Josh Kennedy’s knee injury was a rare talking point out of a shocking game between Richmond and Sydney. Photo: AFL MEDIA
Brace yourselves for another week of all-consuming “state of the game” debate. It’s coming, and you’ll have to take self-isolation to extreme new levels if you want to avoid it.
John Longmire and Damien Hardwick ensured as much at the Gabba, where their teams played out a dour slugfest on Sunday that resulted in the second-lowest match aggregate score of the AFL era (albeit with shortened quarters).
Marlion Pickett’s bump on Isaac Heeney, and injuries to Heeney (ankle) and Josh Kennedy (knee), were the only talking points of any note as the Tigers prevailed, 4.10 (34) to 3.8 (26). That was, until a blunt and candid Hardwick exploded in his post-match press conference.
“It was a horrendous game of football,” the dual premiership coach told reporters. “It was hard to watch, it was hard to play. It was just incredibly frustrating. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes how games pan out.
“You have a lot of players in one D50 and they can’t get out and we can’t score. We had 50-odd inside-50s for four goals, which is farcical in nature.”
Longmire’s Swans rarely looked threatening at their attacking end as they flooded back in huge numbers to make life tough for Richmond. It left Hardwick concerned about the spectacle of the game going forward. And a quick check of talkback radio or social media will tell you he’s not alone.
“There’s not much I can do; we’re attacking and we’ve got 75,000 people in our forward 50, so it’s pretty hard,” Hardwick said. “We’ve got to figure out how to negate it, because it’s probably happened a couple of times this year, and it’s become a tactic in the AFL.
“The fold-back mentality is really keeping sides in games and it’s creating the game that we got tonight. It’s not pretty.”
Fortunately, the unwatchable drivel at the Gabba wasn’t the only football played in round six. The side that usually plays there was involved in a cracking contest at the SCG as the AFL sent all of its teams on the road.
Riding high after thrashing Port Adelaide, which was previously unbeaten, Brisbane went interstate for the first time since March and looked to be charging towards the top of the ladder when it led an injury-hit Geelong by 10 points at half-time.
The Cats lost Mitch Duncan and Quinton Narkle before the first break, but turned the match on its head during the third quarter, slamming on 7.3 to 0.1 to take control before sealing the result in the final term.
Patrick Dangerfield and Gary Ablett starred as unheralded wingman Sam Simpson led all ball-winners with 27 disposals in his seventh senior game, stepping up when required despite not having played at the highest level in two years.
Geelong and St Kilda both produced seven-goal quarters in round six – matching Richmond’s round-one effort to make it a total of three such hauls in 424 attempts across the board this season – but met vastly different fates.
After almost five weeks in Queensland, Fremantle looked like it had one foot on the plane back to WA when it trailed the Saints by six goals at quarter-time, down two men with ruckman Sean Darcy (concussion) and Hayden Young (ankle) off injured.
The Dockers tore up the script and kicked 10 of the next 11 goals before coughing up a 19-point lead in the final term, only to snatch it back again when Lachie Schultz converted a late set shot.
It was the biggest quarter-time deficit Fremantle has ever faced in a game it came back to win. It left Saints fans casting their minds back to a Friday night in 2005, wondering what crime they’d committed against Dockers coach Justin Longmuir in a previous life.
The fallout will continue for St Kilda as Ben Long faces suspension for the bump that put Darcy out of the game and saw the Saints youngster sent directly to the tribunal. But he wasn’t the only player on notice for a big hit in a bruising week of footy.
Essendon’s Dylan Shiel was offered a two-match ban for his bump on Curtis Taylor, Gary Rohan escaped suspension over separate incidents involving Brandon Starcevich and Ryan Lester, Pickett will be looked at for the Heeney collision, and Brad Ebert could be in trouble for a big bump on Harry Perryman.
Ebert’s Port Adelaide delivered a metaphorical hit on Perryman’s Greater Western Sydney to maintain top spot on the ladder, and boy, wasn’t Ken Hinkley happy? The Power coach shows more emotion than most, and was at his best as he joined his players in the team song.
Collingwood cruised past Hawthorn but lost impressive debutant Will Kelly to a broken arm in a match that will be best remembered for the heart-wrenching vision of injury-riddled Hawks forward Jonathon Patton in tears on the bench after pinging a hamstring.
Gold Coast’s Izak Rankine – the 2018 No.3 pick who has also struggled with injuries – finally made his debut and it was worth the wait. Rankine starred with three goals for the Suns, who could still have the Rising Star winner in their ranks despite Matt Rowell’s shoulder injury.
Unfortunately, they lost to Melbourne, which responded to a week of fierce external criticism in the best possible way – posting a win. The Dees’ joy at the final siren when Harley Bennell slotted his first AFL goal since 2017 was heart-warming, and coach Simon Goodwin now believes his side is “right in this season”.
West Coast’s post-match celebrations were a little different as ruckman Nic Naitanui handed Adelaide counterpart Reilly O’Brien a new phone following the latter’s chuckle-worthy Twitter gaffe. It was all in good fun, right? And maybe in sponsored content.
In a decidedly less wholesome interaction, North Melbourne tagger Luke McDonald mocked Conor McKenna over his COVID-19 saga during a half-time scuffle. McKenna’s Bombers won, but the Irish defender faces surgery on a broken finger and another stint on the sidelines.
As if to ram home the point that the vast majority of us should probably just give up on footy tipping this year, Carlton upset the red-hot Western Bulldogs on the Gold Coast. Levi Casboult was once on the football scrapheap but is now being talked up as an All-Australian contender.
We’ve got a few days of the aforementioned debate to wade through, but Thursday night is just around the corner. Flag fancies Geelong and Collingwood are waiting to put on a show in front of up to 30,000 fans at Perth’s Optus Stadium – now won’t that be a treat?
*Footnote: The combined 60 points by Richmond and Sydney was the lowest match total since July 20, 1996, when Brisbane beat Footscray 4.12 (36) to 3.4 (22) at the Western Oval. It should be noted that shorter quarters played a role in the Tigers-Swans tally.
