Round 8

Round 8 was by far one of the strangest weeks in AFL history from umpiring decisions, player decisions and MRO decisions.

Sydney (77) vs Essendon (72):

The week started off with Essendon taking on Sydney. The game was a sigh of relief for Sydney supporters who have finaly won a game after four straight losses, even if it was in the final minutes of the game. With Buddy Franklin out if showed that the side can still play a decent brand of footy but it also showed a need for improvement is some of their other stars; particularly Zac Jones, Isaac Heeney and Jake Lloyd who didn’t have the same impact as at the end of last year and the begining of this year. This game also proved a lack of Essendon’s consistency, suffering five losses from three games. Daniher was also sorely missed after he was dropped this week, it seems as if he’s Essendon’s lucky charm because they only seem to win when he plays. Dylan Shiel didn’t play to the same level as Anzac Day but Zak Merret made up for it with 28 disposals, 9 tackles and a goal. With five points the difference and a kick from 60 after the siren it was definetly a suspensful match, but the kick wasn’t the only thing that happened after the siren. Dane Rampe seemed to have forgotten how to play footy completely and decided to climp the goalposts, the umpires didn’t do anything besides tell him to get off which caused a lot of controvery in relation to the rule about “not intentionaly shaking the goalpost”. If they had paid the freekick it would’ve been a certain goal and win to Essendon but in my opinion they made the right decision because of the amount of uncertainty around the rule in the first place.

Bulldogs (92) vs Brisbane (76):

The Dogs are back! Finally showing signs of the team they were back in 2016. Although the lions were winning by more than three goals half way through the second quarter the dogs were just too good in the end. The Bulldogs midfield is definetely key to their game; Libba, Macrae, Hunter, Bonts and with Dunkley now playing a more dominant midfield role their game is more aggresive than ever. Even with the lack of Tim English in the side Jack Trengove was able to fill the role really well with 27 hitouts by the end of the game. Josh Dunkley was definetly the difference in the end with a whopping 36 disposals, 8 tackles and a goal. On the Brisbane side of the game, things weren’t as pretty. Eric Hipwood kick 0.5 in the first half with four of those coming from relatively easy set shots and Lachie Neale’s form has also dropped considerably compared to the start of the year, with only two tackles for the game. The one positive for Brisbane was Dayne Zorko, he played great, with 28 disposals, 7 tackles and two goals which is really difficult to do, especially in a loss. This game has shown a lot about the two sides, it proves that the bulldogs are on their way back after a form slump a few rounds back as well as Brisbane’s inability to score and the effect it is having on their game.

Carlton (87) vs Collingwood (106):

Second on the ladder versus last on the ladder sounded like a boring game, but it was far far from it. Carlton dominated the ball for a solid three quarters and even held a 12 point lead halfway through the final quarter but the Pies were just too strong in the end kicking five unanswered goals. The great game from Carlton seemed almost entirely due to Patrick Cripps who took his game to a whole other level this week, 35 disposals, 7 tackles and a goal made him easily the best onfield. The determination from the new skipper seemed to give Carlton a boost in confidence, with their defence only allowing Collingwood two inside 50s for the game and Charlie Curnow finaly showing some good form with 12 touches and two goals. Although Carlton really stepped it up it just wasn’t enough to counter Collingwood’s form this year, Brodie Grundy stepped it up again with a whoppinng 48 hitouts, 25 disposals and two goals against the out-of-form Matthew Kreuzer. Adam Treloar, Tom Phillips and Steele Sidebottom also performed well this week especially when it counted, with all of them having score involvements in the run of scoring at the end of the match. Carlton are definetly showing signs of being a great team this year while Collingwood just keep impressing and are now 7-1.

Goals Coast (60) vs Melbourne (61):

Not a pretty finish but it sure was intense. With less than a minute on the clock and 7 points down Melbourne pulled off the seemingly impossible with Marty Hore kicking a goal and Tom McDonald hitting the post about 15 seconds later. Although the game was exciting at end, it was the complete opposite for the first three quarters; sloppy hands, dropped marks and innacuracy (predominately at Melbourne’s end of the field) led to the game being hard to watch at times. There were one pro, Clayton Oliver. The guy played some next generation football, 38 disposals and 15 tackles is just ridculously good. Another pro for the game was Melbourne’s rookies, Lockhart and Hore are proving their worth in the struggling side with a hige impact all over the field. The cons definetly outweighed the pros however, Gus Brayshaw has gone from placing third in the brownlow to looking like he doesn’t know what a football looks like and is barely even close to looking like his old self.

St Kilda (70) vs West Coast (88):

St Kilda’s run of injuries isn’t helping their ladder placement while West Coast are finally starting to play some consistent footy. A slow game at times but the Eagles midfield was just good for the Saints, Jack Stevens’ absence didn’t help much either. It seems like Saint Kilda’s shot at the top eight was a bit of fluke after they have now suffered defeats in their last three games. Besides the injuries, the Saints just aren’t what they were only a few weeks ago; Matthew Parkey only scored a single point for the game, Marshall had a measley 18 hitouts against the fairly new ruckman Nathan Vardy and their veterans just aren’t performing. The Eagles side of things looked a lot nicer, Gaff seems firmly set in his wing position with 30 disposals and 4 tackles as well as Shannon Hurn showing signs of old with 9 marks (six intercepted) and 25 disposals. Their rookies are also looking like keeping their place with Petrucelle kicking two goals and four marks. Another interesiting sidenote was the dropping of Eleni Glouftsis, the first female umpire in the AFL after a string of bad calls.The Eagles are actually starting to look like a side that won the Grand Final last year after their massive form slump; whereas the Saints have almost done the opposite, from looking like Premiership contenders to probably not even making the eight.

Crows (88) vs Port (68):

There’s a reason the Showdown is one of the most anticipated games of the year. Infront of 50,000 the Crows overcame a late Power surge to take home the win. After a highly contested first quarter it was 11 points the difference in the Crow’s favour. The second quarter was a different story, the Crows started to pull away with the help of Tom Lynch up forward and Alex Keath down back. Lynch walked away with 3 goals and Keath racked up 5 intercept marks. Matt Crouch had a great impact on the game throughout he hole of the first half but suffered a heavy contusion to his hip just before half time which kept him out for the rest of the game as well as him being in serious doubt for round 9. The Crows’ defence also proved a major difference with Port only scoring three goals from inside 50 by 3-quarter-time. Although the score didn’t show it Port were contesting the ball quite a lot, Tom Rockliff had 41 disposals by the end of the game (the most for the round) as well as six tackles. In the absence of lots of their stars, Port’s rookie selection was aslo a major plus for the game with Connor Rozzee, Xavier Duursma and Willem Drew gained 48 disposals and 15 tackles between them. The game took 6th and 7th on the ladder to 3rd and 11th, just proving how even 2019 is proving to be.

North Melbourne (80) vs Geelong (104):

A great first quarter from the Roo’s but the Cat’s were just too strong ing the end. Geelong have now also gone 7-1 and have a one game buffer at the top of the table. Geelong’s forward line has just kept getting better over the last few years; Tim Kelly, Gary Ablett, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins and now the new rookies in Clark and Miers just took the Cats to a whole new level. Kicking 16.8 Geelong were the definition of accuracy and North’s score of 11.14 made it look superhuman. While Joel Selwood didn’t play in the end, his replacement Charlie Constable filled in superbly, 27 disposals, 10 marks and three tackles is just ridiculous for a first-year rookie and begs the question as to why he keeps being dropped. The one negative for Geelong throughout the game was Gary Ablett’s elbow to the head of Sam Wright only a week after he did the same thing to Dylan Shiel, the fact that he was only offerd a fine highlighted the hypocricy in the AFL match review system is ridiculous and favours the stars over the clean players. The decision was criticised even more after Sam Durdin was offered a one match ban for a bumb the body of Gary Rohan. Besides the loss North played a great game of footy against the top of the table. Shaun Higgins starred with 31 disposals two tackles and a goal as well as Trent Durmont who had 28 disposals and four tackles. North Melbourne definetly aren’t playing like a side placed 17th on the ladder and are showing signs of a being a great team in the near future.

Hawthorn (71) vs GWS (38):

Although GWS were seen as favourites heading into the game the Hawks just controlled the footy more, leading to a 33 point win. Although the game was quite boring to watch at times it showed how good Hawthorn can play when they’re at their best. Their stars in Henderson, Sicily and Shiels really shone out in amuch needed win. Even with Roughead omitteed from the side for the match the Hawks showed that they can play contested football although their shot conversion wasn’t great, kicking 10.11 for the game. Jarman Impey also had a great game, kicking 2 goals in the absence of Chad Wingard. GWS just wasn’t the side they usually are, they struggled to get the ball in the first place and even when they did they just couldn’t get it past the Hawks defence. The match also highlighted how important Shane Mumford is to the Giants’ squad with the experience of McEvoy just simply overpowering the rookie ruckman in Dawson Simpson. The GWS guns just couldn’t do anything of importance either, Stephen Coniglio not laying a single tackle and Jeremy Cameron kicking 0.4 after averaging 3.1 for the year. Although the Giants still stil sit inside the top four thee are plenty of questions to be asked about the team as a whole. As for Hawthorn, it looks like they’re finally starting to turn their season around.

Fremantle (86) vs Richmond (111):

Richmond started off great and after a second half push by Freo, they were still able to take a 4 goal win home. The injury-ravaged tigers’ rookies really stepped up their game with Noah Balta playing an important role, especially after Toby Nankervis was injured in the first quarter. After a big loss to the Dogs the week before the Tigers proved that they still have a spark and are actually starting to look life finals contender. Bachar Houli really stood out for the Tigers with 30 disposals but only had one tackle for the game which used to be the strongest part of his game, this could be a good or bad thing but I personally think it could lead to a drop in performance. Although Fremantle lost in the end there was one star, Nat Fyfe. He almost certainly took home the three brownlow votes with 33 disposals and three goals, he did however spmehow end up turning into Gary Ablett and elbowed Tom Lynch in the head, if he does recieve a suspension those three votes will mean nothing. Fremantle just aren’t the side they once were, and the same can be said for Richmond in a way. Both sides really need to make some serious changes if they want to be final contenders at the end of the year, and thats a big if.