David King assesses the possible weakness of midfield aces Patrick Dangerfield, Dustin Martin, Rory Sloane and Josh Kelly

PATRICK Dangerfield, Dustin Martin, Rory Sloane and Josh Kelly hold the keys to their teams’ September hopes. Can they be stopped? DAVID KING searches for possible weaknesses.

THE 2017 season has allowed the stars of our competition to ply their trade like no other year.

How often this season have you wondered who’s on Patrick Dangerfield or why is Dustin Martin doing as he pleases?

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Tom Mitchell had 50 disposals without a designated opponent against Collingwood in Round 9 but Nathan Buckley would later reveal that damaging disposals were of more concern than Mitchell’s volume. The stars again performed uninhibited.

There are some, like Rory Sloane, who have shown vulnerability to the tag or a run-with opponent, while there are others that are considered untaggable.

Which star will have a greater impact on the finals series? For which teams is it more critical that the gun steers the way? Let’s analyse the significance of the stars inside the top four teams.

Rory Sloane has had a superb year, but can be tagged out of games.

Josh Kelly has a point to prove after last year’s finals series.

CAN RORY SLOANE BEAT HIS ACHILLES HEEL?

Sloane is exclusively a midfielder. He must gain a high volume of contested football and clearances to maintain his influence for the Crows.

Sloane’s defensive pressure is the best in the competition for midfielders, but he lacks the ability to play forward like Dustin Martin and Patrick Dangerfield.

Rory is Don Pyke’s midfield trump card to deliver in congestion. He is the Crows’ best contested ball and clearance winner while also assuming top billing as the most prevalent inside-50 distributor.

This is not understating the improvement of Matt Crouch and his brother Brad, but make no mistake the Adelaide midfield still revolves around the impact of Rory Sloane.

The issue is that Sloane can be thwarted. Untagged Rory averages 27 disposals per 100 minutes, yet when clamped it falls dramatically to 16 disposals. Sloane’s influence, measured via SuperCoach points, has him ranked behind only Dangerfield and Martin when untagged, yet outside the top 200 when tagged.

If Sloane fails or is clamped in the true midfield then Crows cannot win the flag.

IS PATRICK DANGERFIELD UNTAGGABLE?
Dangerfield, on the other hand, has many ways to skin for the Cats.

The AFL’s best clearance and contested ball winner in 2017 is arguably also Geelong’s best inside-50 option.

Dangerfield has averaged 30 disposals for the past two to three seasons but after a personal-best 38-goal season, he’s now the complete package.

Where do you start to curtail the AFL’s most dominant midfielder? Many have tried, many have failed. The competition has basically given up tagging Dangerfield. A head-to-head shootout style if favoured — a strategy that often comes unstuck.

Chris Scott has the flexibility to roll Dangerfield forward if he’s underperforming in the midfield or if the “foot-soldiers”, for want of a better term, are getting the job done.

While Geelong’s fortunes revolve around Dangerfield’s influence it’s not confined to just clearances and contested football.

If Patrick goes wild in the forward half of the field then Geelong will have all the arsenal required to become 2017 premiers.

How many goals or goal assists are required? Only time will tell but if you let him run free then the risks are enormous.

Can Richmond roll the dice and not tag Dangerfield? Remember Chris Judd tearing out the hearts of the Tiger faithful three years ago. This cannot happen again, surely.

Geelong values the ability to curtail the oppositions’ best via the use of Scott Selwood, Mark Blicavs and Cam Guthrie.

If you somehow curtail Patrick Dangerfield in the midfield, he can go forward and destroy you. Picture: Michael Klein

CAN THE CATS CLAMP DUSTIN MARTIN AGAIN?

Don’t expect Dustin Martin to be afforded the luxury of space or the freedom to dictate terms that he’s enjoyed throughout the home-and-away season.

What happens to Richmond’s premiership aspirations if their offensive superstar is negated? Dustin has kicked the ball inside the forward 50 more than any other player in the competition this season and booted 32 goals of his own while maintaining a contested game that is as brutal as the very best the AFL has witnessed.

The Tiger has been subjected to taggers throughout the season in a spasmodic fashion but none more effective than Tom Stewart when Martin pushed forward, alternating with Cam Guthrie and Scott Selwood in the true midfield, at Kardinia Park a fortnight ago when held to 21 disposals.

CAN JOSH KELLY MAKE AMENDS?

Josh Kelly is the link that connects the Giants midfield and defensive unit to any scoring chain. Toby Greene and Kelly are the most influential Giants. Can Josh be restricted?

Kelly averages a tick under 30 disposals a game and over the past three weeks has an incredible kicking efficiency of nearly 75 per cent.

If Kelly gets the ball in space, he hurts.

The Giants have won all eight games when Kelly has had 30 disposals or more. Kelly injects the speed into their outside game as he also brings Tom Scully, Greene and Lachie Whitfield into the wave.

Last year’s preliminary final was a poorly skilled outing from Kelly that he will be looking to make amends for in a month when true stars elevate their status.

It’s a significant question: Can the Orange Tsunami be complete without a significant Kelly input?

Ditto Dusty at Richmond, Danger with the Cats, Sloane in Adelaide.

In a season when the stars have roamed unaccounted and turned games more than ever, opposing coaches’ philosophy on restricting the star factor will be one of the stories of September.