Kane Cornes has offered up his weekly observations from Round 12 of the 2023 AFL season.
In the first week of the byes, an impressive Kangaroos midfielder, a former Richmond rookie and the decision to put off contract talks by one Adelaide player all caught Cornes' eye.
Read his observations below.
1. George Wardlaw has a great combination of speed, power and courage
“I had to tweet about this guy, Wardlaw is a weapon,” he began on SEN's Sportsday.
“I was captivated by him. Every time he was flashing through my TV screen my eyes were drawn to him and there’s a lot to like about his game.
“Firstly his power, and I just think a couple of draft picks can change the direction of your football club.
“(Harry) Sheezel, Wardlaw and (Will) Phillips in the centre bounce in crucial stages when the game’s on the line in the last quarter… Essendon wasn’t old, they had some young players going through… but I really like the midfielders with speed, power and courage, and I reckon he’s got a good combination of all three.”
2. Patrick Cripps’ form dropoff from 2022 to 2023 is about as stunning as we’ve seen
“ABOUT AS STUNNING AS WE’VE SEEN”: WHAT'S LED TO CRIPPS’ DRAMATIC FORM DROP-OFF?
3. Is Gary Rohan’s return on disposal the best in the AFL?
“I’m watching him thinking, ‘this is the best eight-touch game I’ve seen in a long time’.
“I looked up his numbers, he’s played 184 games, his averages 9.5 disposals and one goal. That’s underwhelming numbers for any player, but he’s just there as a presence, he’s going to hunt you down with a chase-down tackle, he attacks every ball in the air with everything he’s got.
“Yeah, he makes some errors and there are questions over his performances in finals and big games.
“But I thought for an eight disposal game – he kicked two goals – he was terrific.”
4. How Jordan De Goey should spend his break
“I heard a journalist say that if De Goey gets four weeks, the club will be happy to let him go to Bali or wherever he likes for a holiday.
“And I thought, ‘that’s the wrong message to send’.
“If they send him to Bali in this four-week or three-week period he has off, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
“They should say, ‘you’re staying here to do a mini pre-season so that when you come back in four weeks, you’re going to be ripped, you’re going to be hard and you’re going to hit the final series in ripping shape’, that’s what you say.”
5. An all-time rookie pick
“Liam Baker plays game no. 100 this week. What a great pick, one of the all-time great rookies.
“I looked at the coaches votes and he didn’t feature, I thought he was the most important player for Richmond (against GWS).
“He was pick 18 in the 2018 rookie draft, he’s elite. He’s everything you admire about a footballer, he’s tough, he’s versatile, you need three of him… and he’s really classy.
“Nine score involvements and I thought he was exceptional for the Tigers, so congratulations to him on 100 games, what a pick.
6. We need clarity from the AFL
AFL GREATS DISCUSS CURRENT LEVEL OF AFL UMPIRING
7. A disappointing outcome for a star Crow
“I don’t say this with any glee or anything, but sometimes holding off on a contract really hurts you.
“Sometimes it’s beneficial, I reckon we saw Dustin Martin in 2017 hold off and be rewarded, rightly so.
“But Tom Doedee holding off, Adelaide would have loved to sign him, there would have been offers on the table to sign, such an important player for them, great leader, he held off and wanted to discuss it at the end of the year and now, unfortunately, he’s ruptured his ACL.
“That’s the game, I was always one thought that if there was a contract in front of me I was more likely to sign it because I was an anxious mess and you take what’s in front of you and the security of that rather than holding off.
“But it’s a big loss for Adelaide and Tom Doedee.”