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Collingwood have been treating every game like a final since the bye.
On Thursday night, after successive wins over Port Adelaide, Richmond, Gold Coast, North Melbourne and Carlton the eighth-placed Magpies finally get an opponent worthy of a final when they play an in-form Adelaide who sit fifth.
It’s the first time the Magpies will have to contend with Izak Rankine in a Crows’ jumper since he was suspended from the finals for using a homophobic slur in the round 23 clash against Collingwood last year.
The Magpies won last year’s qualifying final and the Crows won in round one to make it one win apiece since that fateful game but the match-winning Crow’s presence on Thursday night is significant.
Rankine has put last year’s error behind him and has been building back to the form he showed at the Crows in the previous two seasons.
On Friday night he was back to his best, his tackle and smother on Swans’ star Isaac Heeney in the final quarter on Friday night was a significant indication of his evolution as a player.
Ferocious competitor Alex Neal-Bullen is the only Crows’ player putting more pressure on than the No.23.
All eyes will be on him with the Magpies likely to send their cooling agent (or WS-23) Ed Allan to his side at stoppage. Allan was one of five Collingwood players with fewer than 30 games experience who played in the win over Carlton (who had seven).
It will be a battle within a battle as the competition’s two best teams at applying pressure prepare to wrestle like grizzly bears with the Crows needing to play a front half game to kick a winning score, particularly with Darcy Fogarty likely to miss through suspension.
The Magpies attack from defence more than the Crows with their scores from kick-ins becoming a problem for opponents. The Crows will need to be on guard for Jeremy Howe’s flat bullets into the centre and Nick Daicos’ give and go runs through the corridor causing damage.
Some players don’t deserve the statistic they get for a kick-in, but the argument to not count the disposal on individual stat sheets doesn’t hold up when Howe or Daicos grab the footy. If they get the kick wrong, the chance is high it goes back over their head. If not, the Magpies can score.
Richmond’s excuses have worn thin
Richmond were 63 points down at half-time against Hawthorn. The class gap was obvious. All anyone expected was some response.
The opposite occurred as the Hawks waltzed around Richmond in the opening minutes of the second half as though the Tigers players were taking part in the Mannequin Challenge.
It was unacceptable and inexcusable, regardless of Richmond’s injuries and experience.
Midway through the quarter the Tigers pressure rating was 138. The measure can be dependent on game style but Richmond has recorded the lowest pressure rating of any team this season.
Essendon’s effort was at the other end of the scale against the Giants after half-time which made the toothless Tigers’ performance even worse. The Bombers’ win put Richmond on the bottom of the ladder and to be honest, on Sunday, they looked the wooden spooners. Richmond laid 50 tackles and nine inside 50. The Bombers laid 69 and 18 inside 50.
Their coach Adem Yze is a good character, but he needs to demand more from his team because his coaching career could depend on his team showing fight and applying pressure as much as some improvement on the injury front with the club searching for a new high-performance boss.
The 70-point loss to Hawthorn was the 17th time the Tigers have lost by 10 goals or more under Yze and the 15th time they have lost by that margin in the past 41 matches. They are the only team in the competition to not kick five unanswered goals this season. The Bombers kicked six unanswered against the Giants on Sunday.
Josh Smillie has not yet played. Sam Lalor was impressive on limited minutes on Sunday. Sam Grjl, Harry Armstrong, Jonty Faull, Sam Cumming, Luke Trainor and Jasper Alger have shown glimpses of talent.
But too often under Yze the Tigers have shown next to no fight with the premiership players who remain appearing to go through the motions. It’s not good enough.
Ken Hinkley’s appointment will awaken the enemies
Tasmania will enter the real world now they have announced Ken Hinkley as the club’s first coach.
Hinkley is a good call as he can attract and retain players as well as coaches and staff, having built a strong culture at Port Adelaide and maintaining many relationships from his time at Gold Coast and Geelong where he remains popular.
But the Devils will need his avuncular style because the rest of the competition will not be as accommodating as they may have been to date when they start putting their sign-on bonuses in front of their own talent.
Departing Giants’ CEO Dave Matthews telegraphed on 3AW on Saturday the uncompromising approach their opponents will take as they try to poach their talent with future Giants’ captain Tom Green one of their targets.
“I don’t think it is a super attractive proposition to go and play in Tasmania,” Matthews said.
“It’s a nice place to visit. I don’t think it is an unbelievable place to have a career and live.”
Given Matthews will consult to the AFL when his time at the Giants ends on a 20th team, international expansion and the upcoming collective bargaining agreement, his comments are likely to be on the lighter end of the doubts clubs will cast on the new club, who have admitted the training and administration centre will not be built when pre-season for 2028 starts while the Macquarie Point Stadium will host matches from 2031.
And another thing, it’s timely the Devils have a media professional now on board because their executive needs to learn how to deal with breaking stories when they leak and not take offence when questions are asked about their progress. So far, their performance in that regard has been off the pace.
The gloves are coming off.
Can Max King do a Charlie Curnow?
That’s what the Saints will be hoping as their key forward prepares for a likely return on Sunday, July 26 against North Melbourne in his first game since June 30, 2024.
The comparisons, in relation to time away from the AFL, are eerily similar.
Curnow started his two years sidelined on June 30, 2019 and made his return against the Saints on July 30, 2021.
Like King, Curnow had missed more than two seasons.
Like King, he returned with his team a slim chance to make finals but not a flag contender.
The Blues had four games remaining when Curnow returned. The Saints have five.
Curnow was 24 and had kicked 77 goals in 58 games. King is now 26 with 159 goals from 83 games.
In that final four games in 2021, Curnow kicked just two goals but importantly he played 80 per cent game time in each match and set himself up for the preseason (coincidentally four current Saints, Jack Silvagni, Liam Stocker, Tom De Koning and Paddy Dow were in the Blues team for Curnow’s comeback match).
Curnow has played 108 matches and kicked 286 goals in close to five seasons since and won a Coleman Medal with Carlton.
That is the type of result the Saints hope King might deliver. He is capable of repeating Curnow’s effort but all the work is now in front of him.
They need him too as Cooper Sharman and Anthony Caminiti are not key forwards and crumbers such as Jack Higgins depend on forwards making contests to create ground balls inside 50. Geelong took 23 intercept marks against the Saints.
St Kilda are still alive for a wildcard spot but watching King get through unscathed in the final five games to set up for next year would be equally satisfying.
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