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Chapter 1: What key matches are previewed in Round 16?
Strategy 2026 for the key matches that lie ahead, and we rely on Brenton Sanderson here. Hello, Sando. Hello, Gerard. How are you doing? I'm good. I'm good. I can see on your desk on Monday morning the AFL's gag order as a coach thought he was harmlessly answering a question about officialdom.
been on the wrong side of the riot act that was read, which allows no comment, not no criticism, but no comment on umpiring or MROs. Practical, necessary. We're not touching our coaches.
Chapter 2: What are the implications of the AFL's gag order on coaching comments?
You're the president here, the president of the Coaches Association. Come on, man the lines. No, I don't mind it. I think it's fine. But can I just clarify? So if I think the umpiring is excellent- Am I allowed to say that?
Not on the literal interpretation of the rule that was reiterated.
Right. So there's no comment on anything, whether it's positive or negative? As it is literally written. And I did hear you yesterday say, so if I'm asked the question- I just can't comment. So I've just got to say no comment. I can't be cryptic or I can't be creative in the way that I reply. Is that up to the interpretation of the AFL?
I don't know. So that's the- That's the clarification we need, yeah. That's the space that we're in. Okay. I understand why they would- read the right act. Yep. But I think it's pretty easy to see the delineation between. So Damon Hardwick's the wrong side of the line, even though I think he was trying to be amusing, that's the wrong side of the line.
And I would argue probably everything else has been the right side of the line this year. Just pointing out that the coaches don't go into great depth other than going, well, it was clearly a mistake.
Yeah. And so I think it's great. I think we need to ensure that that our coaches and what I would always encourage and what I do encourage is that you have adult conversations that are not public. So then it's as simple as grabbing the telephone and speaking directly to... whoever you need to speak to at the AFL around what happened on the weekend.
So I don't think press conferences and the public forum is the right place to criticize. And that's your players, that's the AFL, that's your opposition, whoever. I think you can have private adult conversations that are simply more effective. And sometimes when we are so agitated and we're stressed ā we feel like this is the forum or the platform that I need to get my message heard.
And it's not always the way to do it. It's not the mature conversations that I think need to be had. And yeah, I actually support it. I think as much as, and listen, And when I said about, it was a smart ass comment about being creative or saying something's excellent. I think that's fine.
I reckon if we use umpires as the example, if the umpires do a great job on Saturday, I think it's awesome if the coach gets up and says, hey, that game was really well officiated today. The umpires did a really good job. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Yes. But yes, I think we draw the line at the umpiring cost us the game or there was one decision that
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Chapter 3: What strategies are Brisbane implementing against Sydney?
So they're going to be really well-prepared, both teams. But if I have to pick a winner, it would be the Swans in a nail-biter.
Excellent set-up to Thursday night footy, Brisbane and Sydney with many a story to tell. We'll move to Friday night, Hawthorne and the Giants. Next, for City Power, Melbourne's weather, partly cloudy, a top of 14. Before bad weather hits, be prepared and sign up for SMS outage alerts all at citypower.com.au.
Now, back to Whiteley. I mean, there's a part of me that looked at the weekend's game against Gold Coast and said, great, we won up there for the first time for over a decade. We played some good footy. But there's a part of me that said, well, we kicked five goals from centre bounce and we lost the expected score. So I don't think we're a complete product either.
So we're in the process of having to make sure our best is on show often enough to make sure we can win the games we need to. And against the Giants, who taught us a bit of a lesson in opening round, that's a big test this week. Opening round is a difficult one. The first game of any season, you know, you get that unknown of having not played for quite a while at that level.
And I think when we weren't ready for the Giants on that day and we did get what we deserved, we didn't deserve to win that game. It feels like a long time ago now. So I think both sides have been through some ups and downs through that period and we need to make sure our best foot's forward. Is it about riding that wrong? Partially.
But also we need to continue to win to be where we want to be later in the year.
Sam Mitchell, whose Hawks reconvene with the Giants Friday night of round 16. Brenton Sanderson with our strategy session. Give us your initial overview of the Hawks and the Giants.
Yeah, well, they're pretty close from an offense point of view, Gerard. So I guess what I'm ā it feels like the narrative at the moment might be that people are just starting to write the Giants off, and this is a really important game for them. They've got to find a way to beat the Hawks, but ā Their scoring profile is okay.
So the Hawks are 97 points per game and Giants are 91 points per game. So they're still scoring. Points scored from turnover is in the Hawks' favour, 62 points per game, Giants 51 points per game. But what you'll find is that both teams, they're struggling to score from stoppage. So that's part of the profile from an offensive point of view that they're below the AFL averages.
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Chapter 4: How does Sydney's playing style affect their performance?
So Stringer, Toby Green, Cadman, they're probably the ones that they're relying on so much. So if Hawthorne can shut those guys away. But yeah, they're still not out of the woods yet with the way that they're that they're hitting the scoreboard, but there's closeness there, which I'm not as concerned about for the Giants, if that made sense, what I just tried to explain. Defensively?
It's typically been a strength for both teams, but not of late. So both teams would prefer a better defensive ranking. Hawks concede 86 points per game, which is too much. Sam Mitchell would say that's too much. The Giants concede 91 points per game. And we know Kingsley, that's what he prides himself on. It's less than a goal a game difference.
But yeah, the Hawks concede less than the Giants do from turnover, which means they are slightly better set up behind the ball than the Giants. Giants concede more scores per inside 50 than Hawthorne at the moment. So I'd probably have to give the edge again to Hawthorne defensively.
So if you're marrying up offense and defense, I'm probably going to say the Hawks have the slight edge in both at the moment. What stands out in Hawthorne's losses that the Giants might be able to target? I touched on it just quickly before. I think what's consistent in the Giants, which they've got to get right this week against the Hawks. Hawks are struggling with scores from stoppage against.
So minus 25, minus 42, minus 28, minus 22. They're big numbers when you look at differential and stoppage scores against. So in what was a strength for the Giants, this has to be a focus this week. That's what they would have been practicing all week. Scores from stoppage, scores from stoppage. look for opportunities to go after a Hawks weakness.
But the frustrating part, I reckon, for Sam Mitchell is in their losses this year, Hawthorne, they're losing in different ways. It's not like one sort of thing really does stand out consistently. So against the Bulldogs and Fremantle, it was contested ball. But in other games, it's been front half scores, giving up defensive scores. So it's not one or two things that are really standing out.
But I reckon the one area that they have to go after this week, the Giants, is that scores against from stoppage. That's probably the one area for me. And in the Giants' losses, what could Sam Mitchell exploit? Well, this is the interesting part.
This is partly why I don't want to write off the Giants yet because outside of the round one loss, which was 81 points to the Bulldogs and the 41-point loss to Sydney in round six, the Giants' losses are sort of three or four goals. It's not... They're not getting blown out of the park with their losses this year.
We know they're a physical contested side that can be relied upon to consistently bring a really competitive energy. But if you're looking for a pattern that Sam Mitchell might go after, I think what stands out is their inside 50 numbers drop dramatically and there's a pattern around conceding marks.
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Chapter 5: What are the crucial midfield matchups to watch in this game?
So defensively, that's where the improvements are. They've been excellent in the last five weeks. Offensively, their back half ball movement has improved slightly. So we are seeing a little bit more coast-to-coast ball movement, but it's still below the AFL average. And they're slightly more effective with their inside 50s, but they're still 13th in the competition for inside 50s generated.
This is the bit, though, which I reckon sides are now aware of. This is my concern. It's a positive, but it's my concern too. for Carlton is over the last five weeks, they are averaging 110 marks per week. That's the most. That's the most in the AFL. So they're defending with the ball a little bit more. So they're taking the speed out of the game for longer.
So they're making the opposition defend them rather than Carlton chasing the opposition defensively. So as I mentioned, 120 minutes of high speed footy has been a problem for Carlton so far this year, but at the moment they're dictating at what speed the game is played at. So the challenges with this is they're going to have issues against sides that play man on man defense, not zone.
Um, so if they're going to try and they're going to need a plan B is what I'm trying to say really quickly, uh, because they're still scoring below the AFL average, which is 83 points per game. It's their defense that's keep and then their, their ability to defend transition, which is keeping them in games and helping them win at the moment.
So, um, they've still got their core strength contest and clearance. And I know you've mentioned that this week too, Gerard. They've achieved all of this improvement while still maintaining their core identity, which is contest and clearance. So defense has been the big improver. Offense has still got some work to go. The Eagles won't give them an easy game.
So this is the really interesting insight. There's bits of the Eagles profile, which has revealed itself and is impressive.
Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately for the Eagles, where Carlton are really strong, the Eagles are quite poor. So clearance differential, they're 17th, minus eight per game. And they're a bottom five contested possession side. So that's where Carlton are strong, Eagles are not.
But the positives for West Coast, they're only behind Sydney and Fremantle for scoring from their front half in the last five weeks. So they've got good front half pressure, the Eagles. So the Blues will either need to be quick in how they exit their own D50 or take care of how they rebound.
But for me, what stands out the most, in the last five weeks, West Coast have conceded the second fewest marks in the AFL. So I just said that Carlton are averaging the most, 110. West Coast Eagles only concede 75 per game. So here's the point. West Coast are going to take away these mark chains for Carlton. They won't be able to chip the ball around and deny Eagles the ball. So...
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