Every Tuesday on The Agenda Setters, our AFL experts Luke Hodge and Dale Thomas reveal what they’re buying, holding and selling in the aftermath of the weekend’s football.
In Round 7, we saw the Sydney Swans boost their percentage after another strong win over the wounded Western Bulldogs, and we watched in shock as Port Adelaide upset perennial flag contender Geelong.
So what are we buying and what are selling this week? Check it out below …
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Thomas: Buying the Sydney Swans
Given they’re on top with a huge percentage, it is far from breaking news, but Thomas says the Swans are well and truly in the premiership mix and there are some key numbers behind their rise this season. The Swans are piling on big scores, racking up 100-plus points in six of their seven games this year. They have also won the inside-50 count in every game this season but it’s the pressure, once they get it inside the front half, that Thomas loves. The Swans have won the tackles inside forward-50 in six of their seven games. Their three-headed monster in Charlie Curnow, Joel Amartey and Logan McDonald also appears to be working, with the Swans also winning the marks inside-50 in six of their seven games. “When it gets in there, they either take a mark or they wrap it up They give themselves a (chance to) score,” Thomas said. “If they continue to do that, they will be there on the last day in September.”
Hodge: Holding Geelong
It’s been a rare sight over the years, but Geelong was defensively poor in their shock loss to Port Adelaide. Hodge said there was “a lack of communication” and a “lack of defensive intensity”, showing vision of a defensive breakdown where Geelong was outnumbered in their defence, four to seven, when they were down by three goals in the third term, and there was a turnover in the middle of the ground. “I don’t think Chris Scott would be happy about (this),” Hodge said. There was also another clip where Port’s Jase Burgoyne gave Brad Close the slip, after they were side by side when he ball was in Port’s D50. Port Adelaide won the ball, Close ran forward while Burgoyne headed towards his forward line and ended up kicking the goal. “I’m not selling the Cats just yet but that’s something that Chris Scott and the Cats want to focus on. You need to defend and be attacking for a full four quarters.”
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Thomas: Holding selfish acts inside the forward 50
During Brisbane’s clash with the Crows, several Lions players racked up big numbers, including out-of-contract star Zac Bailey. Bailey booted three goals and had 29 touches, but there was one moment where he had a shot on goal while under pressure, when he probably should have handballed to Levi Ashcroft. For Thomas — a high-flying forward in his time — he didn’t mind Bailey’s hunger for another goal. “I’m holding the fact that sometimes every now and then we’re a bit selfish inside forward-50 as footballers,” Thomas said. “Do you give the handball, or, if you don’t, do you complain?” Ashcroft was screaming at Bailey after Bailey’s kick went nowhere. “Have a look at him. Give it to me, please. I want some of it. I’m not getting any. Needed it. Wanted it. Didn’t get it. Bad luck,” Thomas said. Hodge noted that he was “pretty sure” he had seen Thomas do that “many times” during his playing days.
Hodge: Selling Adelaide’s pressure
Adelaide’s pressure factor keeps bottoming out in quarters this year. Against Brisbane, their fourth-quarter pressure factor slumped to an alarming 145, but their third quarter was also a disappointing 152. They are their second and third worst quarters in this statistic this year for the Crows, with their worst coming in Round 6 against St Kilda, when their pressure factor dropped to 143 in the first quarter. “They’ve gone up to Brisbane. They’ve tried to unsettle the premiers from the last couple of years … If you’re going to go and challenge a premiership favourite, you need to bring pressure and that is not what they brought. Thomas noted the Crows had had a challenging week after the death of captain Jordan Dawson’s brother, and said, “you give them a little bit of an out.”
Thomas: Selling the ARC
It was a bad week for the AFL’s Review Centre, with an incident in the St Kilda-West Coast game which caused a ridiculous scenes and mass confusion where a dubious mark on St Kilda’s goal-line was reviewed, and called back, about a minute after it was taken. In the GWS-North Melbourne, a long shot from Xavier O’Halloran appeared to be touched by Griffin Logue in the goalsquare, but the umpire failed to call for a review and the ARC found insufficient evidence to overturn the original decision, despite replays clearly showing Logue got a finger on the ball. “I held it last week, the ARC, but now I officially have to sell it. I cannot have it anymore. I honestly don’t know what’s going on. And I think we go back to an old-fashioned arc. That’ll be, let’s get the AFL bigwigs, two by two, into a boat and send them off to Silicon Valley. Get some (technology) to come back that actually works. So when it does work, we don’t waste 90 seconds of everyone’s time and then the next five days talking about it. The ARC, put it in the bin.”
Hodge: Buying tradies in Tassie
In the VFL in Tasmania on Saturday, Luke Hodge spotted an interesting sight, with some tradesmen taking time out to watch the game between the Tassie Devils and Carlton in Hobart. “It’s a Saturday. You’re getting double-time-and-a-half on a public holiday, and all you have to do here is just sit back and just watch the footy,” Hodge said. “Double-time-and-a-half. I think that’s a perfect role for me and you Daisy when we finish up at Agenda Setters.” Thomas, getting in the spirit of things, then put on a high-vis vest and a hard hat, and said: “I’m on the boat brother. I’m already there. Let’s go. That’s you and me sorted.”
