How to Argue: Brisbane’s brilliant tactic stopped Dusty and his Don’t ArguesMax Laughton
Fox Sports
May 23rd, 2021 It’s not often you see Dustin Martin failing a ‘Don’t Argue’; never mind twice in one night.
But Brisbane went into Friday night with a clear tactic to stop the Richmond superstar, and it kept him to his quietest game against them in years.
Martin has become famous for his fend-offs, using his incredible upper-body and core strength to evade and escape would-be tacklers. Between 2016 and 2020, Martin had 206 broken tackles, double the next-best (Patrick Dangerfield, 103).
But the Lions used simple physics and gravity against him; instead of trying to grab the outstretched arm, they came from above.
Reddit users highlighted the fact Brisbane midfielder Jarryd Lyons, during the third quarter, used the same tactic twice in the space of two minutes.
The first saw Martin go for a trademark fend-off in the forward 50, but as he came towards Lyons, the Lion raised his arms up and chopped down on Dusty’s push-off arm.
This both knocked Dusty’s right arm down towards his body, and then pinned it to his side, with a strong wrap-up tackle allowing Lyons to catch the triple Norm Smith medallist holding the ball.
The second incident made it more obvious the tactic was intentional. After spoiling a Liam Baker kick, Lyons ran towards Nick Vlastuin, who the ball had spilled to.
Vlastuin tried to push off his opponent but Lyons quickly chopped down on the Tigers defender’s arm, countering the act.
He couldn’t pin Vlastuin’s arm down, meaning he had a chance to correctly dispose of the ball, but Vlastuin was forced to dispose mid-tackle rather than while free of his man.
Lyons’ teammate Mitch Robinson tried a similar tactic when he caught Martin holding the ball in the second quarter - come from above the fend-off arm in order to gain leverage.
Robinson actually jumped at Martin to tackle him, meaning his entire body weight came down on Martin’s shoulders and arms, stopping the fend-off attempt.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s Saturday Countdown, Lions skipper Dayne Zorko said the team hadn’t been taught any specific tackling technique to combat Martin, adding it was “just how it unfolded” on Friday night.
But Zorko credited the Lions’ assistant coaches for their improved pressure efficiency.
“We‘ve done a lot of work with Mitch Hahn and Benny Hudson – our ruck coach and our VFL coach – they’ve taken over the tackling department,” Zorko told Saturday Countdown.
“We were able to ping the arm of Dusty a couple of times and make it hard for him to dispose of the football. We’ve been on the end of his stiff-arms way too many times and it was great that the boys were able to get a couple of tackles on him.
“He’s such a strong person to bring down so well done to those boys that were able to tackle him.”
Some Tigers fans argued this should’ve been a free for high contact, but it would’ve been a reasonably strict interpretation of the rule; Robinson’s left arm remained on Martin’s right arm during the tackle, while his right arm landed on the shoulder and was quickly moved to the back.
It’s worth noting many of Martin’s fend-offs could also be declared free kicks for high contact, so these things go both ways.
It’s not as if this is a brand-new tactic, and it’s relatively simple - but given the number of opponents Dusty has made to look silly over the years, it’s clearly not easy to execute.
The Lions just made it look like it was.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/brisbane-lions/afl-2021-brisbane-defeats-richmond-dustin-martin-dont-argue-tactic-countered-jarryd-lyons-video-analysis/news-story/25d9461e3f900d7dfcdbe2a7158423c4?recommendedCount=0
