The Kangaroos asked for the Good Friday spotlight and wilted, now it’s time they stood up
North Melbourne demanded to be on this stage, now it’s time for them to prove they deserve to be there.
Carlton and their embattled coach Michael Voss may be under the spotlight this week following Sunday’s defeat against Melbourne, but the Roos have the most to prove on Good Friday.
It was long a day too sacred for football until the Roos convinced the AFL they could turn it into a worthwhile event – a boutique blockbuster at Marvel Stadium and a Good Friday Appeal fundraising center spot.
Unlike the Blues, who know how to stay in the spotlight, for better or worse, the Roos are often relegated to the fringes of the fixture. They crave a day in the spotlight and they deserve it.
Unfortunately, they have remained under the spotlight until now.
A win over St Kilda in 2018 was all they showed from a decade of Good Friday matches, and they have suffered huge blows along the way, including an 82-point defeat against Carlton last year.
Alastair Clarkson’s side have a chance to make up for that result against the Blues on Friday. But more importantly, this is an opportunity for Zane Duursma, Finn O’Sullivan, Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Cooper Trembath, Lachy Dovaston, Dylan Stephens, Colby McKercher and their teammates to shine and elevate the standing of football on Good Friday.
These guys are top talents. They thrived by dominating the youth leagues and representative level.
It’s time for Clarkson to nudge their ego. These players do not need to be defined by past results, they can write their own history. It has to start somewhere. Why not this week?
The Roos will undoubtedly miss lion-hearted ruckman Tristan
I remember our coach Mark “Bomber” Thompson giving us a similar message towards the end of his time at Geelong when we started the Easter Monday rivalry with Hawthorn, who coincidentally were coached by Clarkson at the time.
Of course, both sides were strong teams and there was already a fierce rivalry going on, but the message was clear: enjoy being in the spotlight with the whole football world watching, make sure you embrace the opportunity and live up to it.
Chris Scott has been quick to carry that tradition forward at Geelong and look what the Cats and Hawks have turned into Easter Monday – it is now one of the can’t miss matches on the football calendar and another crowd of close to 90,000 is expected to be there later this tour.
Clarkson’s message to his players to showcase their skills and abilities will undoubtedly have a sharp edge. They need to be tough, ruthless and unforgiving, just as their rivals have done against them lately on Good Friday and bad Saturdays and Sundays.
Xerri is often the standard bearer for this approach. In his absence I would ask the Kangaroos to look after 19-year-old Finn O’Sullivan. I was very impressed with the work he did on Essendon halfback Zach Merrett last week.
As the No. 2 pick in the draft (2024), he wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and play stopper, and boy did he do it well. He had 24 disposals and kept Merrett to just 10. It would have been easy for a young player to let his guard down in the final quarter and allow Merrett to make an impact, but O’Sullivan went until the final siren. His award was nine votes (out of a maximum of 10) in the AFL Coaches Association champion player award.
Clarkson knows that young players, no matter how talented they are, take time to develop, especially to discover that relentless mentality that makes good teams great.
He wasn’t an immediate success at Hawthorn but in his third year and fourth season as coach he managed to take the Hawks to the finals at the expense of me and my Cats team-mates.
This premiership was not expected by many and Clarkson’s Hawks spent several years refining their methods before becoming a premiership-winning powerhouse from 2013-15.
He is currently in his fourth season with North Melbourne. But I think we need to take a year out of it because he missed most of his first season (2023) due to difficulties from his final years with the Hawks.
However, the Roos need to show their mettle to the rest of the AFL.
A round one win against Port Adelaide was promising, but they couldn’t keep the tempo up for four quarters against West Coast. Last week they allowed the Bombers to stage a mini comeback late in the game and actually finished the contest scoring fewer points.
They unquestionably dominate the ball (52 more per game than their opponents so far this season) and their midfielders drop back hard to help defend, but that dominance does not translate into forward 50 meter entries (four fewer per game than their opponents).
The Blues and their coach may be under pressure, but they are not an easy opponent.
In fact, they are an excellent contested ball team (11 more per game than their opponents) who must be respected. Their main problem was maintaining the anger for a full game.
From what we see, none of these teams can afford to leave the race late.
They need to hit each other hard in the first half and see who can last the longest.
It should be a fascinating match; worthy of the big stage paid.
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