Ross Lyon’s successful philosophy was to tag the player most likely to be affected by the tag and the one most likely to do the most damage, particularly ‘yardage’ players. Those that run, carry, set up and deliver - generally ‘outside’ players. When coaching Fremantle and Nick Dal Santo was playing for the Saints, Lyon always sent Ryan Crowley to him.
It’s amazing how many clubs actually do send out ‘taggers’, but the main difference is they must be a very productive member of the forward transition of the team. In other words, they must get the football and, most importantly, they must hurt their opponent with inside 50’s, scoring involvements or even goals. I agree the days of the negative tagger are over, even though Ben Jacobs and just recently Kane Mitchell at Port Adelaide have effectively locked down and negated opponents. Crowley also did an outstanding lock down role in Ross Lyon’s system.
Two teams definitely do not run with a tagger, Adelaide and Essendon. The Bombers approach raised eyebrows when they played Brisbane and in particular Daniel Rich. Players that play him tight and particularly stand on his left side have affected Rich this season.
Quite simply Essendon do not have a tagger because of their list dynamics, but maybe they should, and could, develop one. Tagging can be such a great learning experience and development opportunity and can greatly project a player’s game learning. The likes of Guthrie, Jacobs, Shiels, Crowley, Crisp, Bugg, Coniglio and Curnow were all indifferent players at one stage of their careers but given the intense focus and discipline needed to do their job, it greatly enhanced their development confidence and learning.
Take the unfortunate Mitch Wallis. Not that long ago, he seemed lost under the coaching of Brendan McCartney. But key midfield assignments has seen him grow in stature to the point where he and his mate Tom Liberatore have taken their creative games to a new level. Overall it’s just a wonderful starting point to project your career forward.
One of the reasons Port Adelaide has not progressed has been the departure of Kane Cornes. It left a gaping hole in their structure. North Melbourne’s form without Ben Jacobs has been significantly different and a further reflection of how a tagger can aid structure and spread midfield depth. Port Adelaide’s form lifted when they elevated Kane Mitchell.
Brent Macaffer at Collingwood was even brought in to do a negating role as a defensive forward against GWS. His target was Heath Shaw. That isolated selection was brilliant and Essendon could well have introduced a player to do a similar job on Rich. Two weeks after doing that job, Macaffer was dropped. Collingwood then turned their attention to Levi Greenwood’s strong play on the opposition key midfielder.
Are they important? I’ll be blunt. If Essendon had a Macaffer who went to Rich, Essendon win.
Hawthorn of course don’t play/need a run with player, or do they? The Hawks run many players through the midfield but carefully watch number 26, Liam Shiels. He has developed into a creative midfielder and a goal kicker. He will generally start in the old-fashioned wing position before drifting onto the ball. He may even start at half forward and swap in play with Cyril Rioli, who will then drift forward. Shiels then becomes responsible for the targeted midfielder in the opposition. But be careful. He will kick goals on you and he will gain possessions. So importantly, as I said, the next wave tagger must hurt the opposition, or that player will pay no attention to him and continue to hunt the football.
The key is: make the player you are tagging wary of your attacking capabilities.
Mitch Robinson was discarded by Carlton. Somewhat erratic, he is now a best and fairest winner at Brisbane and will do so again this year. His team is poor but his role is one of responsibility and leadership. That has carried over to off the field as well.
The loss out of all this has been former Adelaide Captain, Nathan van Berlo. A former excellent run-with player, the Adelaide system has superseded his capabilities and role. Robinson, Weller, Crisp, Bugg, Curnow and Coniglio continue to bloom. Teams will argue that ‘we don’t tag’ as we rely on team defence and press. Technically this is correct. Team defence, including the press, in simple terms, is a team’s ability to organise their whole team into defensive areas. Then they must slow down ball movement out of the opposition forward line (forward press).
Geelong did this superbly against Adelaide a couple of weeks ago. What they are saying is that if one player, the tagger, goes to his direct opponent then the team component and individual guarding of areas will break down. If it is a full on zone, then this may be correct.
In Essendon’s games this season, one opposition player has got off the chain. That is all. Sidebottom, Rich, Martin, Steven (twice), Gaff, Coniglio, Lewis, Neale, Gibson, Mitchell (Syd), Gibbs, Gray and Hall (GC). Essendon has done most things right in the balance of its team and the exposure of young players, but the icing on the still baking cake would be to add a tagger into the mix. It would add an additional dimension to the team development heading to 2017.
The case for the defence rests. (Still doesn’t explain Sam Mitchell, does it?)
Robert Shaw was an Assistant Coach during Essendon's most recent premiership year. He provides regular analysis for the Essendon website.
