Re: AFL Rd 17 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs Richmond
Reply #114 –
Often the movement of one player depends on the form of another, just one player rising or falling can have a cascading effect.
Fans tend to look at the end result and identify it as the cause, but often the cause is something that happened much earlier in the background. An example hypothesis, maybe it was shifts in the form of McGovern, Kemp, Dean and Newman, and maybe Kemp and McGovern improving in F50, is caused by the contribution and eventual integration of Hayward, Florent, Evans and Ainsworth. That ultimately enable McKay to spend more time in the ruck, a cascade of small steps leads to a better overall outcome. I'd assert my hypothesis is much closer to reality than the "Fraser did it!" crew!
It's not lost on me that earlier in the season a lot of fans on here declared Hayward, Ainsworth and Florent a bust, many of the same critics are now Fraser boosters. Fans that cited poor disposal, bad decision making, errors, etc., etc., etc. as the reason for a bust. But it was obvious to anyone watching they were all winning plenty of footy, doing so surrounded by what at AFL standard was effectively a crew of strangers, a new team! Halfway through the season, it's all changed, and apparently "Fraser did it!"
It's not the single big miracle move that fans cling to, they see that after the fact, it's a bunch of small incremental changes over weeks that leads to the ultimate outcome.