The Buck Stops Here: Heart and soul players, the emerging star it's all come together for and more!
Round 2 of the 2023 AFL season has played out and Nathan Buckley has put together his five takeaways in The Buck Stops Here.
From impressive coaching performances, to some emerging stars and a new position in footy, here’s how Buckley saw Round 2.
Heart and soul players
“We saw Brisbane take on Melbourne, Max Gawn went down but Dayne Zorko came back and I just think that’s something that we love to see in our own teams and it’s something we saw on the weekend,” Buckley began on SEN Breakfast.
“I think it’s very early in the season, so you can get good performances and bad. The highs and lows are considerable and Brisbane’s were. Their first round was really poor, their second round was excellent, and maybe it coincides with the return of Dayne Zorko, who I believe is a heart and soul player for Brisbane and he was excellent.
“But there was no doubt the Melbourne team was affected by the worst possible scenario with Max Gawn. The look on his face, the look on the interchange at the end of the first quarter, (assistant coach) Mark Williams… he was sitting back in the dugout and he was flat as, the coach looked flat, there was a general malaise across the Demons players.
“When you’re so invested in those guys, I think it does have an effect. I think we saw that to some extent.”
Geelong will be okay
“I don’t think there’s any reason to panic and I don’t think their coach is either.
“That is accurate (Chris Scott saying Geelong was a work in progress three quarters of the way through last year), it’s a reality that not everyone considers given they were so brilliant at the end of the year.
“The year before that, Melbourne were a work in progress three quarters of the way through the year before they ultimately won the flag.
“Momentum in games is huge, momentum in seasons is huge. I think Geelong have a competitive advantage being able to go down there (GMHBA Stadium), they’re the only Victorian club with a homegrown advantage, largely, so they’ve taken full toll on that.
“But the point being about their heart and soul players, there’s no Joel Selwood there and I think Tom Stewart is probably their next heart and soul guy that just holds them together, the glue out the back, probably with Cam Guthrie.
“(Patrick) Dangerfield, even though he’s their skipper, I don’t think he’s a heart and soul player for them. So they’re still working out what life after Joel Selwood is going to be, and I reckon they’ve lost the next guy in Tom Stewart who draws them together like that.
“There’s a bit of growth that needs to happen there as well. That’s not guaranteed, but I believe in good organisations and their capacity to get that done.”
The Saints have been huge
“Ross Lyon’s imprint is really clear and the defensive numbers jump off the page, they’ve only had seven goals kicked against them from turnover in two games, which you expected.
“But what we didn’t expect was how effective their front six has been, and they’ve been brilliant in the first two weeks.
“(Ross Lyon talked about missing theoretical first-choice players), how good is that! That means that everyone has them in their best 22 when we put up a best 22 of the St Kilda list. Yes, Max King is that, Tim Membrey is that, Jack Higgins is that and was that. In the first six, seven, eight games of 2022, St Kilda’s forward efficiency was through the roof.
“Those three blokes, King, Membrey and Higgins, when the ball went to them, they were in the top 10 for scoring goals from being targeted inside 50.
“(Mattaes) Phillipou wasn’t on a list that time last year, in two games he’s stood up. (Anthony) Caminiti wasn’t on a list and wasn’t there until a couple of months ago. (Zaine) Cordy had barely played forward and he kicked two goals and (Jade) Gresham they’re getting the best out of.
“With high attitude, effort and intensity, and Ross talks about that flat out, he coaches it flat out, yes it is sustainable.
“The reason it’s sustainable for Ross is that he will always be built on solid defence. They’re actually not relying on that high-pressure game, they’re ninth for pressure differential, so they’re not putting over-the-top pressure on the opposition and they’re absorbing it pretty well.
“It’s just their really solid defensive profile, they’ve got players who have a dip, and St Kilda have traditionally been a side – even under Alan Richardson and Brett Ratten – quite high pressure, high-intensity side, they’re great runners apparently.
“That’s coming to the fore. It’s unconventional, but it's heading in the right way.”
A new position in footy
“We talk about quarter backs all the time and blokes that set up the play, but it’s specifically the sixth defender that plays closest to the midfield. I think that this position is redefining modern footy and the way we’re seeing the attack control defence in early stages of this year and last year.
“I think we’re seeing this position and the person who plays this be so important in any team’s makeup.
“Nick Daicos is one of the players that I reckon is doing it. I think it started with Matthew Boyd.
“I think he (that type of player) is just another midfielder. I think that Matty Boyd did it, Caleb Daniel was another who basically ran away from his opponent, let him behind him and he would go up to stoppage.
“Jack Crisp was one who came through, Darcy Byrne-Jones for Port, Jake Lloyd for Sydney is very aggressive (a ball user). Lachie Whitfield… (they) basically become another midfielder.
“But what Collingwood are doing with Nick Daicos or Jack Crisp or Scott Pendlebury is even playing that role periodically, they’re just another midfielder and they’re backing their back five behind them to get the job done.
“(Harry) Sheezel is being played in that role in some shape or form, Sinclair’s always played it for St Kilda… and I think we saw it last night with a shift in plans for West Coast, Jamaine Jones was a player who played that role, running aggressively off the back.
“The thing is, you can’t rely on one. If you’ve got three or four or five blokes that are bouncing off, then that bloke is even more dangerous.”
It’s all come together for Luke Davies-Uniacke
“One of the most influential players over the last 12 games in terms of stats and impact, Luke Davies-Uniacke.
“Clarko (Alastair Clarkson) is rapt… LDU’s performances have been through the roof.
“It’s all come together for this kid, and North Melbourne are the beneficiaries of it.
“It’s all credit to him and them for being patient enough and working through the hardship to be able to get to this point
“He’s had 30 touches in each of the first two rounds, he’s an equal handball/kick (ratio) because his contested work inside is so good. He’s had ten clearances and 11 clearances, he’s had five tackles and six tackles, so he gets to work in the harder elements of the game.
“He’s averaged five or six inside 50s a game and he’s kicked a goal a game. There’s players that are winning more footy, but there are not many players who are as impactful.
“He was in a two-win season (last year) but still took steps forward and now there’s a little bit more happening around him and we’re going to see the best of him.”