Kane Cornes has given his observations from the last two games of Round 6.
After delivering six observations midway through the round, Cornes took a close look at Monday's game between Melbourne and Richmond and Tuesday's game between Collingwood and Essendon.
See his eight observations below.
Essendon's disastrous last quarter needs addressing
“All the talk from ANZAC day was about Collingwood, and rightly so,” Cornes said on SEN Sportsday.
“The typical comeback, Nick Daicos and Darcy Moore’s amazing leadership. But we need to address the disaster that was Essendon.
“The last quarter was reminiscent of the third quarter of the Geelong v Hawthorn game in Round 3 which nearly broke all the nasty records.
“20 inside 50’s to four, minus 14 in ground ball gets, 28 uncontested marks to five, seven goals, two behinds to three points.
“This catastrophe can’t be overlooked, it must be reviewed hard by Brad Scott.
“Otherwise it has a small potential to derail a promising season.”
Where was Sam Draper when the game was in the balance?
“Where was Draper when it mattered?
“Draper, a highly-regarded ruckman in the competition, rucking against Billy Frampton, who has probably rucked five or six times in his life.
“He just allowed Collingwood to dominate the midfield.
“The pies kicked 4.1 to 0.2 from stoppage.
“He had no presence and when he finally did get his moment in the last quarter he missed the easiest of set shots from 20m out.
“I think he’ll reflect on the opportunity that went begging.”
Comparing Stringer to De Goey is apples to oranges
“Now you’re starting to learn why I harped on about Jake Stringer’s poor pre-season.
“When the game was on the line Stringer was nowhere. Compare his performance to Jordan De Goey, who is a similar type of player, they’re not aerobically strong, they’re power players, they have a similar body shape.
“He had just 11 touches for the game and one when the game mattered in the vital last quarter. Conversely, De-Goey amassed 28 disposals, seven clearances, 12 score involvements and kicked two goals.
“That is why, and I know there were other factors around Jake Stringer’s performance … that’s why you need a big pre-season.”
Nick Daicos is more valuable forward of centre than down back
“Nick Daicos is great wherever he plays, but he’s far more valuable centre forward.
“To highlight this, he had 33 possessions across halfback in the first three quarters yet the Pies trailed by 28 points.
“He becomes a more lethal asset when he was shifted into the forward half of the ground in the last quarter and his two goals highlighted that, just ask Steele Sidebottom who joined us on SEN on Friday.”
“He plays a lot of half-back at the moment,” Sidebottom said.
“It'd be nice to maybe see him get more of his possessions entering inside 50 rather than exiting defensive 50 and be a little bit more dangerous.
“I'm sure that will come with time. But, he's had a phenomenal start to his career.”
Melbourne made out clean with Jackson and Grundy moves
“Checkmate Melbourne. Grundy is a far superior payer to Luke Jackson as highlighted by his connection with the Melbourne midfielders, particularly after halftime on Monday night.
“Gawn was deadly when he went forward, so that combination is just working.
“We all wondered how it might work, well we saw it work on Monday.
“Collingwood are paying his wage and the Dees own Fremantle’s first and second picks after already the Dockers already coughed up pick 13.
“Great trade from Melbourne.”
Richmond's off-season move gets better for GWS
“Checkmate GWS, I wouldn’t trade pick three on its own for Taranto and Hopper let alone 12, 19 and 31, whilst also being hamstrung by those two seven-year deals for players that will be well into their thirties by the time they have expired.
“It was obvious to those paying attention at the time, and it should be obvious to all now.
“It was a poor list management move that has the potential to hurt them for a long time.”
Richmond are killing Richmond by foot
“Speaking of that, Richmond’s ball use continues to hurt them, they went at just 60 per cent by foot with Melbourne feasting on their turnovers.
“They kicked 72 points in that category. That’s what Richmond did to the opposition for years, now it’s happening to them.”
Mark Williams' is one of Simon Goodwin's biggest assets
“Choco does it again. The master skills coach continues to assert his influence on Melbourne’s goal-kicking.
“15.6 the Demons kicked - 9.5 from set-shots, 3.1 from snaps and 3.0 on the run.
“What an asset he is for Simon Goodwin's side.
“They are number one in the competition for accuracy at 67.1 per cent, I’m giving 98 per cent of the credit to my old coach Choco.”