This player was busted meeting a rival coach. Now he has to show he’s worth the hype

If you are commencing your venture into the weekend’s football coverage here, you shouldn’t. This is coverage of football as we know it, not as the rest of the world knows it. Go back and read every word about the Socceroos and come back to us.

We’ve got you now? OK, this is a column about a competition that decides, like the ridiculous FIFA money gougers who introduced utterly unnecessary hydration breaks to its World Cup, to have a series of similarly unnecessary byes, just to take the wind out of the season. Hence, another almost-round we have just had.

Among the games that were played, cast back to Friday night when a side dressed as umpires (in white) took on a side dressed as, and playing at times like, witches’ hats. Geelong-Gold Coast. Gold Coast could not buy a goal, kicking 8.

12. Bailey Humphrey was on the ground for 80 per cent of the match and had nine touches, took one mark, laid one tackle, had no clearances and didn’t kick a goal. The Suns had 47 inside-50s; he was not starved of opportunities.

All year the Suns have spluttered as a forward set-up and midfield. And Humphrey, a powerful and dynamic player, nominally plays both. This year it’s seemed he barely plays either.

He has kicked eight goals in 10 matches and gets one clearance a match. Last trade period Humphrey ignored the fact he was in a long-term contract and toyed with asking to go to Hawthorn. Healso had a secret rendezvous with new Melbourne coach Steven King …

at The Tan. Very discreet. He can be forgiven for contemplating leaving while in contract; Zach Merrett did the same thing.

And he was the captain of a club. Both were in multi-year contracts - Humphrey’s goes until the end of 2028, Merrett’s until the end of next season. They both were courted by Hawthorn.

Carlton, as well as Melbourne, were interested to talk to Humphrey. The difference between Humphrey and Merrett is that Merrett had proven he was a reliable, consistent, elite player. Humphrey has not.

Humphrey, by the long-term contract he has already been given, and by the thirsty pursuit of clubs to recruit him, is behaving like a player who thinks he has made it, not one who is making his way. So far, he has had a career of moments of brilliance but not games. He hints at what he might be, not what he is.

Yes, he is a young player, taken at pick six in the COVID-affected draft of 2022. But compare his career to that of his contemporaries. Josh Rachelle was taken with the same pick in the national draft a year earlier by Adelaide.

He has played just 10 games more than Humphrey in a similar role, almost exclusively as a half forward with ambitions to become an occasional midfielder. Their stats are fairly similar, though Rachelle has had about double the coaches votes (60 to 36) across his 83 games. Critically, he has kicked double the number of goals - 119 to 59.

That is the impact Humphrey should be having. The more pertinent comparison for Hawthorn is with their own player, Nick Watson, taken at pick five the year after Humphrey. Watson has played 56 games to Humphrey’s 73, and he has kicked 94 goals.

Humphrey has been an adequate and promising forward but has not proven himself as a midfielder yet. This is in a team that has needed that versatility and craved a disruptor. This is a team that began the year among the few premiership fancies and after round one, was the outright premiership favourite.

They are now in danger of not making the top 10. The Suns have a midfield that has added Christian Petracca, who has had an excellent season, and yet they have regressed. Matt Rowell has not been the same since his injury in the State of Origin game, Noah Anderson is trying to do everything himself, Jarrod Witts has been litigated out of a position.

The Suns have needed someone to inject something into their midfield. Humphrey, anyone? So if he remains predominantly a forward then what is his value to a Hawthorn side with Watson, Jack Ginnivan, Dylan Moore and Connor McDonald?

He is a different type of player to them because he is powerful and can potentially be a very good multi-positional player. But that is again his potential, not his performance. The fit with Melbourne is logical, and it is more likely that they come back hard this off-season with a trade hand potentially able to get a deal done.

The fit for Carlton is obvious but the way of securing him in a trade less so given the need for draft picks for Cody Walker. Humphrey appears a highly desirable trade target for Victorian clubs because he was taken early in the draft, has components to his game that are appealing and has made himself potentially available by flirting with a move. Whether he is available or not given he is contracted for two more years is another matter.

Were Gold Coast to get sick of the circus and figure he is more highly rated outside the club than his performances warrant, and were open to a trade, it is hard to see how Hawthorn could be back in the market if they are also to once mo