Brett Deledio’s elite numbers present match-up headache for North MelbourneHerald-Sun
September 10, 2015 2:53PMWATCHING his finals opponent from behind glass last Friday night, two players stood out to North Melbourne veteran Nick Dal Santo.
“We didn’t really take many notes, just tried to get a feel for their midfield and I got more of an appreciation for particularly Deledio and Martin,” he told Triple M.
“The way they played last night I hope I’m not playing on either of those two guys.”
Ben Jacobs ran with Martin for periods and is likely to get the job again in Sunday’s elimination final.
Deledio is a different story.
His speed, flexibility, strength above his head and skills on the ground make him an almost impossible match-up — for the Kangaroos or any other team.
Luke McDonald spent more time on him than anyone else in Round 23, but he’s every chance to be dropped this week. Michael Firrito could get the assignment, but is he quick enough? The same problem faces Scott Thompson while the likes of Shaun Atley could be exposed overhead.
Since Round 7, when Richmond turned its season around with a win against Collingwood — thanks in no small part to two clutch Deledio goals in the final term — the 2004 No.1 draft pick has produced numbers that rank him in the absolute elite of the competition.
He ranks fourth in that time for average SuperCoach points, behind Todd Goldstein, Patrick Dangerfield and Nat Fyfe.
He is second in the competition for score involvements, behind only Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy. On Friday night he had 14 — anything above 10 is considered outstanding.
His stat line on Friday night read: 26 disposals at 81 per cent efficiency, 10 marks (equal most for Richmond), nine inside-50s, a goal and a game-high 133 SuperCoach points.
Deledio received a perfect 10 coaches’ votes and a few days later was named in the 40-man All-Australian squad, despite missing four games at the start of the year with a calf or Achilles injury, depending who you listen to.
Richmond’s struggles without Deledio in the team have been well documented — since 2008 he has missed nine matches and the Tigers have won just two of them, both against Brisbane.
But that can be explained by a couple of simple factors. The first is that Deledio is remarkably durable, missing just four games in the 10 years after his debut in 2005.
The second is that Deledio is simply one of the competition’s elite players, a fact the footy world is waking up now — six years after he won back-to-back Jack Dyer Medals.
AVERAGE SUPERCOACH POINTS ROUND 7-23133 Todd Goldstein
127 Patrick Dangerfield
122 Nat Fyfe
119 Brett Deledio119 Dayne Beams
AVERAGE SCORE INVOLVEMENTS ROUND 7-231. Josh Kennedy 8.9
2. Brett Deledio 8.73. Jarryd Roughead 8.7
4. Sam Mitchell 8.4
5. Jack Gunston 8.1
WHERE DELEDIO RANKS AT RICHMOND (R7-23)
SuperCoach points 1st
Disposals 5th
Marks on lead 2nd
Inside-50s 2nd
Score involvements 1st
Score assists 2nd
Goals 3rd
Stats: Champion Datahttp://www.news.com.au/national/afl-finals-2015-brett-deledios-elite-numbers-present-match-up-headache-for-north-melbourne/story-e6frfkp9-1227521259739
