Key defender may be key for Martin, says PieJake Niall
The Age
19 Sep 2018The last time Collingwood played Richmond, a grappling Levi Greenwood drove Dustin Martin to distraction, to the point that an infuriated Martin lost concentration for a time and gave away a foolish 50-metre penalty.
But while Greenwood’s smothering attention reduced Martin’s midfield output to modest numbers that afternoon (19 disposals), their duel took a completely different turn when Dusty went forward.
Martin booted three goals when stationed deep in attack, putting his powerful frame between Greenwood and the footy and holding off his smaller opponent, who was ill-equipped to deal with Martin as key forward.
‘‘I think it was pretty effective for what we wanted around the middle,’’ Greenwood recalled of his Dusty duel in round 19. ‘‘Obviously, he got hold of me when he went forward. He’s a bloody good player. You feel the weight of their crowd on your shoulders when he takes you forward and it’s isolated in there.’’
Greenwood said he did not know if he would get Martin again on Friday (match committee had not yet settled these things, he said), though he noted that he had been playing in defence, not on the ball, over the past three to four weeks. The Magpies therefore would need to find another small defender if he was shifted back in to the midfield for a tagging role. It would require a reshuffle of roles, all for the sake of negating Martin. ‘‘I’m not too sure. They’ll just have to get someone else to go back. I guess there’s a few guys you can roll through there.
‘‘It’s just whether you want to upset a mix that’s come off a good win and a pretty close game the week before. We’re pretty tight down there at the moment and if you bring somebody else in to that (defensive) mix that hasn’t played in there for a few weeks for a final, it might, it might upset the mix there a little bit. I’m not too sure what they’ll do.’’
Whether Greenwood resumes his little dance with Dusty or remains in defence, his experience of playing on Dusty left him a strong impression of Martin’s capabilities and some insights into what made the champion so difficult to contain.
Some interesting themes emerged from the testimony of the tagger. One was that Martin was so powerful in the forward line that he needed to be opposed by a key defender. ‘‘Howe, Langdon, Maynard could take him,’’ said Greenwood of potential opponents for Martin as forward. ‘‘Ideally, he’s basically a key forward when he goes forward. So you want a key defender on him. Ideally, you want a bit of help coming across also.’’
Martin isn’t an outstanding overhead mark, yet seems so hard to beat when the ball is kicked to his advantage, as Greenwood discovered. ‘‘I think he’s really good at protecting the space. His teammates are really good at kicking to the advantage side and all he has to do is hold it, hold out the space and then work into it. If he gets in a good position and the ball’s coming in the right spot, then I mean it’s going to be really hard to stop and can’t get past him because he’s too strong.’’
When Martin is in the midfield, the danger is most pronounced when he bursts clear and he gains territory; Greenwood observed, too, that it is preferable that he doesn’t kick the ball, given his foot skills.
‘‘One of his biggest attributes is his fend off and his power off the mark. Like his ball-handling skills are extremely good and when he does get the ball he’s extremely damaging.
‘‘You can have other midfielders in the comp and you can be marking them and they get a couple of cheap handballs and you’re not seeing them generally gain too much metreage, but generally when Dusty gets the ball and he breaks away from you, it’s going inside 50 and it’s normally pretty effective. You start with stopping his access to the ball, but I mean, he’s a good player, he’s going to get the ball. It’s nullifying the impact he does have.’’
Like many great players and teams Martin’s signature move is one that everyone knows, can see coming and yet is powerless to prevent. Greenwood said of the famed fend off: ‘‘I’m sure every team is scouting him and the coach is like going ‘don’t get fended off by Dusty Martin’ and then you go in there and the first thing is you get fended off and land on your arse and look like an idiot. But ... I think he times it really well and he’s a strong boy.’’
This improved version of Collingwood has taken on the concept of playing their own game, rather than obsessing about the opposition. ‘‘What we’re doing really well this year is we’re playing our way.’’
If they follow this mantra on Friday, Martin could find himself manned by Taylor Adams or Scott Pendlebury at the stoppages – rather than worn like the proverbial cheap suit by Greenwood — and then picked up by either Langdon or Howe when he goes forward.
Whatever they decide, there must be a Martin plan. Greenwood believes that the hard tag is extinct but there remains a place for a run-with role for the opposition’s prime mover, provided it doesn’t mess with the all-important structure.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/key-defender-may-be-key-for-martin-says-pie-20180918-p504kk.html
