Friday night scheduling giving Carlton the blues
When Gillon McLachlan took over as the league’s chief executive last year, he promised to return the game to the fans. Gone were variable ticket prices and unpopular Sunday night timeslots, replaced by a return of traditional afternoon blockbusters in an effort to arrest dwindling crowds. McLachlan’s plans were well received, as they should have been. It’s just a shame that nobody at AFL HQ put as much effort into deciding which games would occupy prime timeslots.
In the first eight rounds, Carlton has played and lost three Friday night games by a collective total of 221 points. The latest, a 77-point belting by Geelong in which the Blues laid a total of 35 (yes, 35) tackles. It was telling that the few Carlton supporters among the 32,000-strong crowd got their biggest thrill of the evening when ruckman Cameron Wood gave away a 50m penalty for a crude tackle on Joel Selwood and then felling Shane Kersten. They weren’t Bronx cheers; rather acknowledgement for the first bit of aggression the Blues had shown all night.
Nobody expected Carlton to be quite as putrid as they have been this season, but even the most optimistic Bluebagger would have struggled to see how they could scrape into the eight. It beggars belief why they’ve been given so many Friday night games, and they’ve got another three to come.
When you come home after a long week at work and settle in to watch the footy on a Friday night, you simply hope for a good contest. Right now, Carlton cannot even provide a mediocre one. And you think things are bad now, you might want to schedule your supermarket shopping or laundry for this Friday evening, when the Blues travel to the SCG to meet the Swans. If Mick Malthouse is under pressure now, just wait until Saturday morning.
The great McCarthy
There have been plenty of good news stories to emerge from Greater Western Sydney’s unexpected 6-2 start to the season, like Jeremy Cameron rebuffing multi-million dollar offers to stay loyal, and Tom Scully finally living up to the hype that’s surrounded him from draft day. But perhaps the best tale is that of key forward Cameron McCarthy. The Giants were supposed to struggle up forward this season, having lost Jonathon Patton to a knee injury and Tom Boyd to the Bulldogs. But the ponytailed key forward, who had only played one game heading into this season, has been a revelation. McCarthy booted four goals in the Giants’ 24-point win over the Crows, taking his season tally to 21, more than Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead or Tom Hawkins. There’s no secret to his game; he simply leads well, has strong hands and kicks accurately. He has some smarts about him too – in a third quarter marking contest close to goal, instead of trying to take possession he simply tapped the ball down to a waiting Cameron, who snapped truly from close range.
With first-year Swan Isaac Heeney on the sidelines for another month or so, McCarthy is a strong chance to take out this year’s Rising Star award. It would be the first individual award taken out by a Giant, and you sense there will be many, many more to come. Perhaps the only sets of supporters not enjoying the excellent start to McCarthy’s career are Brisbane and Carlton fans. The two clubs most in need of a power forward for the next decade overlooked McCarthy in the 2013 draft before he was taken by the Giants at number 13. It could be a decision that haunts them for years.
Jarrad McVeigh digs deep
When Cyril Rioli goaled to put the Hawks 12 points in front late in the last quarter on Saturday night, few would have picked the Swans to take the four points. Sydney had been gallant all game, but led by Rioli and Sam Mitchell, the Hawks had pegged back a five-goal deficit and seemed to have all the momentum. But Jarrad McVeigh wasn’t prepared to give up the grand final rematch without a fight. The influential Swan, who celebrated his 250th match last week, was single-handedly responsible for the final three goals of the game to earn his side a victory that seemed highly unlikely just 12 minutes earlier.
The Hawks had two late chances to snatch the game, but in a tight, fierce encounter where both Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead were held goalless, the game needed a hero to stand up. And with just four points separating the teams at the siren, McVeigh’s composure, strength and skill in the dying stages were the difference. It was a welcome return to the fight we all expected from the Swans on grand final day, and will give them immeasurable confidence going forward.
Fremantle gets the balance right
The 2013 Dockers side that made it all the way to the grand final was a defensive juggernaut, but its offence was never quite as potent. It’s one thing to strange teams, but when your hard work isn’t reflected on the scoreboard, the opposition always believes it is a chance. This 2015 Dockers team, which moved to an 8-0 record with a demolition job of North Melbourne on Saturday night, is a different beast altogether. They still have the suffocating defence down pat, testament to the fact they’ve conceded fewer points than anyone else. But the Dockers now put teams to the sword and boast scoring threats all over the ground, to go with their extremely healthy percentage of 155.3.
Long gone are the days when opposition supporters would think, “Shut down Pavlich and we win”. Indeed, the 33-year-old skipper is moving with freedom and energy, seemingly knowing this is his best chance yet to win that elusive flag. But he’s now got an effective foil in young Matt Taberner, who draws a good defender and on Saturday night kicked two goals to go with his season-high 13 possessions. Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters remain the best small forward duo in the competition, Walters’ four goals against the Kangaroos a reminder of how much the Dockers missed him when he was cruelled by injury last year.
Just as impressive is the frequency with which the Dockers’ midfield hits the scoreboard. The Kangaroos had no answer for David Mundy, Michael Barlow and Lachie Neale who racked up 91 touches and five goals between them. If they don’t get you, Stephen Hill or Danyle Pearce will. As for Nat Fyfe, who had career-high 37 possessions in his 100th game, he may as well have been awarded the Brownlow medal after the game given how dominant his start to the season has been. Only injury or suspension will stop him, and it seems only a disaster will prevent the Dockers from two home finals. Their premiership favoritism shortens by the week, and it’s hard to see who – if anyone – can stop them.
Port’s forward line is powerless
All summer, people were talking about how imposing Port Adelaide’s forward line was going to be with the acquisition of former Bomber Patrick Ryder. Even before they’d played a practice game together, Jay Schulz, Justin Westhoff and Ryder were being dubbed the “three-headed monster”. Eight rounds in and the only thing resembling a monster is the size of Ken Hinkley’s headache, after his side dropped its third successive game. Port’s effort was there for the most part against the Tigers on Sunday evening, but they’re a shell of the freewheeling, high-scoring Power that has thrilled the football world over the past two years.
Plenty of Port’s current woes can be blamed on its shambolic forward line. Schulz is a good but not elite forward who thrives more on finding space than crashing bodies, and is struggling to find that space on a weekly basis. Ryder is a fine footballer who has never kicked more than 27 goals in a season, and was never going to be more than a pinch-hitter up forward. At the same time, bringing Ryder in has left Westhoff in no man’s land; the swingman having nowhere near the impact expected of him.
The Power dominated the third quarter, racking up 14 inside-50s and holding Richmond scoreless. But there was no sign of structure close to goal, as the big men were continually beaten and Port midfielders bombed the ball on the head of 185cm Angus Monfries and Chad Wingard, who is clearly showing the effect of an interrupted pre-season. Richmond’s All-Australian bookends Jack Riewoldt (four goals) and Alex Rance were exceptional in the win, and the Tigers are remarkably in the eight ahead of the Dreamtime clash this weekend. And Port? Their final score of 43 was less than their quarter-time score in that stunning elimination win over the Tigers just 10 months ago. Footy’s a funny game sometimes.
