Collingwood are back and West Coast have a pulse and it’s roaring like a Harley.
As for the Brisbane Lions, just when you thought they had turned things around there are suddenly alarm bells everywhere.
Right now as it stands, the Lions are two wins from six games, the same as the Eagles. Who would have predicted that the start of the season? Check out our Round 6 good, bad and ugly below.
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The Good
Harley Reid living up to the hype
It’s not often one player can change the fortunes of a club, but maybe Harley Reid can. Even before he was taken with pick No.1 in last year’s draft, the gifted teenager had incredible buzz around him. Once he landed in the West, the hype went into overdrive with the young Eagle a regular fixture on the back page. Only six games into his AFL career, Reid has comfortably lived up to the hype.
He nearly became the youngest ever player to win the Glendinning-Allan Medal for best afield in the derby after kicking three goals to go with 19 disposals and seven clearances. He also flew high for marks, burst clear of packs and even pushed Nat Fyfe over in a phenomenal performance. Just sit back and enjoy this highlights package.
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Naughton firing up forward
It’s safe to say there will be no more calls to send Aaron Naughton to defence any more. After a lean start to the year, Naughton showed why his best footy is in the front half with a brilliant six-goal haul against St Kilda. Key forwards who can kick a bag are not only rare in today’s game, but are also likely the difference between winning and losing.
After only kicking six goals in the five previous games, Thursday night’s half-dozen in primetime should give the 24-year-old the confidence boost he needed and end any questions about where he should be played. And we suspect the Western Bulldogs are sick of the question as well, judging by their own social media post.
The Bad
Come on Adam, it was a suspension
Adam Kingsley, it may be hard being Toby, but he still hit a bloke in the head. And he’s lucky he didn’t do more damage. The GWS coach was fiery in his defence of Giants skipper Toby Greene after the AFL’s most suspended player was cited for a hit on Carlton’s Jordan Boyd on Saturday.
“There won’t be anything in that,” Kingsley said of the incident. “He’s allowed to contest the ball, isn’t he? He’s allowed to launch at the ball? And if you’re running and launching at the ball, and you’ve got your eyes for the ball, and you’re trying to take a chest mark, and you get knocked … free kick against? It’s hard being Toby.”
You are allowed to do that, Adam, but Toby took his eyes off it. And he was duly given a suspension, which would (and maybe should, some argue) have been longer if not for Boyd’s recovery. The Blues defender was not concussed from the hit and was able to play out the rest of the game. Argue that there is a ‘Toby tax’ if you want, but it had no role to play here.
Brisbane’s bizarre home record
How can a team that went undefeated at home last year suddenly lose three on the trot at their Gabba fortress? Yes, they have come up against strong teams in Carlton, Collingwood and most recently Geelong, but it’s a mystery how they have lost all three. They had only lost three home and away games at the venue in the previous four seasons combined.
The Lions exploded out of the blocks on Saturday night with the first two goals, but then remarkably only kicked another two for the entire match as they slumped to a 2-4 win-loss record. It’s a long way back to the top four from here and things don’t get any easier with a trip to Canberra to play the high-flying Giants next Thursday night.
Terrified umps just need to blow the bloody whistle
This column isn’t in to umpire bashing but the non-call during the Adelaide v Essendon game was a horrendous decision. If that incident wasn’t close to Adelaide’s goal, and if it wasn’t close to the final siren, holding-the-ball is called every single time. And oddly, those two facts made Sam Draper’s motivation for forcing a stoppage abundantly clear. Yet, the umpires froze. They were terrified. For the record, I believe the umpire’s interpretation of that rule is usually too harsh on the player going for the ball. But on this occasion, and there’s no other way to phrase it, the umpires went soft. As for another ‘wrong’ decision costing Adelaide a win, jeez, gotta feel for them.
The Ugly
Rachele’s five-minute nightmare
Could Josh Rachele lose his place in the Adelaide side purely based on the nightmare that was his final five minutes of the game? The 21-year-old small forward has played every game this year and had looked good with seven goals from five games until Friday night’s clash against Essendon — but everything came crashing down in the final minutes of the heart-stopping loss to the Bombers.
Rachele dropped two easy uncontested marks — one that would have given him a shot at goal — when he clearly expected contact that didn’t come. It was a bad look for the youngster, made worse by a woeful inside 50 kick that again cost his side the chance for a scoring opportunity. He took a nice contested mark on the lead just before the siren and otherwise looked good in the match with 20 disposals and a goal, but Crows fans will not soon forget his three crucial blunders.
Defibrillator desperately needed for AFL’s ‘lifeless’ club
When Fremantle are cold, they are horrible. And once again they are struggling to score. The Dockers haven’t kicked more than 70 points in a game since Round 2, and that of course was against the struggling Kangaroos. Freo have been in games this season due to their defence, but when that breaks down, it is game over. When Coast got the jump on them early in the derby, there was basically no hope of a comeback because their forward line is impotent. Yes, Jye Amiss was injured and subbed out, but this is an ongoing problem. The answer? Unfortunately for fans, there doesn’t seem to be one. One prominent caller said they were “lifeless”. It’s hard to disagree.