Who does it say more about?
The results of Round 10 can say plenty, whether it be about the winners or the losers.
SEN Breakfast’s Kane Cornes and Nathan Buckley went through each of the completed games and discussed which team the result said more about.
Port Adelaide (80) - (76) Melbourne
Cornes: “I think it speaks to Port Adelaide's desire, their toughness, their pressure, but also their method and I thought it was one of the better wins of Ken Hinkley's home and away coaching career.
“When you've got no (Charlie) Dixon, no (Todd) Marshall, no (Mitch) Georgiades and they are undersized defence, but they keep coming up with a way to win.
“They've beaten Brisbane, they've beaten the Western Bulldogs, they've beaten Melbourne, a number of those wins have come in close games and there is something intangible about this group.
“I don't think they're in the top four conversation, I don't, I think that’s for personnel reasons, there's issues in the ruck that they've as well and I think that will come back to get them.
“Their draw is difficult, but right now, (their game) is speaking volumes about the way that, Ken Hinkley is coaching and the way that the players are buying in.”
North Melbourne (90) - (93) Sydney
Buckley: “Sydney for me there's real concerns there, you know, four wins out of the 10 and even though they've won, it’s the way that the win came about (that wasn’t impressive)/
“The way that the four-quarter performance un unravelled was actually a black mark on Sydney again.
“North Melbourne I thought showed great pluck, but Sydney are a side that were one of the four sides of the competition (that were contenders) but going in the Grand Final last year they were smacked.
“The question all off-season has been, how are they going to respond?
“You know, they lost to Collingwood a couple of weeks back which was meritorious in some ways, but they've been flogged by the Cats, they got hit by the Giants and then Fremantle got the better of them up at the SCG.
“So, they're really struggling to impose their game so on the opposition and it's largely around contest and work rate and we just have not seen that against any team in the last five or six weeks.”
Western Bulldogs (85) - (40) Adelaide
Cornes: “The Dogs, it speaks volumes of them.
“They're in the premiership conversation.
“They're in the window and it's exactly where I saw them at the start of the year that they do not want for anything with this group of players.
“They had nearly 100 more possessions in Adelaide, they had 30 scoring shots to 15.
“What about this for a stat, Adelaide had 72 hit outs to 35, what happened there? Tim English is in the ruck.
“But the Western Bulldogs need to start being spoken about with Collingwood, with Brisbane, with Port, with Melbourne, with Geelong as a team that can realistically win this premiership.”
Fremantle (106) - (77) Geelong
Buckley: “I'm going to go to Fremantle, I just feel like they’ve got their mojo back a little bit.
“Josh Tracey in front of the ball is an underrated competitor. I see him in the mould of a Brody Mihocek and maybe a bit of Tim Membrey in a hard-working sort of mid-size key forward who is going to be an important player.
“He's a 20-year-old, he's still coming along, he’s a young man who's big and combative and has a dip.
“When you look at Freo’s profile, that's what they were looking for and that's what they were missing out on.
“(Jye) Amiss is a genuine target and works really hard and when their small forwards are up and going I love them, (Sam) Switkowski, (Michael) Frederick and (Lachie) Schultz has been consistent throughout the whole year.
“So, they just seem to have their mojo about them at the moment and the next couple of weeks into the bye will be really interesting.”
Brisbane (107) - (64) Gold Coast
Cornes: “Let's go with Gold Coast, it’s another wasted season.
“They are admirable and they're in games and you think, ‘Oh, here they come’.
“But in the end, it's another game that they lose against good opposition by a big margin.
“After 10 games they've won four and it is a very similar story for Gold Coast and the year will play out exactly like the last year played out and the year prior to that and they're just not ready to make the jump yet.
“I did love Bailey Humphrey’s game though, there’s another big body midfielder who's a bit rough around the edges with some of the skill level stuff.”
Essendon (71) - (70) Richmond
Buckley: “I think that Essendon is the one it speaks more about, speaks volumes of them.
“I just thought that that was a significant breakthrough moment for them, not just for this season and not just for this young group, but for the club across the board.
“They've lost their last five games (heading into Round 10) and it's not as if they've performed poorly.
“I think they've shown great energy, great effort, they play with pluck, they play with aggression.
“I like what they have put on regardless of win-loss (record), I just like what they've brought forward and what they're buying into together as a unit.”
Hawthorn (142) - (26) West Coast
Cornes: “It says more about West Coast and the situation that they find themselves in.
“I don't see a way out and, you know, I played in an ordinary side from 2011 to 2012.
“We win three and five games (those seasons) and you think, ‘How are we going to get ourselves out of this?’.
“One draft can change the whole course of your club, the attitude is important, but you need the talent.
“I'm looking at what North Melbourne have got and can one draft with (Harry) Sheezel) and (George) Wardlaw change where they're going as a club? I say yes.
“The same with Port,(Connor) Rozee and (Zak) Butters changed the whole course of it and of course it's not just two players you add in and around the mix of that.
“They're going to get the number one pick, they'll get Harley Reid some talk that they may trade that pick to try and get a suite of picks, maybe that is worth doing with the lack of draft picks that they've had, but they got some big decisions that they need to make West Coast.
“I can't remember a club being in as poor a position as what they are.”
Carlton (57) - (85) Collingwood
Buckley: ““I'll say Collingwood and it is saying something given that they've been in the type of form that they have, but I just thought their burst in the middle of the first quarter was enough (to win).
“They kicked nearly four goals without Carlton touching the ball.
“We were a straight Scott Pendlebury kick from four or five goals without Carlton touching the ball.
“It doesn't really matter what level the opposition are at, that’s hard to do.
“That shows that a real synergy, a real drive, a connection piece and the ability to score heavily when you need to.
“Collingwood put Carlton to sleep early in the second quarter and then the game just petered after that, they were able just to idle, which is saying something against a Carlton side who has the top end (talent) that they have.
“But Collingwood were exceptional.”
GWS (80) - (92) St Kilda
Cornes: “It said more about St Kilda.
“It was a poor performance against Adelaide (in Round 9), but they'd been up for a long time and they, they bounced back strongly.
“They're not in the top six teams in the competition the Saints.
“But if they make the finals, that'll be a significant achievement prior to the start of the year.
“1hey said we don't have enough A-grade talent, but they’re finding some.
“(Jack) Sinclair is an A-grade talent, (Nasiah) Wanganeen-Milera beginning to be A-grade talent, (Mitch) Owens is A-grade talent.
“He got knocked out yesterday and the difference that Max King makes, you couldn't have asked for a better return from Max King.
“His performance yesterday was as good as we've seen from him like a fresh off a shoulder that popped out, his first came back he kicked four.”
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