Collingwood has a myriad of issues, and Jordan De Goey remains a puzzling conundrum.

Plus an “underrated” star thrives in Dusty’s absence and Alastair Clarkson finds the answer to his pre-season question.

Catch up on the big stories out of the weekend in foxfooty.com.au’s Round 7 Talking Points.

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DE GOEY IS ‘OVERRATED’ — BUT HOW MUCH OF THAT IS HIS FAULT?

Collingwood has a myriad of issues to sift through over the coming days, but Jordan De Goey’s role and form is one that puzzled several AFL pundits over the weekend.

De Goey returned for Saturday’s clash against Gold Coast after missing the previous week due to a concussion suffered in Round 5 against West Coast – a setback that led to the Pies being fined $20,000 after he and fellow injured teammate Jeremy Howe accessed their phones in the changerooms while the match was still happening.

Like many of his teammates on Saturday, De Goey struggled to have an impact against Gold Coast, spending time both in the middle and up forward to finish with 0.1 from 16 disposals and six clearances.

Triple premiership Blue Mark Maclure was particularly scathing of De Goey’s output as the Suns launched their second-quarter surge on Saturday.

“Is he lazy, De Goey?” Maclure asked on ABC Sport during the second term.

“I think he is. He goes when he wants to go.”

After a scintillating 2018 campaign that saw him kick 48 goals from 21 games, De Goey’s trajectory has dipped. But how much of his downfall is his own doing?

Injuries have played a role, as well as his team’s horrendous inability to hit targets inside 50.

And is De Goey being used in the right way? Widely regarded as Collingwood’s best one-on-one player, De Goey has been involved in very few one-on-one contests this season compared to past years, suggesting his teammates either aren’t kicking to him as much or he’s playing further up the ground than in previous years.

De Goey last year signed a two-year deal, reportedly worth around $750,000 per season, to remain with Collingwood – even though he’d never finished in the top 10 of a Magpies best and fairest count.

Former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon on Sunday said De Goey had struggled to live up to the external hype, which seemingly all pointed to him becoming the next superstar of the AFL.

“I think he‘s always been a bit overrated to be honest,” Lyon told Triple M.

“I see an explosive forward at times who’s a third tall and a bit time midfielder who’s had his moments, but consistency of application … We get contracted for future performance and they saw his potential but he hasn’t got anywhere near it.”

Still, De Goey appears to be Collingwood’s most likely match-winner in the forward line – and the challenge is on coach Nathan Buckley to make the most of one of the club’s greatest assets.

For Collingwood to turn its fortunes around in 2021, it needs De Goey firing – and fast.

THE BRUTAL ANSWER TO CLARKO’S QUESTION

In early February, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson was asked where his side was placed heading into the 2021 season.

By his own admission, he had little idea.

“My biggest challenge now is just trying to read – and I’m sure people in the wider football community are the same – exactly where Hawthorn’s at,” Clarkson told SEN Breakfast.

Seven rounds into the season and Clarkson has his answer: The Hawks are a bottom-three team. Not just now, but likely for the rest of the season, barring a sudden surge.

Hawthorn’s 69-point loss to St Kilda saw it slide to 16th on the ladder with a 2-5 record and the second-worst percentage in the league (75.3).

The Hawks, clearly now mid-rebuild, have garnered little hype so far this season. They’ve been in every game – prior to Saturday night’s loss to the Saints – yet have lost five of seven matches. And if it wasn’t for two mighty second-half comebacks against Essendon (Round 1) and Adelaide (Round 6), the Hawks win-loss ratio mightn’t be as healthy.

The Hawks conceded the first 34 points of Saturday’s match and 35 scoring shots for the entire game. And it’s not the first time they’ve been on the receiving end of goal sprees in 2021.

“Hawthorn was so far off defensively in this game it wasn’t funny,” four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis told Fox Footy.

“That last bit of play – for a St Kilda player to be inside the forward 50 with no Hawthorn player to be around him, it was disappointing.”

Despite winning just two of their first seven games, Lewis said Clarkson was still the right man to rebuild the Hawks.

“Yes is my short answer,” Lewis said on Fox Footy’s Saturday Stretch.

“He is still the best the coach in the league. He certainly needs better players underneath him and no better way to do that than go to the draft. It takes time though. He would certainly be the guy that I’d stay with to lead this team through this rebuild.”

AFL’S MOST UNDERRATED PLAYER COULD BE ‘DUSTIN MARTIN 2.0’

Triple All-Australian Nick Dal Santo believes Richmond’s Shai Bolton is “the most underrated player in the competition”. But his next contract mightn’t be one that reflects a player that’s underrated.

Bolton’s awesome 12-month run of form continued on Friday night with a starring performance against the Bulldogs.

We saw a different aspect to the 22-year-old’s on-field talent on Friday night when he essentially played the ‘striker’ role Dustin Martin usually plays.

With Martin sidelined due to concussion, Bolton thrived in the centre bounce-forward position, booting 3.1 from 22 disposals, 10 inside 50s, seven marks and 529m gained.

“Someone had to stand up in the first half, they (the Tigers) are under pressure, who’s going to be the difference maker, who’s going to be the next Dustin Martin 2.0? There he is, they’ve already got him,” Dal Santo told Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“Shai Bolton is a genuine star and just sitting there waiting in the wings for more of an opportunity and he got that opportunity (on Friday night) and he was superb.

“I just think he’s a beautiful blend of what a lot of clubs would love to have, they don’t have that other clubs.”

Bolton, who was drafted out of South Fremantle, looms as one of the most important signatures for the Tigers’ list management team following his outstanding start to 2021.

Ralph Carr, Bolton’s manager, recently told 3AW his client “loves Richmond” but is in “no rush” to sign a contract extension.

No doubt rival clubs, particularly the two WA-based clubs, will be monitoring the situation closely.

“I reckon if you’re trying to get him out of Richmond, you’re paying him more than 500k or 600k,” Dal Santo said. “That (700k or 800k) is not out of the question because you look at even players in the last couple of years that you think, are they really worth that?”

But former Hawthorn sharpshooter Ben Dixon said Bolton was a player that was in the $500,000 -to $600,000 a year salary bracket.

“He’s not massive overs in money, I just think he adds a pivotal part if you’re in a premiership window,” Dixon told First Crack.

“He’s playing a role where you’re underestimating because of what he does. You can get lost with the Cotchin’s of the world and the Dusty’s of the world, but he’s a line-breaker, he’s an excitement machine and he can be a match-winner.”

MUMFORD IS GIANTS’ ‘NO. 1 RUCK OPTION’

Many would’ve questioned the Giants’ decision to keep Shane Mumford on their list for 2021.

But the veteran has undoubtedly played a massive part in the Giants’ quick form reversal, with assistant coach Steve Johnson declaring Mumford remains the club’s “No. 1 ruck option”.

If you were unconvinced about Mumford’s influence, here are the numbers after seven rounds …

Giants record without Shane Mumford in 2021: 0-4

Giants record with Shane Mumford in 2021: 3-0

The 34-year-old, who’s recorded over 100 Champion Data ranking points in all three games he’s played so far this season, continues to defy his doubters, providing ample energy at the contest and an edge that few players, let alone ruckmen, can bring in a game.

When Mumford hasn’t played, Matt Flynn has led the Giants’ ruck division. And while his output has been promising – his Round 1 debut against St Kilda was excellent – the Giants haven’t been a dominant at the contest when he’s played.

Conversely, when Mumford has been picked, the Giants have won all three contested possession counts by +16 on average.

“He (Mumford) just loves it and the boys love playing next to him,” Johnson told ABC Radio before Saturday’s win over Adelaide.

“We can’t roll him out every week but he played two weeks in a row there, had a rest last week. So we hope that he can play four quarters for us (on Saturday) because the two games that he’s played has been outstanding.”

Asked if Flynn had done anything wrong to lose his spot for the Crows clash, Johnson said: “He hasn‘t done too much wrong. He’s just a young developing ruckman and there’s no doubt he’s going to play a fair bit of footy for us this year.

“But I guess Shane‘s form for those two weeks where he’s been able to come in and we won both those games – when he’s right to play, he’s probably still our No. 1 ruck option.

“But we‘re confident that Matthew Flynn in the long-term is going to be really good ruckman for us.”

UNDEFEATED DEES’ TRICKY NEW CONUNDRUM

Adam Tomlinson’s suspected ACL injury presents another curveball for Simon Goodwin’s team, which is the only unbeaten side in the competition.

Sam Weideman’s presence at VFL level is further evidence that Goodwin has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal.

Does Goodwin bring Weideman in to play as a forward and throw Tom McDonald back into defence? Or does he back Steve May and Jake Lever to hold up the back half and make Weideman wait for his opportunity, potentially at the expense of Ben Brown?

Brown had just five touches and kicked two goals on Sunday, while Weideman’s haul of four in the VFL on Thursday night followed efforts of three and seven majors in Rounds 1 and 2.

“He’s been asked 30,000 times in the last 18 months whether or not McDonald will go back. Simon Goodwin has almost emphatically said ‘no, he’s going to forward’,” Gerard Healy said on Fox Footy.

“But now the mix in the forward line changes and they’ve got an injury, it might just spin on its head.

“He (McDonald) needs to just keep active. He’s such a great runner, so use his running ability to get up the forward line even if he is playing at centre half-back.”

The structure of Melbourne’s forward line has taken a fresh turn in 2021 and it’s not just because of Brown.

Bailey Fritsch has taken a step forward, snagging six majors against North Melbourne. While Kysaiah Pickett is fast becoming one of the most exciting and destructive small forwards in the AFL.

And then there is the bulked up Luke Jackson, who looks every bit the player the Demons hoped he would become when they drafted him.

“You wonder now with Luke Jackson being able to play the role that he can play with Weideman, with Brown and those sort of options if there’s an opening in the back six, is it time for him to go back regularly?” Jason Dunstall asked on Fox Footy.

“There’s too many talls (with them all playing). Someone’s got to go to the backline at the very least and maybe you just pick the best two or three form-wise.

“That’s what you want if you’re a top team. You want pressure on every position and if you’re not playing well, you surrender your position to someone who is playing well.”

Asked if McDonald should play in defence, Healy said: “He’d be the go-to for me, but Harrison Petty is a name that Melbourne people continually push up as they desperately want him to get in (to the senior team).”

“I think there’s going to be a month or more, maybe two or three months, of experimentation before they finally settle – and then someone else will get injured and they’ll have to start all over again.”

Regardless of how Melbourne fairs across the next 10 weeks, what’s clear is Goodwin is willing to try different combinations now to go deep later.

It’s this mix n’ match approach which allowed Brown to make his Dees debut but may force Goodwin to rethink his mantra on McDonald following Tomlinson’s injury.