AFL
2 years ago
The Buck Stops Here: Rare praise for Dons' defence, Port's emotion, defending Yze and more
By SEN
Round 9 threw up several upsets and footy fans are beginning to get a greater understanding of who are the contenders and pretenders in 2024.
Former Collingwood coach and superstar Nathan Buckley has put together his takeaways in The Buck Stops Here.
On his mind this week was a rule change, emotional responses, Essendon's game plan and more.
Read and listen to his thoughts below:
Dons’ defence starts in the front third
“I was so impressed with Essendon and the Essendon fans would be too. Their percentage is not huge but that doesn’t matter, all that matters is your win/loss and how you go about it, and they’ve got players to come back as well,” Buckley began on SEN Breakfast.
“Brad Scott spoke about (how thankful) he was for the Bombers army post-game… part of the coaching responsibility is to shine a light on that stuff and find a greater purpose for their team.
“They’re a young team that is pressuring really well and playing for each other… the thing I love about them most is their forward line.
“There have always been questions on their ability to defend and they’ve improved that… but their forward line puts a lot of pressure on.
“They’re 9th best offence in the comp at the moment but... I rate GWS’ back six and Essendon was able to pull them apart.”
Port Adelaide running on emotion
“I was setting the game up on Fox Footy and just couldn’t see how Port with (Connor) Rozee out going to Geelong were going to be able to challenge the way they did.
“But it was set up for an ambush and that’s exactly what happened… that’s exactly what they needed to do, find some energy after the Showdown last week.
“Port over the last three or four weeks haven’t quite been as dynamic, haven’t quite been able to find their way… everyone at Geelong would have been weary of the response and they would have known, ‘we have to make sure we start well here so we don’t give Port any hope or momentum’.
“Nine minutes into the game Port has kicked four goals… half an hour later it’s 11 goals to three, 49 points up. That is an ambush, an absolute shellacking.
“It might ask some questions of the Cats but I think what it does is highlight the emotional requirements to play this game and get up week after week after week.”
Defending Yze’s controversial presser
“It’s worth addressing Richmond. All you want to see from your playing group is to play with spirit and I think for the most part, that’s what Richmond has been able to do.
“How would it look if Damien Hardwick was still at the helm? What would we hear from him? Because I think Adem Yze is going to be more positive, there’s less pressure on him because he’s only just started, but I think his press conference after the game to try and defend his players, that result and their effort was instructive.
“I think that’s probably the general theme and trend, the coach is seeing his players having a crack. It’s going to take more than one strike (for Yze to get critical).
“I’m going to defend Yze because he’s defending his players. Right now, I think Richmond… they’ve fallen off the precipice and there is going to be hard times.
“Jacob Hopper is out, Tim Taranto is out, Tom Lynch is out, Josh Gibcus, Jack Graham, Dion Prestia comes in off a long break… when you come into injuries with momentum with a depth of leadership and understanding, there were 10 or 11 premiership players on Saturday night, but they haven’t necessarily been the guts of those sides.”
What does the draw mean for Crows and Lions?
“I want to highlight and recognise that game… what a great contest it was.
“I love watching Adelaide, I think they have great scope. I think they’d be disappointed they’ve put themselves in this year but I get the sense that they’re away, it’ll be interesting to see how they go against an undermanned Collingwood next week.
“Brisbane are back, you can see their energy was a lot better compared to the GWS game a few weeks back… they’ve endured injuries but still been able to produce these high efforts.
“The coach is still clearly pulling the right reins behind the scenes to get this energy.”
