Sitting pretty but winning ugly. Should the Pies be worried or should everyone else?
Dan Houston was the Magpies major off-season recruit, but to date – other than being best on ground in his first match in black and white – has been good but not great. Lachie Schultz, too, struggled in his first season at Collingwood last year, adjusting to their style of play. But between injuries this year, he has been very good. Schultz now understands where he best fits and the role he plays. With Houston the player and team are still fine-tuning that.
Collingwood likes handball chains in defence to find a free player to kick it inside their forward 50 metres. By bringing Houston in at the same time they moved Josh Daicos behind the ball, they now have two players designed to be their architects and distributors. To date, Daicos has been commonly used more than Houston in that role.
Houston's numbers are slightly down on his averages at Port Adelaide over the past few years – 17 touches a game at Collingwood down on 23 a game for Port. He has also had slightly fewer marks, tackles, inside 50s and rebound 50s a game at Collingwood.
The numbers are not alarming. They are partly explained by the fact two different teams play two different styles and ask different things of Houston in his role. He has not been poor – no Houston, we do not have a problem – but he has not been as influential as he was at Port.
The flip side of this is there is more growth in his game yet at Collingwood. His fellow defensive recruit Harry Perryman has been the better of the two additions to the team so far. Perryman has been excellent.
Loading
Goodbye to the bye
The AFL has to say bye to the bye in its current format. Five shortened rounds in a row – nearly a quarter of the fixture – sucks the life out of the season.
Thursday nights have taken free-to-air footy off Saturdays, but the bye rounds have also created a black hole on Sundays, often with just two games. The byes have also meant for a lean football diet in Melbourne. In the past three weeks there have been two, three and two games each weekend in Melbourne.
With football played across four days, the reduced number of games from byes leaves the fixture stretched and thin for quality. This is compounded by the fact there are a large number of poor-to-mediocre teams this year.
Frankly, the logic of accepting byes are necessary is baffling – players are paid to play, so that's what they should do. But that argument was lost on the collective bargaining negotiating table years ago. So we have to live with each team getting a mid-season bye, and find a better solution to the current long winter crawl.
One full week off for all clubs doesn't hold great appeal without something to fill the void – an AFLW State of Origin game could and would work, but for the fact it is out-of-season for that competition. At least it is at the moment – the timing of the AFLW season has long been a moving feast.
Playing just one or two games – Friday and Saturday nights – for one week and giving the rest of the comp a week off was tried before but dismissed. It was felt to be too empty for that one week, but now feels like it might have been a better alternative than what we presently have.
Then again, this is a decision to be made by the people who brought us injury-ravaged, callow Essendon on Thursday or Friday nights in four of the next eight rounds. Oh, and they still have to fit them in during the last round – which has yet to be scheduled – for an extra game against Gold Coast for the cyclone-postponed opening-round match.
Loading
This has happened despite the AFL having the flexibility of a rolling fixture.
Clearly the league over-estimated Essendon and Carlton, for that matter, in their scheduling of the second half of this season.
The AFL has been focused on change at headquarters with their executive. A change to the bye, better fixturing, servicing the TV-viewing fans – those who pay and those who don't – with football might be a good start for the new executive team.
Lynch crosses line
The term white line fever might have been coined for Tom Lynch. Off the field there is no more charming, genial figure. He is like an old labrador.
On the field he is a different person, more rottweiler than lab. It is like he releases his week's worth of suppressed anger and aggression in a two-hour window. Ordinarily, this helped give him a presence, on Sunday it simply made him look like an angry old man.
His hit on Jordan Butts – we've all seen the footage – was a swing in frustration. His statistics for the first half read: zero kicks, zero handballs, zero marks, zero tackles, five frees against. If you read stats alone, you would not have known he was out there but for five frees he gave away.
If you watched the game, you certainly knew he was there because he was the one waving his arms around, whinging and carrying on at the umpires. He threw Butts to the ground minutes before he struck him in the head. He was angry that Adelaide players were dropping in the hole in front of him, and he wanted them to know it. Oh, they knew it.
Injury and age has stopped him being the player he once was. His team is a long way from the team it was when he was in his prime. His hit on Butts looked to be the lashing out of a man raging against the fading light.
How many weeks will he get for it? It looked like he meant to punch him in the head, and he succeeded, so it was intentional, not careless, and it was high. What was the impact? Who knows? But the potential to injure was very high. It should, and probably will, go straight to the tribunal.
Will his likely suspension matter in the context of Richmond's season? They play Geelong next week. Ordinarily, you would say missing Lynch would hurt them, but not if you're going off his stats against Adelaide.
Humphrey quietly makes a mark
Mac Andrew got the big bucks. So, too, will Matt Rowell after confirming his new contract this week. But Bailey Humphrey is quietly becoming the player every team is going to want because he is now turning into the player he was projected to be.
He is naturally a player with strut. But for his early years in the AFL he tried too hard to live up to the comparisons with Dustin Martin. Now he is playing like he knows he belongs in the AFL.
In a midfield where the focus is Rowell and Noah Anderson, Humphrey is the disruptor. He has the burst of speed from the contest the Suns needed.
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West Australian
6 hours ago
- West Australian
Motormouth Mitch: Fremantle must refuse to play at SCG because of the diabolical surface
From West Coast's rebuild starting to take shape to the stance Fremantle must take ahead of their clash against Sydney, The West Australian footballer writer Mitchell Woodcock takes a no-holds-barred look at the weekend of footy. Finally on Track History won't say West Coast walked out of Marvel Stadium on Saturday night winners. However, their fighting loss to premiership favourites Collingwood might yet prove to be the game which proved most evident that the Eagles' brutal rebuild was on the right track. For the past three and a half seasons experts and fans have debated and argued about what West Coast should do to get themselves out of the worst on-field period in club history. The evidence is now there for the path they should take and those in charge must be brave to stay the course. Andrew McQualter's modern gamestyle was always going to take time to implement and while it's far from a finished product, the signs are there for the side they want to become known for. But it's not going to work if they don't get the personnel in that can take the club forward. Injuries to senior players in Oscar Allen, Jake Waterman and Elliot Yeo as well as the sudden and unplanned retirement of Jeremy McGovern will force forced the Eagles to play a younger team than they may have wanted to for the rest of the season. And they have gone all in, moving senior players into different roles that complement their talented youngsters. You only need to look at the centre bounces where Matt Flynn was rucking to Harley Reid, Brady Hough and Elijah Hewett while the likes of Tim Kelly and Liam Baker were outside of the centre square. When it works, the Eagles look electric and play with an intensity and ferocity that is capable of challenging the best. They proved so against Collingwood. They have gone from unwatchable in recent years to somewhat frustrating but in a positive way. The frustration comes from the ability to see what they are trying to implement but at times just falling one handball, one kick or one mark short of being able to execute. And their youth and inexperience mean, there is still going to be times when they fall short of the mark. Don't forget it was only a few weeks ago that the Eagles conceded 10 of the first 11 goals against Carlton. But they have found the right plan to take them forward and West Coast's list management need to double down on the direction. They should keep all their draft picks, prioritise bringing in as much young talent as they can and then eventually add some ready-made talent once the foundation has settled. Look at the exciting first game of Jobe Shanahan – who was taken with pick No.30 last year – to see what even a played drafted later than the first round can do for the cause. West Coast can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. West Coast's WAFL Woes For all the positives at Mineral Resources Park right now they still have one massive issue right now and it's their WAFL side. The word 'development' should be plastered all over the headquarters right now. It should be their No.1 priority. And it's why their WAFL side has never been more important. Mistakes of the past administration mean the Eagles have so many issues there now that are not going to be fixed quickly. Against Claremont on Saturday the Eagles had two legitimate ruckmen in Harry Barnett and Coen Livingstone playing as well as a talented forward-ruck in Archer Reid who they are trying to get the best out of. It is way too many and forced the Eagles shuffle them into positions they are not comfortable in just to try to get a balanced team. Livingstone played a lot as a forward for most of the first half, while Barnett battled against a great state league ruckman in Ollie Estland. They had the same problem on the wings where they had Harvey Johnston, Hamish Davis and Campbell Chesser trying to get gametime. They had several small forwards but no AFL-listed inside midfielders to help support draftee Tom Gross, while they lacked rebound defenders to implement the gamestyle of their AFL side. There is no easy answer to this problem for the Eagles. To keep up with the other teams they must continue to have a stand-alone reserves side, but they need find a way to get it better balanced to not only compete but hep the next generation develop. But they cannot have a team that has won only 10 of their past 83 games and expect players to grow into AFL-ready talent. Freo's SCG Stance Fremante's hierarchy must refuse to play at the SCG this weekend because of the diabolical surface. It was embarrassing and dangerous to watch Sydney and Western Bulldogs players unable to keep their feet as the grass and mud slid out from underneath their feet. The AFL are lucky no one was seriously injured because it would've been disastrous. It is an occupational hazard and with the massive amount of rain set to hit Sydney mid-week it is unlikely that it is going to get any better between now and Sunday morning when Fremantle take on the Swans. Dockers chief executive Simon Garlick must be firm that the game be moved to another ground. Fremantle are in a healthy position to not only go deep into finals but also be a threat for the premiership. This could all come crashing down if one or even worse several star players land or move awkwardly on the putrid SCG surface and hurt themselves. Imagine if Caleb Serong changes direction and snaps an ACL. Or if Josh Treacy lands on a bit of uneven surface and pulls ligaments in his ankle. Those sorts of moments can change the course of a career and legacy for coach Justin Longmuir. They are the difference between premierships and sackings. Between a place in history or infamy. To play at the SCG is too big a risk right now. Fremantle must throw their weight around at league headquarters and get the game moved to a more suitable venue. The AFL cannot allow a game to go ahead there until the issues are fixed. But if that means Garlick must get on a plane and speak to AFL boss Andrew Dillon at the Melbourne headquarters then that's what he should do. Fremantle could be on the brink of something special. They can't let the SCG surface threaten it.
Sydney Morning Herald
14 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sitting pretty but winning ugly. Should the Pies be worried or should everyone else?
Dan Houston was the Magpies major off-season recruit, but to date – other than being best on ground in his first match in black and white – has been good but not great. Lachie Schultz, too, struggled in his first season at Collingwood last year, adjusting to their style of play. But between injuries this year, he has been very good. Schultz now understands where he best fits and the role he plays. With Houston the player and team are still fine-tuning that. Collingwood likes handball chains in defence to find a free player to kick it inside their forward 50 metres. By bringing Houston in at the same time they moved Josh Daicos behind the ball, they now have two players designed to be their architects and distributors. To date, Daicos has been commonly used more than Houston in that role. Houston's numbers are slightly down on his averages at Port Adelaide over the past few years – 17 touches a game at Collingwood down on 23 a game for Port. He has also had slightly fewer marks, tackles, inside 50s and rebound 50s a game at Collingwood. The numbers are not alarming. They are partly explained by the fact two different teams play two different styles and ask different things of Houston in his role. He has not been poor – no Houston, we do not have a problem – but he has not been as influential as he was at Port. The flip side of this is there is more growth in his game yet at Collingwood. His fellow defensive recruit Harry Perryman has been the better of the two additions to the team so far. Perryman has been excellent. Loading Goodbye to the bye The AFL has to say bye to the bye in its current format. Five shortened rounds in a row – nearly a quarter of the fixture – sucks the life out of the season. Thursday nights have taken free-to-air footy off Saturdays, but the bye rounds have also created a black hole on Sundays, often with just two games. The byes have also meant for a lean football diet in Melbourne. In the past three weeks there have been two, three and two games each weekend in Melbourne. With football played across four days, the reduced number of games from byes leaves the fixture stretched and thin for quality. This is compounded by the fact there are a large number of poor-to-mediocre teams this year. Frankly, the logic of accepting byes are necessary is baffling – players are paid to play, so that's what they should do. But that argument was lost on the collective bargaining negotiating table years ago. So we have to live with each team getting a mid-season bye, and find a better solution to the current long winter crawl. One full week off for all clubs doesn't hold great appeal without something to fill the void – an AFLW State of Origin game could and would work, but for the fact it is out-of-season for that competition. At least it is at the moment – the timing of the AFLW season has long been a moving feast. Playing just one or two games – Friday and Saturday nights – for one week and giving the rest of the comp a week off was tried before but dismissed. It was felt to be too empty for that one week, but now feels like it might have been a better alternative than what we presently have. Then again, this is a decision to be made by the people who brought us injury-ravaged, callow Essendon on Thursday or Friday nights in four of the next eight rounds. Oh, and they still have to fit them in during the last round – which has yet to be scheduled – for an extra game against Gold Coast for the cyclone-postponed opening-round match. Loading This has happened despite the AFL having the flexibility of a rolling fixture. Clearly the league over-estimated Essendon and Carlton, for that matter, in their scheduling of the second half of this season. The AFL has been focused on change at headquarters with their executive. A change to the bye, better fixturing, servicing the TV-viewing fans – those who pay and those who don't – with football might be a good start for the new executive team. Lynch crosses line The term white line fever might have been coined for Tom Lynch. Off the field there is no more charming, genial figure. He is like an old labrador. On the field he is a different person, more rottweiler than lab. It is like he releases his week's worth of suppressed anger and aggression in a two-hour window. Ordinarily, this helped give him a presence, on Sunday it simply made him look like an angry old man. His hit on Jordan Butts – we've all seen the footage – was a swing in frustration. His statistics for the first half read: zero kicks, zero handballs, zero marks, zero tackles, five frees against. If you read stats alone, you would not have known he was out there but for five frees he gave away. If you watched the game, you certainly knew he was there because he was the one waving his arms around, whinging and carrying on at the umpires. He threw Butts to the ground minutes before he struck him in the head. He was angry that Adelaide players were dropping in the hole in front of him, and he wanted them to know it. Oh, they knew it. Injury and age has stopped him being the player he once was. His team is a long way from the team it was when he was in his prime. His hit on Butts looked to be the lashing out of a man raging against the fading light. How many weeks will he get for it? It looked like he meant to punch him in the head, and he succeeded, so it was intentional, not careless, and it was high. What was the impact? Who knows? But the potential to injure was very high. It should, and probably will, go straight to the tribunal. Will his likely suspension matter in the context of Richmond's season? They play Geelong next week. Ordinarily, you would say missing Lynch would hurt them, but not if you're going off his stats against Adelaide. Humphrey quietly makes a mark Mac Andrew got the big bucks. So, too, will Matt Rowell after confirming his new contract this week. But Bailey Humphrey is quietly becoming the player every team is going to want because he is now turning into the player he was projected to be. He is naturally a player with strut. But for his early years in the AFL he tried too hard to live up to the comparisons with Dustin Martin. Now he is playing like he knows he belongs in the AFL. In a midfield where the focus is Rowell and Noah Anderson, Humphrey is the disruptor. He has the burst of speed from the contest the Suns needed.
The Age
14 hours ago
- The Age
Sitting pretty but winning ugly. Should the Pies be worried or should everyone else?
Dan Houston was the Magpies major off-season recruit, but to date – other than being best on ground in his first match in black and white – has been good but not great. Lachie Schultz, too, struggled in his first season at Collingwood last year, adjusting to their style of play. But between injuries this year, he has been very good. Schultz now understands where he best fits and the role he plays. With Houston the player and team are still fine-tuning that. Collingwood likes handball chains in defence to find a free player to kick it inside their forward 50 metres. By bringing Houston in at the same time they moved Josh Daicos behind the ball, they now have two players designed to be their architects and distributors. To date, Daicos has been commonly used more than Houston in that role. Houston's numbers are slightly down on his averages at Port Adelaide over the past few years – 17 touches a game at Collingwood down on 23 a game for Port. He has also had slightly fewer marks, tackles, inside 50s and rebound 50s a game at Collingwood. The numbers are not alarming. They are partly explained by the fact two different teams play two different styles and ask different things of Houston in his role. He has not been poor – no Houston, we do not have a problem – but he has not been as influential as he was at Port. The flip side of this is there is more growth in his game yet at Collingwood. His fellow defensive recruit Harry Perryman has been the better of the two additions to the team so far. Perryman has been excellent. Loading Goodbye to the bye The AFL has to say bye to the bye in its current format. Five shortened rounds in a row – nearly a quarter of the fixture – sucks the life out of the season. Thursday nights have taken free-to-air footy off Saturdays, but the bye rounds have also created a black hole on Sundays, often with just two games. The byes have also meant for a lean football diet in Melbourne. In the past three weeks there have been two, three and two games each weekend in Melbourne. With football played across four days, the reduced number of games from byes leaves the fixture stretched and thin for quality. This is compounded by the fact there are a large number of poor-to-mediocre teams this year. Frankly, the logic of accepting byes are necessary is baffling – players are paid to play, so that's what they should do. But that argument was lost on the collective bargaining negotiating table years ago. So we have to live with each team getting a mid-season bye, and find a better solution to the current long winter crawl. One full week off for all clubs doesn't hold great appeal without something to fill the void – an AFLW State of Origin game could and would work, but for the fact it is out-of-season for that competition. At least it is at the moment – the timing of the AFLW season has long been a moving feast. Playing just one or two games – Friday and Saturday nights – for one week and giving the rest of the comp a week off was tried before but dismissed. It was felt to be too empty for that one week, but now feels like it might have been a better alternative than what we presently have. Then again, this is a decision to be made by the people who brought us injury-ravaged, callow Essendon on Thursday or Friday nights in four of the next eight rounds. Oh, and they still have to fit them in during the last round – which has yet to be scheduled – for an extra game against Gold Coast for the cyclone-postponed opening-round match. Loading This has happened despite the AFL having the flexibility of a rolling fixture. Clearly the league over-estimated Essendon and Carlton, for that matter, in their scheduling of the second half of this season. The AFL has been focused on change at headquarters with their executive. A change to the bye, better fixturing, servicing the TV-viewing fans – those who pay and those who don't – with football might be a good start for the new executive team. Lynch crosses line The term white line fever might have been coined for Tom Lynch. Off the field there is no more charming, genial figure. He is like an old labrador. On the field he is a different person, more rottweiler than lab. It is like he releases his week's worth of suppressed anger and aggression in a two-hour window. Ordinarily, this helped give him a presence, on Sunday it simply made him look like an angry old man. His hit on Jordan Butts – we've all seen the footage – was a swing in frustration. His statistics for the first half read: zero kicks, zero handballs, zero marks, zero tackles, five frees against. If you read stats alone, you would not have known he was out there but for five frees he gave away. If you watched the game, you certainly knew he was there because he was the one waving his arms around, whinging and carrying on at the umpires. He threw Butts to the ground minutes before he struck him in the head. He was angry that Adelaide players were dropping in the hole in front of him, and he wanted them to know it. Oh, they knew it. Injury and age has stopped him being the player he once was. His team is a long way from the team it was when he was in his prime. His hit on Butts looked to be the lashing out of a man raging against the fading light. How many weeks will he get for it? It looked like he meant to punch him in the head, and he succeeded, so it was intentional, not careless, and it was high. What was the impact? Who knows? But the potential to injure was very high. It should, and probably will, go straight to the tribunal. Will his likely suspension matter in the context of Richmond's season? They play Geelong next week. Ordinarily, you would say missing Lynch would hurt them, but not if you're going off his stats against Adelaide. Humphrey quietly makes a mark Mac Andrew got the big bucks. So, too, will Matt Rowell after confirming his new contract this week. But Bailey Humphrey is quietly becoming the player every team is going to want because he is now turning into the player he was projected to be. He is naturally a player with strut. But for his early years in the AFL he tried too hard to live up to the comparisons with Dustin Martin. Now he is playing like he knows he belongs in the AFL. In a midfield where the focus is Rowell and Noah Anderson, Humphrey is the disruptor. He has the burst of speed from the contest the Suns needed.
