Rohan Connolly's Last Word on round six

Rohan Connolly is blogging here live from 12pm on Monday. Leave a comment now or join the conversation.

The Miss

Peter ‘‘Percy’’ Jones move over. After close to 40 years, you might have to share the ‘‘worst miss ever’’ throne. Jones could at least argue he was cramped for space that infamous day at Moorabbin in 1979 when, standing on the goal line, he managed to kick the post instead of the ball. St Kilda’s Josh Bruce hasn’t got that fall back, though, after running into an open goal in Launceston on Saturday and from three metres and under no pressure managing to hit the post. With a 10-goal lead up by then late in the final term, even the Saints probably managed a chuckle. Which probably won’t be what Bruce does when he watches himself on blooper tapes 20 years from now.

The Mess

Deliberate out of bounds. It's all over the shop right now. And clearly a departure from what we were told was the intent of any crackdown. What we have instead is players pinged looking for territory and fully intending to keep the ball in play. There were several examples on Friday night in Canberra, but the one which jarred this observer the most came in Launceston when Luke Hodge, squeezed on his right foot, let one go on the left still within the corridor, gaining 40-plus metres, and still being penalised. If the umpires intend to keep calling them this harshly, let's at least dispense with the pretence and call it what it has essentially become, a "last touch" rule.

The Maestro

Is it really only four weeks ago curtains were being drawn for the career of Gary Ablett? It's been a pretty emphatic response since that shocker against GWS in which he finished with only 16 touches. Since then the possession tallies have read 36, 34, 33 and the piece de resistance, a swag of 45 for Gold Coast against North Melbourne on Saturday night. Nearly 30 of those were contested balls, and Ablett's 18 clearances was among the highest handful of tallies ever recorded. Suns insiders said after the GWS game that an immediate Ablett response was a given. The answer to the query about his hunger would come in the weeks, not just week, which followed. Clearly, the little master still does have an appetite.

The Mischief

In just over 100 games, Toby Greene, as well as proving he's a sensational small forward, has put together a pretty lengthy rap sheet. Friday night's report for striking Caleb Daniel was the 11th time he's been charged. Yet for all those misdemeanours, he's been fined on eight occasions and suspended only twice, for one game each time. You suspect the hat-trick is coming, though, Friday night's incident his third in just six games this season, plus a headbutt last week which was let go. It's not a good look, unnecessary, and potentially costly for GWS. Hopefully, he'll learn that you can play close to the edge without going over it as regularly as Greene has in 2017