Why Blues could ‘erode already shallow depth’; contender to ‘no trust’: Early AFL award contenders

We’ve seen some brilliant coaching moves against the odds this season, while the blowtorch is on a contender.

And while some stars have boosted their value, others aren’t earning their keep.

In the latest episode of the Midweek Tackle digital-only show ‘Tackle The Headline’, Herald Sun reporters Lauren Wood, Jon Ralph and Scott Gullan nominate the standout — and most under-pressure — players and coaches of the season to date.

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Emerging coach of the year: Adem Yze (Richmond)

Jon Ralph says: “A lot of people out there suggested he wouldn’t win a game – and now he’s won two of six. I think he’s got the sting in his tail. He’s tweaked his tactics – he was trying to play right down the corridor last year and they got opened up the other way. I’m not sure whether those tactics still would’ve worked, even if they didn’t have those four players out with knee injuries. But (now) ‘chip, chip around the boundary line and then attack from centre half-forward’ – I think he’s quite clearly been the emerging coach of the season.”

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Master tactician of the year: Ken Hinkley (Port Adelaide)

Scott Gullan says: “Port were gone, Hawthorn were going to kill them – and Connor Rozee, the captain, he (Hinkley) says to him: ‘You, back to half-back.’ It’s completely transformed them the last couple of weeks. Kenny gets the tick for me.”

Jon Ralph says: “It (Rozee’s move to half-back) was quite well forecast in the hours beforehand, but it was a shock through the year. No one would’ve thought this was going to happen … It’s been the bombshell move.”

Move of the year: Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)

Lauren Wood says: “I’m probably joining queue here when it comes to the big fans of Patrick Dangerfield up forward – you speak to Geelong players and he’s calling himself ‘Modra-field’. He was forecast to do it a little bit earlier in the season – I remember talking to him on captain’s day and he said he’d been training more as a forward – but I don’t think any of us forecast that on a game like Easter Monday, he could effectively not attend one centre bounce. This arguably is the move of the year.”

Jon Ralph says: “In a weird old season, I think Michael Voss has done some clever things. Obviously Brodie Kemp forward was really working before he did the Achilles, then they threw Lewis Young forward – he was excellent last week – and then, of course, Jack Silvagni training him as a defender. The other one you would say – and a couple of them have been curtailed – is Reef McInnes back was really working before he did his ACL.”

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Underperforming coach of the year: Justin Longmuir (Fremantle)

Scott Gullan says: “We keep hearing ‘they’re coming, they’ve got the talent, Treacy is a superstar, the midfield is all there’ – and they come over here and they go: ‘Melbourne, have this, this is too hard for us.’ Fremantle, there’s no trust for them. Defence is interesting – because at Collingwood Longmuir was praised for setting up that system in 2018, he was the brains trust for all that – yet his team at the moment defensively are poor. He’s the one I’m not convinced about at the moment.”

Match-up of the year: Tom McDonald (Melbourne)

Jon Ralph says: “To think that Tom McDonald on Josh Treacy – everyone’s saying ‘Treacy is the new Wayne Carey’ – was the perfect match-up for him. Yes he takes great contested marks, but Tom had the aerobic ability to go with him as well. If we’d looked at that one, we would’ve said ‘four, five, six goals (for Treacy)’ – and yet Tom was absolutely instrumental with Harry Petty still able to be kept forward when Dan Turner went down with concussion. I just loved what Tom McDonald was able to do.”

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Biggest trade stocks boost: Tom De Koning (Carlton)

Jon Ralph says: “So he was an $800,000 (a year) player, he had some really good games last year … but he did his ankle, he also had a punctured lung – and then he just comes out and explodes. So straight away he’s worth 10, 11, $12 million – and then those prices have only gone up. He’s been in exceptional form – and still we think to ourselves: ‘I don’t think he’s worth it.’ That’s what great players do to you, they allow you to second guess!”

Scott Gullan says: “But then you’re on the couch on Good Friday watching that game and you go: ‘Hang on, there’s a couple of hundred, he’s gone up again!’ He’s ready to go, he’s write-your-own-cheque stuff.”

Jon Ralph says: “And yet when he kicks that goal against the Roos – he wasn’t quite kissing his jumper, but it makes you think he wants to be there (at Carlton).”

Scott Gullan says: “I don’t think he’ll go, but they’re going to have to find more money.”

Jon Ralph says: “So what would he stay for? Let’s say he’s been offered, $1,000,050 (by Carlton) and the other deal is $1.7 million with some of it front-ended …”

Scott Gullan says: ‘Who are the highest paid there? (Jacob) Weitering, the captain (Patrick) Cripps, (Sam) Walsh – he’s got to get $1.2 million to $1.3 million. Can you pay those four to five blokes the same amount of money? He’s got to get that much.”

Jon Ralph says: “So what are you doing? Are you back-ending? Are you trying to say to Adam Cerra – you just signed him up to a new deal – or maybe you’re saying to Marc Pittonet: ‘We love you Marc, but it’s time for you to move on.’ They haven’t really got a second ruckman apart from Jack Silvagni. That’s the real issue right now: They haven’t got that much depth. So to keep him (De Koning) on $1.1 million or $1.2 million, you are eroding already shallow depth. That’s a risk you’ve got to take, potentially.”

Scott Gullan says: “Pay him. Quickly.”

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Not earning their money: Ben McKay (Essendon) and Jack Ginnivan (Hawthorn)

Jon Ralph says: “Ben gets a smacking, doesn’t he? He has good games, but he has horrible games.”

Scott Gullan says: “I think it’s fair, we’re not here to defend. He went on a lot of money, he had a choice, Essendon moved the farm for him. He’s played better the last couple of weeks, but there was a patch there where two or three times he was touching the ball, hardly any intercept marks. You’ve got to front up. When you turn up, you’re the key to that defence. This team that needs to lift – you’ve got Zach Merrett doing his thing – and you’re just not delivering. That’s facts. Yes, your pay packet shouldn’t be a big issue, but it is … Play better.”

Jon Ralph says: “Jack Ginnivan is another who’s been dropped after 16 scoreless quarters. It’s a really interesting philosophy from Hawthorn: ‘We’ve got 30 blokes who expect to play every week, we’ve had a bloke who’s won four premierships in Luke Breust – who’s played a lot of VFL football – and Jack Gunston, who’s won three premierships’ – and didn’t he look something exceptional on the weekend. What they’d say is Jack is like anyone else at this football club, you come in and you come out. And yet Jack has got some pride, so he’d be desperate to get back into the team. But I wonder whether he’ll have to spend a couple of weeks down there.”

Turning back the clock: Taylor Walker (Adelaide) and Steele Sidebottom (Collingwood)

Scott Gullan says: “I’m in love with Adelaide’s forward line and Tex – who two to three years ago we were ready to put to pasture – he’s crucial to that. I’ll give him a tick. But most of Collingwood’s team, you could start with Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury and keep going – they don’t look like they’re running out of steam anytime soon … I thought Sidebottom, this would be his last (season), but you watch his first month and you go ‘hmm, OK’.”

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