What they got right and wrong: Each club’s wins and woes from Round 9

What did your club get right and what did your club get wrong in Round 9?

We had nine matches across the weekend, including a draw, three single-figure margins, a few upsets and some beltings.

See our assessments below:

What they got right

Darcy Fogarty leads the way

The Crows looked dead and buried late in the fourth quarter having fallen into an 18-point hole.

It was Fogarty who looked most dangerous for the Crows inside 50 all afternoon and he stood up, booting two goals that brought them within a kick.

The question will be whether he can continue to be the focal point, particularly as Taylor Walker enters potentially the final months of his career.

Laird quells Neale’s influence

Teams are quickly working out how to clamp Lachie Neale’s influence in and around stoppages and Adelaide followed suit, using Rory Laird in this role.

Laird paid close attention to Neale and kept him quiet, particularly in the last quarter.

The midfielder proving he can be ‘the cooler’ adds another string to his bow.

What they got wrong

Nicks blew the sub call, and he knew it

If you pull the trigger on your substitution at half time, you better hope you don’t cop an injury in the next half hour. Chris Scott and Geelong got lucky on Friday night, while Matthew Nicks and the Crows did not.

Three minutes after subbing Dan Curtin out of the game at half time, Josh Worrell came off with a wrist injury, leaving Adelaide a rotation down for the remainder of the match despite a healthy man on the pine.

Nicks’ reaction in the box told the whole story, with the coach immediately showing his frustration and knowing he’d made an error.

It might seem like a tactical manoeuvre to consider, but the downside is too high and it’s hard to see Adelaide trying it again.

Nic Negrepontis

What they got right

Good effort despite being undermanned

Despite all their recent woes in terms of injuries, the Lions definitely did bring plenty of effort.

Chris Fagan described the last few weeks as “tumultuous” due to the injury list and was fairly satisfied that they had a crack.

The Lions didn’t lose and that is something Fagan was remaining positive about.

Scores from clearances

Brisbane generated plenty of scores from clearances.

The scored 48 points from that source, with the Crows only able to conjure 24 points.

It was a win for the Lions who did lose the clearance count 38-44 yet managed to find a way to score from tight and contested situations.

What they got wrong

Conceded late goals

The Lions found themselves three goals ahead at the 13th-minute mark of the fourth term after booting the first three majors of that quarter.

It was far too early to go into game protection mode, but they could have done a better job of holding their lead.

They would concede four goals themselves in just over 11 minutes to fall behind.

It was this run from the Crows that contributed greatly to the draw with the Lions unable get their noses back in front.

Did not maximise territory

Once again the Lions produced more inside 50s (55-47) than their opposition but it didn’t lead to a win.

It has been a recurring theme in 2024 and a factor that may have held them back from winning more games.

The Lions haven’t had too much trouble in getting the ball inside their forward 50, they’ve just struggled to score efficiently enough.

Andrew Slevison

What they got right

Trusting Alex Cincotta

Carlton has turned to Alex Cincotta in the last fortnight to clamp small forwards and it has largely been quite successful.

The defender completely shut out Bobby Hill against the Pies and heavily restricted Kysaiah Pickett against the Dees.

He’s earned his spot in this side going forward and should be trusted with the Tom Papley matchup on Friday night.

Even with Zac Williams and Adam Saad set to return in the next few weeks, Cincotta has become tough to omit.

Matt Kennedy tagging role

Matt Kennedy was sent to Christian Petracca at the start of the game and restricted him to the point where the Demons were forced to send him forward.

… Petracca then booted five goals proving you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

But Kennedy’s success on-ball with Petracca, largely thanks to his development as a runner and his defensive work, remains and Carlton should attempt to send him to Isaac Heeney this Friday night.

What they got wrong

Carlton has no gears when they park the bus

After George Hewett’s goal put Carlton 28 points up in the first minute of the final term, the Blues retreated right back into their shells.

They would only kick one behind from there and barely had another inside 50.

The Blues went into game-saving mode far too early and the Dees smelled blood in the water – it arguably should have cost them the game.

We’ve seen this a few times from Carlton. Teams are able to come with a rush and eat into their leads, and it cost them against Adelaide.

Nic Negrepontis

What they got right

Forward line spread

Collingwood entered Sunday’s game with only one of their starting six forwards available.

While their attack was therefore makeshift, they were still able to score easily, putting up 103 points as 10 individual goalkickers chipped in.

With Jeremy Howe and Harvey Harrison also going down, this was a seriously good effort as the team picked up the slack left by the outs of Brody Mihocek, Jamie Elliott, Beau McCreery, Lachie Schultz and Dan McStay.

It also would have been incredibly pleasing that all of Reef McInnes (three goals), Fin Macrae (three goals) and Joe Richards (one goal, three goal assists) made an impact inside 50 after all coming up from the VFL.

Midfield demolition led by Daicos

West Coast’s strength all year has been their midfield, but it was rendered useless on Sunday as the Magpies ruled the centre.

It wasn’t only the clearance count which was won 36-27 by the men in black and white, but how efficiently they were able to score from that source.

This effort was led by Nick Daicos, who starred again in a 36-disposal, one-goal, seven-clearance best-afield performance.

If he keeps performing like that on-ball, Collingwood’s midfield will continue going to new levels once the likes of Jordan De Goey and Tom Mitchell are available again for selection.

What they got wrong

Not putting the foot on the throat in the last term

Collingwood won by 66 points, but it could have been so much more.

The Magpies led by 55 points at half-time and basically took the foot off the gas in the third and fourth terms.

While that was partly due to West Coast defending with ball in hand and chipping it around, Collingwood really could have had a huge percentage booster if they kept things up.

But if that’s the only real negative … apart from injuries which they can’t control … then you’ve had a pretty good day.

Lachlan Geleit

What they got right

Stood up when it mattered

There’s little doubt Essendon was simply the better team in its win over GWS.

Both teams had a similar amount of footy, contested possessions and clearances, yet it was the Bombers kicking eight goals to GWS’ three after half-time.

Brad Scott’s men never looked like losing after three quarter time, courtesy of a strong defensive system that started in the final third and saw Essendon win inside 50s by 17.

The Bombers are now up to third on the ladder and coming up against Noth Melbourne this weekend, they’re not going away anytime soon.

Reddog’s back in form

Mason Redman hasn’t lived up to his usual form in recent weeks, but Round 9 saw the running defender play his best game for the season.

Season-highs in disposals, marks, effective kicks, score involvements and more couldn’t have come at a better time for club or player as Essendon announced itself as not just a finals contender, but potentially a top four team in 2024.

He also gave Aaron Cadman a bath, keeping the young forward to just five touches and no impact.

Kelly claims another scalp

This week it was Toby Greene, but Jake Kelly’s CV in recent weeks makes for great reading for Essendon fans.

The former Crow wore Greene like a glove for much of Saturday’s clash and had several big one-on-one wins.

Kelly smashed Liam Ryan the week before and beat Jamie Elliott for most of the Anzac Day match against Collingwood.

He’s beginning to earn a name for himself in Scott’s new system and is being appreciated wider than ever.

What they got wrong

What to believe?

Perhaps the only question we need answered on Essendon: Do you believe the wins column or percentage more?

The Bombers’ record may read 6-1-2, but their percentage of 98.3 is remarkably worse than 12 other teams.

It’s one to watch going forward, because teams with a percentage of under 100 simply don’t finish in the top four and rarely play finals.

Seb Mottram

What they got right

Giving their forwards enough opportunity with expected score

Fremantle kicked only 38 points on Friday night, but according to expected score, they should have finished on 78 or thereabouts.

While it still wouldn’t have been enough to get over Sydney who scored 86 but should have scored 89, it shows that the Dockers weren’t as bad as their performance suggests.

Obviously, goalkicking is a huge factor in footy if not the biggest element of winning games, but Fremantle weren’t as bad as the 48-point result suggests.

Again, that solid around-the-ground effort was led by the midfield who claimed the clearance count 28-27 against a strong Sydney unit.

What they got wrong

Goalkicking

Clearly, Fremantle’s goalkicking was absolutely woeful to score less than half of what they should have according to expected score.

The Dockers finished on 4.15 (38) and they even had 10 behinds to their name before they booted a second goal.

Kicking like that put them out of the game early. Particularly as the Swans were 9.0 (54) at half-time alone.

It was the difference in the game early given both sides had the same amount of scoring shots to the main break. The only thing is, Fremantle were a whopping 40 points down.

It’s an area of their game that they’d like to address immediately if they’re any hope of claiming some scalps this season.

Second term collapse

After starting decently to be down just seven points at quarter time with three more scoring shots to their name than Sydney, the Dockers let the game get away from them in the second term.

From the ninth minute of that quarter, the Swans kicked five goals to just the one point going the Dockers’ way.

It was where the margin in the game was solidified given Fremantle only lost the second half by eight points.

Without that 20-minute collapse, who knows where the game could have gone?

Lachlan Geleit

What they got right

The comeback

It’s hard for any club just to see a way back from 49 points, let alone come that close to achieving it.

For Geelong to kick 11 goals to four after the nine-minute mark of the second term is a serious feather in the cap of the players and Chris Scott.

Scott subbed out Stanley, kept Stewart higher up the ground and found a way to engineer a game plan that dominated a surging Power outfit.

It’ll give the Cats plenty of hope, no doubt.

What they got wrong

Ambushed at home 

Not many teams concede the first four goals and then go on to win. Even less concede eight in the first quarter alone and find a way to triumph.

The game was won and lost in that opening 35-minute blitz to Port Adelaide. The 50 points kicked by Ken Hinkley’s men were the most Geelong had conceded in a quarter since 2012.

It was a combination of accuracy and domination from stoppage that did the job for the visitors. And worryingly for Geelong, the midfield is a vulnerable area and can’t be sured up immediately.

Plan B for Stewart 

Part of Port Adelaide’s ambush involved sending Jed McEtee to Tom Stewart, and the matchup could hardly have worked better for the Power early.

In fact, it worked so well that the Cats eventually moved Stewart to a wing, a change that didn’t help prevent the goals coming from the visitors.

But for Geelong’s defence to fall apart in part due to McEntee is an indictment on the Cats’ vulnerability down back when certain players are taken out of the game.

Stewart and Geelong both have to be better and find other ways to get the All-Australian back into the game in defence.

Seb Mottram

What they got right

Tackling pressure

The Suns finished the game with a massive 78 total tackles, +22 on their opposition and +17 on their season average.

Rewarded with several holding the ball calls in their favour, their pressure placed the game on their terms from early on.

Put the foot down

With just five goals up to half-time, they game was in the balance headed into the second half.

Damien Hardwick’s men were able to dig deep in the Darwin heat, scoring five goals in the third term and seven in the last to put the game to bed.

Trusting the youth

Another strong debut for the Suns, with 19-year-old Lloyd Johnston marking the club's sixth debutant across the first nine rounds.

The kids have earnt their spot in the senior side, with the likes of Jed Walter (11 disposals, two goals) and Sam Clohesy (23 disposals, two goals) proving influential.

Hardwick has not been afraid to get the kids in and all of them have had an impact in some way, shape or form so far.

What they got wrong

Kept North in the game

Gold Coast’s inaccuracy kept the game within touching distance in the first half.

Five goals and 12 behinds at half time meant that North Melbourne had somewhat of a sniff entering the second half despite the Suns controlling the second term.

But that is just nit-picking after a 68-point win.

Jaiden Sciberras

What they got right

Off to the right start

The Giants looked good early.

Adam Kingsley said they were “sharp” and he liked what they were doing.

They kicked 4.3 in the opening term to lead by 19 points and also held a 12-point half-time lead.

GWS did plenty right early but were unable to maintain that rage with Essendon’s pressure playing a massive part in the result.

What they got wrong

Couldn’t handle Essendon’s pressure

Essendon’s pressure game was colossal after quarter-time.

The Giants were unable to handle what the Bombers threw at them, evidenced by the fact they kicked just three goals after half-time.

That high pressure game from the Dons led to GWS being below their best in the clinches, even if the clearance (40-39) and contested possession numbers (136-129) were in their favour.

Not desperate or hungry enough

Kingsley highlighted that his Giants have been knocked off by a more desperate team in each of the last two weeks.

They’ve now lost three of their last four, which has taken some shine off their brilliant beginning to the season.

They need to increase and improve that desperation if they want to bounce back into contention. Pure talent only gets you so far.

GWS led by 22 points in the second term, but conceded 11 of the next 15 goals as they slumped to their second loss at Marvel Stadium in 2024.

Andrew Slevison

What they got right

Mitchell wins his way again

Clubs don’t lose inside 50s, clearances, contested footy, disposals, marks, tackles and more and still find a way to win. It doesn’t happen, and it certainly doesn’t happen with the captain and several other members of the best 22 on the sidelines.

No Hawk kicked more than two goals and it’s hard to declare any of Sam Mitchell’s men a dominant force. Yet they won against St Kilda by five points and looked the better side for the vast majority of Saturday’s match.

The Hawthorn coach is starting to get consistent effort across the board and more pressure on the ball out of the middle and it’s showing with results in the wins column.

Newcombe is back to his best

No Hawk dominated against St Kilda, but Jai Newcombe came pretty close.

31 possessions, 17 contested, eight clearances and seven tackles tell the tale of a hardened player at the contest who was first to the footy and hard to beat across the four quarters.

After a slow start to 2024, Newcombe is averaging 27 touches and almost seven clearances a game across the last month.

He’s a key reason why the Hawks are back in form.

What they got wrong

Question marks over their opponents

This is no slight at the Hawks, and it feels unfair to put it under a ‘What they got wrong’ heading.

But question marks certainly remain over the quality of opposition they’ve beaten in successive weeks. The Western Bulldogs still have to prove they are the real deal, while St Kilda has been playing like a bottom four side in the past month.

As much as we’d love to pump up the Hawks, how much credit do they deserve? It’s still to be confirmed.

Seb Mottram

What they got right

Moving Petracca forward

Christian Petracca’s sluggish month looked set to continue as Matt Kennedy clamped him in the first quarter.

The Dees made the call to essentially play him as a permanent forward from there however, and it flipped the game on its head.

Carlton had no good matchup for Petracca as he booted five and nearly ripped their hearts out.

What they got wrong

Forward 50 conversion

The Dees had 20 more inside 50s than Carlton, but couldn’t put it on the scoreboard… a familiar tune.

Yes, Melbourne didn’t score in the first quarter, but it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of opportunities.

They consistently wasted forward entries with poor ball use or simply losing contests.

If not for Petracca’s brilliance, Melbourne would’ve struggled to break 50 points despite their territory control – which is a big concern.

Nic Negrepontis

What they got right

This space has been intentionally left blank.

What they got wrong

Roos’ list has been set up for failure

North Melbourne has only used four players 28 or older so far this season: Liam Shiels, Hugh Greenwood, Aidan Corr and Luke McDonald (the only four in this age bracket on the list).

Given the struggles this year and how quickly this team gets beaten down week to week, the lack of experience shows.

Ben Cunnington, Jack Ziebell and Aaron Hall moved on at the end of the season and that void has left them bereft of leadership. Jy Simpkin is clearly struggling in his own right, Cam Zurhaar has a foot out the door and Nick Larkey is only 25.

Scoreboard flattered them

North Melbourne conceded 35 scoring shots from 67 inside 50s and both of those numbers are brutal.

The Suns ended up kicking 17.18, including 3.8 in the second quarter.

Their wastefulness likely saved the Roos from a humiliating 100-point defeat.

Nic Negrepontis

What they got right

On-ball dominance

The midfield was always going to be the key to victory for Port Adelaide in Geelong and that proved to be the case in the upset six-point win.

While Connor Rozee was out, the Power were incredibly strong from stoppage, winning the clearance count 39-48.

That was led by Ollie Wines (one goal, 33 disposals, nine clearances), Zak Butters (one goal, 34 disposals, seven clearances) and Jason Horne-Francis (one goal, 26 disposals, seven clearances) who were easily the best three midfielders on the ground.

Port Adelaide also had the top five ball winners on the ground and seven of the top eight.

That resulted in a 315-368 disposal stat win. Controlling the footy played a huge part in the victory.

Capitalising when they had the momentum

Port started well on Friday night but really got rolling late in the first term and early in the second.

From the 32-minute mark of that first quarter until the 10-minute mark of the second, Port Adelaide kicked 5.2 (32) to 0.1 (1).

That surge was huge particularly given that they were already 24 points up before that run after starting brilliantly.

It was those small patches where the Power were able to really capitalise that held them in good stead for the win.

What they got wrong

Allowing Geelong back into it in the third term

After dominating the first half and even getting out to a huge 49-point lead in the second term, many think that the Power probably should have lost in the end.

That turnaround came late in the third term with the Cats down by 36 when they kicked three quick goals as the clock wound down to bring the margin back to a gettable 18 with one quarter remaining.

While they eventually fell just short, the Power would have been disappointed to give the Cats such a big sniff after so much early dominance.

Geelong was always going to respond, it just got far too close for Port Adelaide’s liking late.

They’ll hope to put games away earlier in future.

Lachlan Geleit

What they got right

Not much at all

Thankfully, Sam Banks was ok.

Dion Prestia and Noah Balta got through unscathed.

That’s about it.

What they got wrong

Effort fell away alarmingly

Adem Yze defended his side’s effort, but it’s hard to agree overall.

The Tigers were utterly obliterated in every aspect of the game. It was a procession for the Western Bulldogs, particularly through the midfield.

Richmond’s effort and intent has been praised for most of the season to date. It fell away alarmingly at the MCG on Saturday night.

When you get beaten by 91 points - and it easily could have been more - it’s a fair indication that the effort wasn’t quite good enough.

Yes, they have injuries but that shouldn’t define unconditional effort and intent.

Lost all areas comprehensively

It’s hard to put a finger on the specific area in which the Tigers were beaten.

Some of the numbers make for stark reading. They lost disposals (335-451), inside 50s (41-77), clearances (33-42) and contested possessions (129-143). Uncontested possessions (203-308) was farcical.

But when you have so much less of the ball, it’s criminal to lay less tackles.

The Tigers finished 46-55 in this area despite having the ball 116 less times.

Given the fact they were chasing tail all night, you’d think they might have been able to produce some higher pressure and tackle numbers.

Recurring injuries

Jack Graham missed the Round 8 loss to Fremantle with a hamstring complaint.

He returned to the side for Saturday night’s clash with the Dogs but was subbed out in the third quarter after copping another hammy.

Jacob Hopper recently came back from a knee injury to suffer a hamstring problem in his first game back. The soft tissue injuries at Punt Road have been a problem all season.

Throw in the concussion suffered by Banks, the syndesmois injury for Maurice Rioli and the knee issue for Seth Campbell and it was another rough night for the Tigers on the injury front.

They’ve had just six players play every game so far in 2024.

Andrew Slevison

What they got right

Early efficiency

The game was put to bed from the jump thanks to accurate kicking from the Swans.

Both Sydney and Fremantle had nine scores in the first half. The difference? Sydney kicked nine straight to Freo’s one goal and eight behinds.

The Swans started the game with 10 goals and no behinds and entered three-quarter time with 11 goals and just two points.

Their efficiency and finishing was something to behold.

Scores from turnover

54 of Sydney’s 87 points came directly from turnover, with 26 coming from the back half.

Fremantle managed just 20 points from turnover, despite being only -1 in total intercepts.

Preying on Fremantle’s mistakes and capitalising with efficiency was the order of the night for John Longmire's Swans.

The James Jordon Experiment

The recruitment of James Jordon has been influential and has flown somewhat under the radar for the Swans.

In last week’s big derby win over the Giants, Jordan went to half-back on Lachie Whitfield and reduced his impact significantly. This week, Longmire set the task on Jordan Clark, a similar player to Whitfield, with damaging run and carry off the half-back flank.

Once again, Jordon delivered. Clark found just 16 disposals for the game, with two marks and only six uncontested possessions. A big win for Jordon and the Swans.

What they got wrong

Early concessions

While Sydney did win comfortably, Fremantle had plenty of chances to take control of the game.

The Dockers had field dominance for most of the first term, and had it not been for their horrible inaccuracy, would have stormed into a very strong early lead.

It should have been a much closer affair, and better teams would have made the Swans pay for some of the early chances they gave up.

Jaiden Sciberras

What they got right

Final term

They left it way too late, but the St Kilda defence managed to keep the Hawks to just four points while the game was in the balance in the final term.

Hawthorn did have chances, but the Saints' back half (and Hawthorn’s misfortune in front of goal) gave them a lifeline on numerous occasions.

What they got wrong

Defending off turnover

The Hawks waltzed through the St Kilda defence off turnovers multiple times in the first half.

The lack of pressure off back half turnovers allowed Hawthorn to pull away to a lead that proved too much to overcome.

Capitalising off around-ground wins

+8 in inside 50s, +4 in clearance, +19 in uncontested possessions and most importantly +41 in marks, yet the Saints were not able to find the lead at any point.

With the ball in hand, the Saints were not able to influence the contest, forcing needless disposal and failing to put any scoreboard pressure until the final moments.

Lack of forward involvement

Too many of St Kilda’s big names in the forward half failed to impact on the contest.

Four touches for Liam Henry, eight for Max King and Mitch Owens and 10 for Tim Membrey.

Of those combined 30 disposals, nine were scores. The Saints need to find a way to get the ball in the hands of their danger men if they want any chance of winning games.

Jaiden Sciberras

What they got right

Stemming the bleeding in the second half

West Coast were in dire trouble at half-time down by 55 points.

The game had all of the hallmarks of a 100-point thrashing between a contender and bottom four side, but the Eagles did well to only lose the second half by 11 points.

That was mainly thanks to holding the ball and defending with the footy in hand and not giving the Pies a heap of opportunities on turnover.

It’s probably a tactic that the Eagles can go back to now whenever a team is really getting on top of them.

What they got wrong

Giving Collingwood way too many easy opportunities

With Collingwood’s forward line decimated by injury, West Coast would have been disappointed to give up more than 100 points on Sunday afternoon.

While they didn’t let any individual forwards get away from them too much, with Reef McInnes and Fin Macrae doing most of the damage with three goals each, they wouldn’t have liked the chances that they gave up to just about anyone who found themselves inside 50.

Particularly in the second term, it felt like Collingwood was walking the ball into goal or getting free kicks that were there to be given incredibly close to the big sticks.

The Eagles just made things too easy for their opponents. They won’t win many games if they defend like that both inside 50 and around the ground.

Second term disaster

West Coast completely gave the game up in the second term.

It was a precession for the Magpies from the centre to the goals as they kicked eight goals to two.

Six of those eight goals came in between the 15th and 27th minutes as the Pies put the game away with one small surge.

It was an onslaught that the Eagles simply couldn’t stop.

They won’t want to give teams such lopsided periods of momentum in many more games this year.

Lachlan Geleit

What they got right

Almost everything

That was some performance.

The Western Bulldogs were purely dominant in every area of the contest, feasting on every Richmond slip-up in their 91-point win.

Luke Beveridge’s side finished +116 in total disposals, +103 in uncontested possessions, +43 for marks, +36 for inside 50s and +14 for contested possessions.

It was a complete and utter demolition job.

Fill-ups everywhere

The Dogs love a fill-up when they are well on top.

Some of there numbers that were churned out were incredible: Adam Treloar (41 disposals, 10 score involvements), Marcus Bontempelli (32 disposals, 10 clearances, 2 goals), Bailey Dale (30 disposals), Bailey Williams (29 disposals), James Harmes (27 disposals, 4 goals), Aaron Naughton (20 disposals, 10 marks, 4 goals).

The list goes on.

Throwing Ed Richards into the middle to cover for the loss of Tom Liberatore was also a masterstroke. He had 34 touches, 12 inside 50s, 10 tackles and seven clearances.

It was a fill-up for the ages.

Scoring from clearance

The Dogs’ clearance and stoppage game was immense.

They generated 61 points from clearance alone - 19 more than the Tigers managed for the entire game.

It has become a major weapon in their game across the last two weeks and also helped them finish with 77 inside 50s - the most of any team so far this campaign.

What they got wrong

Lack of finishing

There is very little to be critical of from a Bulldogs point of view.

The only point of negativity would be the fact that they probably should have kicked more goals.

They finished with 19.19 of which 18 behinds came off the boot of Dogs players.

The Dogs kicked 13 behinds in the first half, a lot of them gettable, which likely cost a 100-plus point triumph.

Andrew Slevison