‘Don’t show up when required’: The high-priced Blues failing to deliver

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Some stood up and some were noticeably poor in the last of the bye rounds for 2025. Here are the key takeouts from round 16.

‘They just don’t show up when required’

Thursday night, Adelaide Oval
Port Adelaide defeated Carlton by 50 points
The lack of on-field leadership from the Blues is a worry. There has been much written and said since Thursday night’s debacle against Port Adelaide, but has enough heat been put on experienced and high-priced recruits, including Adam Cerra and Adam Saad?

Adam Cerra needs to deliver more in the midfield.

When the contest was on the line in the first half at Adelaide Oval, Cerra had one kick. Saad, meanwhile, had four touches before he was subbed off with concussion in the second term.

Cerra, a calm, silky midfielder, needed to ease the load on an unwell and heavily tagged Patrick Cripps, particularly with Sam Walsh absent. He finished with 17 disposals and a measly 230 metres gained. Clearly, he didn’t get the job done, although he wasn’t alone there – only George Hewett had 20 or more disposals on the night for the Blues.

Saad is not comfortable defending one-on-one, but has not been delivering the line-breaking run from half-back, nor the change of angles when kicking, that the Blues need. As stated in this column after the round 10 loss to the Swans, the Blues are desperate for ball carriers who can turn a game.

And let’s not get started on Charlie Curnow, who was goalless for a second straight week, botched regulation set shots, and is not playing with the force required of someone who should be a star. Whether it’s a lack of confidence, or a lack of interest, or a case of the mid-year blues, Curnow is dropping marks he swallowed earlier in the season. Harry McKay’s absence means Curnow needs more than ever to be a threatening option, and have the same menacing presence he did against North Melbourne on Good Friday, but that now appears like it was in the prehistoric age.

As David King, the dual North Melbourne premiership star, and now prominent commentator, told SEN: “[Carlton’s] next level of player does not stand up when required. They leave it to the top four or five. I’m just talking about front-line representing because they just don’t show up when required.”

Tom De Koning has a whopping $12 million contract on offer from St Kilda. But he was beaten by Tristan Xerra in round 15 and was average against Jordon Sweet and Dante Visentini this round. That the Power won the hitouts 45-24 told the tale there. Is his long-term future starting to weigh on his mind? Has he already made the call to leave? We’ll soon find out.

Meanwhile, a shoutout to Esava Ratugolea. The former Cat is now a reborn Power defender, and has arguably had the best month of his career. He not only shut down Curnow when used on him, but had 13 disposals, including 11 intercepts, of which four were marks. He finished with 344m gained. Over the past month, he has had 46 intercept possessions, including 23 intercept marks. At 26, Ratugolea appears to have found his home.

The Wizard of Waverley

Saturday afternoon, Launceston
Hawthorn defeated North Melbourne by 85 points.
There are few better sights than a centre-bounce tap igniting a front-of-stoppage burst to goal, and that’s what Nick Watson did in the first term against North Melbourne.

The Hawks already had two goals on the board when Watson produced one of the Hawks’ goals of the season. A Lloyd Meek tap was hit down the throat of Watson, who is now being used in the midfield. He burst free of opponent George Wardlaw, then left Luke Davies-Uniacke in his wake, before handballing to Jai Newcombe inside 50m.

Newcombe returned the favour, although Watson spilled the ball. It did not matter, for he regained possession and slotted the goal from about 20 metres directly in front. Thankfully, this celebration was not over the top, for the Hawks knew there was still much work to be done.

Watson’s dash and creativity through the midfield has added another dimension to the Hawks, while easing opposition focus on him in his customary role as a small forward. Another smart move by Sam Mitchell, who has the Hawks firmly in the top-four hunt after a wobble against the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Collingwood.

For North, meanwhile, after a strong three weeks, the growing pains have returned. They will want to do far better at their centenary celebrations against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night.

Time to start believing in Dogs and Suns?

Friday night, Sydney
Western Bulldogs defeated Sydney by nine points
Saturday afternoon, Gold Coast
Gold Coast defeated Melbourne by 19 points
On a night the Bulldogs celebrated Marcus Bontempelli’s 250th game, they had one of their best wins of the season, full of fight and grit, and one that wasn’t entirely reliant on the club’s big names.

Luke Beveridge and his Western Bulldogs could do something they have yet to do in the coach’s tenure.

It was great to see teenager Joel Freijah boot four goals and have nine score involvements.

Collingwood great Nathan Buckley dubbed Freijah the “right-footed Bont” earlier this season, Freijah since profiting from being shifted from defence into the middle.

Joel Freijah of the Bulldogs marks the ball.

Former Hawk Lachlan Bramble (28 disposals) and the emerging Ryley Sanders (25) were also among the best afield.

The Bulldogs have never finished in the top four in Luke Beveridge’s 10 completed seasons, despite there being a premiership (2016) and a grand final berth (2021). Has the time come for this duck to be broken? According to Champion Data, the Bulldogs have one of the easiest runs home.

Going on last year’s ladder, they’ll need at least six wins from their final eight games to finish top four, while also relying on other results. With North Melbourne, Essendon, Melbourne and West Coast to come, that should be four wins. If they replicate the manner in which they used the ball on Friday night – at one point in the third term they had scored a clinical 5.1 from eight inside-50 entries – there is no reason they can’t also knock off Adelaide, GWS and Fremantle at Marvel Stadium. It would be some run, but it’s not outlandish to think the Dogs will pull this off.

While the Suns can technically also finish in the top four, it’s simply being alive come September that we are more interested in. Four more wins may do it, certainly five. According to Champion Data, the Suns have even an easier run than the Bulldogs, although we are not so sure about that. Regardless, the Suns have Richmond, Carlton and Essendon twice. Win those four and a breakthrough finals campaign in the club’s 15th season should be in hand.

Time’s up

Here’s something we are tired of – players manipulating the 30-second shot clock to waste time. Rather than begin their approach in good time, there are now players who take a look at the clock, see how much time is left, then begin their run-up.

That’s not what the clock was introduced for in 2016, the league giving it the green light to speed up play and reduce time-wasting. We also see players passing the ball, rather than taking a shot, having wasted almost 30 seconds on the belief they were lining up for goal.

AFL great Gerard Healy, one of the most astute and composed voices on the sport, has made his feelings clear.

“They [players] are taking the mickey out of the umpires because they are not really trying to kick a goal, they are actually wasting time,” Healy said on SEN.

“They are sitting there for 15 seconds looking at the clock and to me, once an umpire sees a bloke settle, once he takes one look at the clock, I reckon you are entitled to call play on.”

Former AFL umpire Shane McInerney agreed with Healy. “That used to be the interpretation,” he said.

Games are already running too long because of the increasing amount of dead time, reinforced last week when the AFL said Sunday afternoon games would now begin five minutes earlier – at 3.15pm, rather than 3.20pm – as these games were running into Seven’s 6pm news bulletin.

Perhaps this is one for the soon-to-be reconvened competition committee to address. We’ll see if the league tightens this interpretation as the season unfolds.

Hunters and gatherers (of premiership points)

Saturday night, Marvel Stadium
Collingwood defeated West Coast by 29 points
We know what the pressure is like when a team is struggling; just ask Michael Voss and Simon Goodwin this year. But there is a different kind of pressure building at Collingwood – not squandering a dominant home-and-away campaign come the finals.

Craig McRae and the Magpies have had a brilliant home-and-away campaign - but wouldn’t want to stumble at the business end of the season.

The Magpies, having done what was required to edge bottom-placed West Coast on Saturday night, are now 10 points clear at the top of the ladder, having lost just twice – against Greater Western Sydney in opening round, and Geelong in round seven.

That’s a major break between the Magpies and next-best Brisbane, leaving Craig McRae and his men with one hand on a top-two finish, and the double chance come September.

The Magpies are doing all they can to ensure their intensity remains high regardless of who they are playing, wary of a letdown against teams near the foot of the ladder. The Magpies also know there will be struggling teams who treat facing them as something akin to their own grand final, meaning the Pies must match this intensity.

The Magpies could not have had a better start to the season, their meticulous plans largely paying off. But it’s in September when they will be judged. The season proper will count for nought should they fail to at least reach the grand final.

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