The negatives took up way too much space this weekend as Ray Chamberlain and Brian Taylor got it spectacularly wrong. But we think it’s high time to celebrate the positives from Round 17 as Hawthorn, Essendon and Richmond produced performances full of heart and desire that may just have a big impact on the finals.
The Hawks looked more like dorks when they played against North Melbourne the previous week as Brian Lake took the notion of suffocating pressure a little too far.
But despite being undermanned down back and minus the thrilling run of Cyril Rioli and Brad Hill, the Hawks knuckled down and won an entertaining, old-fashioned contest against the Crows.
Luke Hodge was again superb as he willed his side over the line and produced the big plays just when it appeared the Crows were building momentum, while Jon Ceglar and Angus Litherland may be contenders for the year’s most improved players.
There was even time for Luke Breust to drill his 29th straight goal – equalling Tony Lockett’s 1995 record – but Ray Chamberlain wouldn’t allow him a stab at a record-breaking 30th late in the third quarter as the umpire thought he’d heard the siren in his ear piece.
Making a mistake is excusable. We all do that. But calling the chime in his ear ‘retarded’ to a Friday night audience in the millions is a big blue and one the AFL hasn’t really discussed as yet.
Breust would eventually miss a final-quarter set shot at his 30th but still finished with three for the night as Jack Gunston booted four.
Ultimately, this was another display of how resilient this Hawthorn side is and how deep their squad runs. The odds may have been against them from the moment Lance Franklin jumped ship, but they’re still in the premiership hunt and appear the only side capable of stopping the Sydney and Freo juggernauts.
Both of those teams continued on their merry way, the Swans winning a record-equalling 12th straight game on the back of a 10-goal third quarter. The Dockers also hit the gas late in their clash with GWS, winning by 76 for an eighth straight win as they celebrated the club’s 20th anniversary in style.
One team that doesn’t belong in that top bracket any more is Port Adelaide. The Power lost their fourth from the last five games on Sunday at Etihad Stadium as they dropped from the top four.
Skipper Travis Boak was inspirational – he’d apparently hurt his ankle as well – but he didn’t have many mates as Richmond out-hustled and out-bustled the Power. There may be little to play for now that the Tigers can’t make finals, but Richmond still wanted it more than Port on Sunday and the result was their third straight victory. The big question, though, is where were these displays eight weeks ago?
Port can take some heart from the fact they continued to have a dip and didn’t get blown away. The same can’t be said for Collingwood as the Magpies were obliterated by an Essendon outfit missing three of their best in Jobe Watson, Brendon Goddard and Michael Hibberd.
The Pies may have only trailed by eight at quarter-time but the warning signs were there that they were seriously off as possession after possession after possession was sloppy and didn’t hit targets.
Part of that was Essendon’s pressure and relentless running but part of that was also Collingwood’s effort as they simply didn’t work hard enough for each other as the Maggies also lost their fourth from the last five.
But take nothing away from Essendon. This was tremendous stuff. Jason Winderlich controlled play off half-back, Dyson Heppell, David Zaharakis and Brent Stanton were great in the middle and Jake Carlisle rewarded Mark Thompson’s faith in him as a forward as he took 19 marks, kicked four goals and did the best impersonation of Wayne Carey seen in some time.
As a result the Pies drop to eighth on the ladder and now have a two-week break to turn it around before facing an Adelaide side challenging from below in a match that may decide who finishes eighth this season.
“We didn’t see this coming,” declared Nathan Buckley after the game as he bemoaned his side’s lack of effort. “But the last time we had a performance like this in round one we had two weeks post that and we went away and came back with some real grit and endeavour. That’s clearly what we need right now.”
One side still in the hunt for that eighth spot are the Suns. But for now, we can only say no Gazza, no Gold Coast after the Bulldogs over-ran them on the back of a fired-up final term in Cairns.Gold Coast still have a soft run home but injuries may hurt and there’s a chance they could miss the finals with 13 wins to their name.
And, as for Jackson Macrae, Brendan McCartney may want to tell him off every weekend after he responded to a very public spray with an inspirational effort that included two final-term goals when the game needed to be won.
There are still some mysteries from the weekend. The biggest of them is the Cats. Geelong’s 66-point win over Melbourne was their fifth win from six games since copping a 110-point belting by Sydney. But all those wins have come against sides that weren’t in the eight at the time and some of them weren’t overly convincing. Even on Saturday, they only produced one really emphatic quarter against a Melbourne side that went into its shell and played 2013 footy again at times.
Geelong’s percentage is low and Chris Scott knows that could come back to haunt his side but the coach is also genuinely excited that his team may be a serious dark horse come September.
“The honest answer is, ‘We don’t know’,” declared Scott when asked how his side stacks up against the other top-four contenders. “But we are pretty positive.
“Everyone around Geelong, not just the people around the club, all of the supporters are really excited about the future because there is a sense of uncertainty surrounding what we are going to do.
“Five or six years ago, it was a little predictable, in a good way. Now we genuinely don’t know. Even our best players don’t know, but they are excited about putting themselves in a position where they can find out.”