Luke Hodge, one of the game’s toughest players across decades, has a simple message for Bayley Fritsch and Simon Goodwin.
If the Demons forward brings some of his efforts from Thursday night against Carlton next week, he shouldn’t play.
On a wayward night for Melbourne, Fritsch kicked two goals and was far from his side’s worst player as the Demons narrowly went down.
But an effort late in the fourth was emblematic of the difference in the two sides, Hodge believes.
"To be honest, I was just waiting for a knee in the head."
— 7AFL (@7AFL) September 7, 2023
Isaac Quaynor takes us through his incredibly courageous mark in that tense final term.#AFLPiesDees pic.twitter.com/nWH8JcjEoy
He failed to bring the ball to ground in a marking contest against Isaac Quaynor late in the fourth term, a contest where Quaynor post-game admitted he thought he’d get a “knee to the head” in.
Hodge believes it’s not an outcome you’d see in Collingwood’s forward line.
“Those Collingwood blokes are aggressive, (Brody) Mihocek would do anything for his teammates, will crash packs,” Hodge began on SEN’s Crunch Time*.
“(Dan) McStay will crash packs, Bobby Hill, (Jordan) De Goey when he’s down there.
“But Bayley Fritsch, that one when Quaynor went back with the flight and by all means, he should have been poleaxed.
“He said post-game, ‘I think Murph looked after me’. No he didn’t. Fritsch just didn't want to make contact.
“That is the difference between going all the way in finals and letting Quaynor know that if we play you in the Grand Final in three weeks, if you come back like that, guess what, you’re going to get hurt.”
With Melbourne eventually going down by seven points despite dominating the second half from a stats point of view, its path to a Grand Final has been made infinitely more complicated.
The Demons will have to go through an in-form Carlton outfit before heading to Brisbane or Adelaide for a Preliminary Final, should they progress next week.
Hodge added that if Melbourne are good enough to get to the last Saturday in September, Fritsch squandered a perfect chance to get in his opponent’s head.
“This is the difference between a team that will do anything, that will fight tooth and nail to bring the ball to the ground… Fritsch just ran behind him because he didn’t want to put his body on the line,” he continued.
“If I was Goodwin on Monday, I’d be showing that on Monday and saying, ‘if you do that ever again, even if you’re leading our goalkicking, you’re not playing’.
“I look at Collingwood’s forwards and they would do anything to make sure that ball comes to ground. They’ll do anything to fight for a contest and I think that’s why they got over the line.”