Another relatively straightforward…ish week has just passed by in the world of AFL leaving me little to touch on outside of my 3 points. However, a few honourable mentions do indeed make the cut.
First off, Mason Cox where have you been mate?! Cox turned back the clock and cemented himself as Collingwood’s go-to big guy amidst their key position injury crisis with one of the best big man performances you will see all year. He was everywhere and marking everything. Seriously, if this was America, he would probably have been checked for illegal substances on his hands at halftime. 9 marks, a couple of which were screamers, 2 goals, a behind, 4 clearances, 24 hit outs, oh and a few tackles as well mind you. Humble as ever, all he did in the post-match interview was send a heartfelt message to his mother for Mother’s Day, who according to him would have been watching in the early hours of the American morning. All class Coxy, all class.
Secondly, Matt Rowell, it is official, he has re-gained his King status after his red-hot start to 2023. None more so than in the last couple of weeks when it was revealed that his pre-game ritual is to take a chunk of grass out of the turf and eat it. 29 touches, a goal, 6 clearances and 17 tackles. SEVENTEEN. My god, he is a footballing machine sent from the future and his body has finally healed enough to let him unleash, it is fantastic to see. Reuben Ginbey also had 16 tackles, just quietly. That smoky Rising Star call I made ages back might just actually come off.
Elsewhere, the Dogs proved they’re right back on track, but I, as a Doggies supporter, am still not sold on our chances to keep this run going, this upcoming weekend against the Crows will be a major litmus test. And in the same game, the Blues were well and truly shown up yet again as they were bulldozed in the final 5 minutes to turn what was a very winnable game into a 20-point loss. Yikes.
Oh well, enough jibber jabber, let’s get stuck in!
The Good
Going The Early Crow: Adelaide Play Finals This Year
That’s right, I am calling it and I am prepared to look insanely foolish by making such a claim so early in the year. But what the Crows have shown me in the first 2 months of the season is that they are highly motivated, completely rejuvenated with their new list and capable of playing top-tier football. There must have been a meeting in the pre-season where collectively, as a group they decided enough was enough and they were no longer going to lay down when the going gets tough and play with a bit of go about them for once. They are doing exactly that and it is music to the Crows fans’ ears whenever their song plays post-final-siren.
Jordan Dawson is making the Swans regret that they couldn’t find any space in the cap for him with every dominant performance that he puts on. Rory Sloane is turning back the clock, as is Big Tex, with the two veteran presences playing as strongly as they have in years. Fogarty, Rachele, Hinge, Murphy and Sholl are now all men after spending the last few years developing and Izak Rankine is reminding us weekly why he was sold for such a huge price in the trade.
The Saints’ defence thus far has been mostly impenetrable and have had some of the top teams in the league crumble at the sight of it. Not the Crows. They waltzed through St Kilda’s zone like a hot knife through butter and took the game on at every opportunity with the constant movement of the ball at top speed. In the end, it was 52 points that separated the two teams and the team who was sitting 2nd on the ladder had their pants pulled down.
The Crows have not put one poor performance together in the first 9 weeks of competition. Each of their losses had excuses – Round 1 vs GWS: 42-Degree weather, it was survival of the fittest, Round 2 vs Richmond: The scoreboard didn’t reflect how tight of a contest it was for much of the game, Round 7 vs Collingwood: They lost by a single point against the best side in the league and Round 8 vs Geelong: They just got outmatched by the Cats on their home deck, as most of the league does.
They are coming for September and I cannot wait until it arrives.
The Bad
Harley Reid Hype Gets Absurd
Look, I’ll keep this one brief, as I have talked about this situation at length on our various Social Media platforms (I’ll attach a couple of the videos for reference). But the AFL community and especially the media have got to stop jumping on this ‘Harley Reid Cup’ hype that is currently circling. I am all for creating narratives that fans can get behind in the game, as well as promoting personalities to generate interest within the sport, but this is just not a narrative the league should be spinning.
They are essentially insinuating that Hawthorn, West Coast and North Melbourne are all tanking so they can draft this kid who is yet to prove himself at the top level. Yes, I can see that he has immense potential to be one of the stars of our game and is head and shoulders above what he should be as an 18-year-old. But, he is just that, an 18year old kid with the pressures of being the top prospect in his draft class, which is enough for a young man to deal with, let alone the entire footballing world clamouring to have him as if he is the saving grace that will turn their club around in an instant. Did we not learn our lesson with Tom Boyd? Let’s back off a bit, shall we? Last thing this kid needs is more pressure, so let’s draw back the hype until he proves he can handle it.
The Ugly
North Produce Yet Another Lazy Performance
From 2-0 to potential wooden spooners, oh how quickly a team can fall.
I am going to try not to have North pop up as an entry every other week but it is damn hard not to with the current state they are in. They look far from a team coached by Alastair Clarkson and quite frankly, the performances they have produced in the last few weeks have been chalk and cheese if you compare them to the first 2 weeks of the year. Gone is the desperation to defend, gone is the willingness to take the game on and gone is the never give up attitude that had seemingly developed over the off-season. In the last 3 weeks, that fire that I told the North fans to get used to has mysteriously disappeared and the Kangaroos of old have returned.
This was meant to be the game of the week. North V Port. The Icebath Cup. All North did was make Jason Horne-Francis look like a pure genius for jumping ship when he did when they should have been boasting to him about what he has been missing out on. But they just didn’t care plain and simple. And I know that Clarko told them to forget about JHF and there were to be no grudge fights with the former player, but my god it was like Clarko had literally told them to not go anywhere near him. The below video pretty much sums up the Roos’ lack of guts on the weekend and the sad thing is we saw the exact same thing last week and the week before that. Something needs to change quickly.