Reaction Time: Your club’s Urgency Index after round 21

WELCOME to Reaction Time.

Early each week, AFL.com.au's Riley Beveridge will discuss the topic that deserves a reaction at your club and grade it on the 'Urgency Index'.

It could be anything from an issue that's got a team pondering drastic change, or the form of an underrated star that requires immediate recognition.

The gradings, which relate specifically to the topics, are as follows:

Panic Stations.

Simmering.

Watch This Space.

Green Shoots.

Flying.

In this week's Reaction Time we look at Carlton's superstar in the making, Brisbane's backline woes, North Melbourne's kicking calamity, the outside All-Australian chance at Geelong, another recruiting masterclass at Melbourne, and the caretaker curse that's struck West Coast in a different way.

Sunday night might have otherwise seemed rather innocuous, but it could prove hugely important for Adelaide's season. The Crows had got Darcy Fogarty firing before his recent suspension, they'd worked Taylor Walker into form, but finding a key to unlocking Riley Thilthorpe's campaign still loomed large. Well, he kicked five goals and also finished with 10 marks, six contested marks and seven marks inside 50 against Essendon.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

The Lions are getting mauled. Saturday night was the eighth time this season Brisbane has conceded a score of 100-plus, having only done it eight times in its previous 58 games. Although it wasn't as emphatic, the loss to Carlton was eerily similar to the way Chris Fagan's side fell at the hands of Greater Western Sydney earlier this year. Back then, the Lions conceded 26.10 (166) in a 78-point defeat. On the weekend, it leaked 24.10 (154) in a 76-point loss. It'll take a fair whack of work to turn this around before September.

Urgency Index: Simmering.

Jagga, Jagga, Jagga. Barring any unforeseen events, Smith had long ago sewn up the Telstra AFL Rising Star race. Now he's just making sure of it. The youngster has been Carlton's third highest rated player during its 9-2 streak and ran rampant against the premier on Saturday night with 29 disposals and two goals. Barring mature-age recruits, Champion Data has Smith's 129 score involvements across his first 20 AFL games as the joint-most on record alongside Geelong champion Joel Selwood. A superstar in the making.

Urgency Index: Flying.

Collingwood has its own wildcard in the wildcard race. Dan McStay is quietly having a career-best season. His 38 goals are already well past his previous best of 28, delivered for Brisbane back in 2021, while he's going through a purple patch late in the year. He kicked another five on Thursday night and is now the highest rated key forward across the last nine weeks. Across the last five, he's a top 10 rated player in the entire competition.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

Keep trying to find the positives, Bomber fans. This week it was Hussien El Achkar. A couple of nice goals, two more goal assists, eight score involvements and four clearances.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

Another nod to the Freo Flash. This week, with the scores level at the main break, the team's ability to outlast any opponent helped the Dockers go on a 43-5 second-half run to soundly beat the Bulldogs. Add that to periods of 44-8 against Melbourne, 39-1 against Richmond, 36-6 against Hawthorn, 39-15 against St Kilda, 42-14 against Geelong, 74-9 against Sydney, 52-8 against Port Adelaide and 72-10 against West Coast. Wow.

Urgency Index: Flying.

Teams can't go the Dempsey Distance this season. Ollie stretches the field like few others, doing it again on Thursday night with 29 disposals and two goals in his role as an attacking winger. Does this late-season flourish put the Geelong gun in the All-Australian mix? He's now had seven games worth 20 disposals and multiple goals this season, while Thursday night's win over Collingwood was the fourth time he's done it from his last five matches.

Urgency Index: Flying.

Crazy to think Gold Coast flew back from Darwin in May with a 7-3 record and sitting inside the top four on the ladder. The Suns haven’t won since and the threat of a 13-game losing streak to end the season looms large with three straight road trips to finish the year.

Urgency Index: Panic Stations.

Weirdest team in the League.

Urgency Index: Watch This Space.

Talk about timing your run. Jarman Impey has been in the All-Australian conversation all year, but across the last month he's put the exclamation mark on his fantastic season. He finished with 30 disposals, nine intercepts and a goal in Saturday's win over North Melbourne, following on from 34 disposals and a goal and then 37 disposals and a goal in the fortnight before. Start sizing him up for the first blazer of his career.

Urgency Index: Flying.

Another scalp for Melbourne's recruiting team. Just a couple of months ago, they plucked the 22-year-old Joel Fitzgerald from Williamstown's VFL program after an off-season switch from half-back to the midfield. Now, he's added a dynamic new element to the Demons' mix ahead of their unlikely finals run. Fitzgerald already looks like part of the furniture in Steven King's side and had his best game yet on Sunday with 23 disposals, two goals, two goal assists, 14 contested possessions, seven clearances, six tackles and 11 score involvements. Not bad for the 16th pick in the mid-season rookie draft, hey?

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

When it rains, it pours and it's pouring at North Melbourne right now. Take goalkicking for example. Up until round 11, Alastair Clarkson's side was the most accurate team in front of goal in the competition at 53.5 per cent and the second-most accurate set-shot side in the League at 68.2 per cent. Since then, the Kangas rank second-last for accuracy in front of goal at 40.6 per cent and dead last for set-shot accuracy at 44.1 per cent. Bizarre.

Urgency Index: Panic Stations.

Another 'what if?' for Port Adelaide in a season full of them. Bottom four, with a 6-14 record, and yet the Power still have a better percentage than the eighth-placed Bulldogs.

Urgency Index: Simmering.

Happy for Tim Taranto, who has worked his backside off in a difficult season for Richmond. Quietly having one of the better campaigns of his career and got his rewards with 32 disposals, a goal, two goal assists, 11 clearances, nine tackles and nine score involvements in Sunday's win over West Coast. The kids impressed, but it's been Taranto leading the way all year for the Tigers. Surely heading for a fourth best and fairest.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

It's straight 10s for St Kilda. Saturday's defeat saw the Saints drop out of the top 10, saw their record against top 10 teams drop to 0-10, but now means this Sunday night's blockbuster comes against a Carlton side that's stolen their place in the 10. Talk about a final in August. Simply can't afford to fall two games from a wildcard place.

Urgency Index: Simmering.

Don't be fooled by scratchy Sydney. This is a side that's starting to get its midfield balance right, a scary prospect ahead of September. Going to be hard to stop the trio of Errol Gulden (34 disposals, one goal), Chad Warner (25 disposals, two goals) and Isaac Heeney (22 disposals, two goals). They also combined for 20 clearances on Saturday and helped the Swans finish +7 for clearance, +14 for contested footy and +28 for stoppage scores.

Urgency Index: Green Shoots.

Andrew McQualter is being hit by the 'Curse of the Caretaker'. Having done a pretty good job as an interim coach at Richmond back in 2023, now 'Mini' can't beat the Tigers. He's 0-4 against his former side since taking over at West Coast, with Sunday's defeat probably stinging the most out of all of them. The Eagles were 3.17 (35) in front of goal at one stage and ultimately ended up kicking 9.19 (73) despite an expected score of 96.6 points.

Urgency Index: Panic Stations.

Need to find more avenues to goal. The Dogs rank 14th for scores this year, while their average of 81.7 points per game is well below the three teams above them on the ladder in Geelong (99 points per game), Melbourne (98.5) and Brisbane (106). Only five goals on Friday night, including one in a sloppy second-half performance against Fremantle.

Urgency Index: Simmering.

FOOTY ASIDE …

You would not want to be a buying club in this European football market this off-season. Already, we've seen fees in excess of £100 million paid for Morgan Rogers to head to Chelsea and Elliot Anderson to move to Manchester City, while Tottenham has lashed more than £80 million each on Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes. Arsenal is readying a bid around the £90 million mark for Bruno Guimaraes, while Liverpool and City are doing likewise for Bradley Barcola and Ayyoub Bouaddi respectively. While that's the new norm, it also feels like a transfer window where it's going to be hard to find real value.

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