St Kilda ended its 10-game losing streak against Adelaide on Monday night to wrap up Round Seven. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Round seven of this bizarre AFL season should serve as a reminder. As the timeworn saying goes; things are never as good and never quite as bad as they seem.
Especially, it seems, when it comes to the state of the game.
Rewind seven days, and Australian Rules football was seemingly reeling from a dreadful Richmond-Sydney snooze fest. As predicted, we endured days of debate around football’s entertainment value and apparently bleak future until the next round’s on-field action redirected our attention.
But by the time the fleet-footed Saints had banished their Adelaide hoodoo on Monday night, a warm and fuzzy glow had returned to the game. It came largely on the back of the Power-Blues thriller in the Gabba sun and a see-sawing Lions-Giants contest in Sydney.
What should be obvious is that knee-jerk “footy isn’t broken” reactions on the back of good games are equally as misguided as doomsday scenarios floated after bad games. The major difference is that the overly positive response to a decent game doesn’t result in unnecessary rule changes or major changes in rule interpretations.
Some will argue Alastair Clarkson’s blunt assessment of a congested slugfest a few weeks ago and the subsequent change in umpire directives around holding-the-ball have helped open the game up.
Others will point to the fact Port Adelaide, Carlton, Brisbane and GWS simply decided to back themselves, be bold and have a crack. St Kilda has been doing it most of the year. You could count the number of holding-the-ball calls in the Power-Blues clash on one hand.
Clarkson himself will hope the “never as good, never as bad” mantra rings true after Jeff Kennett’s flip-flopping over the master coach’s future at Hawthorn. The club president on Sunday sparked debate over Clarkson’s future when he indicated on radio the 52-year-old’s current contract would be his last.
By Monday, Kennett had emailed Hawks members declaring the coach was “not going anywhere”.
“We are witnessing at the moment, that the ‘experts’ come out from their burrows with all the solutions and calling into question whether our coach Alastair Clarkson is the man to turn our performances around,” Kennett wrote.
“Let me say categorically, he is. Both Alastair and I like nothing more than a challenge and enjoy nothing more than proving those with opinions, but no responsibility, wrong. Just about every other club would give their right arm to have Alastair coach their team, but he is not going anywhere.
“I will remind you that coaches can only do so much – players must be up to the task.”
One of those ‘experts’ is one of their own – Jordan Lewis – who has joined the growing ranks of former players in the media and pondered aloud whether Clarkson has the energy to lead Hawthorn through a full rebuild after more than 15 years at the helm.
Lewis went as far as to anoint premiership teammate and current Clarkson assistant Sam Mitchell as the logical successor to the four-time flag-winning mentor.
Hawthorn’s on-field situation hasn’t helped. Since skinning the Tigers in round three, the Hawks have delivered what Kennett described as “the most disappointing displays by our boys that I have witnessed in years”.
They limped past North Melbourne in the game that sparked Clarkson’s congestion outburst, and then fuelled Kennett’s fire when they failed to put even 50 points on the board in consecutive losses to GWS, Collingwood and Melbourne.
The latter has provided a good-news story over the past fortnight, responding to similar criticism that has befallen the Hawks with two wins that have reignited faith in Simon Goodwin and the Demons’ hierarchy – or at the very least bought them more time.
The highlight of round seven was undoubtedly Robbie Gray’s ice-cool finish after the siren to sink Carlton in an entertaining Sunday afternoon contest. Down two injured men and seven points early in the final quarter, Port Adelaide wasted three late shots at goal in a frantic finish before Gray delivered the goods.
Beaming with pride, and rightly so, heart-on-sleeve coach Ken Hinkley declared it a “pretty brave fucking win” by his ladder leaders, who sit a game clear of Brisbane with a 6-1 record.
Gray’s moment wasn’t as big as Dom Sheed’s two years ago, but the kick itself was better. Hemmed in on the boundary at about 45 metres, the Power star produced a right-footed work of art that never looked like missing.
In doing so, he joined a somewhat exclusive club by becoming the 50th player in AFL/VFL history to kick a match-winning goal after the siren. The drama overshadowed Eddie Betts’ achievement at the Gabba, where the Blues veteran became the third player in the competition’s history to kick 300 goals at two different clubs.
That shouldn’t be overlooked. The former Adelaide pocket rocket and revered fan favourite joins fellow Indigenous champion Lance Franklin and goals record holder Tony Lockett as the only players to achieve the feat in 124 years.
Can we spare a thought for Carlton fans right now? Since the season restart, they’ve had four of six games decided by less than a kick, splitting those matches in the process. The good news is the team’s improvement (let’s not refer to “green shoots” anymore) has been tangible under David Teague this season.
Western Bulldogs fans are riding a similar rollercoaster after a big win over Essendon, and Gold Coast’s loyal supporters are revelling in the magic of Izak Rankine, who kicked two goals against Sydney and pressured the heck out of his opponents in a contribution that saw his booming stocks soar even higher.
Brisbane’s win away to Greater Western Sydney was one of significance. For all the spunk they’ve shown over the last 18 months, the Lions are yet to truly deliver on the big stage and failed twice during last year’s finals. Strong wins like that on the road will breed confidence in a young side that looks for all money capable of taking the next step in 2020.
Importantly, the workload was spread evenly as Cam Rayner, Harris Andrews, Jarryd Lyons, Charlie Cameron, Zac Bailey and a host of others contributed to the win.
And while Brisbane is mounting its flag case, so too is West Coast, which has well and truly recovered from its Queensland hub malaise. The big birds are taking flight after using crosstown rival Fremantle as a launching pad into a likely long stretch of home games that should embed them in the top eight.
The Eagles’ five-goal win was a record 10th straight Western Derby victory, surpassing their 9-0 run from 1995-1999 at the dawn of one of the AFL’s great rivalries – which, it must be said, needs some life pumped back into it.
Aside from the jeers from Dockers fans towards Andrew Gaff, there hasn’t been a lot of noise made by the port club on the biggest stage in WA football for quite some time.
St Kilda showed Freo how to break a drought with its first ever win at Adelaide Oval after 10 previous defeats to the Crows and Port at the ground by an average margin of 50 points. The Saints also ended a run of 10 straight defeats to Adelaide at all venues by the same average margin.
In doing so, they joined seven clubs on four wins, including Collingwood and Richmond, who made strong moves into the top four with impressive victories over Geelong and North Melbourne respectively, which came ahead of big games against fellow flag contenders in round eight.
