Just when we thought we had a handle on the AFL season, all hell breaks loose.
Adelaide have suddenly roared back to life with an upset no one saw coming, and the Brisbane Lions have made a big statement with their impressive MCG victory over Melbourne.
As for St Kilda and Fremantle, well they lost no friends in their heartstopping losses, but one gets the feeling Western Bulldogs coach might be losing a couple after another round of selection chaos and another very disappointing defeat. Below are Round 5’s good, bad and ugly talking points.
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The Good
West Coast are on the board!
And the symbolism of Harley Reid being such a key reason for it was striking. The 18-year-old produced a career-best game with 26 disposals and a goal to remind everyone why clubs attempted to move heaven and earth last year to get the No.1 pick in the draft. But what will make Eagles fans even more excited is the glint in the county Victorian’s eyes as he spoke glowingly about his new home. “I’m really lucky, hey?” he said after the game. “Hopefully I can just keep getting kicks and (the fans) can keep backing me in. I’ve got a great support network over here, so I’m loving it.”
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Elliot Yeo has also been back to his All-Australian best this year and, with Reid, was again among West Coast’s best with 27 touches and two goals.
Tim Kelly (29 touches) rounds out a formidable trio in the centre bounce that suddenly looks potent once more, while Jake Waterman’s 13 marks and six goals were the makings of a statement game in his career.
How to cop a spray on the chin
It wasn’t Port Adelaide forward’s Charlie Dixon’s night, that’s for sure, and coach Ken Hinkley let him know all about at quarter time in a robust conversation. With Fremantle captain Alex Pearce running circles around him, Hinkley asked Dixon for more effort and 90 seconds later he took a huge mark in the goalsquare. But it was his heroic efforts in the last quarter that were even more eye-catching.
With four minutes to go and his team trailing by eight points, Dixon took another towering contested mark and calmly slotted another pivotal goal. There’s no doubt Pearce won the battle, but Dixon’s moments were massive in his team’s three-point victory. He said after the game that Hinkley had asked him to do more of “the team stuff” … and that he did.
Rayner’s move to the middle
Every so often, Cam Rayner plays a game or does something that shows why he was taken with pick No.1 in the 2017 AFL draft. It hasn’t been the smoothest ride for the talented 24-year-old, but Thursday night might just have been the best of his 118-game career. And it came after a surprise position switch to the midfield. Not only did Rayner rack up an equal career-high 25 possessions, but he showed his explosiveness with a massive nine clearances — the most of any player on the ground. It’s already a stacked midfield at Brisbane, but giving Rayner a bigger role adds a new dimension.
One big question for Crows after stunning boilover
It was a win against all the odds, but one that could kickstart Adelaide’s season. Staring down the barrel of a 0-5 start, the Crows conjured a miracle with the final three goals to beat the previously undefeated Blues. It was a fantastic performance that was well deserved after a rough start to the year. But perhaps most impressively, the win was achieved despite quiet outings from captain Jordan Dawson and ball-magnet Rory Laird by their own lofty standards. Izak Rankine was the star of the show with three goals while also being thrown into the middle. He had 23 disposals and nine score involvements after starting at the centre bounce. Interestingly, Rankine had 21 centre bounce attendances (CBAs) between rounds 1-4, and then almost matched that total in one game with 20 against Carlton. The Crows have been talking about more midfield minutes for Rankine, the question is, however, why did it take so long to pull the trigger?
The Bad
Jack plays to a different set of rules
Yes, Jack Ginnivan ducks and plays for free kicks sometimes, but that doesn’t mean he should NEVER get a decision his way. After the Easter Monday fiasco where the AFL came out and admitted a string of incidents against Ginnivan were wrong, you’d think he’d catch a break. But against Gold Coast on Saturday night, he was denied one of the most blatant free kicks you will ever see. After the ball went over the boundary line, Ginnivan was bowled over by Mac Andrew right in front of the umpire. It was hard to disagree with Channel 7 commentator Campbell Brown’s assessment. “That is a free kick every single day of the week to Jack Ginnivan. So the umpires are saying that there’s no preferential treatment against him, that is absolutely incorrect,” he said.
Did the score review system blow it for the Blues?
In the third quarter of the thriller between Carlton and Adelaide, Blues small forward Matt Owies kicked what looked like a crucial goal. At the time, only one point was separating the teams and, obviously, the Crows got home by just two points. The soft call by the goal umpire was that the ball had been touched, but the decision was reviewed because the goal umpire was unsure … for good reason, too. Replays revealed that there was a gap between the ball and fingers with no finger bent back or even moving in the smother attempt. Now, we understand there is human error in some of these calls, but on the surface this one was a shocking blunder.
The Ugly
The moment an AFL club destroyed itself
North Melbourne’s disappointing streak in the AFL is continuing with the club — winless so far and currently bottom of the ladder — already going through another year of pain. And, after copping a bruising 75-point belting from Geelong, fans took to social media to vent, including a former employee. Rob Burton. Burton, who worked in the club’s media team, pinpointed a particular moment from the North Melbourne’s history where the rot set in. “It’s been all downhill since the club sacked three champions,” he wrote on social media, referring to the time at the end of 2016 when the club played finals but decided to delist much-loved stalwarts Drew Petrie, Brent Harvey and Michael Firrito, with former St Kilda star Nick Dal Santo also among the surprise axings. “Sadly, we’ve just never recovered,” he continued. “The famous Shinboner culture is gone. For the sake of the incredibly loyal and patient fans, I hope it turns soon.”
Demons’ forward line disaster
It’s a well-documented issue for Melbourne, but it’s hard to see the Demons going deep in September with this forward line. Through three quarters against Brisbane on Thursday night, their three key forwards in Ben Brown, Harrison Petty and Jacob van Rooyen had combined for zero kicks. Yes, you read that correctly. Brown’s best is clearly past him, Petty appears to be a better defender than forward, while van Rooyen is still young and developing. Brown has now had three goalless performances from five games and appears the likely one to make way because something needs to change to get this forward line firing again.
Bevo madness baffles AFL world
After the game, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge responded to questions about his mystifying team selection choices with this: “The players have created internal pressure for spots and that’s all OK if you end up being a formidable team (but) right now we’re not.” I’m sorry, Luke, that doesn’t quite make sense. He also talked about pain, the future, and then said “history’s history” while also saying it’s “all about the now”. Hmmm … is he actually saying that the Western Bulldogs are in rebuilding mode? If so, that doesn’t really explain why he keeps subbing off gun first-year player Ryley Sanders (who clearly doesn’t get it). As for not playing your best players or starting All-Australian stars as the sub, no one understands it. One prominent AFL caller said Beveridge was “genuinely hurting careers” while fans have called for Beveridge’s head.
– With Harrison Reid, and Glenn Valencich
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