Kane Cornes has handed down his weekly seven observations following Gather Round.
The Crows, a positional shift from a Swans defender and a starring role from a key Saint have all caught Cornes’ attention from the weekend’s action.
See his seven observations below.
The Hopper/Taranto trade is proving a disaster for Richmond
“IT’S A BIT PREMATURE”: AFL GREATS GIVE CONTRADICTING OPINIONS ON TARANTO/HOPPER DEALS
Have the Blues been leapfrogged by Adelaide?
“I reckon if you’re looking at Carlton and the way they’ve tried to rebuild this list, it would have been a bit concerning playing Adelaide on Thursday night and seeing the result,” he said on SEN's Sportsday.
“Adelaide’s rebuild feels to me like it’s leapfrogged Carlton’s by about three years.
“I just think holistically, is the rebuild on track to where they should be tracking with the core group of experience they’ve now got?”
Nick Blakey’s making waves
“If you were to do your list of the AFL’s top 50 players right now, what bracket would Nick Blakey sit in?
“(I have him) in the 30s now. I reckon that’s how much of a weapon he could be… I thought it was a different game from him because he actually had to play on someone because their defence was decimated… he had 15 (disposals) and three intercept marks in the second quarter alone.
“He ended up with 30 (disposals)… he went at 89 per cent by foot, eight coaches votes as well and I think he’s coming with a rocket to be one of the big weapons in the game.”
St Kilda’s stand-in skipper is set for a big cheque
“Cal Wilkie is in for a massive payday and he deserves every cent.
“He never plays a bad game. It’s amazing, he never plays a bad game, he rarely gets beaten in a contest, he does it all.
“You get your defenders that are hard to get a kick on, but he’s also that and offensively amazing.
“He’s a South Australian as well. If Port Adelaide and Adelaide need a key defender, I’m not saying he leaves but St Kila or whoever gets him will be forced to pay a big cheque and he deserves it.”
Clubs have to get their rucks right to start the season
“Ruckmen went out of fashion for a while there, but I reckon each team, there are 44 odd spots on a list, you’ve got to start a season with at least three B to B+ ruckmen on your list.
“I see (Mitch) Owens and (Billy) Frampton going up for the ruck when the game is on the line at the Adelaide Oval in the last two minutes… I don’t know what they’re going to do, Collingwood.
“If they come up against a team that has a taller forward line than what St Kilda had, that’s going to be an issue for them and (Dan) McStay can’t ruck there either.
“There’s probably not (enough ruckman to go around), but I think clubs have gone away from prioritizing the position… with five on the bench, you are able to do that.”
Fremantle might have found their Pavlich replacement
“These are the names that Fremantle have either tried to attract or has recruited to be the next Matthew Pavlich, and there’s a lot of them.
“Cale Hooker, Mitch Clark, Travis Cloke, Cam McCarthy, (Jesse) Hogan, (Shane) Kersten, (Josh) Corbett’s on the list now, Harry Taylor they had a crack at, they had (Rory) Lobb and they’re going to try and play (Nat) Fyfe as a forward.
“They’re everywhere. Well, finally Fremantle I think have the replacement for Matthew Pavlich and his name is Jye Amiss.
“I loved his game on the weekend. Five touches and a goal in the last quarter, ended up with three goals, eight marks.
“He’s not a big key forward and I don’t think he’ll ever be that, but he’s in the mould of a Todd Marshall type, who can be a very good no.2 key forward.”
Ken Hinkley has had a magnificent fortnight
“He’s had the toughest draw in the competition, absolutely unquestionably the toughest first five games of the year. Brisbane played in a prelim last year, Collinwood played in a prelim last year, Adelaide is the hottest team in the competition, Sydney played in the Grand Final last year and the Western Bulldogs played finals last year and they’re 3-2 after starting 0-5 (last year).
“A couple of moves he has made including Darcy Byrne-Jones sub last week, bringing him on and giving him a (new) role and started him forward. He had seven career goals leading into that game, he kicked two in the first had in a low-scoring game.
“He subbed (Scott) Lycett out and put (Charlie) Dixon in, that was a significant move. Willem Drew to (Marcus) Bontempelli after half-time and I did love his support after the game and post-game for Jason Horne-Francis.”