Carlton is staring down “one of the great fumbles” with a favourite son, but his reported next club is struggling with its most recent big-name recruit.
Plus the quiet rule change an AFL great couldn’t help but notice, the brilliant Crows coaching move and much more.
The big issues from Round 21 of the 2025 AFL season analysed in foxfooty.com.au’s Talking Points!
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‘NEVER TREATED HIM RIGHT’: BLUES FACING ‘ONE OF THE GREAT FUMBLES’
The idea of a Silvagni wearing anything other than navy blue already sounds wrong.
But black and white? That’s just unthinkable.
And so there’s, understandably, a bit of emotion involved as Carlton’s Jack Silvagni heavily considers a move away from Princes Park.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirmed last week he has met with Silvagni while the defender-needy Western Bulldogs have also been linked with the versatile 27-year-old.
But the sheer fact McRae was willing to speak about Silvagni “surprised” Silvagni’s coach, and McRae’s former premiership teammate, Michael Voss.
“Where I sit very much is respecting the privacy of the player. I guess it’s not for me to announce something like that on behalf of someone, because they’re the ones that have got to walk back into the locker room,” Voss said on Saturday.
“I can’t speak to how other coaches will go about that, but what I can say is how we would go about it – and I guess in that instance, we’d choose not to make that sort of announcement. I don’t feel like that’s our role to do that.
“While I didn’t necessarily read all the headlines around Oscar (Allen), I believe he came under a fair bit of heat – and I think that’s probably a very good reason why we just temper the reason to do that.”
The question from Fox Footy expert David King was whether Carlton had the right to be upset about Silvagni considering his options.
Kingy slams Blues over Silvagni saga | 02:03
Both the Blues and Magpies are believed to be offering four-year deals at around $650,000 a season – which will be around or just over the average AFL wage in those seasons – so it’s not about cash. It’s about which club the third-generation Blue thinks is best for him.
“I just think Carlton should just worry about what they can control. They had this player at their disposal for a long period of time, they’ve never treated him the way he should’ve been treated,” King said on Fox Footy.
“Now he’s a chance to leave, they’re upset that another coach is talking about him positively? This is one of the great fumbles, it really is.
“Jack Silvagni should never be leaving Carlton. The Silvagni name means so much at Carlton, it shouldn’t even be a discussion piece. He should’ve had a role to play in this team. There’s multiple teams coming for him now, so Carlton can be upset with other teams, but this is on them.”
Asked if it reflected poorly on the Blues, King said: “One hundred per cent it does. ‘Vossy’ can say what he likes, but if it meant getting that player to my club and I’m Craig McRae, I’m having the first date – and a second and third – until he comes to my club.”
Silvagni is an unrestricted free agent and Carlton cannot stop him from joining the Magpies if he wants to.
“They (the Pies) are telling their ageing players: ‘We bring in players like Jack Silvagni on $650,000 a year for four years, it prolongs your career because it keeps us in the window’,” the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph said on Fox Footy.
“So the likes of (Scott) Pendlebury, (Steele) Sidebottom and (Jeremy) Howe are absolutely happy to accept those bottom-dollar deals, (Brody) Mihocek is holding out for a two-year deal on better money and Darcy Cameron something similar.
“Silvagni passed his Pies medical, they’re really happy with his body even though he only averages 12 games a year.”
Pragmatic McRae not worried despite loss | 08:11
That doesn’t mean everyone at Collingwood is thrilled, because with Silvagni added onto their tight salary cap, several other premiership stars could either be forced out or forced to accept less money to stay. The likes of Mihocek and Cameron could depart while Jamie Elliott is still seeking a larger offer.
But, given the Pies’ sudden defensive question marks, adding Silvagni to a backline still missing the medically-retired Nathan Murphy could be worth the squeeze.
“He (Silvagni) would love what he’s seeing. He’d love to play for Collingwood,” King said.
“Howe on one side, Silvagni on the other, both kick on either foot beautifully – they’re as good with the ball coming in in term of intercepting as they are with it going the other way on counterpunch.
“Ten goals from defensive half tonight (in the loss to Brisbane) is not them. They need their kickers and the guys who can intercept and get the game going the other way.”
PIES’ ‘ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM’ AS STAR RECRUIT ‘NOT THE PLAYER THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GETTING’
There’s an “elephant in the room” at Collingwood. And it revolves around its star recruit Dan Houston.
Houston has been below is brilliant, dual All-Australian best in the black and white stripes after arriving last off-season to add another weapon across half-back in Craig McRae’s side.
But it hasn’t been the smoothest transition to a more balanced, system Magpies defence after he was largely Port’s designated kicker and quarterback.
The 28-year old has averaged 16.5 disposals, 3.7 marks and 2.9 rebound 50s in 16 games this year — his lowest returns since his second AFL season in 2018 — while his 2025 has also been disrupted by suspension and injury.
It included Houston being largely a non-factor in Saturday night’s loss to Brisbane, registering only 11 disposals.
“The elephant in the room, to be blunt, at Collingwood, is Dan Houston,” chief Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark said on Fox Footy.
“He really hasn’t had a lot of impact across the season and tonight was pretty quiet again.”
Morris kicks 6 as Lions down Pies | 02:26
Collingwood’s dominant form throughout the season in many ways papered over the cracks of Houston being down on his best.
But now that McRae’s troops have dropped three of their last four games, it’s hard to ignore Houston hasn’t been the player they brought in at the expense of John Noble, Joe Richards and a first-round pick in that mega trade.
Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt went so far to say Houston wasn’t playing at a best 23 level now that Collingwood has gotten back to near fill strength. Not that Riewoldt thinks Houston would actually get dropped.
“Where is Dan Houston at, at the moment?,” Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt said.
“He’s not the player that Collingwood thought they were going to get; that attacking half-backer that could roll up into the midfield and be that damaging, prodigious kick.
“I don’t know whether he’s there, week one of the finals, at the moment. He’s not playing to a standard … he doesn’t fit into the Collingwood mould. I think they’ll play him, but I don’t know whether he’s in their best 23.
“I’m worried about how he fits into their mould. And we’ve seen this with Lachie Schultz, so maybe it does take time for Dan Houston.”
Riewoldt thinks the gun recruit is struggling to “gel to the style” McRae wants his side to play, suggesting Houston could benefit from getting moved to the wing or in the midfield.
“Dan Houston is a run and gun defender, and at the moment, Collingwood are the long-down-the-line side that generate their speed through pretty straight ball movement,” Riewoldt added.
“I see Dan Houston as a line-breaker, and that’s what we saw at Port Adelaide — a multiple All-Australian. He’s the change-of-direction player that takes it from one side (of the ground) to the other.
“Maybe he needs to go to the wing or on-ball. Maybe he’s that player that can roll next to Nick Daicos. We’ve seen Josh Daicos go in the middle and give them a different look. Maybe it’s time to pull the Dan Houston cord and get him into the middle of the ground to give them that running power and prodigious kicking centre-forward.
“He’s clearly low on confidence at the moment. I think there was a piece of play late (against Brisbane) where just handballed just to get it out of his own hands — and I look at that as someone who should want to get the ball 25 times. Every time there is a Collingwood mark, I would love to see Dan Houston just getting past, handball receive, demanding the footy.
“We’re not seeing that, at the moment. It’s like a ticking time bomb when it gets in his hands.”
Day ruled out for rest of 2025 season | 01:33
Kangaroos legend David King thinks Houston should remain at half-back and that “you start with challenging the player to be better”.
“I don’t see him playing anywhere else. He’s a half-backer. They know what they’ve bought, they just need to challenge him to be better, and get involved more. I think he waits for the game to come to him,” King said.
“He’s had a poor season. You’re there to do more than just kick the ball out. That’s not really a high-level function. I’d like to see him get his speed up and going, I’d love to see his GPS. Is he doing the kilometres in game that are going to bring 25 touches?”
A CONTENTIOUS RULE MIGHT’VE QUIETLY BEEN ‘REDEFINED’… KEY BACKS ARE NOW ‘ON NOTICE’
Gerard Healy could hardly believe his eyes on Saturday afternoon.
No pundit has campaigned harder for a stricter interpretation of the push in the back rule than Fox Footy expert Healy.
And during the Melbourne-West Coast clash at Marvel Stadium, the Brownlow Medallist claimed there was a notable and, from his perspective, pleasing change to how the rule was officiated.
The first signs came late in the first quarter when Eagles ruck Bailey Williams was penalised for a push in the back on the goalline against Max Gawn.
“Gerard will be happy with that,” Fox Footy analyst Jordan Lewis promptly quipped while Healy was sitting next to him in the commentary box.
Healy replied: “I’m not sure if it’s coincidence, but ever since Greg Swann has been in the chair, the push in the back would appear to have become a rule again.”
‘Ross is right’ on push in the back rule | 01:50
A quarter later, Demon Bayley Fritsch was awarded a push in the back free kick after receiving contact from Harry Edwards, leading to a Melbourne major.
“Well, I feel for the youngster (Edwards), because he’s been watching footy like the rest of us and they haven’t been paying it for five years,” Healy cheekily said.
Then in the third term, Edwards and teammate Rhett Bazzo were both penalised for back pushes on Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen respectively, with the two Demons players subsequently converting their set-shots.
By this time, all of Lewis, Healy and Saints great Leigh Montagna were convinced there’d been an interpretation tweak.
“All key defenders are on notice now,” Montagna told Fox Footy.
“I don’t mind it, but the interpretation change this late in the season … The players are so used to being able to do that, it’s hard to change habits in-season,” he said
Healy, however, said he was “hopeful it wasn’t an outlier”.
“The reality is for too long, this has been interpreted as ‘holding your ground’: van Rooyen is in the contest then out of the contest because of the push,” he said.
“But if you take the front spot, you’re entitled for protection.”
Healy, 24 hours later, was on deck for Fox Footy’s broadcast of the St Kilda-North Melbourne clash at Marvel Stadium, declaring that it “looked like the push in the back had been redefined and brought back a dozen years” on Saturday.
The former Swans and Demons star then asked Saints coach Ross Lyon whether he’d experienced similar frustrations with the rule in recent times.
Lyon told Fox Footy: “I’ve been struggling to get my head around the rule and I was a slow mover to it.
“We played GWS Gather Round and we got monstered. Our forwards just … and I was like ‘they’re in the back’. But ‘no you can shove as hard as you want in the back – as long as it’s low – and you mark or spoil the ball’. I’m not sure it’s advantageous and encourages people to play in front and attack the ball.”
Ross jokes about Saints fans’ NAS signs | 09:15
Lyon’s claim caught Healy somewhat off-guard, but said the premise of his point was correct.
“I’d have to double check with what Ross is saying because you’re not allowed to push, bump or block in a marking contest – unless you get back to the ball – but you’re not allowed to push in the back full stop,” Healy said. “I’m not sure where or how Ross has got that information, but we will be clarifying.
“What I do know is that Ross is right: There’s no point playing in front at the present time – or there hasn’t been until this weekend – because you just get shoved out. Yet on Saturday, it was like it was a different rule – and it was the right rule. It was if you play in front you get protection from the push in the back.
“Whether Greg Swann has had a say, I don’t know. But something changed (on Saturday) and the whole world was there to see it. It was in Sydney again (on Saturday) night and it filtered through pretty quickly as there was no incidents in the Collingwood-Brisbane game.
“Let’s hope that’s the way it’s going to be interpreted, get back to hands in the back and get back to … the bloke who dares play in front, give him the reward.”
‘CULTURE OVER EVERYTHING’: BLITZ THAT SUMS UP NICKS’ PLAN FOR CROWS RISE
The art of coaching, hey?
Last round, Adam Kingsley delivered an almighty half-time spray to Giants players. It led to a bonkers nine-goal third-quarter blitz against Sydney and a 79-point turnaround.
On Friday night, after his Crows had conceded the first five goals of their match against Hawthorn, Matthew Nicks delivered anything but a spray. Instead, he calmly gathered the troops and took the opportunity to, in the Adelaide coach’s own words, “eyeball each other and take a deep breath” without flare.
The result? A breathtaking second quarter by the Crows, who slammed on 6.6 while keeping Hawthorn scoreless. Adelaide would then see enough another Hawthorn surge in the second half to run out 14-point winners, putting the club in an excellent spot to finish inside the top two.
Down 26… No Problem for Crows | 03:06
“People have spoken glowingly about Adam Kingsley delivering a spray that brought GWS back. There are different ways to do it,” Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall told Fox Footy.
“This is just the other end of the spectrum, a bit of calmness saying: ‘Guys hang on, we’re not switched on, we haven’t done the things that have made us a good team. Let’s get back to doing what we know works.’ They did that in the second term and got back on top.”
Nicks joked to Fox Footy post-game he was “nice and calm” in the coaches box during the first quarter. In reality, he would’ve loved to have called a timeout.
“We were hanging in until quarter-time and we were playing against a very good side who, if you give them momentum and energy, they’re as good as any,” Nicks said post-match.
“We were just screaming out for that quarter-time break, more so to come together and eyeball each other and take a deep breath.”
Skipper Jordan Dawson – who was instrumental in the Crows flipping the script in the second quarter, lauded his coach’s composure.
“We haven’t had too many quarters like that this year. He was really calm, really measured, just ‘back to our process, keep trusting each other in our roles’ — which we’ve been doing awesome the whole year, but we went away from that and we got a little bit too sucked into the contest,” Dawson told Fox Footy.
“Unbelievable to turn it around.”
Dawson also pointed to “the maturity of the group” being key to the Crows’ surge.
Nicks hails maturity in finals atmos | 10:46
That maturity has been orchestrated by Nicks, who’s “built relationships and values culture over everything”, according to Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto.
Nicks believes “getting the right people to our footy club is one of our strengths at this club”.
“Back in 2020 when we won the wooden spoon – and it was challenging for everyone – we said ‘just give us time, because we want to get this right’. Then we get the right people around,” he said.
“Real high-end characters like Jordan Dawson … bring in Murray Davis, have Michael Godden – superstar of South Australian footy – in amongst our group, bring in the players we have like (James) Peatling and (Isaac) Cumming, (Alex) Neal-Bullen.
“You can just look at them in a break and just know ‘we can turn this around’. It’s never guaranteed, but we did it tonight.”
The patience has paid off.
Nicks in his first three seasons at the club led the Crows to just 18 wins from 60 games. This year, with three home and away rounds left, they’ve notched 15 wins and are well placed to earn a home qualifying final.
It’s clear the Crows haven’t lost belief in Nicks – and vice versa.
“People get frustrated, supporters get impatient … but it takes a long time to turn around things,” Dunstall said. “When you’re down at the wrong end of the table, to then get yourself in a position to win flags – you don’t do that overnight, you don’t do it in 12 months.
“They worked hard to build a squad, to build a fitness in that squad to develop the gameplan that they think stands in them in good stead. Now we’re finding it’s easily repeatable, it works and they’re getting confidence and belief in each other and what they’re doing. Now they find themselves at the top of the table.
“This is a team and club that appears to have, on-field at least, very few weaknesses from what we’re seeing. Strong in defence, strong in attack and we know there’s class in the midfield and depth they can rotate through there to great effect.”
Dunstall declared there’s “every reason to think they (the Crows) can go deep into September”.
“They’re growing in confidence and belief – and that’s important, because from where they’ve come from they haven’t had this belief before,” he said.
“But they’ve committed to the path, they’re seeing the fruits of the labour and it pays handsome dividends. They’ve got great confidence when you look around on each line, they think ‘gee there are players here that can get us where we need to go’.”
Crows win 6th straight in Hawks thriller | 03:10
20YO NOW A ‘BONA FIDE STAR’ AS SCARY TRADE REALITY LOOMS
Do the Lions really need Oscar Allen?
It’s the question many Brisbane fans would’ve been asking in the wake of second-year forward Logan Morris’ latest eye-catching display.
Morris, 20, on Saturday night delivered in a mega match-up, booting a career-high 6.0 from 14 disposals and six marks in the Lions’ mighty win over Collingwood at the MCG. It took his season tally to 40.14 from 19 games.
Arguably the most impressive aspect of Morris’ 2025 campaign has been the fact that his four best performances in front of goal have all come against finals contenders. Before booting six straight majors against Collingwood, he also booted 5.1 against Geelong, 5.1 against the Giants and 4.0 against the Western Bulldogs.
Remember, the Lions picked this guy up at Pick 31 two years ago.
“This man is starting to become a bona fide star of the game,” triple premiership Tiger Jack Riewoldt told Fox Footy. “His ability to find space, aerially I don’t think anyone in the competition is as good as him when the ball goes nice and high.”
Lions coach Chris Fagan was particularly thrilled with Morris’ game against Collingwood seven days after a poor 0.1 from two touches against Gold Coast.
“He’s an outstanding young player,” Fagan told Fox Footy.
“He was really disappointed with his performance last week. He was really harsh on himself in his own review.
“Like all good players do, they find a way to respond and he stood up tonight. He’s an amazing player for a bloke of his age. To do what he’s done, he was massive for us.”
Fagan chuffed after huge win over Pie | 11:04
The Lions all season have been heavily linked to West Coast captain Allen, who’s now widely expected to walk to the Lions as a restricted free agent.
Morris’ brilliant start to his career will almost certainly not deter the Lions from signing Allen. Instead, it’ll give Brisbane an even more dynamic edge forward of centre – a scary thought considering the Lions are in a great position to go back-to-back this year,
“Everything’s been made of Joe Daniher, who’s not there this year. We’ve been looking for Sam Day, we’ve been looking at the two-ruck situation, we saw Henry Smith tonight – the shoes are starting to be filled by Logan Morris,” Riewoldt said.
The Lions now seemed destined for a top-four finish – one year after their ascension to premiers. The key theme of their 2024 campaign was if you’re skating on thin ice, you may as well dance on it.
Asked what this year’s theme was, Fagan told Fox Footy: “It varies different weeks, but one we’ve had lately is a bit of ‘run towards the fire’. You know, teams are coming at us because we won the premiership, well we’ll run straight back at them.
“I love the way we attacked the game tonight, we played some bold footy. It can be an intimidating environment here at the MCG when you’re playing Collingwood and there’s about 70,000 of their fans making a big noise. I thought we were brave tonight … Every time they came at us, we were able to respond.
“They’re an amazing group of players … To carry themselves the way that they have this year throughout the season with pressure being on them because we’re the premiership team last year, I reckon we’ve shown great resilience to be honest.
“Hopefully we can keep it going, wins like tonight really boost the confidence and make you believe you can do anything.”