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AFTER the match review panel's findings earlier in the day, host Gerard Whateley and Mark Robinson gave their analysis on Sydney's Dan Hannebery being cleared.
Both were surprised.
"My gut feel is that he would be suspended only because of the rules," Gerard said.
"This is making forceful contact to an opponent from front on when an opponent has his head over the ball which is a reportable offence, so that's what I deferred to right across the weekend
Robbo believed Hannebery did have an alternative.
STEVIE J'S BROWNLOW HOPES LOOK BLOWN
"I just can't believe that people say 'well what alternative did he have?'
"I don't like them stopping and I know we don't like them doing that but he could have pulled up ... I didn't like it when I saw it."
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STEVE Johnson's head-butting charge on Ryan Crowley was shown and Robbo didn't hold back.
"This is the biggest joke I have seen this year," he said.
"Are you telling me this is worth missing one game of football?
"I enjoyed that contest (between Johnson and Crowley on the night) so much, because they're going each other ... for the MRP to come out and say you're missing a game of football for that, that is not on."
THE under-fire Tigers didn't take long to be brought up and the lads agreed Richmond simply aren't good enough.
WE BELIEVE IN OUR DIRECTION: TIGERS BOSS
Robbo suggested the Tigers needed to strip the game plan right back and "pick a theme" for the week.
"The stunning bit is the fall," he said.
"If you think we're having a big discussion on Richmond this week, if they get beaten by GWS next week, there will be carnage."
Gerard agreed with Robbo but said "you have to know where you are", and the Tigers may have drastically over-estimated their place on the premiership clock.
"I'm partially amazed ... (but) to me it looks real," Gerard said.
"I think this is probably a real reflection of where it is ... they're a poor team.
"They thought they were top-four material, and they're a long way from that."
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THE coaches, Melbourne's Paul Roos and Essendon's Mark Thompson, joined the panel and after a short highlights reel of Gary Ablett's weekend exploits, Gerard asked them about the 30-year-old's standing in the game.
Roos said he believed he was the best player he had seen and he was amazed by the Gold Coast skipper's consistency.
"We talked about him today (with the coaching group), and we talked about 'Is he an eight-goal player? Is he a 10-goal player?' It makes so much difference to the team.
"I'm taking nothing away from the other guys but he's an absolutely extraordinary player."
Thompson said Gazza's ability to continue performing at his level since joining the Suns had surprised him.
"I didn't think he could be playing as well in a poor(er) side," Thompson said.
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ROBBO asked Mark Thompson how the Bombers were tracking, and whether the continuing ASADA investigation was taking its toll on his men and whether he asked them if it was.
"I think we deal with it from a club point of view but I don't deal with it, it's not my job to deal with it," Thompson said.
"I just talk to them about football."
The Bombers coach said he didn't want to talk about the saga and was confident his team, 4-5 after nine rounds, could turn its form around.
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ON THE COUCH — FOX FOOTY
THE Gazza love-in continued on On The Couch, with Mike Sheahan — along with fellow panellists Gerard Healy and Jason Dunstall — marvelling at the Suns skipper.
Mike said he now rated Ablett alongside the player he believes the greatest to have played the game.
"I have him the equal of Wayne Carey," Mike said.
"Of all the great players that I've seen over the journey and Matthews has been one and Carey and Voss of their day, no-one has been clearly superior to the rest of the field like this bloke."
Jason agreed, saying Ablett did it every single week.
Stats show that in his 69 matches in a Suns jumper, Ablett has collected fewer than 20 disposals just twice.
THE THREE discuss the Dan Hannebery bump and Gerard thinks while still a "grey area", the right outcome was reached.
"I think at one stage both players had their eyes on the ball and one decides to use poor technique and one decides to use the correct technique and sadly we're in a position where if somebody elects to use poor technique we may have a savage injury.
"But I don't think Dan Hannebery can be held responsible for that ... The rule is in to stop blokes deliberately bumping blokes in the head," Gerard said.
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ATTENTION soon turned to Richmond and the panel agreed things have gone horribly wrong for the Tigers.
"I don't think anyone can understand what's gone wrong with this footy team," Mike said.
The panel says there was a boldness about the Tigers of 2013, but something has gone wrong and coach Damien Hardwick and the footy world doesn't know what.
"Maybe 2013 gave them a false sense of security about where they were and how good they were," Jason said.
ROBBO: TIME FOR HARDWICK TO GET RUTHLESS
Stats show the Tigers have dropped right off in every area.
Mike wondered if the Tigers were crippled by fear in matches, while Gerard said he believed the coach will stand by his players this week ahead of the clash with GWS.
"I get the feeling he (Hardwick) is giving them one more chance," Gerard said.
Jason thinks that would be the wrong move.
"To give them one more chance against a team languishing at the bottom, to me that doesn't achieve anything," Jason said.
Mike says Melbourne players want to impress coach Paul Roos. Picture: Alex Coppel Source: News Corp Australia
MELBOURNE won praise for its rejuvenation, with Jason saying he's pleased Jack Watts is reaping the rewards of his hard work.
"That last quarter, this is when he stood up (against Richmond) ... he had 10 possessions, kicked a couple of goals," Jason said.
Mike said he believes one man deserves the bulk of the credit for the Dees' upward curve.
"You know why (Melbourne players are improving)? Because of the coach. They want to please Roosy."
Matthew Pavlich had a happy 300th game, but how good were the Dockers? Source: News Corp Australia
THE panel paid tribute to Matthew Pavlich and said Freo's intensity was back.
However Mike was cautious in rating the Dockers' win over Geelong at the weekend.
"As good as Freo were, there are cracks at Geelong," he said.
Gerard, while reminding Mike he had history of going early in writing off the Cats, agreed some big-name Cats struggled at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night.
Gerard said Corey Enright, Jimmy Bartel early in the piece, Harry Taylor and Steve Johnson had all battled against Freo.
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SYDNEY Swans defender Ted Richards was the special guest, and the panel quizzed him on his side's turnaround from early in the season — especially the shock Round 1 loss to GWS.
"There's effort and there's absolute effort," Richards said.
"Unless you produce the absolute effort every week, you can get found out."
Asked his thoughts on teammate Dan Hannebery's clash with Bomber Michael Hurley, Richards said he had mixed thoughts.
"No free kick was paid so I thought it wasn't that bad but when I saw Hurley on the ground I thought maybe it was bad," he said.
"And then we kicked a goal and I saw a couple of replays and thought maybe he might be in a bit of trouble, and certainly the Essendon fans seemed to have a view on it."
SWAN MITCHELL SENDS STATS MEN SILLY
Richards admitted after being dropped in 2010 he contemplated moving to Sweden.
But two years later he was playing on Franklin in a winning grand final side.
Richards admitted he played on pain-killing injections in the 2012 grand final, having jabs in every quarter to get through the game.
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JASON got on his high horse and said AFL umpires were not rewarding the tackler.
A number of clips were showed from weekend matches where players with prior opportunity were not pinged.
BALL! NOPE. IF YOU DON'T MIND UMPIRE
Gerard argued that prior opportunity should also relate to teams and not only individuals.
"Prior opportunity was brought in for the bloke winning the ball, not for the bloke receiving the ball," he said.
Gerard Healy says Nick Riewoldt could have suffered a serious injuryagainst the Suns. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia
THE panel ended the show on a serious note, saying they believed the AFL's match review panel failed in its duty by not citing Gold Coast midfielder Danny Stanley after he slid into the lower leg of St Kilda champ Nick Riewoldt on Sunday.
"That may have ended his (Riewoldt's) career in that collision," Mike said.
"This is not a go at Danny Stanley because he was attacking the footy but there was a rule brought in to eliminate exactly that incident
"Not only was there no free kick, I think the match review panel abdicated its responsibility ... I reckon they should have cited him on a reckless conduct charge."
Gerard agreed, saying Mark Evans needed to write to AFL clubs saying incidents such as the Stanley-Riewoldt clash should not be tolerated.
"It's a free kick yes, but if you're going that recklessly at the ball you can end somebody's career ... stay on your bloody feet."
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FOOTY CLASSIFIED — NINE NETWORK
NOT surprisingly, Richmond was first cab off the rank as the panel tried to address what was wrong at Punt Road.
Matthew Lloyd, Garry Lyon, Craig Hutchison and Caroline Wilson agreed the 16th-placed Tigers were battling.
"They have GWS this week so they're not at rock bottom yet," Lloyd said.
"If they lose that one there'll be big decisions made down at Punt Road."
Wilson questioned the "football direction" of the club, saying Damien Hardwick had lost support — such as key assistant Justin Leppitsch — while football director on the board Tony Free had to be questioned.
Richmond president Peggy O'Neal. Source: News Limited
Hutchison asked if we would hear from Richmond president Peggy O'Neal, while Lloyd went a step further.
"What does Peggy bring to the table as president that makes her a great president, or what can she bring?" he asked.
Wilson highlighted that O'Neal, the first female president in VFL/AFL history, had only been in the job six months.
ESSENDON'S decision to leave Jake Carlisle in the green vest was discussed.
Lyon said he couldn't understand Essendon's decision to leave Carlisle sitting on the bench when Lance Franklin was carving up the Bombers with four first-half goals at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
CARLISLE SAGA TAKES GREEN TURN
Lloyd said he hopes Michael Hurley — who played on Franklin — can develop into an all-time great of the Bombers and wonders if he needs to shed some weight.
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FREMANTLE'S good recent record over the Cats is discussed, with Steve Johnson's report cited.
Ross Lyon's men have beaten Geelong in four of their past five, with a Cat being reported in each of those matches.
The Dockers' good run home is highlighted. Freo, now 5-4, appear headed for an assault on the top four.
Nathan Jones and Jack Watts are firing for the Dees. Source: Getty Images
TALKING FOOTY — 7MATE
MELBOURNE co-captain and fan favourite Nathan Jones was the special guest.
Watts, who booted three goals in the Demons' 17-point win over Richmond, is finally blossoming as a player but Jones believes his club could have better handled the no.1 draft pick's introduction to AFL football.
"From my opinion I don't think it was managed well at all," he said.
"I think one thing Roosy's addressed this year is there's not going to be a saviour or that the young players aren't going to come in with great expectation — they're going to learn their role and play their role ... they'll be ready to play footy without the expectation and pressure of them having to lift the club to where we all want it to get to and I think Wattsy found himself in that position.
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