Mark Duffield - Four Thoughts (14.07.2026)

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**Mark Duffield** (1:00)
Let's move on to Four Thoughts on Sport to get us rolling this morning. First thought is on the decision by the AFL umpires department to retain veteran Matt Stevick on their league roster after the howler that saw Carlton's Adam Chera pinged for a 50 metre penalty against Hawthorne at the weekend.
Stevick should absolutely be retained. He's a good umpire. He made a mistake. Players make mistakes all the time. The good ones keep their spots in the team. The umpires aren't having their best season. I think there are a lot of reasons for that. I think the constant changing of the rules is a big reason for that. Let's not lose our minds over it. Second thought is on which of the teams currently not in the top 10 is the one most likely to make a run at it. So Damian Hardwick is already writing his boys off. Is that a coach's tactic or has he really given up? But I do wonder if Adam Kingsley's giants are the ones to watch. They're just percentage from 10th place. They have wins over Fremantle and Geelong in the past two matches. And they have winnable games against Essendon, Port Adelaide, Gold Coast and West Coast in the run home. Third thought is the battle for Ruckworth, Ruck Berthes in the All-Australian team. Three doesn't go into two.
And one of Max Gorn, Brody Grundy and Luke Jackson is going to be desperately unlucky to miss out. Gorn's record speaks for himself. His form speaks for itself this year.
We have raved all year about Jackson's influence on games. And Grundy, who once polled 42 Brownlow votes across two seasons at Collingwood, is playing as well as he has at almost any point in his career. And finally, fourth thought, a bit of golf thrown in here. WA's Minwu Lee, second in the Scottish Open, which is now considered the dress rehearsal for the British Open, which takes place at Royal Berkdale this weekend.
So this is Link's Golf, and Lee's creativity with his short game gives him great appeal for an event like the British Open. Is this the tournament when Minwu finally breaks his major drought? 487 736 736 That is the text line. Let's have your thoughts and questions. 13-12-55, is the Barraundoday open line? Barraundoday, because the little things are everything. After the break, we'll be talking footy in general, with The Guardian's Jonathan Horne. Made in WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA.