Kane Cornes has offered up his weekly observations from Round 17 of the 2023 AFL season.
Fremantle's ruck pairing, the Crows' 'flat track' forwards and Max King's body, among other topics, are all on the agenda this week.
See the seven observations below, via SEN’s Sportsday.
1. You can’t have two A-grade ruckmen in your team
“A few weeks ago I said that Fremantle need to trade Sean Darcy because Luke Jackson is a ruckman and not a forward,” said Cornes.
“And then he played an ok game and everyone said, ‘See you can play two A-grade ruckmen’.
“$1.7 million of their $13.5 million salary cap is tied up in two ruckmen.
“-52 hit-outs the Blues had, but the Blues won clearances, they win stoppage score by 22, they kicked four throw-in goals to zero.
“You do not need two A-grade ruckmen. I think Fremantle have made an error with this.
“Jackson is clearly their number one ruckman. They’ve invested in him for a long time. Sean Darcy has to be dispensable.”
2. Adelaide need to cop their whack now
“Adelaide have copped a lot of praise this year and rightly so, but they need to cop their whack when they deserve it.
“Sunday confirmed what we all suspected and that is that they are hometown heroes.
“Their forwards in losses is a real issue for them. We know about Izak Rankine’s numbers in losses, he is the AFL’s flat track bully.
“Then you throw in (Riley) Thilthorpe who I’m waiting for to come on. He shows a bit, you get sucked in, you go ‘Wow, this guy could be anything’. He didn’t touch it (on Sunday).
“We saw nothing from (Darcy) Fogarty, (Josh) Rachele was scatty, and (Taylor) Walker didn’t give much until late.
“I expected that their forwards would have their way with Essendon’s defenders.
“We’ve got to stop getting caught up in the inconsistent nature of it. If they win this week against GWS, we can’t get sucked in and react week to week because consistently they’ve been so inconsistent.”
3. Is Max King’s body up to the rigours of the AFL?
“I just wonder whether Max King might be one of those talented players whose body genetically isn’t built to cope with the rigours of playing AFL footy.
“His injury history is now starting to get really concerning. He’s done an ACL, he’s popped two shoulders and is going to need two shoulder reconstructions inside six or seven months. He’s done a hammy, he’s had a nasty ankle injury and he’s 23.
“It’s got nothing to do with his talent, he’s a freak.
“We’ve seen it before with some players, unfortunately. Every supporter would have one of those talented players who career got derailed through injury.”
4. Luke Beveridge needs to solve the Bailey Smith problem
“I wrote about Bailey Smith on Thursday in The Age about his form and his drop-off from when he was literally dominating September as a 20-year-old.
“On the weekend he started on the bench, then he goes forward, he had 11 (disposals) and a lot of them came late.
“Every stat category basically is down.
“This is on the coach to solve. The coach’s job is to get the best out of your players. I’m not sure the right course of action is to play him as a forward.
“If he was playing for Craig McRae at Collingwood, he would solve that Bailey Smith problem. He would play him to his assets, he would play him to his strengths.
“I’d play him inside (as a midfielder) or he’d be one of the great wingmen. He’s got everything you need from a wingman. He’s courageous, he runs as hard as anyone, he’s got good penetration with his kicks. Sometimes his kick lets him down, I understand that, but don’t give me Caleb Poulter on the wing in front of Bailey Smith.
“It’s a watch this space for him.”
5. Loving the way Essendon play
“I loved watching them play and what they did on Sunday.
“I thought it was electric in all facets of the game. They may be a bit disappointed by the finish and conceding a couple of cheap goals.
“It was everything you want. They look a lot more advanced than what I thought they would be.
“Their pressure was electric, the way that they’re moving the ball, and how hard their midfield runs both ways is impressive.
“But if they’re going to win a final, they need more from Jake Stringer. He needs to work harder and they need to get a way for him to impact the way Jordan De Goey impacts for Collingwood.”
6. Liam Baker should be the next Richmond captain
“With a new coach and a changing of the guard at the Tigers, with (Dylan) Grimes not impacting like he has, and Nank’s (Toby Nankervis) discipline is an issue.
“I watch Baker play, he is everything you’d want as a captain.
“I don’t know how he carries himself off the field, but he plays wherever you want, team-first, does all the selfless things, is so skilful and is able to impact as big captains do in big moments.
“The suggestion wasn’t from me, it was from a caller. Credit to you, it was an excellent observation.”
7. How will Melbourne’s midfield cope?
“Christian Petracca went forward with huge success and had a huge impact on the game.
“So, he stays forward.
“The watch on them is can the midfield without Petracca and the names of (Jack) Viney, (Angus) Brayshaw, (James) Jordon and (Tom) Sparrow hold up with the best midfields in the game?
“They play Brisbane this week who I think have the best balanced midfield in the league.
“It’s a good test for this unheralded group without (Clayton) Oliver and Petracca in the engine room.”