The midfield acesGarry Lyon
May 14, 2011
DANE Swan and Scott Pendlebury are the most dynamic midfielders in the competition.
Most teams would, in a heartbeat, grab the opportunity to trade any two of their on-ballers for these superstars.
Indeed, if football was a game of poker and you were dealt this ''pair'', you would put your cards down, push all your chips into the middle of the table and confidently declare you were going ''all in''.
The Richmond Football Club could possibly be the exception - along with Geelong which would be pretty content with Joel Selwood and Jimmy Bartel. The Tigers hold a pair, in Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin, that you feel would give them the confidence to match any sized bet.
For the sake of the exercise, right now, the Swan/Pendlebury pair would trump the Martin/Cotchin pair. But I still don't believe the Tigers would be prepared to swap their hand - even for Swan and Pendlebury.
Swan is in his ninth season, with 157 games to his name. Pendlebury has played 108 games and is in his sixth season. They have best and fairests, All-Australians, Norm Smith Medals, AFLPA most valuable player awards and the all-important premiership medallions in the kitbag.
Cotchin has played just 49 games and is in his fourth year. Martin has racked up 28 games after making his debut last year.
But so stunning and impressive has the form of this duo been this year, that comparisons can now legitimately be made with the all-conquering Magpie pair. And that should be an enormous comfort to Richmond supporters, for Swan and Pendlebury are the linchpins of a midfield combination in a team that is a red-hot chance to achieve back-to-back premierships.
The Swan-Martin similarity becomes more profound each week. Swan stands at 185 centimetres and weighs 92 kilograms. Martin is 187 and 86. Both are as strong as oxen and are rarely bound up in a tackle. Swan shrugs the shoulders and hardly ever loses his feet; Martin has perfected the one-arm ''don't argue'' to the point where coming at him front-on is almost a waste of time.
Very few find the ball with more regularity than Swan. He is averaging 32.2 touches a game and is fifth for disposals, albeit with one game fewer than many due to the bye. Martin has a similar appetite for the ball. He averages 24.4 possessions - ninth overall - and is third in the AFL for most effective kicks.
The big ''value add'' for Martin this year has been his ability to go forward and hit the scoreboard. He has kicked 11.4 this season, alternating through the middle with stints at half-forward. He is an instinctive goalkicker and is as comfortable conjuring something from nowhere as he is belting one from 60 metres out.
Swan, too, has shown a greater penchant for pushing forward. His 9.8 for the year, on top of the mountain of football he finds all over the ground, makes him an even better player this year than last. The substitution rule has allowed for our midfield geniuses to go forward and strut their stuff. The very best have delivered in spades.
If Martin is the Tigers' Swan, then Cotchin is doing a pretty fair impersonation of Pendlebury. Statistically, both are enjoying magnificent years. Pendlebury averages 29.5 per game, 12.8 contested to Cotchin's 24.1, 12 contested.
Cotchin has averaged 6.1 clearances a game, Pendlebury 5.5. Pendlebury puts it inside 50 5.7 times per match, Cotchin 4.6. Cotchin has kicked 7.9 for the year, Pendlebury 5.8.
They are compelling numbers, and both players figure prominently in all of the statistical indicators across the league.
But it is the intangibles that bring Pendlebury and Cotchin closer together more than anything else - in particular, leadership qualities.
Pendlebury is the Magpie captain-in-waiting. Nick Maxwell is respected and loved at Magpieland but there will come a time when Pendlebury steps up. And the title and responsibility obviously sits very comfortably with him. He carries himself like a leader, he plays like one and he prepares like one. It was a quality that was recognised very early on in his career and he has fulfilled those expectations.
As it was with Cotchin. Despite an injury-interrupted career, Cotchin's leadership qualities were so obvious he was appointed acting captain for a game in just his second year. It was an enormous call at the time, and one that I thought was unfair, but it was a pointer to the future.
Here was a young man who was not prepared to accept the mediocrity that had pervaded Punt Road for too long. He strikes me as a young man who does not contemplate failure, and he plays with a will and inner strength that inspires and instils confidence in those around him. The very best leaders make those he plays with better.
I don't think there is any coincidence in the fact that Cotchin is finally injury-free and able to exert his influence on games week in, week out, with the sudden emergence of the Tigers as a genuine finals contender.
The ''mix'' at Richmond finally looks right. Chris Newman's professionalism and consistency in the back half provides substance to an area that is still raw. Jack Riewoldt and Brett Deledio are the free spirits with precocious talent, Robbie Nahas, Jake King and Nathan Foley provide grunt and run, and Cotchin helps bind it altogether.
The challenge for the Richmond duo is to continue to develop and improve and close the gap on Swan and Pendlebury. The Magpie pair has got the runs on the board, and has been able to consistently perform at an extremely high level for several years. That comes with experience and maturity.
Martin and Cotchin are still in their football infancies, but they are in the midst of making a profound football statement. It is exciting to watch their emergence.
I, for one, would love to see the Richmond boys get the chance to build their reputations in the month of September. For that is when the biggest poker game is played. And that is when you really find out the value of the cards you're holding are.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/the-midfield-aces-20110513-1emcz.html#ixzz1MFwuKhpr
