As the AFL’s dangerous tackle crackdown continues, one controversial moment with a Brisbane superstar has seen the debate take a turn.
Plus the weirdest part of Fremantle’s Friday night obsession, the Bulldogs superstar elevating his game and the Ben King call looming over the next two trade periods.
The big issues from Round 6 of the 2023 AFL season analysed in Talking Points!
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FEARS OF NEW AFL TACKLE ‘EXPLOIT’
The AFL creates rules, and coaches and players test their limits – it’s the way things have always been.
But across the weekend concern has emerged around whether players will take advantage of the crackdown on dangerous tackles to try and earn free kicks.
The inciting incident came on Saturday when Brisbane superstar Lachie Neale was taken to ground by GWS veteran Callan Ward, with his head making contact with the turf, after the Lions midfielder appeared to almost give himself up.
“I think Lachie Neale contributed to that,” Melbourne great Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.
“And this is where we don’t want to get to. The tackle is always going to be a contentious issue.
“My initial reaction is that I thought Lachie Neale not contributed, but didn’t do everything he could to work through this.
“You could make the case the legs are wrapped up and he’s been taken to ground.
“His head hits the ground – you’ve got to work out to determine whether he could work his way through and how much did Cal Ward contribute?”
Match Review Officer Michael Christian found Ward contributed enough to deserve a one-match suspension for rough conduct.
As Fox Footy analyst and Collingwood great Nathan Buckley explained, players have always attempted to “take advantage” of the rules.
He tweeted: “Players started leading with the head when the stricter interpretation came in…
“Players allowed themselves to be tripped when contact beneath the knees came in…
“Players will always take advantage of the rules…
“Umpiring is a tough gig, needs to be made easier not harder.”
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In the Neale incident, the tackle was quite a long one, with some suggesting the umpire should’ve blown the whistle to stop play earlier.
But as Geelong champion Cameron Mooney explained, allowing players the time to break tackles ensures play moves more freely and there are fewer stoppages.
“It would have saved us all the trouble if he did blow the whistle a bit earlier, but I’m almost on the other side – do we want the umpires being whistle-happy, and as soon as a guy gets grabbed you blow the whistle?” he asked on Fox Footy.
“You still have a chance to get rid of the ball and the play continues, we still want that to happen. It’s confusing as far as how do you stamp it out, because if he doesn’t bring him to ground and he gets his hands free … and they go on and kick a goal, we’re talking about Callan Ward made a really horrible tackle. We’re having a crack at him.
“So what’s he supposed to do? He’s standing there, he’s made the tackle, the umpire hasn’t blown the whistle, he’s got every right to continue with the tackle. Unfortunately he’s hit his head (with the ground).”
Asked whether he feared players would try and earn free kicks by being tackled in a certain way and allowing themselves to be taken to ground, Bulldogs games record holder Brad Johnson said: “I hope not.
“There’s been a couple of small examples that we’ve seen but I hope players don’t search for the free kick with trying to drive their head forward – I don’t think they’ll go down that track. I think it’d be stamped out very quickly.”
But Mooney responded: “Every time we bring a new rule in, players try to exploit it.”
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‘STAGGERING’ FREO MOMENT SUMS UP SILLINESS
Fremantle spent Friday night’s potentially season-ending loss to the Western Bulldogs playing as if they’d spent the whole pre-season worrying about Rory Lobb instead of their tactics.
It was on from the opening bounce, with multiple Dockers going up to the former Freo and GWS forward to push him around (though it’s worth noting some of the Fremantle players doing that were traded into the club just like he was traded away, so it’s unclear why they were so upset).
But that wasn’t the only time they paid attention to Lobb, who hasn’t exactly been lighting it up for the Bulldogs anyway, over the rest of their opposition.
One particularly bizarre moment was spotlighted by AFL Media’s The Round So Far, and saw six Dockers players going up to Lobb while his teammate Jamarra Ugle-Hagan had a shot on goal.
Ugle-Hagan’s shot fell short and the ball was quickly knocked back into play where Adam Treloar, completely unmarked, was able to slot the goal.
Remarkably this utter brainfade from a group of Dockers players came when they were just three goals down right before three-quarter-time.
“Justin Longmuir can say after the game it wasn’t the difference (targeting Lobb), but I bet you he hadn’t seen that footage there,” Port Adelaide champion Kane Cornes said in response to the footage.
“It’s a lack of leadership from the captain (Alex) Pearce, and from all those around, it’s a lack of awareness, it’s getting ahead of yourselves, it’s a selfish way to play football that you want to get under the skin of a former teammate who you clearly don’t like any more, but it costs you in big moments.”
Longmuir rejected suggestions his players’ focus on Lobb was the reason they lost.
“I don’t think that was the difference in the game at all,” he said.
“I thought it was a method thing. We were minus 18 or 19 (contested possessions) in the last quarter. Our contest just fell apart in the last quarter and they exposed us on the outside. There might be isolated incidents but I don’t think that was the issue.
“I don’t think we took it over the top and I’d be giving our players a massive out if I walked in there and told them that was the issue. It was much more widespread than having too much focus on Lobby.”
He’s probably right. But it’d be a lot easier to solve the Dockers’ problems if they were about focusing too much on Lobb, rather than almost every man in purple suddenly being bad at footy.
Lobb met with NASTY hostility by Freo | 01:34
HOW TRADE UNLOCKED DOGS STAR’S ‘OFF THE CHARTS’ SEASON YOU MIGHTN’T HAVE NOTICED
Marcus Bontempelli is on track to have one of the greatest individual seasons ever seen by a midfielder.
And a trade bombshell might be playing a significant part in the Western Bulldogs superstar’s surge, which has somewhat gone under the radar.
A four-time best and fairest, four-time All-Australian, AFLPA MVP and premiership player, Bontempelli for years has been an established marquee player of the competition.
But the 27-year-old is seemingly thriving in a slightly different role in the prime of his AFL career.
Bontempelli was at his slick best on Friday night during the Bulldogs’ comprehensive win over Fremantle, booting two goals from 31 disposals (16 kicks at 75% efficiency), 18 contested possessions, 10 tackles, nine score involvements, eight clearances, 528m gained and a game-high 182 ranking points.
In the past three weeks, the Dogs skipper has averaged 26.3 disposals, 16.7 contested possessions, 10.3 clearances and 9.7 tackles.
And according to Champion Data, Bontempelli is on track to have second-best season ever as a midfielder, according to the AFL Player Ratings.
“He’s having a midfield season like few others,” five-time All-Australian Garry Lyon told Fox Footy.
“It’s under the radar to a degree because the Dogs had lost three out of their first five games. But when he plays like that in a winning game on a big stage, you get to appreciate.
“If he’s not the best player in the competition, he’s top three.”
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Teammate Cody Weightman told Fox Footy on Friday night: “As a player, you don’t often really notice who’s dominating out there and you get to the end of the game and see someone’s had 40 (disposals). But with Bont, you really do tell as a player.
“You can feel him shifting the momentum. It’s not just his stuff that you probably see on TV, but his voice and his leadership. He’s definitely the best player I’ve played with and I just love playing with him.”
Bontempelli this season is averaging career-high contested possession and clearance counts.
That has seemed to come about after the departure of inside midfielder Josh Dunkley, who was traded to Brisbane last year. While Dunkley and Bontempelli had similar clearance and contested ball numbers when in the same side, Dunkley’s absence this year has seen Bontempelli move to a stronger inside role.
And Bontempelli’s season to date has been “off the charts”, according to four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis.
“He’s had to adapt his game to what the team needs,” Lewis told Fox Footy.
“What we’ve seen in the past is he’s been inside but outside, but after Dunkley has left, he’s been required to be more inside and he’s just been absolutely dominant in that area of the ground.
“He’s such a hard match-up by the positioning he puts himself in around stoppages … I liken him to Simon Black, because once the ball is gone, he’s off to next contest. He’s got such a great ability to read where the ball’s going, really strong through the contest, but then has the ability to cover ground through his decision-making.
“It’s nothing flashy, but he’s prepared to lead this team, get down and dirty and do it the right way.”
Dual premiership Kangaroo questioned whether the Dogs’ Dunkley-less midfield mix this season suited Bontempelli more.
“We’re all saying Dunkley out, ‘their midfield is light’ – which it may be for a second rotation – but if Bont can continue to do this, he becomes the next level player again,” King told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“The new version without Dunkley in the middle has made Bont play a different way, a tougher brand of footy, but he’s still kept the damage, you don’t see too many midfielders like that.”
Tempers flare as Dogs thump Freo | 02:34
LEGEND BLASTS ‘COURAGEOUS’ JHF CALL AS ‘WEAK’
Amid all of the furore around his treatment, Jason Horne-Francis spoke out this past weekend, doing an in-depth interview with The Age.
But one key suggestion in the Port Adelaide midfielder’s chat left AFL great Leigh Matthews baffled.
The 2021 No.1 draft pick admitted he has struggled to deal with the treatment he has received in recent months, including booing from opposing fans – but puzzlingly, not just North Melbourne ones.
“I understand the North supporters’ side of it. I was a young kid and I made the courageous decision to come home, and they are understandably disappointed,” Horne-Francis said.
“I’m just a bit confused about why Collingwood, Sydney and Bulldogs supporters … why they would boo me.
“My dad always said to me he hoped I wouldn’t go No. 1 in the draft and me then being the 18-year-old was always like: ‘Yeah sure, Dad.’ But I’m seeing what he meant now.”
But it was the idea that leaving the Kangaroos was “courageous” that left Matthews most confused.
Horne-Francis requested a trade less than 12 months after being drafted by North Melbourne, wanting to return to his home state despite being contracted.
“If I had a son, I wouldn’t want him to be the No.1 draft pick. You get a 10 grand term deposit, that’s good, but the scrutiny you get is massive,” Matthews said on 3AW.
But he added: “I read this term, it was ‘courageous’ to go back to Adelaide. I think it’s weak to go back to Adelaide.
“You do what you like but the courage is seeing it out and staying, more than leaving, in my view.”
Port smash West Coast in Adelaide | 01:08
KING CALL LOOMS LARGE AMID SUNS’ STRUGGLES
While the Gold Coast Suns’ underwhelming start to 2023 has seen questions swirl around the long-term future of Stuart Dew, the future of spearhead Ben King is just as intriguing.
King was poised to launch into the top tier of AFL key forwards after a 47-goal season in 2021, before a torn ACL in the 2022 pre-season ruled him out for the year.
The 22-year-old returned to the senior side in Round 1 this season and hasn’t missed a game in 2023. But his side’s struggles are mirrored in his own, managing just seven goals from his opening five matches – though the tide may have turned this week after he booted four goals in the first half against North Melbourne.
King is the side’s first genuine star centre-half forward since Tom Lynch, with Lynch, ironically, departing in the trade period during the same off-season that saw King drafted with pick No.6 by the Suns.
He was the last of the Suns’ three top-six draft selections, with Jack Lukosius taken with pick No.2 and the now-departed Izak Rankine selected with pick No.3.
King signed a new deal in March that is set to take him through until at least the end of 2024, but the Suns’ struggles so far in 2023 have raised questions over whether King could well follow in the footsteps of Lynch and leave for a more successful side back home in Victoria.
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Asked what Lynch would likely say to King if the latter asked for advice on his future, four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis told Fox Footy: “I reckon Tom would say it’s the best decision that he’s made to come to a big club and be relevant as a player and play in finals and in front of big crowds. I think it’s a decision that Tom would never regret.
“It’s a hard decision to make if you’re Ben King, but what do you want out of your career? Are you happy to stay up there and try and get this side back up to playing finals? Tom Lynch had done it for a long period of time, but he needed the ultimate success.
“It depends what he’s like … that’s the hardest thing. You get to a stage in your career – and some players will stay through loyalty – but some players want that success and wand to play in the heart of AFL, which is Melbourne.”
King would likely attract just as many suitors as Lynch, while St Kilda would naturally pitch to him the idea of playing alongside twin brother Max.
Lynch has played 85 games and kicked 202 goals at Richmond compared to his 131 games and 254 goals at the Suns, but his time at the Tigers is what has entrenched his legacy.
He was the Tigers’ leading goalkicker in their 2019 premiership season and won two premierships in his first two years at the club.
King has made it clear he’s in it for the long haul at the Suns, but the longer the club flails and fails to make finals, the stronger the allure of home – and a richer legacy – could loom.
