Melbourne's muscular missile Kozzie Pickett ensures Demons' revival continues

Yahoo

25-05-2025

Kozzie Pickett's dad Kevin is an artist, a sculptor and perhaps incongruously, a stand-up comedian. He also designed the Demons' Indigenous guernsey. His son sculpted the game to his will on Sunday, booting five goals, having a hand in many more and playing a major role in a 53-point trouncing of Sydney.
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The little missile of muscle began to impose himself on the game at the MCG early in the second term – a burst out of a stoppage here, a rundown tackle there. Alan Jeans once said that Gary Ayres was 'a good driver in heavy traffic' and the same could be said of Pickett, albeit in a completely different way. Ayres navigated traffic with minimum fuss, eyes in the back of his head and an imperious air. Pickett is more like a dragster in the way he explodes out of heavy congestion.
In the third term in particular, he scudded in and out of bodies in the middle of the ground. But he inflicted most of his damage further afield. His five goals came in a variety of ways – lurking out the back, spearing from a stoppage, dobbing from long range and an acute angle, and one of those opportunistic snaps while everyone dithers over whether advantage will be paid. Some of his best work didn't even result in goals, including the consummate crumb off the pack at full speed in the final term, which he then dribbled into the post.
When the Dees – rebranded Narrm for the weekend's Sir Doug Nicholls Round – were in their rut earlier in the season, Pickett's absence through suspension was sorely felt. It was obvious in the Fremantle win – one of the best games he's played – just how much he means to this team, and what a point of difference he is.
He had a few high-profile mates on Sunday. When Christian Petracca led the Dees out for his 200th game, he was poked in the face by a little kid with a flag. When he took his first mark, he received a generous round of applause. When he kicked his first goal, they played That's Amore over the loudspeaker. I still get mild PTSD from the song, as I picture Vito cooking for Johnny Cakes in The Sopranos.
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Perracca has had his own trauma to contend with, after he broke four ribs, lacerated his spleen and punctured his lung just under a year ago. But he was excellent on Sunday – adept on both plains of his body and, like Pickett, at full horse-power . He was criticised earlier this year for showing too much emotion, and his explanation this week was a ripper. 'I express emotion. I'm Italian. I wear my heart on my sleeve. The way we talk is with expression and emotion. I feel everything deeply. I was frustrated after a loss, but what competitor isn't?'
Sydney could have done with a bit of that Italian emotion. They were lifeless. There was no spark, no run, no appetite for risk and not a lot of skill. The same could be said of their last two ventures to the MCG – one on a hazy Sunday against Richmond and the other as favourites on grand final day. They'd occasionally try and pick off the challenging kick through the middle of the ground, but the Dees had cordoned it off with red and blue witches hats.
'It'll turn,' coach Simon Goodwin said following the Essendon loss in Gather Round. It was a hard sell at that precise moment but he's since been proved right. Michael Voss is saying similar things at Carlton. Everything about the Blues' game is laboured right now, and a lot of that labour is in vain. They loom and fade. They're a team that gives the impression – even if it can seem a little forced and constructed – that they're out there to have fun, that they're focussed on lightening the load. And that's fine. But there's an anxiety and a heaviness that creeps into their game when things get tight. Afterwards, the coach speaks with an equanimity that's at odds with how they play, and what we see.
To finish with, it's worth wheeling back to the opening game of the round. Initially, it was marketed around Bailey Smith. Then, as Luke Beveridge stalked the boundary line, he made eye contact with a man whose eyes and opinions are impossible to avoid if you follow this sport. Bevo not a man to cross at the best of times, let alone five minutes before one of the most important games of the season. He was coiled and Kane Cornes was stirring. If you can be bothered – and all credit to you if you can't – look at Cornes' body language – gently edging towards him, just being mildly provocative enough, the posture of a man saying 'aren't I entitled to a hello?'
It's a shame, because it detracted from what was a crackerjack of a game. Sometimes we give too much credit to high scoring contests, and indeed to the high scoring eras of the game, but this showcased some of the best of the sport. As well as the Bulldogs played, and as unlucky as they were, they still have their flaws, especially in close games. Somehow, they have the same number of wins as Essendon, which says a lot about the vagaries of the fixture and the redundancy of the ladder.