Bont Brilliance, Wildcard Madness & Will Day’s Flag Impact | Armchair Experts Ep 21

This week on Armchair Experts Ep 21, Cam Luke and Adam Cooney are back to unpack a huge weekend of AFL storylines. The boys start with Marcus Bontempelli’s brilliant performance against St Kilda, Cooney’s Brownlow votes from the Saints v Bulldogs game, and whether Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera’s massive disposal game was more quality or quantity. There’s also a bigger debate around modern footy numbers, with Nick Daicos, Luke Jackson, Will Day, Murphy Reid, Josh Rachele, Jordan Dawson and others showing why impact still matters more than raw touches. Cam and Cooney then look at the wildcard race, with Carlton, Collingwood and North Melbourne all in the mix, and why Andrew Dillon and the AFL would be thrilled if the Blues and Pies are fighting for a finals spot late in the season. The boys also run through every major storyline from the round, including Luke Jackson’s Fremantle dominance, Geelong’s confidence after facing Freo, Will Day’s importance to Hawthorn, Gold Coast’s worrying slide, Adelaide becoming dangerous, GWS facing major list questions, North Melbourne sitting inside the top 10, St Kilda’s injury crisis, and the Bulldogs’ gritty form. Plus, there’s Love it or Shove it on Josh Fraser’s Carlton coaching case, Dean Solomon and Essendon’s coaching situation, Alex Pearce as a potential All-Australian captain, Jack Gunston’s importance to Hawthorn, and why fringe AFL players should learn from Ed Allan and become taggers. As always, it’s honest, opinion-driven AFL chat with no fluff. Timecodes 00:00 Pre-show chat 00:57 Intro 01:14 Cooney’s Bontempelli category 02:24 Bont, NAS and Cooney’s Brownlow votes 03:02 Why NAS impressed Cooney 04:28 Quality over quantity in modern footy 05:20 Are big disposal numbers overrated? 06:28 Nick Daicos v NAS impact 07:22 Bont’s one-handed pickup 07:46 Bont in the ruck 08:44 Andrew Dillon’s wildcard dream 09:24 Carlton, Collingwood and wildcard momentum 10:16 North Melbourne’s romantic wildcard story 11:00 Collingwood’s run home 11:24 Could Blues v Pies decide wildcard? 12:20 Every game had a story 12:24 Luke Jackson’s Freo dominance 12:32 Geelong’s Freo confidence 12:40 Will Day’s Hawthorn impact 12:44 Are the Suns stuffed? 12:48 Adelaide becoming dangerous 12:52 Melbourne away from the MCG 12:56 GWS future questions 13:08 Josh Fraser story grows 13:16 Port Adelaide injury concerns 13:20 North are in the 10 13:28 St Kilda injuries and NAS 13:36 Bulldogs’ gritty win 13:48 Why Will Day is the biggest story 14:28 Will Day and the Chris Judd comparison 15:08 Can Will Day win a Brownlow? 15:24 Hawthorn’s midfield with Will Day 16:12 Can Freo win without Hayden Young? 16:28 Hawthorn need Will Day and Jack Gunston 16:44 Selling the dream to star players 17:00 NAS, Tom Green, Lachie Ash and Ben King contracts 18:20 Should NAS stay at St Kilda? 19:28 St Kilda’s injury crisis 20:20 Lachie Neale and St Kilda’s pitch 21:36 Love it or Shove it 21:40 Should Carlton just offer Josh Fraser the job? 22:24 Does the coaching process matter? 24:56 Essendon and Dean Solomon 26:24 Alex Pearce All-Australian captain? 28:00 Can Hawthorn make the Grand Final without Jack Gunston? 29:20 Should fringe players learn to tag? 30:04 Ed Allan’s new role at Collingwood 31:28 Tomorrow’s show tease 31:45 Wrap up