The Cats' courage to attack through the corridor on Friday night was terrific. Collingwood had clearly gone in with a really strong gameplan trying to deny them the corridor, and they put all of their numbers in that part of the ground, but I loved the way Geelong just said: 'Put everyone in there - we've got enough courage to just try to work through there - it doesn't matter how many people you put there, we'll back our kicking skills in'. Everyone says the game is defensive nowadays, but the best team of the last decade, and maybe one of the best ever, they go the other way. Courage backed by awesome ability is a great combination.
Dayne Beams
I just thought Dayne Beams' ability to stand up in a big game was terrific for a young man. A huge crowd, Friday night footy, playing Geelong who routinely intimidate young players, and he produced four goals and looked completely at home. He stood out even more because a few of his teammates didn't look anything like as comfortable. Leon Davis - All-Australian last year - is obviously talked about a lot, but that's four times in a row that he's looked out of sorts on a really big stage. Also, Sharrod Wellingham looked a bit overawed a couple of times, despite playing okay.
Big Bad Bustling Barry (Pt. 1)
Part of me admires Scotty Thompson for having a crack, but there's also very little sympathy from me when you do end up getting headlocked and rag-dolled to the ground. As I said in the Channel 10 coverage, if you poke a bear, occasionally the bear gets upset and you get bitten. Having been on the field with Tony Lockett, his message was really clear - "play as tight as you like, do anything you like within the rules, but if you start grabbing my jumper, and you want to put your forearm in the back of my head, at some point in time I'm going to get you". And every now and then he did.
Big Bad Bustling Barry (Pt. 2)
I know the game has evolved a lot since then, and the AFL has done great things stamping out the violence and king-hits behind the play, but I'm always concerned when someone has set out to antagonise another player, and there's nothing the player being attacked can do - within the rules of the game - to send a message back. So I hope provocation is taken into account by the match review panel - maybe they're not able to do that, although they did with Des Headland and Adam Selwood.
Big Bad Bustling Barry (Pt. 3)
The umpires have said before they're going to stamp this sort of off-the-ball hitting and niggling, and it wouldn't have taken much to work out that Thompson was probably going to get Hall, and would do his usual stuff. The umpire could have sorted it out from the start by going down there and saying: "Scotty, if you drive your arm into his back, we're going to pay a free kick, and then a 50. Baz, if you respond, we're going to report you if you do something silly. So boys, both be warned." One free kick and one 50, and that's the end of the situation.
Hayes the man
St Kilda was 17 points down midway through the third quarter, its season under all sorts of pressure, and Lenny just turned it on and dragged the Saints over the line by sheer force of will along with his toughness and brilliance. I'm not sure there's a player in the league that I admire more than him for the way he goes about it and the way he conducts himself. In the big moments, he's one who can truly see what his side needs and deliver it. He's just an absolute beauty.
The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
