Gerard Healy's good, bad and ugly from Round 15
06/24/2024 06:25 PM
After a predictable weekend for the tipsters where a large majority would have got all six games correct, there were still a plethora of good, bad and ugly moments.
The good to excellent were...
Carlton's big win in the form of 'TDK' (Tom De Koning) who's clearly doing some amazing things at the moment.
The end of the bye round is absolutely excellent.
In losing teams, 'LDU' (Luke Davies-Uniacke) has kept up a great run of form and has been pressing All-Australian selectors. Now, don't miss it, selectors, just because he's in a losing team.
The Brisbane Lions were surgeons. That was predicted by the smartest man in football, Daniel Hoyne, after Round 5.
"With this profile at the moment, if this continues for the remainder of the year, I will be shocked if they're not playing prelim final weekend," said Hoyne.
And whilst on the Lions, keep an eye on Cam Rayner who has his critics, but in my view, he continues to emerge and he may be just about to flourish at the right time.
The 'Big O' (Oscar McInerney), well, he got a big A+ for his efforts.
Brodie Grundy with back-to-back belters was excellent. Errol's three Kirks in a row, amazing at 21.
The debut game of Hugh Davies for the Dockers was a good and 'Dick' (Josh) Treacy's continuing development and accuracy has him a long way ahead of some of his contemporaries.
And 'The Package' (Jake Stringer). He's in great form and he may just lead the Bombers to the last couple of weeks of September.
We move on to the bad and the ugly.
On the weekend, I heard that James Rowbottom is underrated just because he had 32 possessions and broke a few lines.
No, he's not underrated and if you said that you're simply not watching. Give yourself a clip for God's sake.
He's been back-to-back thirds in the Swans best and fairest and is a 'Triple C' - Centre Clearance Commando. He's certainly not underrated in Sydney.
THE 'ROWBOTTOMY': SYDNEY'S OPERATION TO NULLIFY OPPOSITION GUNS
Rowbottom is one major reason the Swans are well clear on top of the ladder.
Port Adelaide, well, their midfield is very poor and very ugly. Backline is confused and inept. Forward line is unreliable, young and frustrating.
The booing of Ken Hinkley, totally untenable.
The Suns at times were ugly.
Too many passengers and they need another midfield layer. Bailey Humphrey, Sam Flanders, Will Graham need more exposure through the guts.
The Cats looked ugly on the weekend and they'll be cooked until Tom Stewart finds a solution to his form.
Umpires - a pretty good weekend but a couple of ugly moments.
Ignoring the free kick in particular when Jake Kelly fell on the ball on centre wing at Marvel Stadium and didn't knock it out right in front of the umpire who remains nameless, making the Elliot Yeo call look even more embarrassing.
And the blatant one-arm throw in Perth in the Freo game, that was impossible to miss, which begged the question - What were you watching?
The dangerous tackle rule is ugly at the moment.
It needs more clarity if Patrick Dangerfield is suspended for there was no sling or no rotation or excessive downward force, he pivoted simply off his knees.
What were his options? Please detail.
And a final one to Andrew Wilkie, independent MP, who used the coward's castle a number of months ago to cast serious aspersions on the AFL, its players, the game's doctors and in particular the Melbourne Football Club.
Today (Monday), Sport Integrity Australia cleared the AFL of any wrongdoing and found no evidence to suggest testing by the AFL or club doctors was in breach of the World Athletic Drug Code.
Perhaps a follow-up apology would be appropriate… but don't hold your breath.
