LACHLAN: Alrighty gents, I’m back in the hot seat as host for another gripping edition of Let’s Talk Sport. Let’s be honest it is the crème del a crème of the Gazette sport pages.
PICK ME
We have come to the half way point of the AFL season and have started to sort out the contenders from pretenders and who’s in the hunt.
But Gents what I want to know is who is your roughie for All-Australia at the midway point. of the season.
Dave, kick us off with your surprise packet.
DAVE: Alright guys I’ve got a bloke who I’ve been keeping my eye on over the last few weeks, whoever he plays on doesn’t get a kick and its Brandon Starcevich from the Brisbane Lions.
A couple of weeks ago he played on Fremantle’s Lachie Schultz, he stuck to him like glue and Schultz didn’t get a goal. I noticed again on the weekend just how tight he plays. Dane Rampe from Sydney and Tom Stewart from Geelong have been my favourite defenders, but Starcevich is closing in fast. I think he’d be a great selection.
Also, I’m throwing in these guys, but not sure if they are roughies or not. A local boy in Caleb Serong has great hands and a wonderful awareness of the game and is quickly becoming one of the premier midfielders in the competition. You could also throw in Hawthorn’s James Sicily as one of the best in the competition. What a great recruit having just walked back into the team after injury. Those three would be my roughies at the midway point of the season.
LACHLAN: Perfect selections Dave…Tyler can you beat that?
TYLER: I think over the past few weeks Jack Sinclair has really stood out and he has had a phenomenal year across half-back for St Kilda. Most people would have him in their side now but four weeks ago some people wouldn’t have even known his name, so he is having a good year. A real roughie this year is Tyson Stengle from Geelong. The All-Australian committee have said this year with the forward line and the wings. that they will actually be picking forwards and wingers which is good. So forward pockets will be selected as forward pockets which is great. Tyson Stengle has kicked 23 goals at this stage, but if he kicks 40 or 50 goals at the end of year, he is probably deserving of his maiden blazer. From a journalist point of view it would be a very good story – with Stengle being de-listed twice from the Adelaide Crows and Richmond.
DAVE: What about you Lachlan, what are you bringing to the table?.
LACHLAN: Yeah, it’s funny because I had Stengle in as well. As Tyler said he has kicked 23 goals this season and occupies a forward line with Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins, he plays that crumbing role as well.
I don’t know if there has been a delisted All-Australian before and Stengle could be the first. Another one for me that pops up is Andrew Brayshaw at the Fremantle Dockers. He is having a sensational year and might even be a Brownlow smokie. Nat Fyfe made his comeback this week and Brayshaw was telling a two-time Brownlow medallist where to set up, he obviously is a great leader as well.
Anyway, a couple of great selections there team.
SPEED DEMONS
Moving quickly along to our next topic and since I haven’t focused on a movie title in a while, here it is. The sequel to the original Top Gun came out last week to a great reception.
But from the original film, the line “I feel the need…the need for speed” is one of the great movie lines of all time said by Tom Cruise, or Maverick.
Who is the quickest player in our local leagues, who has the need for speed?
TYLER: I can already read Dave’s mind on this one.
DAVE: I know the man your thinking of Tyler and he was my number one, but I have dropped him down to four so I’m not predictable.
TYLER: Alright here we go.
DAVE: Let’s start at number four then shall we. The speed-machine from Cora Lynn, Jaxon Briggs, is he the one Tyler?
TYLER: Sure is…he’s the one you called the Road Runner.
DAVE: Yep correct I called him the Road Runner on the back page of the Gazette last year after he gave Garfield an absolute smacking. Garfield’s coach at the time, Hayden Stanton, was still having nightmares three days later! But I was trying to think back a bit to the good old days and there was a winger from Narre Warren that I used to love called Jackson Parker. This bloke use to get the ball on the half-back flank and take four or five bounces down the wing…it was great to watch…and then he’d finish it off with a booming kick. Ryan Jones, a sneaky forward from Cranbourne, was a speed-machine a few years back and his mind worked as fast as his feet. He was all go, wore bright boots and had explosive pace. Also Berwick’s Luke Sheppard. He turned into a stalwart of the club, but back in 2014-15, when Berwick was building into a good team, he was explosive and quick off half back. But they would be my four…unfortunately my current man Jaxon Briggs is number four on my list.
TYLER: He wont be happy if he reads this.
DAVE: He drops a couple of places because on Saturday he was about to take off…but got stuck in the mud and slipped over.
TYLER: So, what your saying is if he isn’t your top pick in the first half of the season, he is not going to make it, because the tracks becomes heavy. How’s that, a bit of racing talk from me!
LACHLAN: (laughs) a heavy nine.
DAVE: I love the racing talk boys…Jaxon Briggs is quick but he’s no Black Caviar.
LACHLAN: What about you Tyler?
TYLER: I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I have mentioned these two in previous Let’s Talk Sport columns before. But I am going to bring up a Berwick boy in Mac Andrew. Did you guys see 6’8 Andrew running down Sam Fowler last week against Collingwood in the VFL.
LACHLAN: It was a viral sensation.
TYLER: Mac is extremely quick and it’s because of his four-metre strides. Sam Fowler isn’t the slowest player on the park either.
DAVE: Fowler is very quick. Very good Tyler. What about you Lachlan?
LACHLAN: Mine isn’t a viral sensation but Cranbourne’s Tyson Barry is a genuine gut-runner with genuine speed. He is a young lean midfielder who just goes that extra yard for his club. He will be very important for the Eagles as they head towards the pointy end of the season. he also sneaks forward and kicks a couple of goals as well…there’s plenty of bright side for Barry.
DAVE: I did notice that when you said let’s move to the next topic you said let’s move quickly into the second topic. That was a great segue Lachie when changing the subject to fast runners.
LACHLAN: It was very subtle.
MAKING TEDDY WHITTEN PROUD
Finally moving onto our final topic. I was watching State of Origin between New South Wales and Queensland in the Rugby League and every year the exact same thought runs through my head…it would be good if the AFL did this concept. Tyler do you see this being a viable possibility between maybe Victoria and South Australia or New South Wales and Western Australia?
TYLER: I think death, taxes and AFL fans complaining that there is no state of origin at this time of the year are the biggest certainties in life. I am all for a clash but in a different sense. They take it very seriously in rugby league territory, which I don’t think will work with football. But I went to the Bushfire relief game between Victoria and the All-Stars and it was really good.
I think the AFL should use its resources and stadiums to put on an annual match as a fundraiser or do something different like that each year. Something like that might be a bit of fun and players might participate knowing the game is for a good cause and the intensity won’t be there…decreasing the chance of injury. Maybe you raise the bar even higher and say…”Tasmania. if you can beat the Vic’s you can get a team in the AFL.”
LACHLAN: What about you Dave?
DAVE: There are somethings that are ingrained in the culture of sport. Like for us we have big crowds at the MCG, we have guys kicking great goals and taking big marks, that’s the AFL. We have the best grand final days, but one thing we don’t have is the history that New South Wales and Queensland have…the passion has been built over generations.
I agree with Tyler that if you’re going to have something it needs to be for a worthwhile cause because we don’t care about it as much. We don’t really care about beating South Australia or Western Australia. You watch the game but you wouldn’t really care if the Vics got beat by two points for the next 10 years…it’s all about the spectacle. State of Origin up north is driven by a deep-down respect and dislike for each other that we can’t create or emulate. I agree we can do something great and create an atmosphere to raise some funds, but let’s not try and emulate what they have…because we will never have it.
LACHLAN: I always thought it would be good, because we don’t have international caps and not everyone will be recognised with a premiership medal or a Brownlow. So being acknowledged and playing for your state would be the highest achievement. Playing for your state is a massive honour. Anyway, opinions aside, another great Let’s Talk Sport boys.
Hoping this segment isn’t into the danger zone just yet….we might need Tom Cruise to save us.
