When taggers just aren't in the hunt Garry Lyon
The Age
April 20, 2013 Hunted, hunter, gatherer. There is a conundrum facing the two coaches in Saturday's clash at the MCG between Collingwood and Richmond.
Of those who will play in the midfield, who falls into which category may determine the outcome of the game.
Midfield match-ups in the modern game are transient at best. It is becoming increasingly rare for coaches to set players for a specific role on an opponent for a full match. Fremantle's Ryan Crowley, Essendon's Heath Hocking, Geelong's Taylor Hunt and Carlton's Andrew Carrazzo may be exceptions to the rule that, until relatively recently, was a regular feature of every AFL game: the tagger who goes to the most important player in the opposition, and did not leave his side until the final siren. It was certainly the case decades ago, in the days of the 19th and 20th man. The only way to rid yourself of your irritable shadow was to embarrass him with weight of possessions or goals. To fail to do so was to ensure you had an invasion of your personal space for an entire game. Of course, in extreme cases, the violent removal of a tagger was not altogether uncommon.
Even when the interchange bench was introduced, the tagger remained an integral part of planning. On the odd occasion when the star went to the bench for a breather, his opposite number would follow, returning to the field at the same time.
The wild increase in rotations in recent years has made the single-minded, defensive tagger almost redundant. Combined with the way the game is played, and the confluence of players around the football - up to a dozen midfielders a side - coaches are more prepared than ever to just ''roll the dice'' and go head to head with their opposite numbers. To do anything different may lead to an inordinate amount of time dedicated to one opposition player. Chris Judd could be off the ground inside the first two minutes, which may require a complete restructure of the opposition team's set-ups if too much emphasis is placed on him.
So, with arguably five of the top 10 midfielders in the competition this year involved in today's game, who becomes the hunted, who is the hunter and who simply plays the role of possession gatherer?
Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan, Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio and Dustin Martin would all have been, in another era, lock-down targets. They deserve the tag of the ''hunted''.
But the unthinkable reality may be that, at times today, all five may be left to their own magnificent resources. Certainly they won't all be subjected to a ''hard'' tag. That would be far too compromising on the way these coaches want their teams to play. And the faith that Damien Hardwick and Nathan Buckley have in their respective superstars will ensure that there is a fair degree of backing their group in to be more effective than the other.
What will determine who goes to who will be the degree to which they think they can stymie the influence of each player. The more you watch Pendlebury and Cotchin, the more you come to the conclusion that they are almost ''untaggable''.
Pendlebury's vision and ability to extract himself and/or the ball from the tightest of situations has left us all, as observers, shaking our head in wonder. Combine that with a seemingly unquenchable appetite for the hard, ''gut'' running that separates the elite from the very good, and you begin to understand why he so consistently amasses huge amounts of the football, and then uses it with intelligence and creativity.
Cotchin is in the same category. He is, admirably modestly, aware of his standing in the game and understands what comes with it. An opposition team's intense focus on how to quell his influence may hold the key to victory. He is that good. But acknowledging the need, and actually accomplishing it, is something that Cotchin has vowed to make as difficult for any one player as any role handed out in football today.
He is Gary Ablett-like in his ability to stay over the ball, not lose his feet and to remain in the contest. I have watched opponents try to initiate early contact on him, try to corral him, try to push him under the ball at stoppages. I have seen nothing that has come close to being effective. Like Pendlebury, he wills himself to contest after contest, daring any single opponent to match his work rate. And his ability to rest out of the goal square, and hit the scoreboard, creates further nightmares.
Carlton elected to run Judd alongside Swan two weeks ago. They made it clear to Swan from the opening bounce that Judd was taking responsibility for him, not so subtly ensuring Swan knew Judd was his responsibility when the Pies didn't have the ball. Juddy had 25 possessions and no goals. Swanny had 26 and hit the scoreboard once. Judd was probably the more effective player and eventually Steele Sidebottom went to him.
Hardwick may take a similar approach with one of the game's best ''gatherers'', Deledio. He hasn't had to deal with being the subject of intense lock-down attention throughout his impressive career by virtue of the fact that he has spent considerable time playing off half-back. If he was to go head to head with Swan, you know the Pies would be worried about his ability to hit the scoreboard. He has kicked seven goals this year already, and he is as good a converter, on the run from outside 50, as any player in the game.
Swan, like all the great on-ballers over time, has scant regard for his opponent. The rationale that you don't have to tackle if you have the ball in your hands, while a cute generalisation, could apply to the champion Brownlow medallist. By allocating Deledio to him, as distinct from tagging him, the Tigers would be making a bold, proactive statement.
And of the group of five that were mentioned earlier, that leaves Martin. His form has been outstanding and a testament to his ability to stay focused on improving his consistency as a footballer, in the face of some extreme, off-field scrutiny. He may be the one the Pies decide to ''hunt''. Purely on the basis that, of the Tigers' ''big three'', he may be the one most vulnerable to an old-fashioned lock-down job.
Whether the Pies have the ''hunter'' in their midst to carry out such a job remains to be seen. Sidebottom is a possibility and even Dale Thomas has taken the responsibility on board in recent years.
Martin may also just take it in his stride. He may thrive on the extra attention, as well as the occasion. And, in the end, that may result in all five midfield stars just going head to head, in front of 90,000 people on Saturday afternoon at the MCG.
What we can be guaranteed of is that at some stage, Pendlebury, Swan, Cotchin, Deledio and Martin will thrill and excite and remind us why we love the game. And there will be two coaches sitting there watching them, weighing up the risk and reward of just letting them play. Let's hope they do.
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