Chris Scott faces a dilemma where to play Patrick Dangerfield against Adelaide, writes Mark Robinson
THE TACKLE: CHRIS Scott was lauded for outsmarting the Swans but now finds himself with this Patrick Dangerfield headache for the huge prelim against the Crows. Plus, Robbo’s likes and dislikes.
Mark Robinson
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IT’S beyond doubt that Chris Scott was at the top of his game in the lead up to — and during — Friday night’s boilover win against Sydney.
The Geelong coach had his team emotionally and clinically on edge.
His match-up strategies worked a treat. The game plan was devised and implemented to football perfection and who cares if it was borne of desperation after the defeat to Richmond, because the outcome was inspiration.
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But the back slapping has stopped and it’s on to this week’s preliminary final against Adelaide.
Imagine you are Scott and you have 22 player magnets in your hand and an empty whiteboard in front of you.
Does the first magnet with Patrick Dangerfield’s name on it immediately get dumped at full-forward?
He’s an amazing player who made a mess of Sydney’s Dane Rampe, one of the best defenders in the competition.
Swans coach John Longmire had planned for it, but it still seemed to catch-out Sydney.
Maybe it was because Dangerfield was so brilliant. And maybe it is why Scott has serious dilemma this week.
Is it a fait accompli Dangerfield plays full-forward again?
The coach is in Catch 22 position.
Against the Tigers in Round 21 he sent Harry Taylor to Alex Rance and got the result. In the qualifying final, Scott did the same, didn’t get the result and the critics lined up from Werribee.
Unimaginative, they said. The Tigers had a plan to counter it, they said. Scott was too stubborn, they said, because he didn’t move Taylor when it was going belly-up.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ ROBBO’S LIKES AND DISLIKES
On the flip side, if Scott didn’t match up Taylor on Rance in the final he probably would have been criticised for not doing it given the previous result.
So, if Dangerfield is sent back into the middle this week and Geelong loses questions will be asked about why he didn’t leave him at full-forward.
Tough caper this coaching business.
Dangerfield told SEN radio on Saturday he didn’t know where he would play this week and acknowledged the difficult position of the coach.
“You try it once and you do it again, and people say you’re flogging a dead horse,’’ Dangerfield said.
“But we’ll remain pretty fluid with our game plan and that will evolve as the week goes on and as the game unfolds.
“We don’t have a coaching group that is so regimented that if it’s not’s working, they (just) say why. They’re happy to change things and go with the flow and that’s what gives me so much confidence in what we’re doing.’’
The other conundrum is Taylor. He smashed Lance Franklin on Friday night playing as a key defender. He also kicked five goals in the second half against Adelaide in Round 18.
Tom Lonergan will return — was it really a sausage roll which floored him? — so does that mean Taylor plays as a forward alongside Dangerfield.
What of Mark Blicavs. He has played on a direct opponent three times this season — Dylan Shiel (GWS) in Round 15, Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn) in Round 17 and Josh Kennedy (Sydney) in the semi-final.
Surely, he’s the strong consideration for Rory Sloane, The Cats let Sloane go free in Round 18 and he was best-on-ground with 27 disposals and three goals.
Or does he go to Matt Crouch? Crouch is an elite uncontested ball magnet and Blicavs has true running capacity.
If that occurred it would leave Scott Selwood to manage Sloane at the stoppages, which is where Scott loves Selwood to be.
If he asked Selwood to be responsible for Crouch it would take away Selwood’s grunt at the contest.
Clearly Joel Selwood’s foot is an issue and Scott would be hoping his third game back will come up trumps.
Between 2011-2016, Selwood was the No.1 ranked finals player, averaging 130 ranking points from 11 finals. They are astounding numbers. But he has averaged just 65 points in two finals this campaign.
Does Don Pyke roll the dice on Selwood’s bung ankle and instead put time into Mitch Duncan, who has had 28, 32, 32, 27, 29 and 36 possessions in his past six matches.
He’s a bloody good player Duncan and maybe Riley Knight, who tagged Selwood in Round 21, gets the job on Duncan on Friday night.
Of course, it mainly revolves around Dangerfield.
Psychologically, Dangerfield going forward arguably boosts the mindset of the other mids. With Selwood below standard because of injury and Dangerfield at full-forward, it’s hardly Dangerwood in the midfield.
Maybe the added responsibility in the middle gets the best out of Duncan, Steven Motlop, Sam Menegola, Scott Selwood, Darcy Lang, Zac Smith, Blicavs, Jake Kolodjashnij and Brandan Parfitt.
Maybe the mindset is they can’t sit back and wait for the Caped Crusaders to do their work, and they have to stand up. It’s only a theory.
Richmond doesn’t have such quandaries against GWS. Dustin Martin will play midfield and full-forward, Trent Cotchin will lead from the middle and the Tigers will try to break the league’s tackling record. The Tigers will stick with what got them to the preliminary final.
The Giants played tricks with Brett Deledio against West Coast. Leon Cameron reset him at half-back and although it didn’t work wonders, it allowed Cameron to be more creative with Nathan Wilson and Zac Williams, the two regular back flankers.
Certainly, Harry Himmelberg looms large as a tactical piece.
He played as a defensive forward on Jeremy McGovern in Round 22, Adelaide’s Jake Lever in the qualifying final and again on McGovern in the semi-final (for mixed results) and looks to be the player to try to quell Alex Rance this weekend, which would mean David Astbury gets the job on Jonathon Patton.
Does Cameron find an opponent for Martin?
Matthew Kennedy played on Martin in Round 18 for 52 minutes, according to Champion Data, and Martin had 16 disposals in that time. Kennedy is not in the team, so maybe Stephen Coniglio is the player to be responsible for the explosive Tiger, for he is the best two-way midfielder at the Giants.
What we do know is Rory Lobb will go head-to-head with Nank the Tank in the ruck.
What we also knows is nothing stays the same in football from week to week.
Or does it?
Surely, Dangerfield starts at full-forward against the Crows.
LIKES
1. Stephen Coniglio
Such a critical player for the Giants. He works both ways, is terrific at the contest and continually knocks up getting the ball. Had 35 disposals, seven tackles, eight clearances and 11 score involvements and while he isn’t a red-light tagger, he probably will be asked to be mindful of Dustin Martin this week. There’s a bunch of match-ups to savour this week, but if Coniglio can restrict Martin to, say, 20 touches, then the Giants have a foot in the Grand Final.
2. No excuses
West Coast coach Adam Simpson was asked if his players were tired, if the overtime game against Port Adelaide had caught up with them and they were emotionally drained. Simpson didn’t reach for the excuse book.
“They were exceptional and we got nowhere near it,’’ he said. “We tried to work off the resilience and the spirit we’ve been working towards since the bye, it didn’t matter that we had to travel a couple of weeks in a row. Tonight we weren’t good enough.’’
Again, classy in defeat from a coach.
3. Cats on rebound
It is well documented how well the Cats respond after a defeat and it should be well documented that the Cats midfield isn’t just “Dangerwood”. With Patrick Dangerfield forward and Joel Selwood playing injured, the rest of the Cats midfield responded. The week before against Richmond, with Danger in the middle, Geelong lost the contested footy by 19 — their worst differential of the season. The Cats bounced back against Sydney, winning it by 25 — their fourth best differential of the season. They did it on the inside and outside. They won the uncontested possession count by 110, took 129 marks and 114 uncontested marks.
4. Zac Smith
Who knows how Chris Scott and Zac Smith combine to motivate the big ruckman, but when he’s up and about and aggressive he is vitally important to the Geelong midfield. Sometimes it seems Smith is going through the motions, other times he looks like he could play a role in Full Metal Jacket as a demonic infantry intern. Nineteen disposals, 10 contested, four clearances and six score involvements meant he, Taylor and Lachie Henderson were the three best big men on the ground.
DISLIKES
1. Swans at the MCG
Much was made of Geelong’s record at the MCG compared to Simonds Stadium, but what of the Sydney players who continue to flounder on the game’s biggest stage. In finals played at the MCG since 2011, Dan Hannebery averages 74 ranking points from seven games, Luke Parker is 67 from seven games, Gary Rohan 45 from six games, Sam Reid 47 from four and Tom Papley 61 from three. The worry is the first two players, the major concern is Rohan, who everyone says has the wheels for the MCG but just can’t get it going there.
2. The coaching box
It’s easy in hindsight and from the cheap seats, but was Sydney coach John Longmire imaginative enough as the game slipped away in the second quarter? Reid back as the spare is his signature move, but maybe Lance Franklin up to a wing to scare the opposition and Parker one out at full-forward, a shut down to Duncan? Coaches have faith in their players, but this game changed quickly on the scoreboard and maybe Longmire had too much faith before the game was lost for good.
3. Lewis Jetta
Has regained respect in the footy world after some outstanding recent efforts and the Eagles needed another one from him if they were to beat the Giants. It didn’t happen. Just seven touches from him. Just 10 from Jamie Cripps. Jack Darling had a poor one. But it wasn’t their fault alone. If the Eagles midfield put in the necessary pressure the game could have flowed somewhat their way.
4. S-s-s-s-s-ooorrrrrryyyyy
How many are going to say it? How many will acknowledge they got it wrong on Stevie J? He kicked six goals in a final when most observers said he should never play again. Can hear it now. That it was junk time after halftime, that he won’t go near it this week, that it was one last lightning bolt in a brilliant career. That’s OK, but at least acknowledge the champ stood up when he was told he couldn’t.
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