A two-word tweet sent a clear message after Essendon’s season hit an all-time low.
Plus an inspired Blues young gun’s nod to Michael Voss, and more, in Foxfooty.com.au’s Round 10 Talking Points!
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GREAT’S GRIM TWO-WORD TIP… BUT ‘WORST POSSIBLE HAND’ ONLY ‘CONFUSES’ DONS PICTURE
It was the two-word tweet that, for some, seemed premature.
For others, it felt apt.
“The game,” declared dual premiership Kangaroo and Fox Footy commentator David King on X.
King’s tweet, which came midway through the final quarter of Richmond’s victory over Essendon, was undoubtedly a suggestion this was “the game” that might’ve metaphorically ended Brad Scott’s tenure as Bombers coach.
Yet, as Melbourne legend Garry Lyon declared on Fox Footy post-game, it’s “a hard one to unpack”.
Essendon’s season hit an all-time low on Friday night, suffering multiple injuries in a devastating three-goal defeat to Richmond in the Dreamtime at the ‘G clash.
Sam Durham (concussion), Matt Guelfi (hamstring), Andy McGrath (jaw) and Archer May (rib) all finished the game either on the bench or, in McGrath’s case, in hospital, while Jye Caldwell (ankle) played almost the entire game on one leg in the forward line.
“We’re not shying away from the challenges we have in front of us,” Scott told reporters post-game. “But it’s hard tonight to not feel this sense of déjà vu of the last 18 months, of just getting guys on the park, to build something and show improvement, when you’re just throwing guys from half-back to half-forward to the goalsquare to on-ball – to just patch it together.
“We lost control of the game in the second quarter a bit when we were just a mess, we literally had guys coming off and we had to get control back in the game.”
I’d describe us as a dormant superpower | 07:22
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Scott added it was “hard to separate the performance from the circumstances”.
But the AFL, brutally, is a win-loss industry.
The loss meant the Bombers fell to the bottom of the AFL ladder as the undermanned Tigers jumped Scott’s side into 17th position on the table with the win. It was the Bombers’ 23rd loss in 24 games — and sixth loss on the trot — in what has been one of their worst starts in club history (1-10).
Western Bulldogs games record-holder Brad Johnson said the Bombers “didn’t have the same fight and vigour that the Tigers did to start the game”.
“Richmond have got the youngest side they’d ever fielded, pretty much, out there and Essendon have got senior players and experienced players – and they didn’t get the W,” Johnson told Fox Footy.
“The Bombers should have been thinking: ‘This is the tick for us. We’ve got the players and we’ve got the senior experience to take care of the side that can barely put players on the park at the moment.’ They let themselves down.
“Ultimately, there’s just not enough there from underneath, from pressure, from that total commitment to change the needle for their footy club at the moment.”
So was this truly “the game”, as King declared, for Scott?
Fox Footy commentator Gerard Whateley suggested the “terms of engagement around Essendon do change a bit”.
“You can’t just simply ignore an injury toll like this and still fit them up,” Whateley told Fox Footy.
“You can regard it as an alibi, or you can regard it as reality. This is the worst possible hand they’ve been dealt and that does have to be factored in.”
CODE Sports reporter Jon Ralph said moving Scott on now had little benefit.
“I think all of us would say that at some stage at the end of the season, they (the Bombers) will have to decide: ‘Do we want to pay him out $1 million? Is there someone else that is better?’” Ralph told Fox Footy.
“I just can’t see why that’s the right decision right now … I’m just not sure who that benefits.
“We think that Zach Merrett’s likely to go, we think that Jordan Ridley will look around. So maybe at some stage, with six weeks to go, you bring in an interim coach – whether it’s Dean Solomon – and that changes things and maybe that can pitch a plan.
“But right now? I don’t see it.”
Still, Ralph said Scott faced a significant short-term challenge, adding all the “diabolic injury toll” does is “confuse the Essendon picture once more”
“The onus is on Brad to actually prove that this rebuild is not flatlining, but there is proof of life at 1-10,” Ralph said.
“It’s going to be really hard to do that with your captain (McGrath) out potentially for as many six weeks, with Sam Durham out at least against West Coast.
“For all the club has talked about in terms of the support for him – the CEO (said) ‘we want him to be our coach next year’, the president (said) we think he is a premiership coach’ – he needs to prove to them that the game plan is up and running, that the defensive methodology is intact.
Lyon said the next six weeks, specifically, would be crucial for Essendon’s senior figures and leaders.
“Tonight doesn’t help. I know there’s mitigating circumstances around it, but it doesn’t help,” Lyon told Fox Footy. “So that’s one cross of the six weeks that we’ve got coming up.
“We know what football clubs are like, we’ve all lived through it enough: Everyone’s supportive until they’re not. And right now, he (Scott) believes that they’ve got the support of his football club – and I’m sure that’s the case, until they decide he hasn’t. Then we know what happens in the end.”
Essendon bombarded with injuries | 01:45
‘You feel for Brad and Essendon’ | 10:40
‘BUILT THESE FOUNDATIONS’: VOSS TRUTH IN BLUES’ ‘HONEYMOON PHASE’
For the second-straight week, Carlton looked like a different, inspired outfit under interim coach Josh Fraser.
In the midst of what’s been dubbed the Fraser “honeymoon phase”, it’ll continue to leave its supporters wondering: ‘Where has this been, and why haven’t we been able to sustain it until now?’
Apparently, the Blues have put second-half fade-outs — which ultimately left Michael Voss’ tenure in peril — behind them, as they’ve now put in back-to-back four-quarter performances.
And long considered a team too dependent on its work at clearance, the Blues flexed a multidimensional profile in their overpowering 34-point win over Yartapuulti on Saturday night.
Carlton notched 17 scores from turnover on Saturday night — its second-best effort in the past 18 months.
That’s significant, because entering Round 11, the Blues ranked 17th in the competition — above only Richmond — for scoring from that source.
“It’s just a different Carlton,” former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said late in the fourth quarter on Fox Footy.
“Port is belting them in clearances, 33-22, but Carlton have scored 6.6 from intercept and 5.3 from stoppage. It’s just a different game that Carlton are playing.”
Blues secure second win under Fraser | 00:55
It’s left pundits and punters alike asking what’s changed since Josh Fraser assumed the reins a fortnight ago.
But when probed on specifically what had changed, or whether there’d been a switch in method, young Blues dynamo Jagga Smith’s mind immediately went to one place.
“I would say that ‘Vossy’ built these foundations,” he told Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live panel.
“We’re getting the wins now through ‘Frase’ (Josh Fraser), but I do really think that ‘Vossy’ built these foundations.
“We’re seeing a bit of the reward come through, but what I think has changed is our ability to play four quarters of footy.
“In the first two months, it just wasn’t there, and even tonight they challenged us a little bit in that third quarter and we were able to stop their momentum a little bit.”
Smith, whose 15 score involvements were the most of any Carlton player in a game this season, added: “Maybe the group’s lightened up a little bit.
“We all loved Vossy, and he was a great mentor and great leader, but sometimes these things happen and you’ve just got to move on. Credit to ‘Frase’ as well, he’s been great.”
Really, not a whole lot has changed at Carlton, in terms of philosophy. Rather, it would seem that, in reality, the way Voss wanted his side to play just didn’t materialise until it was too late.
Carr gives struggling Port a spray | 00:36
It reminds of the Simon Goodwin situation last season, when the Dees looked to have flicked the switch on free-flowing ball movement shortly before he was dismissed.
Being more expansive in possession and punishing off opposition errors were things we saw inconsistently from Carlton under Voss, but have seen for larger periods under Fraser.
“I think this was happening under ‘Vossy’. I think we’re too quick to just move on totally,” dual flag-winner David King told Super Saturday Live.
“The use of angles – okay, there are some different players involved, and you can mount a case on that – but when you see the vision from (Saturday), their hunger to find a lateral target, to switch the ball from one (side) to the other. Everyone says ‘this is modern footy, Vossy wasn’t doing this – Vossy was trying to get this invested into the group.
“Now, for whatever reason, they couldn’t get that – there’s personnel change, which has given a luxury or two … and it’s brought a bit of a freshness to this group.”
Injecting fresh young talent such as Jack Ison and Billy Wilson into the mix certainly helps the cause, but perhaps it simply comes down to psychological release.
“I think that’s right,” King said in response to Jay Clark’s suggestion that it’s a mental effect.
“That is the honeymoon phase they’re enjoying right now.
“So, how much is substance of the new coach, and how much is just the relief, circuit-breaker, the four-to-six-week honeymoon period … is that the plan, or is that just the space between the ears of senior core players under pressure?
“They’ve fallen for this in the past – David Teague did this. So, you’ve got to look really deep as to ‘what is it specifically that’s changed?’ And then come up with your answer.”
LATEST CROWS BLOW ‘SUMS UP WHERE THEY ARE AT’
Reigning minor premiers Adelaide have stalled in season 2026.
The Crows are sitting at 6-5 mid-table off the back of the thrilling loss to Hawthorn on Thursday night.
Again it was the side’s inability to close out games that proved costly.
Darcy Fogarty had the chance to give Adelaide the lead in the dying minutes, but he couldn’t convert his snap.
And when the ball went down the other end, Blake Hardwick made no mistake with his fourth goal. Game over.
The nine-point defeat is now Adelaide’s fourth single-digit loss in 2026 – and it means they have more close losses in less than half of the 2026 season than they did throughout all of 2025.
“That’s been a bit of a story of the year – they needed to take a scalp to frank the form they were going to be a genuine contender,” Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna said.
“Genuine contender we’re talking being a top six team – got to be top six this year if you want to win a flag.
“And if you’re not winning these close games it makes it awfully difficult.
“Maybe just sums up where they are at? They are just a bit below the top teams in the competition this year.”
So far Adelaide has suffered close losses to Western Bulldogs (-6 points), Geelong (-8), Fremantle (-2) and now Hawthorn (-9).
But AFL legend Jason Dunstall believes the results, particularly the tight losses to top-four sides, were promising signs.
“Geelong and Freo in particular are two of the strongest teams in the competition – they are right there in all those games,” he said.
“They are putting themselves in positions to win – it’s just taking that next step to get over the line.
“Given how competitive they are in just about every game they play, they are not going to be too far away.”
‘Need to be careful of my language…’ | 06:58
One area coach Matthew Nicks will need to address is Adelaide’s inability to punish.
Against the Hawks on Thursday night, the Crows were the dominant team in the opening term, with Dunstall even labelling Hawthorn “pathetic” and “crappy”.
But at the first change, Adelaide only held a 12-point lead.
And when the Hawks got their spark through Nick Watson in the second term, they drained seven straight goals in a surge Adelaide couldn’t stop.
Champion Dats statistics showed the Crows managed just 11 points from their defensive half — their eighth-worst return in the last 10 years, excluding 2020 — and just 19 points from turnover — their ninth-worst in the last 10 years.
Adelaide also managed score per inside 50 rate of just 37 per cent – their third-worst return this season.
“They couldn’t score off turnover and couldn’t score out of the back half coming up against a stiffer defence (than last week’s opponent North) and the conditions made it difficult, but they just lacked a bit of potency particularly once (Izak) Rankine went out of the game,” Montagna said.
Adelaide have time to regroup with the bye this week before taking on Geelong, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne in the coming weeks.
Kingy waxes lyrical on Rankine mid move | 00:57
‘NO MALICE WHATSOEVER’: CHAMP DEFENDS EAGLE AFTER FIERY PIES SCENES
Collingwood has confirmed the worst possible news for Jamie Elliott after scans confirmed a season-ending ACL injury.
But Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt has defended West Coast defender Tylar Young for his role in the marking contest that led to the brutal Elliott blow.
The incident in the dying minutes of Collingwood’s win over the Eagles put a dampener on Scott Pendlebury’s record game celebrations.
It led to a fiery all-in scuffle between the two sides as Magpies players took issue with Young’s approach after Elliott soared in the air for a market.
Eagles coach Andrew McQualter defended Young, saying he “did nothing wrong” and questioned why Pies players remonstrated. Meanwhile Collingwood coach Craig McRae said it was “hard” to comment on the incident but noted Elliott was in a “vulnerable” position.
For Riewoldt, there was “no malice whatsoever,” pointing out Young suffered his own ACL injury two years ago.
“Absolutely nothing to see here,” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy.
“Tylar Young did a knee two years ago when he was at the Tigers. And he was in a group of five players that did a knee.
“There is no way there is any malice in that incident whatsoever.
“I think there was a bit of miscommunication, and all of a sudden, wrestles started happening.
“I reckon half the players were in there not even knowing why they were wrestling.
“I can guarantee you there was nothing in that incident.”
Awful moment as Elliot goes down | 01:12
Along with injury setbacks to Darcy Moore (hamstring) and Will Hayes (shoulder), they’re “savage blows” to Collingwood, according to Kangaroos great David King.
It comes after young ruckman Oscar Steene suffered an ACL injury last week in a brutal fortnight for the Pies.
The losses of Elliott and Moore specifically leave huge voids at either end of the ground for McRae’s side, which is sitting right on the edge of finals.
And a forward line that was already struggled to produce winning scores in 2026 is now without its two leading goalkickers from last season in Elliott and Brody Mihocek.
Not to mention the uncertainty surrounding Bobby Hill.
“It’ll look different without Elliott in the forward line,” King added.
“He kicked 60 goals last year and made the All-Australian squad. He’s a loss.”
As much as Collingwood’s jubilant rooms were in full celebration mode for Pendlebury after Saturday’s win, Riewoldt observed the sight of Elliott on crutches was a sobering reality for the black and white.
“(Elliott) was the first player to walk into the rooms post-game, and you just got the sense of flatness, that was really what it felt like,” Riewoldt said.
“Pendlebury was the second player to walk in, he walked up to Jamie Elliott, put his arm around him and gave him a little sort of peck on the forehead.
“There was this moment of realisation that Jamie Elliott has a long road ahead of him in what was a very special day for the footy club.
“Every single player and all the support staff all got around Jamie Elliott. You could sense it was a really disappointing thing on what was a very important day.”