Why Friday night will shine Sun-light on the question about Collingwood’s defence

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Frampton is far less talented than the first-choice seven, but has height on his side – which means if Collingwood play a side such as the Cats, Crows or Suns, who can stretch them for height forward they need to make a call on Frampton or squeezing one of their flankers up the field. That player is most likely Perryman to play midfield.

To date, injuries or suspensions have meant McRae has not had to choose his preferred seven defenders – six on the ground and one on the bench – and with Frampton out, that remains the case.

If Frampton stays out, they are going to have to rely on Howe and Maynard to play on talls and to get help from Perryman and Quaynor to intercept. Helpfully, Moore has been getting back to his most confident and assertive form.

If all are fit in September and Frampton plays as extra coverage for talls, they are going to have a selection squeeze.

Friday night will be consequential for the Suns’ finals chances, but also potentially a window on Collingwood trying to combat tall forwards with shorter defenders.

Lose the Battle, win the war

St Kilda lost the Battle but might win the war. Losing Josh Battle to free agency they gained Alix Tauru with the pick.

Alix Tauru gives every indication he will end up a better player than Battle, but that is only the icing on a list management cake. For where St Kilda were at losing a regular key back in the short term to bring in an elite tall for the long term was the crucial thing. For where Hawthorn were at, Battle was a good free pick up.

It’s a salient reminder for Carlton as they contemplate the likely loss of Tom De Koning and Essendon with Sam Draper.

Carlton might be less troubled by TDK’s departure after his recent run of form – and could even give St Kilda and its board pause to consider the size of the deal they are on the hook for to the ruckman – but the Saints experience with Battle and Tauru also offers the Blues the model of the win-win. That is even before contemplating what you can do with the salary cap relief.

This draft is much poorer than last year’s so they might not get a Viking with an early pick but they still get a very good player.

Ditto Essendon and Draper. The Bombers improved their offer to Draper recently, but it will always be short of what Brisbane and Adelaide – two top four clubs with more pressing needs to secure a ruck – will offer.

If Draper goes the compensation pick should be decent, and something the Bombers would use on mids or running player rather than chase another ruck. They would back in the reserve rucks they already have in Nick Bryan and Vigo Visentini and even keep Todd Goldstein for yet another season rather than chase a replacement ruck elsewhere.

The sample size of games is small but Tauru is the best player the Saints have drafted since Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, the unsigned player the club remains at risk of losing.

The Saints were one of the clubs that recently missed out on Miles Bergman – Essendon were another – and it’s hard to think Bergman’s decision to remain at Port Adelaide wasn’t influenced by his move into the midfield where he has transformed instantly into a seriously good player.

Saturday night’s game against Hawthorn Ross Lyon did something similar with Wanganeen-Milera, and he was clear best on ground in a losing side. As Lyon said after the game he had played him on ball before but previously he was not physically up for the role. He is now.

“We know what we’re building. Ultimately, Andrew McLeod used to play halfback, midfield, forward when he won his Norm Smith. Malcolm Blight moved him through the lines. We know he’s got halfback, we know he’s got midfield, and I think he can do a bit of forward stuff. We’ve got a long-term plan that he becomes great, rather than just a great halfback,” Lyon said.

Sam Mitchell agreed: “Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera … I’m going to have nightmares about him.”

Accidental hero

Nate Caddy had eyes for the play when he ran forward through the middle of the ground on Saturday. So too did the umpire he collided with. The umpire plainly stepped into Caddy’s path. It was an accident and pleasingly the MRO recognised it as that too.

You could have scripted a moment like this though after the AFL’s change on the run last week about player-umpire contact and introduced tougher penalties and possible suspensions mid-season for players found to have made accidental contact with an umpire.

Nate Caddy and umpire Robert O’Gorman made contact in a week when the AFL announced a crackdown.

Interestingly, this was the opposite of what the AFL was troubled by for it was an umpire being responsible for making contact with a player. It illustrated that accidents happen. It also demonstrated Brad Scott’s not unreasonable point about why umpires run through the corridor of the ground which is the area of the ground all teams try to fill and to run through with pace. Given that in a previous life he – theoretically at least – had power over this type of umpiring stuff and was unable to change it you could sense his frustration.

The need for change by the AFL was clear for the number of umps being clattered into (typically by players using them as a screen to shake a tag at a stoppage) were climbing. Whether that change should have come about mid-season, leaving players burdened by priors and suddenly vulnerable to suspensions, is another matter.

Nate Caddy’s clash with the umpire on Saturday.

No-air Jordon

James Jordon played on Ed Richards last week and kept the Bulldog, who has been among the best-performed midfielders in the AFL all year, to five touches while he was on him. The week before, Port Adelaide captain and playmaker Connor Rozee was also held to single-digit possessions.

James Jordon has stifled his opponents in recent weeks.

On Sunday against Fremantle, the Sydney tagger stood with Caleb Serong. The Docker had four touches for the first half. Yes, Serong booted a goal early in the second half, but that was only pinching one back given his opponent Jordon had kicked two in the first half himself while keeping Serong quiet. He kept Serong to just 11 for the game, which was critical in the Swans getting over the line.

Most importantly for the Swans they won, something they cannot afford not to do in the final rounds, needing seven wins from seven games to be a chance to make finals.

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