All premiership contenders need a tagger like Cameron Ling, Cam Mooney writes

All AFL teams need a tagger with a classic negator still a key part of any premiership outfit’s armoury, writes Cam Mooney.

A word of advice to premiership contenders looking to knock off Collingwood: start developing a tagger or two.

On Friday night against the Western Bulldogs, Pies champion Scott Pendlebury broke Robert Harvey’s all time AFL possession count of 9656 touches.

However, the way he’s going and considering how modern footy is played, his much younger teammate Nick Daicos will have close to 15,000 by the time his career is over.

Why?

Because the game’s dark art of tagging seems to have gone out of the game and nobody seems to sit on the superstar son of Peter, or players of his ilk.

Few clubs have a genuine negator who can be sent to a running hot mid who has got completely off the chain.

Geelong captain Cameron Ling and coach Chris Scott hold the 2011 premiership cup. Picture: AAP Image/Joe Castro.

It’s a fact which frankly boggles the mind; it’s incredible how much freedom players enjoy these days.

But this is where Geelong can have an advantage.

Tagging is not a sexy role, and maybe that’s partially why Cameron Ling was the game’s greatest ever run-with player.

During our premiership years, his defensive work was one of our key pillars.

He was phenomenal.

He was the greatest runner I’ve ever seen on a footy field, an incredible fact considering his plus 90kg weight.

We would go into games knowing Lingy was more often than not going to take out their best player.

He rarely got beaten.

North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell is tackled by Mark Blicavs in round 17 at GMHBA Stadium. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

And we repaid his team-first sacrifice in spades.

If he ever needed a chop out, or was caught, we were instructed to leave our man and jump on his opponent.

And we had two of them, with Max Rooke essentially a tagger in the forward line.

Now, the modern day Geelong might not quite have a player in the Ling mould, but they do have Mark Blicavs and Tom Atkins who can play tighter when called upon.

However, taggers don’t grow on trees and you can’t simply send somebody to do a job.

Lingy wasn’t a tagging superstar overnight.

It took him years to hone his craft, requiring a huge amount of mental and physical toughness – he too would get belted from pillar to post each week – and selflessness, not just endurance.

And you need to get the ball yourself.

Hawthorn has one in Finn Maginness, who kept Josh Kelly – coming off a stellar 26-possession, two-goal game against Melbourne in wet conditions – to just six touches while collecting 15 of his own, last round.

A brilliant effort. And that should be the blueprint.

So why has the tagger gone out of the game?

Partially because we’re in an era of team defence.

GWS Giant Isaac Cumming cops heat from Hawthorn’s Finn Maginness in round 17 at Giants Stadium. (Photo by Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

Under this game style, gaps can open up in the field and some clubs like Collingwood have used rapid handball to get their run and carry game going.

It’s much like Geelong’s 2007 flag – after two grand finals which were absolute wars of defensive attrition between West Coast and Sydney – built upon run and gun footy.

If I was a young midfielder, starved of opportunities and on the periphery of the senior team, I’d be talking to the coach about a personal reinvention.

Put your hand up to be a tagger.

You’d get 200 games under your belt.

At the end of the day, defence wins you premierships and a key part of your armoury should be a tagger or two

Originally published as All premiership contenders need a tagger like Cameron Ling, Cam Mooney writes