Why Nat Fyfe starting should scare Cats. Mid-season draft prize for Eagles. MARK DUFFIELD breaks down WA clubs’ biggest talking points.
Walyalup’s win against Sydney at the SCG on Saturday was necessary to steady a rocky season. A win against Geelong would be an even bigger step in laying claim to a top eight berth that the Dockers seemed to have all but forfeited a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, at West Coast, the question is this: is the top pick in the mid-season rookie draft worth tanking for? That is what is on the line when West Coast plays Hawthorn at Launceston on Sunday. The loser almost certainly gets that pick. The winner could overtake 16th placed North Melbourne on percentage and drop to pick three.
Here is Duff’s Dozen for round 10.
Too early to tank?
It is the annual conversation in the AFL around drafts where the lower you finish on the ladder the better your draft pick. There is little doubt some clubs play for “experience” rather than victories at the end of the season when the best kids in Australia are on offer. But do they do it mid-season when the leftovers and mature age draft pool is available? It is not West Coast (17th) or Hawthorn’s fault that this is the system, but it still leaves an uncomfortable truth to their clash in Launceston this weekend – the loser wins.
Walyalup can win
That’s right, folks. The Dockers, rebranded as Walyalup for the two matches of Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous round, can beat the mighty Cats at Optus Stadium on Saturday. This is a Dockers team close to full strength with only Heath Chapman and Matt Taberner missing from their best team. This is a Geelong team minus Paddy Dangerfield, Mitch Duncan, Gary Rohan, Jack Bowes, Sam De Koning, Sam Menegola, Rhys Stanley and Ollie Henry. Inclusions Jack Henry and Tyson Stengle are fresh back from injuries. It’s no sure thing but if Walyalup want to claw back the ground lost early in the season, this is a win that must be had at home.
Four points not the only target
When you are a club on the build, wins have implications that go beyond the four points and the spot on the ladder. The Dockers have set themselves lofty goals over the next few years. One of the checkpoints to those goals is a club membership topping 61,000 by the end of the year. As of Thursday the Dockers had 59,137 members after a spike in the wake of their win over Sydney at the SCG. Another big win over the Cats would almost get them there.
Geelong defence a tougher kill than Sydney
Kudos to the Dockers’ young forwards last week. Jye Amiss (19), Josh Treacy (20) and Luke Jackson (21) kicked seven goals between them to help set up a big score and a comfortable win. But they played an undersized defence that was missing Dane Rampe, Paddy and Tom McCartin and which lost Callum Mills to a calf issue early in the game. Esava Ratugolea and the experienced Tom Stewart, Jed Bews and Jake Koladjashnij will stand between the Dockers and goals this week. It’s not Mission Impossible but it’s another good test for the kids.
Super-sub becomes super starter
It’s time for Nathan Fyfe to make his way back into the best 22 after starting as a substitute in the past fortnight against the Hawks and Swans. Fyfe will help the Dockers in the two areas where they will be most vulnerable – against the Cats’ strong bodied midfielders and in attack, where their kids might get overwhelmed and out-positioned by a battled hardened Geelong defence. If Fyfe is physically ready it’s time to unleash the contested ball beast. And some of his finest performances have come against Geelong.
Time for the rucks to roll again
If Fremantle looks for their area of competitive advantage over the Cats it has to come in the ruck, where Sean Darcy dominated Sydney last week and Luke Jackson chimed in with three goals to go with good on ball cameos. No Rhys Stanley means the Cats might lean heavily on Mark Blicavs but few players are better equipped to tackle Blicavs than the athletic Jackson, giving the Dockers scope to send Darcy forward more.
Tom and Jerry show
In the past, the Dockers would have sent Griffin Logue to Jeremy Cameron and left Alex Pearce to cope with Tom Hawkins. But the absence of Logue creates a match up challenge. Brennan Cox doesn’t appeal as the ideal match up for the mobile Cameron, nor does Luke Ryan. Heath Chapman might have been but he isn’t playing either. Big decision for Justin Longmuir to make on the one area where the Cats could sting the Dockers.
No Jack but there’s a Jake
Jack Darling might be the Eagles’ fanbase’s whipping boy but he leaves a big hole in his absence with a fractured arm. It gives Jake Waterman a chance to play the role he was meant to play. Waterman has made the most of his opportunities this year, stepping into the forward/ruck role in support of Bailey Williams. He has kicked 10 goals in eight games, won a handful of hit outs in most matches and averaged about 14 disposals a game doing what the team has needed him to do. But he hasn’t hit the scoreboard in the last three games. He should play as the second forward in Darling’s absence. Opportunity knocks for the 25-year-old who has now played 81 AFL games.
Meek inherits the ruck berth
Lloyd Meek left Fremantle for more opportunity and gets it against the old cross-town enemy this weekend after being named in the starting 22. Meek and Ned Reeves have shared ruck duties this season and, with the giant Reeves named on an extended bench, the Hawks might go with two rucks. The Eagles, for the second time this year, have two genuine rucks to cope with that with Callum Jamieson and Bailey Williams in the team.
Jones knows his nose
Hopefully, by the time the team flies to Tasmania, Jamaine Jones will know his broken nose is ready to play football. He was subbed out of the loss to Gold Coast last weekend after the nose was broken in an accidental collision and has been expected to play on Sunday, but was named on the extended bench on Thursday leaving the option of a change. Jones has been one of the finds of the past two seasons for the Eagles, giving them run, drive and dare with the ball off half back. He would be handy in a team desperate for four points this weekend.
Pour some Petruccelle on the midfield fire
It was only brief and the impact was limited but, as Adam Simpson searches for positives out of this bleak season, he could do a lot worse than give Jack Petruccelle more midfield visits. The speedster briefly injected life there against Gold Coast last weekend and, if nothing else, will make the Hawks’ ball carriers aware there is genuine speed chasing them. Petruccelle is 24 now and 60 games into his career nut is yet to find a permanent place in the Eagles’ best 22. The Eagles need to know whether he is ever likely to before the end of the season when big list management decisions are made.
Hawks home away from home
The win-loss at UTAS Stadium – or York Park, as it was previously known – is not likely to provide much comfort for West Coast fans. West Coast haven’t played there since 2014. Many of the previous West Coast teams that went there were going better than this Eagles team and they still only managed to win two of seven games. The Eagles haven’t won there since a 19-point victory in 2005, which was a grand final year for West Coast and a rebuild year for the Hawks. Meanwhile, the Hawks have played there 76 times for 55 wins, one draw and 20 losses.
