Goal kicking midfielders: Your club’s most dangerous on-ballerRiley Beveridge
Foxsports
March 1, 2016THE AFL is going back to the future in 2016.
Its decision to restrict the interchange cap to just 90 this season is set to see coaches re-adopt tactics from a bygone era, as it helps to deal with the newly imposed limitations.
Midfielders are likely to spend far more time resting inside 50 than they ever have in the past, with the ability to have short and sharp stints on the bench no longer available.
And it’s already having an impact.
This weekend’s NAB Challenge fixtures saw midfielders such as Patrick Dangerfield, Dane Swan, Shane Edwards and Brendon Goddard each kick three or more goals, while Trent Cotchin and Nat Fyfe also hit the scoreboard on multiple occasions.
It adds an exciting new factor to the game this season, with triple premiership player Jonathan Brown believing the competition’s best midfielders will become even more influential.
“I know we’re not under regular-season rules yet, but to see the great midfielders of our competition have to spend some time forward, that’s going to be the really exciting part of this season for me,” Brown told Fox Footy on Sunday.
“And that’s because of the interchange rotation cap. It doesn’t really affect the key position players, because they don’t go to the bench much at all, but it will really affect the midfielders.
“Those midfielders that can go forward, take contested marks and kick goals will become even more valuable.”
Added influence for midfielders will obviously mean more demand from them as well, leading to questions about which side is best equipped to deal with the rule changes.
According to stand-in Richmond coach Brendon Lade, the Tigers are one of the teams with a midfield group capable of adapting to different positions.
That was evidenced on Saturday night in a 71-point victory over Hawthorn, where Richmond had eight different goal kickers including five multiple goal kickers.
“We have a lot of guys who can play forward, back and midfield, so we were looking forward to the rotations coming down,” Lade said.
“For a lot of teams, the flexibility within your team is going to be crucial.
“Trent Cotchin kicked a couple, Connor Menadue kicked a couple, Dustin Martin missed some, Shane Edwards kicked four and Ben Lennon kicked three.
“It’s good to have that spread. You are going to have to have that this year.”Last year’s minor premiers Fremantle could also be a side well stocked to deal with more players spending time forward. And, given the club’s lack of key position players, goals from midfield could be desperately needed.
According to Champion Data, both Nat Fyfe and Stephen Hill ranked inside the top 15 for goal kicking midfielders last season, while new recruit Harley Bennell has been the second most efficient player in terms of goals from midfield over the last four seasons.
With ruckman Aaron Sandilands also able to go forward and impact on the scoreboard, perhaps Fremantle’s reliance on Matthew Pavlich is no longer.
Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett leads the way across the AFL for goals from midfield. He averages the most goals per game (1.4) for any player who has averaged more than 20 disposals since 2012.
Bennell is a close second, with Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray (1.2), North Melbourne’s Brent Harvey (1.2) and new Geelong recruit Dangerfield (1.1) in hot pursuit.
Forecasting who could be the game’s next big goal kicking midfielder is difficult. However, the closest correlation could be contested marking ability resulting in more shots at goal inside 50.
Fyfe (1.
and Dangerfield (1.2) average the most contested marks per game for all players averaging more than 20 disposals, with Cripps (0.
, Sydney’s Luke Parker (0.7) and North Melbourne’s Ben Cunnington (0.6) close behind.
With this facet of the game likely to be more important than ever before, we look at which midfielders at your club could fill a vacancy up forward.
YOUR CLUB’S BEST GOAL KICKING MIDFIELDERSRICHMONDDustin Martin: 24 goals from 23 games
Shaun Grigg: 16 goals from 23 games
Shane Edwards: 13 goals from 16 games
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/goal-kicking-midfielders-your-clubs-most-dangerous-onballer-including-nat-fyfe-and-patrick-dangerfield/news-story/5e0b559aa78f6b412377332ebeade932
