The Tagging Game

Eagle Luke Shuey had a tough time shaking Dockers tagger Ryan Crowley

Tagging is a phenomenon that exists in the AFL and whether you like it or not it’s here to stay. Most sides these days have a designated tagger or a defensive stopper who is sent purely to curb the influence of the opposition’s most damaging midfielder. There have been many successful taggers in the past and one cannot forget the likes of a Steven Baker or a Cameron Ling. The elite taggers like Ling are able to win their own share of the football as well.

In 2013 there are several players known for their effective tagging abilities. Andrew Raines, Clint Jones, Ryan Crowley and Scott Selwood are some who have been very successful at shutting down the opposition’s best midfielder. Although it’s a good tactic to shut down players, it’s often not good for our Supercoach teams. The elite midfielders in the AFL are usually the first players picked in our Supercoach sides. Guys like Gary Ablett, Scott Pendlebury and Trent Cotchin. We rely on these gun players to provide our Supercoach midfield with premium scores week in - week out. If they don’t score well it can put an end to your Supercoach aspirations. That’s why no matter how good a player is, if they can’t break a tag then you don’t want them in your Supercoach team.

This past week we have already seen two players effectively tagged out of the game, Luke Shuey and Patrick Dangerfield. Dangerfield scored a deplorable 63 Supercoach points as a result of being shut down by Essendon tagger Heath Hocking. The Bombers figured out early that Dangerfield was the man to stop so they switched Hocking from Scott Thompson to Dangerfield and the rest is history. Others teams will do the same, making Dangerfield a marked man this year. If Dangerfield can’t adjust and doesn’t get help from his teammates, it could be disastrous for a lot of Supercoach coaches, including me. We will know pretty soon as Raines will tag Dangerfield when the Crows play the Lions in round 2. I’m prediciting Dangerfield can work through it, if not I will seriously consider trading him out before his price plummets after round 3.      

Luke Shuey also struggled to shake the tag of Docker Ryan Crowley, finishing with a disappointing 56 Supercoach points. Big things are expected of Shuey this year after his rapid improvement in 2012. However he has yet to prove he can cope with the attention he received from Crowley last weekend. As long as Daniel Kerr remains sidelined, Shuey will continue to cop the number one tag and struggle to have an impact. This is what happened to Brent Stanton last season. Stanton was flying last year in Supercoach with an average of 137 points per game after round 8. At that point he was equal leader in the Brownlow with teammate Jobe Watson. However, unlike Watson, Stanton couldn’t cope with a tag. Opposition teams soon realised this and Stanton had no impact for the rest of the season. As a result Stanton becomes a risky selection for your Supercoach team. Although the addition of Brendon Goddard means Stanton may be less likely to get the number one tag, I still wouldn’t pick him.   

This season there are several players on the rise who I believe might be prone to getting tagged. These include players such as Daniel Rich, Jack Watts, Dustin Martin and Hamish Hartlett. Hartlett is an outstanding young talent who could have a breakout year if he stays injury free. Opposition teams know this as shown by the Eagles during their NAB Cup game against Port. Hartlett was damaging early, as was Boak, but the Eagles sent Scott Selwood to Hartlett instead and he shut him down after half-time. Jack Watts is another guy who has tremendous upside playing the loose man role across half-back. Opposition sides are aware of this and once the real stuff begins they are likely to send a defensive forward tagger to Watts who, at times, has shown he is susceptible to being tagged out of games. Dustin Martin has also had trouble with tags in the past but has simply not been good enough in recent times to get tagged. If Martin bounces back this year he is likely to get some attention, but most of the focus will go to the likes of Cotchin and Deledio so he may be a safer bet than Watts. Daniel Rich’s fast start to the season will mean he’ll cop a lot of attention and it will be interesting to see if he can cope with the added fan fare from opposition taggers. I’m not convinced Rich can cope, but I’m happy to be proven wrong. Rich also has Nick Lower first up, which will be a good test after Lower’s job on Trent Cotchin. Cotchin showed that even he was prone when he wore a heavy tag from Lower all day in the NAB practice match against the Bulldogs. Although he had some important touches late Cotchin had his colours lowered on the day. 

On the other hand look at Gary Ablett. Every week he cops the opposition's best tagger and you know he doesn't enjoy it as evidenced by the Crowley fiasco on twitter last year. Yet Ablett is still able to have an influence and score well despite the tag. Last year only two players had more than 20 disposals against tagger Clint Jones. Ablett was one of them with 35 possessions. Ablett was also one of three players to win more than 20 possessions against Raines and he did it on two occasions. That's why he's first picked in my team every year. 

Remember no matter how good a player is, if they can’t break a tag then you don’t want them in your Supercoach team.