Paul Hasleby: Tags are back in fashion and Andrew Brayshaw is the one who can wear it best for Fremantle

Just like flairs and mullet haircuts are back in fashion, the tag is back in football. It is a constant discussion point for all coaches, to tag or not to tag and then who do you tag? Do you tag the gun midfielder like a Nick Daicos, or the one that is suspect against the tag. Do you tag the inside midfielder like a Patrick Cripps who is a clearance beast and gets the ball out to his runners or do you tag the runners who are so effective by foot on the outside like an Errol Gulden? Then what about the superstars of the competition who rotate forward like Isaac Heeney, Marcus Bontempelli and Chad Warner. Does the tagger go all the way into the defence or do they handover to a defender? If they handover to a defender does the defender fully tag the player or does he roll across and take the most dangerous player which is the cornerstone of most defences in modern football? What happens if the player getting tagged starts tagging somebody else, what does the tagger do? What if we decide to tag the opposition’s best defender like teams are doing to Geelong’s Tom Stewart? Where does the forward stand, does he still try to and win the ball and make the defender accountable? Are you confused yet? These are all the “what if” scenarios that coaches have to be prepared for it takes a whole team approach to implement. It is confusing and that is why the art of tagging left the game for a little while because it can negatively effect the balance around the ball and the defensive team structures that teams value so highly. Against the Western Bulldogs, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir was facing the same dilemma. To tag Bontempelli or not. In the end, Longmuir decided against a full tag and has been criticized for it after the Dockers were belted and Bontempelli was the best on ground once again. I think the criticism is unfair given Fremantle’s midfield going into that game were highly ranked in terms of midfield and clearance differential. Last time they played the Bulldogs their system worked well against Bontempelli. Longmuir needs to back himself in and keep developing a game style that will stand up in big games. The AFL is a copycat league. One team bought a strong tag back in vogue and now every team is wondering whether they should adopt a similar mentality. However, premierships aren’t won by copycat teams. Premierships are won by executing a game style better than every other team not by following like a sheep. Hawthorn’s dynasty was built on a strong elite kicking game style. Richmond’s was built on a fast aggressive corridor handball game and Collingwood won the premiership last year by punishing turnovers with speed. Over the next few weeks teams will be better prepared against the taggers and will start to manipulate the structure around contests. I’m a believer that the hard tag won’t last long but all teams, including Fremantle, need to have a player who can do the job if called upon, who is smart enough to not compromise their own structure. There is definitely an art to tagging and I was fortunate enough or unfortunate enough to be tagged by some of the best in the game. One thing I noticed is that they are all different. In my first year, Tony Liberatore had the job of limiting my influence. He was small and not overly quick, so he relied on scragging hard and constantly checking my run and doing whatever it took to win the battle. Port Adelaide’s Kane Cornes was different, he could run all day and was so good at also winning plenty of football. Former Geelong captain Cameron Ling was a bigger body who would stop a players movement by bear hugging and not allowing you to escape his clutches. Sydney champion Brett Kirk was a bit more stand-offish around stoppages but would make body contact at the point of the ball arriving into your hands. He was a great tackler and was so strong. Kirk was relentless to the point that every time you were about to touch the footy you were expecting contact from him. Hayden Young has been deployed for Fremantle as their preferred tagger but I believe Andrew Brayshaw is the man to do it for Fremantle. Two years ago Brayshaw was voted the best player in the competition but in recent times his form has dropped from that elite standard. Currently, according to Champion Data, Brayshaw is the 47th-ranked midfielder in the AFL. Due to Young’s emergence and Nat Fyfe’s strength being around the clearances, Brayshaw has been slightly relegated in the midfield pecking order. I think it is time to make him the teams two way midfielder. Brayshaw has all the hallmarks of a great run player. He can run all day, he can be an aggressive tackler, he is smart and most importantly he can win his own ball and challenge the best midfielders in the competition. In a must-win game today against the Gold Coast, Noah Anderson should be his target. It just might be the challenge the Leigh Matthews Trophy winner needs to get back to his absolute best and it might be the move that sparks the Dockers into finals action.