anymore. I was always a fan of the concept of a grand final replay, but every single player from the 2010 draw hated it with a passion, so it made sense to get rid of it and make the big dance just like every other final.

But sometimes, in the home-and-away rounds, circumstances arise so that neither team wins a game. And that’s completely fine!

As an aside, the final seconds of Friday night would have played out very differently: there’s no chance the Dockers would have been as attacking with ball in hand in at the death had they had extra time looming. I’d suggest that a lot of games that feature teams rolling the dice with scores tied late would be neutered by bringing in extra time.

Mainly, though, my issue with changing the current system is this: draws are a time-honoured part of the game, as rare as hen’s teeth, and just as memorable (maybe even more so) than any thrilling win or loss. It’s a fundamentally unique part of our sport, too, given both that it’s higher-scoring than European football with less chance of it happening.

Draws are fine. Let’s hope debate about it is strictly kept in hypothetical terms, and the AFL isn’t tempted to fix what isn’t broken.

3. The Kangaroo that should be an All Australian contender

North Melbourne could legitimately have lost to Hawthorn by 100 points if it wasn’t for Ben McKay.

Indeed, they’d probably have lost significantly more than two games by that margin this season if it wasn’t for Ben McKay.

Amidst a season from hell for the Kangaroos, the key defender hasn’t just been a shining light – he’s been outstanding in his own right. You could make a very real case that he was the best man afield against the Hawks – but of course, when your team concedes 121 points and loses by 46, no one’s going to see it that way.

Yet the Roos’ defence was quite impressive after a dismal eight goal first quarter – the Hawks got the ball inside 50 a staggering 68 times, but ‘only’ mustered 26 scoring shots.

That was basically all down to McKay. He took eight intercept marks – five more than any other player on the field – while beating a very good opponent in Mitch Lewis hands down. Reading the ball expertly, he outright won or nullified virtually every one-on-one contest between the pair, while also regularly chopping out his teammates with timely spoils or pack marks.

Barring a bizarre, desperate switch to the forward line mid-season – perhaps David Noble’s most baffling coaching move of all – this has been the norm all season. He was equally superb against Collingwood a fortnight ago, nearly holding off the Magpies’ charge on his own; and tremendous fighting a solo battle in heavy losses to Geelong and Fremantle.

His average of 4.2 intercept marks per game is better than anyone in the competition – and that’s without factoring in that he’s twice been concussed in the first half of games, and missed the last quarter against the Dockers and Lions with leg knocks. (In the latter game, the Roos conceded nine goals without him).

That he’s been able to do it all while also playing as a key forward for Carlton is even more noteworthy (nudge nudge wink wink).

There’s reasonable competition for key defensive spots this year – Steven May is the obvious clubhouse leader yet again, while Sam De Koning, Paddy McCartin, Sam Taylor and Tom Barrass would be other worthy choices – but McKay’s efforts shouldn’t be dismissed because of the quality of the side he’s in. If anything, that should only enhance what he’s been able to do.

If he finishes the year unscathed, he’ll have played 16 games, with two of those first-half substitutions. It’s probably not enough for him to crack the team itself, but he should at least be in the conversation for a squad spot.

I’d be comfortable with him being overlooked because of the footy he’s missed – but if we’re talking quality of contribution, McKay’s season deserves the highest of praise. If anyone deserves an All Australian gig from a two-win team, it’s him.

Ben McKay of the Kangaroos celebrates a goal. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

4. Lady luck is on the Pies’ side – and they must cash in

Collingwood couldn’t have played the final minute against Essendon any better – but that doesn’t mean that winning it wasn’t the biggest fluke of their long list of close games.

No doubt Pies fans will rightly claim ‘shoulda, woulda, coulda’ – and it’s completely correct – but had Harrison Jones not hit the post with a pretty straightforward set shot, had the Bombers decided to put anyone on Trent Bianco on the wing, had one of the two Dons around got a fingernail to Jamie Elliott’s mark, the Magpies’ eight-game winning streak wouldn’t have reached nine.

To give them the credit they’re due, the Pies never wavered from that final kick-in; a lesser team would have bombed straight up the middle, rather than executed what you can only assume to be a set play: space created on the wing for Darcy Moore to mark and kick to Bianco, and at worse a boundary throw-in deep in the pocket.

It’s impossible to feel like the Pies’ luck can last much longer – except that’s what we all said after their win over North Melbourne a fortnight ago, and then after squeaking past Adelaide just last week. They are on a ride for the ages – and even if it only makes half a per cent difference, the amount of confidence they must have in getting the job done at the death will be sky high.

But as any cricketer knows, when you’ve got the gods on your side, you’ve got to cash in and cash in big time. The Pies are now in the top four – with a percentage of 106.2! – and with a reasonable enough run home to give them every chance of holding on.

But there’s no guarantee their luck will hold in 2023; and they’ll have to cope with a top-six fixture rather than a bottom-six fixture. Their best chance to snag a premiership could well be right here and right now.

As it stands, if there’s five minutes to go in a big final and the margin is under a kick, you can bet your bottom dollar whoever the Pies are playing is going to start getting very, very nervous.

5. Two-touch Bruce still a crucial Dogs cog

In two games since his AFL return from a serious knee injury, Josh Bruce has had a combined five disposals, and is yet to kick a goal.

But despite that, the Bulldog is still an important reason why they have kept their season alive with two crucial wins, including Saturday night’s thriller against Melbourne.

Big blokes, even big blokes as woefully out of touch as Bruce currently is, are natural focal points. They command a big defender, and take pressure off other, smaller forwards.

Bruce’s presence against the Dees was more substantial than any two-possession game really could be. He occupied enough of the attention of Steven May, Adam Tomlinson and Harrison Petty to allow Jamarra Ugle-Hagan greater space to move.

His presence didn’t mean the Demons didn’t still take bulk marks behind the ball – May monstered him a couple of times in the final term in particular – but it at least meant Ugle-Hagan and Aaron Naughton weren’t getting repeatedly double-teamed, which regularly happened earlier in the season with a smaller Dogs forward line.

Case in point was Ugle-Hagan’s first goal in the opening term. Against a smaller man, Tomlinson would have been able to shepherd Petty’s space enough for him to mark coming back with the flight; with Bruce there, it forced the ball to ground as Tomlinson was drawn in close enough to collide with Petty. Ugle-Hagan did the rest at ground level.

The Dogs’ strength last year was based around a three-tall forward line, with Bruce, Naughton and Tim English too tall for many opposition defences.

While Bruce will need to get better for them to even hint at a finals run, giving him every chance to do that is far more important than any two-touch game could be.

6. Cats the frontrunner, but this flag is still absolutely anyone’s

If ever another premiership could be won by a team outside the top four, it might well be this year.

After another topsy-turvy round, I’m prepared to say that nine teams remain in contention for the premiership – yes, even the Bulldogs and Richmond.

Equally, aside from Geelong on top, all the other major frontrunners a month ago have seemed decidedly vulnerable. Cracks are starting to appear in Melbourne’s much-vaunted team defence; Fremantle are getting regularly blitzed out of the middle, Brisbane still seem a team wholly capable either of a magic run through September or crashing out in straight sets again.

Even the Cats are giving teams a look in – nine times this year have they conceded a rush of goals like the eight they gave up to Port Adelaide in the second term. They, like Collingwood, might have amplified their ladder position with an excellent record in tight games.

The most in-form team in the comp, aside from those clutch Cats and Pies, is clearly Sydney; but even they fell asleep after a slashing first quarter against the Crows, and while they were too far ahead for it to matter, they might not be so lucky against a better side.

Then there’s Carlton in seventh, who are fearsome at their best but will likely have to come from outside the top four to get it done.

As for the rest – St Kilda are still just percentage outside the eight, and Port Adelaide and Gold Coast probably cooked by their losses this week but playing enough good footy that you can’t officially put a line through them. Their fate is out of their own hands, but can you really say they’re done in this wacky, wonderful season?

All too often at this stage of the year, the die is basically cast: everyone knows who’s a contender, who’s out of the finals race, and who’ll just be making up the numbers in September.

This year feels different: not only are there a greater than usual list of the top-tier contenders – you could argue it stretches all the way to the Blues in seventh – but only the Cats seem a cut above the rest.

If you thought this weekend was good, just wait to see what 2022 has in store next!

Tom Papley of the Swans celebrates a goal. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Random thoughts

– Honestly don’t think it’s possible to have a better half of footy from a small forward than Brad Close’s first half on Saturday.

– Turns out young key forwards need a bit of time. Who knew?

– I don’t care how much he’s paid, but Tim Kelly gave up under the Marcus Windhager tag as meekly as humanly possible.

– Josh Daicos’ goal was better than Sam Draper’s last week, but we should still give Draper goal of the year. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

– Surely John Longmire can’t drop Ryan Clarke? Playing an ultra-crucial role in a very good Swans team.

– It’s super harsh, but I’d never seen a 30-disposal player actually make their team worse before Aaron Hall.