T. Goldstein, three votes
A few weeks back, Essendon dropped Tom Bellchambers ahead of a trip to Perth to face the Eagles, only to watch Nic Naitanui develop leather poisoning from so many hit outs. The circumstances on Friday night were slightly different – both Bellchambers and his replacement ruck that day, Jake Carlisle, on the injury list – but the net result was the same.
North Melbourne big man Todd Goldstein, who should be universally regarded as the game’s best ruckman by now, turned in one of the best individual performances of the season as his club woke from a first-half malaise to keep its finals chances on track.
It’s not just his ruck work that makes Goldstein such a valuable player, though his 56 hit outs, many down the throat of Ben Cunnington or Andrew Swallow, helped. But the ruckman, who early in his career seemed ungainly, has now become an extra midfielder like Dean Cox in his prime. He was everywhere on Friday night, taking goal-saving marks on the last line, used as a bailout option from kick-ins, and intercepting countless Essendon forward thrusts. His final tally included 27 possessions, eight marks, eight clearances, four tackles and a goal. Tellingly, he also received seven free kicks, the majority conceded by makeshift Bombers ruck Shaun McKernan who tried to nullify Goldstein’s leap at every contest.
After the game, Brad Scott suggested Goldstein might be a smoky for the Brownlow. It’s going to take injury or suspension to stop Nat Fyfe, but with another three votes in the bank this round, Goldstein is in line to swoop should the unthinkable happen.
The best and worst of Stevie J
Throughout the Cats’ glory years and into Chris Scott’s redeveloping side, Steve Johnson has never been short on entertainment value. Few players have been capable of the sublime and the absurd the way Johnson has over the past decade, and the triple-premiership player’s full bag of tricks was on display on Saturday afternoon as Geelong kept its finals hopes alive with a win over the Western Bulldogs.
In the second quarter, Geelong fans were warming their hands to applaud what appeared a certain goal after Tom Hawkins and Shane Kersten found themselves unmarked inside 50m. Hawkins passed to Kersten in the pocket, who handballed to Johnson in the goal square. All he had to do was put boot to ball on the line and the Cats would extend their lead. But Johnson seemingly decided to dance around Stewart Crameri and hammer the ball out of the stadium. The extra few seconds allowed time for Crameri to execute a diving smother, and six points became no points.
If that was the worst of Johnson, the best was still to come. Later, he took a superb contested mark sandwiched between Easton Wood and Jordan Roughead and, still on the ground, fired out a handball to allow Hawkins to stroll into goal. On the stroke of three-quarter-time, he found Steven Motlop among a handful of Dogs, allowing his team-mate to extend the team’s lead after the siren.
With the Cats no longer the team they were, Johnson’s howlers hurt his side more than they used to when his side won by 10 goals every week. But the footy smarts are still there, and in Saturday’s hard-fought win, a moment or two of Stevie J magic was telling in the final score.
The review system isn’t working
In theory, the goal review system is excellent. In practice, it’s often comical. Now in its fourth year, the system still has plenty of kinks that haven’t been ironed out, and at least once a week it leads to a considerable break in play for further confusion.
Twice in the tense second half of Saturday’s Collingwood v West Coast match, the goal review system faltered.
Firstly, Alex Fasolo’s third quarter snap, called a goal by the umpire in real play, stood despite the review showing Eagle Brad Sheppard’s fingers clearly brushing the ball. It was virtually as conclusive as a video review can be, yet apparently not conclusive enough to overturn the initial call.
A quarter later, Josh Hill tumbled the ball towards goal and Nathan Brown’s desperate lunge to reach it appeared to have been a split-second late. The goal umpire immediately paid a rushed behind, despite the ball appearing to have crossed the line, and no review was held. Replays suggested that the ball was over the line, and at the very least, a review could have allowed for deliberation.
The Eagles ended the game with 11 more scoring shots and 20 more inside-50s, and thoroughly deserved their five-goal win. For their sake it’s fortunate that neither verdict, both of which went against them, had an influence on the result.
The race for top two is wide open
If you want evidence of how valuable a top-two finish heading into September is, consider that just one of the last eight premiers (Sydney in 2012) has come from outside that bracket. Round 16 results featuring the big guns went largely as predicted, but perhaps not entirely to script. West Coast was resolute, Fremantle was wobbly, Sydney was humiliated and Hawthorn was ruthless. Right now, it seems likely those four teams will comprise the top four come finals, but the race for the top two spots and a valuable home qualifying final is well and truly alive.
Fremantle is a game clear on top and two games ahead of the Hawks and Swans, with just three games against current top eight sides to come. If you consider them a monty for a top two finish – and that’s debatable given their sluggish form – that means three teams are fighting for the other spot.
Each team faces some challenging fixtures in the run home but West Coast, currently in second, has its destiny in its own hands. In the next month, the Eagles play Sydney, Hawthorn and Fremantle – all in Perth. If they can sneak two wins from that group, taking points from their rivals in the process, they may just have their noses in front after round 23. The likely loss of Jeremy McGovern for all of those games hurts, but the Eagles have dealt with the loss of key personnel all season.
One thing’s for sure, if this year’s premier will come from outside the top two, they’ll be scoring at least one win on the road. It’s set up for an intriguing finals series.
Adelaide finds beauty in the pain
On TV before Sunday afternoon’s Showdown, injured Crows star Rory Sloane described last week’s cathartic scenes in Perth as an important step for the club in moving on from the devastation of the past fortnight. He was right. While the previous week was fuelled by raw emotion, this week was about honouring Walsh the best way the players knew how.
Showdown #39 began with Adelaide and Port Adelaide bursting through a shared banner paying tribute to Phil Walsh, and ended in Scott Thompson earning the Phil Walsh medal for a best on ground performance and a post-match minute’s applause that moved the late coach’s daughter Quinn to tears.
This was one of the best games of 2015, arguably Adelaide’s best performance since their early-season blitz against North Melbourne and Collingwood, and matched by a gallant Power that closed to within a goal with less than 90 seconds to play but couldn’t edge their way in front.
Walsh talked about respecting the aesthetics of the game after playing Patrick Dangerfield on Nat Fyfe earlier this season, and fittingly both clubs responded. It was hard, high scoring football and so many of the best players for both sides – Dangerfield, Sam Jacobs, Chad Wingard, Robbie Gray – were influential.
A proud Dangerfield summed it up best when he beamed after the game, “It was a hard fought win, and one he’d be proud of.”
