Opinion AFL 2024 Round 14 - Weekend Wrap & Liked, Learnt, Hated

[Zevon]

Well who said bye rounds had to be boring! There might have only been 6 games, but there was plenty to cover from Round 14. Let's go wrapping...

Lions v Saints, Friday night: Hang on a second, I thought Ross Lyon teams couldn’t score?? They racked up 106 points! What a pity they forgot how to defend. Oh well, can’t have everything I guess. Meanwhile Brisbane started the round in 13th, and with that win they’ve flown up the ladder to… 13th. Big congratulations.

Dogs v Dockers, Saturday arvo: Well colour me shocked. The Bulldogs have found a higher gear after a bad loss. It would be surprising if it wasn’t so predictable, and poor old Freo were the team on the end of it this week. You can’t resist those kinds of forces working against you, so the Dockers really needn’t have bothered turning up for this one. Actually judging by the scoreboard, they didn’t.

Tigers v Hawks, Saturday twilight: Dusty kicked the first goal of the game and Hawthorn went on to win their 6th game in 7 matches, so everyone went home happy… I think. Yeah sorry I didn’t bother watching this. Maybe somebody can tell me if anything good happened.

Crows v Swans, Saturday night: There are surprisingly few words in the English language that rhyme with Amartey, but they all got a workout at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night. Matthew Nicks

Matthew Nicks

Age

49

Ht

187cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.6

3star

K

9.4

4star

HB

4.2

3star

M

4.1

4star

T

1.7

4star

G

0.7

4star

No current season stats available

D

6.6

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

2.2

3star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.4

3star

must be wishing he had a matchup for him that was more hearty, but on this occasion Amartey was too smarty. Yeah ok sorry I’ll stop. Let's all head off and have a celebratory social event in Amartey's honour.

North v Pies, Sunday arvo: I don’t even know where to start. Collingwood will rightly remind everyone that they’re the comeback, close finish kings after this result. But please somebody tell me what on Earth they were doing 9 goals down against North in the first place?

Giants v Power, Sunday twilight: Ugly sort of game which left me thoroughly unconvinced by both these sides. Still, a win is a win and the Giants stay within touching distance of the top 4. Clearly the second best Sydney team though. Prove me wrong.

Don't forget to post your liked, learnt, hated below... along with any other thoughts you had about round 14!

 

[BigBoSS_Riot]

Liked: The Brisbane vs St Kilda game was actually good. I didn't bother watching GWS vs Port.

Learnt: Outside of maybe Carlton, there really isn't a consistently good team. Sydney are great, but the rest range from wildly inconsistent, to injury crippled, to mediocre, to outright awful.

Hated: Adelaide. Again.

 

[JackFlash]

Liked: North in the first half

Learnt: It really is a one horse race, there is no way the Swans are losing this year's Premiership

Hated: North in the second half and ruining my weekend by Collingwood winning, even when they were 54 points in front i knew Collingwood would win.

 

[CarnTheScray]

Learnt: It really is a one horse race, there is no way the Swans are losing this year's Premiership

Gonna put a pin in this.

 

[JackFlash]

Gonna put a pin in this.

Yeah pin it, anything you want. There is no way the Swans lose this year's flag unless they have an incredible run of bad luck with injuries. They are 5 goals better than everyone else.

 

[Worm4]

Liked - Bobby hill mark. He might even get his first ever brownlow votes from this game after all these years
Hated - insipid second halves of football . Adelaide, Fremantle and North . When the going got tough.......
Learnt - irrespective of results next week, collingwood will not be in the top 4.

 

[blueiris]

Well who said bye rounds had to be boring! There might have only been 6 games, but there was plenty to cover from Round 14. Let's go wrapping...

Lions v Saints, Friday night: Hang on a second, I thought Ross Lyon teams couldn’t score?? They racked up 106 points! What a pity they forgot how to defend. Oh well, can’t have everything I guess. Meanwhile Brisbane started the round in 13th, and with that win they’ve flown up the ladder to… 13th. Big congratulations.

Dogs v Dockers, Saturday arvo: Well colour me shocked. The Bulldogs have found a higher gear after a bad loss. It would be surprising if it wasn’t so predictable, and poor old Freo were the team on the end of it this week. You can’t resist those kinds of forces working against you, so the Dockers really needn’t have bothered turning up for this one. Actually judging by the scoreboard, they didn’t.

Tigers v Hawks, Saturday twilight: Dusty kicked the first goal of the game and Hawthorn went on to win their 6th game in 7 matches, so everyone went home happy… I think. Yeah sorry I didn’t bother watching this. Maybe somebody can tell me if anything good happened.

Crows v Swans, Saturday night: There are surprisingly few words in the English language that rhyme with Amartey, but they all got a workout at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night. Matthew Nicks must be wishing he had a matchup for him that was more hearty, but on this occasion Amartey was too smarty. Yeah ok sorry I’ll stop. Let's all head off and have a celebratory social event in Amartey's honour.

North v Pies, Sunday arvo: I don’t even know where to start. Collingwood will rightly remind everyone that they’re the comeback, close finish kings after this result. But please somebody tell me what on Earth they were doing 9 goals down against North in the first place?

Giants v Power, Sunday twilight: Ugly sort of game which left me thoroughly unconvinced by both these sides. Still, a win is a win and the Giants stay within touching distance of the top 4. Clearly the second best Sydney team though. Prove me wrong.

Don't forget to post your liked, learnt, hated below... along with any other thoughts you had about round 14!

We’re only 2 points outside the 8 and a game behind everyone one else

 

[Downhill Skier]

Liked-We have free reign how to manage our squad the rest of the season

Norths first 3 quarters were sensational

Hated :Freo performance after showing so much promise the past few weeks .

Learnt : The Lions are coming and they scare me if they can really get going . They may turn out to be our biggest challengers

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Learnt:

All those commentators griping about Longmire benching Amartey (a player with a history of injury) before he had a chance to snare a ten-goal haul - when the move clearly showed Longmire’s instincts are only for his players’ welfare and his team’s long-term success - just served to reinforce why some former players become coaches, and other former players become mere commentators.

 

[Hawksboy72]

Liked: Jack Scrimshaw

14

Jack Scrimshaw

Age

26

Ht

194cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.8

4star

K

7.7

3star

HB

6.1

4star

M

3.7

4star

T

1.4

3star

MG

200.7

3star

D

12.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

5.3

3star

M

2.5

3star

T

1.3

2star

MG

167.0

3star

D

10.2

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

3.8

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.6

4star

MG

155.6

3star

..been our most consistent player this season.
The 1st 2 and a bit quarters by the Roo Boys.

Learnt: The saints need to play run & gun footy more often.

Hated: Umpires will influence a game then with 4 or 5 minutes to go they put the whistle away...and yes I'm talking about the 50m penalty.

*Fremantle were cherry ripe to get hammered..first competitive game in 3 weeks...so I might give them a pass.

*People declaring Sydney over the line with about a dozen weeks to go just remember Geelong in 2008 & Richmond in 2018.

On SM-S918B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[bungalow_bill]

Learnt / Liked - Lions had the highest team kicking efficiency since 2012 - 82.4%

 

[docks]

Liked - Bobby hill mark. He might even get his first ever brownlow votes from this game after all these years
Hated - insipid second halves of football . Adelaide, Fremantle and North . When the going got tough.......
Learnt - irrespective of results next week, collingwood will not be in the top 4.

Collingwood can still be in the top four next week if Carlton beats Geelong & Brisbane beats Port.

 

[Worm4]

Collingwood can still be in the top four next week if Carlton beats Geelong & Brisbane beats Port.

True , I think Port can win at home , bombers will get it done, and hoping GWS can topple the Swans. I think the Swans are gettable

 

[Tarkyn_24]

True , I think Port can win at home , bombers will get it done, and hoping GWS can topple the Swans. I think the Swans are gettable

They’ll lose a couple of games in the run home for sure but if we were the kings of coming from behind and squeaking over the line in 2022 the Swans have been the kings of coming from behind and dismantling the opposition with hurricane force in second halves this year.

The best in it and to this point it’s not even close. Would be deserving premiers, which is not something I can say about anyone else.

 

[Football Tragic]

Liked - Dusty kicking the first goal of his 300th game and speaking from the heart at the end of the game. His love for the Yellow & Black army, team-mates and family were obvious.

Learnt - Richmond can still pull a massive crowd. 92k was the biggest home and away crowd, outside a public holiday, ever! Very little has been made of the crowd size.

Hated - How some commentators and opposition supporters tried to derail the event by bemoaning Dusty's refusal to take interviews. He hasn't ever been comfortable in front of the media - why is it a surprize he doesn't want to speak now?

 

[Osho]

How some commentators and opposition supporters tried to derail the event by bemoaning Dusty's refusal to take interviews.

Those backyard fence talkers have entered the media.

 

[PizzaPie]

Learnt:

All those commentators griping about Longmire benching Amartey (a player with a history of injury) before he had a chance to snare a ten-goal haul - when the move clearly showed Longmire’s instincts are only for his players’ welfare and his team’s long-term success - just served to reinforce why some former players become coaches, and other former players become mere commentators.

If Amartey was kept on and suffered a season ending injury in the last minute, then Longmire admitted post-game that he'd only kept him on so he could kick 10, I wonder if those same commentators would support the decision... well, obviously I don't. Unfortunately, negativity sells and with the benefits of hindsight it is easier, even necessary, for footy media to find things to criticize to meet weekly content production needs.

 

[terrybull]

Liked: Jack Scrimshaw..been our most consistent player this season.
The 1st 2 and a bit quarters by the Roo Boys.

Learnt: The saints need to play run & gun footy more often.

Hated: Umpires will influence a game then with 4 or 5 minutes to go they put the whistle away...and yes I'm talking about the 50m penalty.

*Fremantle were cherry ripe to get hammered..first competitive game in 3 weeks...so I might give them a pass.

*People declaring Sydney over the line with about a dozen weeks to go just remember Geelong in 2008 & Richmond in 2018.

On SM-S918B using BigFooty.com mobile app

and North in 1998…. So Swans are safe. Next huge Grand Final upset won’t be till 2028.

 

[Sixpence]

If Amartey was kept on and suffered a season ending injury in the last minute, then Longmire admitted post-game that he'd only kept him on so he could kick 10, I wonder if those same commentators would support the decision... well, obviously I don't. Unfortunately, negativity sells and with the benefits of hindsight it is easier, even necessary, for footy media to find things to criticize to meet weekly content production needs.

Did he actually have an injury concern? If he didn't, asking a What If question is completely pointless.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Did he actually have an injury concern? If he didn't, asking a What If question is completely pointless.

No it’s not.

He has had long term injuries.

Game was well and truly won.

Longmire’s focus would be on a flag.

Amartey is shaping as a key part of a potential tilt at a flag.

Not much help in that regard if he puts himself out for the season in the course of chasing a confected double-figure bag of goals.

 

[Sixpence]

No it’s not.

He has had long term injuries.

Game was well and truly won.

Longmire’s focus would be on a flag.

Amartey is shaping as a key part of a potential tilt at a flag.

Not much help in that regard if he puts himself out for the season in the course of chasing a confected double-figure bag of goals.

By that logic, why not rest him some games? Why not sub him every game if you're that worried he'll re-injure himself?

It's clearly a bullshit reason, he was in no iminent danger of picking up an injury. He had 10 touches, all shots on goal, so it's not like he was getting up and down the ground a lot and was overworked.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

By that logic, why not rest him some games? Why not sub him every game if you're that worried he'll re-injure himself?

It's clearly a bullshit reason, he was in no iminent danger of picking up an injury. He had 10 touches, all shots on goal, so it's not like he was getting up and down the ground a lot and was overworked.

Well maybe we’ll increasingly see that. Who can say?

So if it’s a bullshit reason, what’s your theory on why he was benched?

 

[Sixpence]

Well maybe we’ll increasingly see that. Who can say?

So if it’s a bullshit reason, what’s your theory on why he was benched?

I don't really care, but concern that a bloke, who has played every game this season, will get injured is clearly not it.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I don't really care, but concern that a bloke, who has played every game this season, will get injured is clearly not it.

Well in the absence of any alternative suggestion we have no choice but to assume he was benched to avoid the risk of doing an injury in a game that was well and truly won.

 

[PizzaPie]

I don't really care, but concern that a bloke, who has played every game this season, will get injured is clearly not it.

Injury prone players that have played every game in a side that has just about locked in a top 2 spot would be the most likely players to take off late in matches in the back half of the season. Our coach did similar last year. It's logical, has been done before, and the reason given by Longmire. You don't even have an alternative theory.