Cats surprise us, again; Contrasting nights for promising talls: Key takeouts from round seven

Isaac Smith retired and Esava Ratugolea departed for Port Adelaide, too, while there was a genuine debate on whether the kids were good enough to make up for the natural decline of the veterans.

Scott, Andrew Mackie, Steve Hocking and Co. must have chuckled as everyone wrote them off again.

The final game tallies from last season don’t look too bad, but Geelong kept having to deal with the absence of first-choice personnel in the first half of the year. Jack Henry, Mitch Duncan, Holmes, Patrick Dangerfield, Jake Kolodjashnij, Guthrie, Jed Bews, Jack Bowes, Sam De Koning, Rhys Stanley, Stengle and Gary Rohan were all unavailable for multiple matches in that period, while Tom Stewart, Brad Close, Tuohy and Ollie Henry also missed a game each.

Guthrie made his long-awaited return in Saturday’s triumph over the Blues, which they managed without Stewart (concussion) but with a largely fit list, particularly counting key players, as has been the case in 2024.

Ollie Dempsey, 20, has not missed a game, Jhye Clark, 19, has played six matches, and 21-year-olds Holmes, Bruhn and Ollie Henry are senior regulars.

The Cats have also exposed Toby Conway, Shannon Neale and Mitch Knevitt – all 21 – and Connor O’Sullivan, 18, plus developing Irishman Oisin Mullin and mature-age recruit Shaun Mannagh.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Still fight in the old dogs

We are always looking for the next batch of superstars.

Marcus Bontempelli and Christian Petracca are well established at, or near, the top of the pecking order, the likes of Nick Daicos and Zak Butters joined them last season, and it’s Isaac Heeney’s and Tom Green’s turn in 2024 to put their hands up.

Don’t forget that incredible ball magnet out west, Caleb Serong, either (he had another 37 disposals in Fremantle’s vital victory over Western Bulldogs on Saturday night).

However, on the same weekend Hawthorn and Sydney convinced the legendary – but famously spotlight shy – Lance Franklin to attend the MCG clash between his two old clubs, two of his veteran contemporaries turned back the clock.

Brownlow medallists Patrick Dangerfield and Nat Fyfe were, alongside Franklin and Richmond’s Dustin Martin, the AFL’s four best players in their prime. They are well into their 30s these days, no longer able to be weekly difference-makers, and injuries are popping up more often, including Dangerfield suffering a second hamstring setback this season on Saturday.

But with Carlton destroying the Cats in the clearances, it was “Danger” who rolled up his sleeves and played a huge role in keeping the Blues at bay.

The 34-year-old’s numbers in barely a half of football told much of the story before he walked off sombrely: 16 disposals, 11 contested possessions, seven inside-50s, five score involvements, two centre clearances and a long set-shot goal.

But it was how explosive, athletic and sprightly that Dangerfield looked that must excite coach Chris Scott, even with the hamstring going again. Scott hailed him afterwards as “one of the most influential players on the ground”.

As for Fyfe, he amassed an equal-game-high 37 disposals – an incredible 15 by quarter-time – 18 contested possessions, 10 score involvements, seven clearances and seven inside-50s as he continues to thrive in his return to the midfield.

The champion Docker, fit-again after a series of injuries, did much of his damage with creative handball and often had multiple touches in the same passage from his famed high work-rate.

“I think we’ve seen snippets of [what Fyfe is still capable of] and quarters of it, but we probably haven’t seen a sustained game like that from him since he got back,” coach Justin Longmuir said. “But his body of work since day one of pre-season has been phenomenal.”

No fall in this Waterman

Jake Waterman almost walked out of West Coast in September last year.

Dissatisfied with the Eagles’ latest contract offer after months of negotiations, Waterman – son of dual West Coast premiership defender Chris – was ready to start exploring his options at other clubs, including in Victoria.

There was, of course, also the questioning of how West Coast handled Waterman’s serious and sudden medical condition, which was diagnosed last year as ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Just as it seemed a new key forward was on the market, the Eagles returned with a better financial offer – still at a pretty modest level – and tacked on a games-based trigger for 2026, but he projects as a free agent at the end of next season.

Somewhat lost in “Harley fever” is Waterman’s emergence as West Coast’s best key forward, after being picked as only an emergency in round one.

The 25-year-old has typically played third fiddle, at best, to the likes of Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling and more recently Oscar Allen, which explains why he never kicked more than 18 goals in a season before now.

Kennedy has his feet up in retirement, Darling is a rapidly fading force, and Allen has not played since round one because of a knee injury, which has unleashed Waterman as the Eagles’ No.1 target inside 50.

Waterman has kicked multiple goals in five of his seven matches this year, including a combined 11 across West Coast’s back-to-back upset wins over Richmond and Fremantle, then four more against Gold Coast on Sunday.

He is up to 100 for his career and a personal-best 21 for the season, good for third-most in the competition. Key forward-needy clubs will surely be monitoring the situation.

Contrasting nights for promising talls

There are few more exciting key-position talents in the game than Bulldog Sam Darcy and Giant Aaron Cadman, who promise to develop into stars in the years to come.

Cadman was the No.1 pick in the 2022 draft, while the Dogs matched Greater Western Sydney’s bid on Darcy at No.2 the year before that.

Luke Beveridge has tread carefully with Darcy after injuries and growing pains across his first two seasons, but he is emerging in menacing fashion since breaking back into the senior side.

With his father Luke commentating, Darcy snatched two contested marks and booted three goals – a snap on the run and two sets shots – to help the Bulldogs cover for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan in a competitive loss to Fremantle.

It was the second time the athletic 208-centimetre giant has kicked three majors this season, on top of two against Gold Coast in his senior return in round three, while spelling Tim English in the ruck.

Beveridge has so far resisted switching Aaron Naughton into defence despite having Darcy, Ugle-Hagan and Rory Lobb, who was dropped to the VFL for a month after round two until Ugle-Hagan’s absence for personal reasons.

As for Cadman, he is enjoying a breakout second season as Jesse Hogan’s sidekick, kicking 10 goals in his first six games, but he struggled mightily on Thursday night with star Lion Harris Andrews patrolling the area.

The 20-year-old finished with five disposals and one goal, while failing to take a mark inside 50 for the first time this season as Andrews snaffled three of his four intercept marks opposed to a frustrated Cadman.

It’s all part of the key-forward apprenticeship.