AFL semi-finals: Tigers’ Kamdyn McIntosh reveals how modern-day wingers now wear many hats
Tigers winger Kamdyn McIntosh is the elastic stretching between Richmond’s defensive and offensive lines. He keeps it all together. But is the specialist role being grossly undervalued? FULL SEMI-FINAL PREVIEWS
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Kamdyn McIntosh tunes up for matches by tuning his ears.
“You get a gist for how the game is going to pan out from the pre-game analysis from the coaches,” McIntosh, 26, said.
“Whether it’s going to be a long contest game, or whether it’s going to be a real kick-mark game.
“It helps you mentally prepare. You might be doing a lot more running on the off-ball side of things to help the defence out, or to help the forwards out.”
Welcome to the unappreciated world of specialised wingers. McIntosh had 24 disposals against Sydney in Round 6, and seven disposals and a goal in last week’s qualifying final.
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Which game was better? Coach Damien Hardwick won’t look at the stats sheet to decide.
“We play a little bit differently with regards to some of our wing set ups,” Hardwick said.
“Those guys (McIntosh and Marlion Pickett) play a really important role for us and have been doing a diligent job.
“I know everyone looks at kicks, marks and handballs, but we’re not really based on that.
“We’re a low-possession but high-structure side, so the things that we measure and value are not so much on the stats sheet.”
McIntosh wouldn’t divulge Richmond’s secrets — “as a winger in the side we have a pretty unique role for us, but I won’t let you know what that is because it might give away the details” — but it is fair to say Richmond’s system — both offensive and defensive — wouldn’t function without him.
When you see Nick Vlastuin flying across the TV screen to take an intercept mark there’s a good chance it’s because Liam Baker has gone to Vlastuin’s man, and McIntosh has gone to Baker’s.
The wingers connect to the halfbacks and half-forwards, allowing club’s to keep their formation.
Rivals believe the Tigers like to hold their fat-side wing extremely wide.
So if that’s McIntosh, and the Tigers lose a clearance on the other side, he can start running back to release a defender as a plus one.
Or, if the Tigers win the ball, they can switch it to him.
“It’s very different to playing in the guts,” McIntosh said.
“You could have a game where you get 20 disposals, you could have a game where you get 10 disposals. But the team still wins, you just feel like you might not have had a big enough impact.
“But really you did, because of all the off ball movements you had.
“I feel like my role is the most important in the side, and I’m sure the half-forwards and the halfbacks feel like that. It’s just the way we value our role.”
The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the AFL for retaining the ball with an uncontested possession when they exit defence, largely because McIntosh helps create an option.
It begs the obvious question — why don’t the All-Australian selectors respect the position?
The only wings Jackson Macrae has seen this year were the Virgin Airlines ones that flew him to the Gold Coast.
But Macrae was named on one All-Australian wing and Cameron Guthrie, who was picked on the other side, wasn’t far behind him.
Lions coach and Competition Committee member Chris Fagan thinks specialised wingers deserve their recognition, and he’s got a couple of the better ones in Hugh McCluggage and Mitch Robinson.
McIntosh said the Lions, like the Tigers, play a system behind the ball. But St Kilda speedster Bradley Hill poses a different threat in Friday night’s semi-final at Metricon Stadium.
“He likes to cross over wings, and we’ve got our own plan of attack for that,” McIntosh said.
“Our wingers play a different structure to that, so it’s funny to see how different teams play their wingers in different ways.”
McIntosh modelled his wing game on Isaac Smith, often saddling up next to Mark Williams to watch Smith’s vision while the former development coach coded matches.
“I’d look at what Smith would do off-ball and his patterning when he was trying to get the ball and things like that,” McIntosh said.
Andrew Gaff (West Coast) and Sam Menegola (Geelong) are also among this year’s standouts, and they all possess the same X-factor — power running.
McIntosh has clocked 25.2km in his past two matches, always towards the top of the GPS rankings.
“If it’s one of the games where teams switch the ball a lot sometimes I might get on the end of it a little bit and feel more involved,” he said.
“But there might be some games where I’m stuck on the fat side of the ground because the opposition likes to go long down the line all the time or play skinny.
“So I’m on the fat side of the ground constantly working up and down, up and down and not getting used.”
McIntosh’s fitness rose to a new level after his 2019 disappointment.
The Pinjarra boy played the first 16 games and then got dropped, missing out on his second premiership.
It morphed into a double-blow when the Tigers held McIntosh over from the VFL grand final, which they won six days before the AFL flag.
“I remember Dimma calling me before the VFL grand final at 9 o’clock at night,” he said.
“I was starting to wind down and go to bed to get ready for the VFL granny.
“It was a tough decision for Dimma to do that. But at the end of the day I was there to play AFL football.
“I said to Dimma, ‘Look, you know if you need me next week, even for training during the week to help the boys out I’ll be there for you’.”
McIntosh said he took getting a game for granted before he was axed last season, and was told to go away and work on his aerial power.
It led him to the US for an off-season trip to visit former Tiger Ben Lennon, who had landed a punting scholarship at Utah University.
With Lennon attending college most days, McIntosh got to work on his own mini pre-season.
“I wanted to come back and make an impact,” he said.
“I wanted to lift heavier in the gym and I came back and set PBs (personal bests) in running and in the gym.
“I wanted to let the coaching staff know that I wasn’t done, and I went away thinking that in Utah.”
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INSIDE MAN: EX-TIGER’S INTEL INVALUABLE FOR SAINTS
He fell out of selection favour at Richmond last year, but St Kilda livewire Dan Butler has declared he has nothing to prove against his former side in Friday night’s semi-final.
Butler has produced some of the best form of his career for the Saints this season after being starved of opportunities at the Tigers last year.
The 2017 Richmond premiership dynamo was forced to spend the bulk of last year in the VFL and watched on as the Tigers smashed the Giants in the Grand Final.
“Obviously, I am grateful to be able to play AFL this year and get more opportunity,” Butler said on Wednesday.
“As long as we put up a really good contest, it will be a really good game.
“I don’t think I have anything to prove to them. I’ve got great respect for the club and the coaches and players there.
“I’m just really looking forward to what we can bring and hopefully it’s a really good contest.
“I was looking for opportunities and obviously I’m fortunate enough the Saints were after me as well, and I couldn’t have been happier to go to the Saints.”
The 2017 Richmond premiership dynamo said the banter had started with his former teammates, including a cheeky text message to let Dylan Grimes know he was looking forward to playing on him.
If it doesn’t end up being Grimes, Butler is on a potential collision course with Jayden Short and Liam Baker – his former housemates.
Butler said he was also willing to share any insights into his former teammates that could help the coaches devise a plan to combat the Tigers.
“They’ve been so successful over the past few years. Everyone knows how they play anyway – obviously a lot of forward handballs and they like to gain territory,” he said.
“Most of the coaches know that, but if they need anything on individual players I’m pretty happy to help out.”
With elimination final hero Paddy Ryder out for the season, young gun Rowan Marshall will likely be deployed to shoulder most of the ruck responsibility.
“If we didn’t have Paddy (last week), we probably wouldn’t have won because he was so influential. He took some big contested grabs,” Butler said.
“He’ll be sorely missed but we’ve got a good squad and good depth.”
Jonathon Marsh has rocketed into contention to play just his sixth match of the season as the Saints rejig the line-up to cover the loss of Jake Carlisle.
Dylan Roberton’s best chance of a fairytale return appears to hinge on the fitness of Josh Battle.
Battle is pushing to return from a foot injury suffered in the final round against GWS Giants. If he fails to prove his fitness, Roberton is seen as a live chance.
WHY ADAMS PUSHED HARD ON PIES’ BIG SEMI-FINAL CALL
Collingwood will travel to Brisbane the night before its cutthroat semi-final with Geelong on Saturday night to avoid a lengthy game-day bus trip to the venue.
The player-driven decision means the Magpies will leave their Sunshine Coast resort and head to Brisbane on Friday night to take on the Cats after their incredible elimination final victory against West Coast in Perth.
All-Australian midfielder Taylor Adams said he was a strong voice in making sure the Magpies avoided the almost two hour game-day trip from Twin Waters to the Gabba.
“The bus road is about 90 minutes from where we’re staying to the Gabba and give or take another half an hour depending on traffic,” Adams said.
“In terms of preparation, I was a massive advocate for getting down there early.
“It sort of makes it feel more like a travelling game.
“We get the chance to chill out the night before at the hotel and spend some time together in a new environment, so it’s quite refreshing.
“I’m pretty glad we’re taking travel out of the equation and we’re only 15 minutes from the Gabba when we take off and leave the hotel.”
The Magpies are still riding high following their shock win over West Coast at Perth Stadium last Saturday night.
They will face a Cats side that suffered a loss in the qualifying final and who they’ve beaten in their past two meetings.
Although, Adams was adamant Geelong would go in as favourite.
“We’re certainly still the underdogs,” Adams said.
“Geelong finished fourth for a reason and they’re a quality team.
“We’ve had some really tough battles against them over the years and they’ve been a good team for a long time.
“We’re expecting a team that is just as hungry as we were last week.”
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Adams may have saved the game for Collingwood last Saturday night when he threw himself at Tom Cole’s kick in the final minute when the Eagle was about to drive the ball inside 50.
“I received a million messages from friends and family about it and the Collingwood faithful certainly got around me,” Adams said.
But the fact of the matter is if it wasn’t me it would have been someone else wearing black and white.
“We’re coached to be in that position as a midfielder and we’re taught to position ourselves in the corridor.
“It sort of washed over me until I got to my phone post-game, where some of my friends had pumped it up as the smother of the millennium, much to Heath Shaw’s demise.”
WHY TRUMP COVID SLEDGE HIT COX BETWEEN THE EYES
Collingwood showman Mason Cox has revealed he received a lighthearted COVID sledge from the West Coast cheer squad at Perth Stadium last Saturday night.
The swashbuckling American kicked the Magpies’ first three goals against West Coast in the elimination final to kick start his side on its way to a memorable one-point upset.
Cox said he enjoyed a running battle with the one-eyed Eagles cheer squad during the game, which culminated with a sledge that involved US President Donald Trump’s recent coronavirus diagnosis.
“I hadn’t seen a full blown cheer squad in awhile, so it was enjoyable to get the first one (goal) and then to talk a bit of smack back and forth,” Cox said.
“I think one of them told me to ‘go and get coronavirus like your president’, so that didn’t sit too well.
“After I kicked the third one I think they were all sitting down by that point.
“It’s enjoyable to shut people up every once in awhile.”
Cox had trouble seeing properly in the first half of the season as he battled to find the right mix of contact lenses and medication following eye surgery that ended his 2019 season.
He admitted it had been a “long year” but said he was now back to his old self.
“With the restrictions it was tough for me to be able to get treatment and a proper assessment for my eyes,” he said.
“Coming back it was hard not being able to see straight when trying to mark a footy coming at you, but eventually I saw some doctors along the way where I was able to get some contacts and sort out a few medications to be able to fix the problem.
“We’re now back to normal, which is good.”
Cox was nursing a black eye after the Eagles’ game, but said he would be ‘good to go’ in Saturday night’s semi-final against Geelong at the Gabba.
He has kicked eight goals from his past three finals appearances and said he loved the big stage.
“I kind of enjoy some of the pressure and I enjoy some of the atmosphere of a finals game,” Cox said.
“I think it’s a unique experience that not many people get to be a part of.
“For myself coming from the States, I didn’t really see myself being a part of all this stuff.
“So I just try to soak it all in.”
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DEFIANT CATS: OUR GAME PLAN CAN WIN FINALS
Geelong has set the tone for a defiant response in this weekend’s cutthroat semi-final against Collingwood after a “frank” team meeting on Sunday night.
The Cats maintain an unshakeable confidence in their game plan after players and coaches critically examined their qualifying final loss to Port Adelaide.
Coaches zeroed in on a host of missed opportunities that turned the game, including a costly passage of play on the stroke of halftime that allowed Brad Ebert to put the Power back in front.
Defender Tom Stewart said the forensic review left the Cats confident they could find their best footy to combat a rampant Collingwood outfit on Saturday.
“We had quite a frank meeting last night about what we need to do to play our best footy this week,” Kayo ambassador Stewart said.
“The mood is up among the group. We understand that we’re extremely disappointed with the result on Thursday night – a couple of things we need to tinker with.
“But we know that at our best we’re going to give ourselves the best possible chance of winning this weekend, so we were quite up and about.”
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Geelong kicked a wasteful 3.7 in the first half before Port cracked the game open with three unanswered goals in the third quarter to set up the 16-point win.
The message to the players was about seizing key moments in finals.
Brandan Parfitt took a mark 40m on an angle with five seconds left in the first quarter but played on and handballed to Gary Ablett, whose kick fell short as the siren sounded.
Other incidents, such as when the three-quarter-time siren denied Mitch Duncan’s pass to Tom Hawkins, also showed the fine line between success and failure.
“The obvious one was just taking our chances in big games,” Stewart said.
“We missed some shots that we usually kick and we had some moments late in quarters that altered the game, I suppose.
“There were some moments that they made the most of and we missed out on, but that’s just the way it happened.”
While the meeting was part of the club’s standard weekly debrief, Stewart said there was healthy discussion when the coaches opened up the floor to the players.
“It’s a combined effort with the coaches and players. A lot of open discussion. It was a disappointing result, but there was positives out of that game,” he said.
Coach Chris Scott said post-match that criticism of his side’s game style in finals was “a bit lazy” – and Stewart is confident the Cats have the right system in place.
“Absolutely. I think we’ve proved during the year our game style holds up against those good teams,” Stewart said.
“We lost to West Coast and Collingwood, but we beat St Kilda, Port Adelaide and Brisbane. Our game style holds up. We’ve got to get every detail right in our game plan to win in finals.
“That’s the way we see it. We see it as being really detailed in the way we approach the game and just being absolutely fierce in the way we approach the contest.
“That’s as simple as we’re trying to keep it at the moment and I think that’s going to work for us and will hold us in good stead.”
JON RALPH’S ULTIMATE SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW
Can the Saints and Magpies continue their fairytale run and knock Richmond and Geelong out in straight sets?
Here are the key selection moves, biggest match-ups and burning questions for two blockbuster semi-finals.
SECOND SEMI-FINAL: RICHMOND v ST KILDA
Metricon Stadium, Friday, 7.50pm
NO LYNCH SURPRISE THIS WEEK
Did Richmond get cocky resting Tom Lynch, who believed he was ready to go off a hamstring injury? His return changes everything, after Harris Andrews had 13 spoils and seven intercept possessions in the qualifying final. Lynch will get the best defender and allow Jack Riewoldt and Dustin Martin potential mismatches. If Josh Battle (foot) doesn’t come up and Jake Carlisle returns home for his child’s birth as expected it’s advantage Richmond, with Cal Wilkie and Dougal Howard taking up the key back positions and Dylan Roberton as a possible replacement for Carlisle.
RYDER INJURY RESHAPES RUCK BATTLE
Did Paddy Ryder’s hamstring injury just hand Richmond the semi-final? Maybe not, but his game against Tim English was one for the ages. He had 143 KFC SuperCoach points, nine hit-outs to advantage, seven score involvements and kicked two goals. Now Toby Nankervis gets exactly the kind of ruckman in Rowan Marshall he is not exposed by. Ryder has played 11 games since Round 7, so St Kilda’s mids have become accustomed to getting first use since then.
KEY MATCH-UPS
DUSTIN MARTIN v CALLUM WILKIE
St Kilda will believe it has the perfect match-up for Dustin Martin when he goes forward, with Wilkie his designated stopper. It’s why Carlisle playing is so important to free Wilkie up. In 26 minutes one-on-one in this year’s Round 4 encounter Martin didn’t kick a goal and in 36 minutes against each other last year Wilkie also kept him goalless. Wilkie might be footy’s most underrated player. Seb Ross has tended to take Martin in the midfield rather than Jack Steele in recent encounters.
DAN BUTLER V DYLAN GRIMES
Butler kicked 3.2 in his first clash against his old side, with Damien Hardwick adamant his departure was about opportunity, saying “we all knew he was a good player”. But in that clash he got a mix of Bachar Houli and Liam Baker, who often takes the second-best small forward. With David Astbury back alongside Noah Balta, does Hardwick just assign his best stopper in Grimes? Charlie Cameron had the better of their encounter the star Tiger will need to lift his game, along with many teammates.
LAST TIME
Round 4: St Kilda def Richmond by 26 points at Marvel Stadium
THE VERDICT
You can’t countenance footy’s best team losing two in a row, with Ryder’s absence tipping the balance in Richmond’s favour. Tigers by 18 points.
TAB ODDS:
Richmond $1.36
St Kilda $3.20
FIRST SEMI-FINAL: GEELONG COLLINGWOOD
Gabba, Saturday, 7.40pm
GRUNDY SET TO EARN BIG BUCKS
Collingwood might have a seven-year itch about Brodie Grundy’s future but after West Coast’s five centre-bounce goals – a season-high – the Pies will believe their No. 1 ruckman has a more favourable match-up against the Cats. Grundy played only 63 per cent game time against the Eagles, clearly his lowest figure since 2018, and was not in the critical centre bounce that Darcy Cameron neutralised when the game was on the line.
In Geelong’s loss to Port Adelaide Rhys Stanley took the centre bounces then often went forward, allowing Mark Blicavs to do the ruck work around the ground.
It means even if the Pies retain Cameron – and they should – it allows Grundy to get back to his traditional role as a solid tap ruckman who does his best work as an extra midfielder.
WHERE GAME WILL BE WON
This is the battle of the midfield beasts.
Geelong is ranked No. 1 for contested ball differential and the Pies are No.2.
For all the talk about Collingwood putting speed on the game, it was execution that allowed them to kick their third-highest score for the season.
They played on from 33 per cent of marks – their sixth-highest tally of the year – and their goals inside 50 ratio was the second-best of the season.
And their shot-at-goal accuracy was the season-high too.
So everything they touched turned to gold. They couldn’t have deserved the win more.
But the challenge of finals is replicating those deeds as many as four weeks in a row.
KEY MATCH-UPS
JORDAN DE GOEY v JAKE KOLODJASHNIJ
Jordan de Goey conjured brilliant moments against West Coast, with his floating left-foot kick on the run and a stunning snap over his shoulder late.
Geelong always plays Kolodjashnij on De Goey, but in his five-goal haul against the Cats this year he kicked four of them on the Cats defender and one on Mark Blicavs.
They were matched up in the final last year and in the Round 1 encounter in 2019.
Kolodjashnij was shaky as he was beaten by Steven Motlop last week so will need to lift his game.
MASON COX V HARRY TAYLOR
Taylor has got all the big jobs recently – Charlie Dixon and Tom Lynch included – and despite giving away a free kick goal to Dixon he didn’t concede another major or a single mark to the Port Adelaide star.
Cox was white-hot on Saturday night, explaining on Fox Footy his eyesight had only improved in the back half of the year after a retina injury that left him legally blind last year, allowing him enough depth perception to take those contested marks.
So Taylor will do his research aware that if Geelong midfield forces dirty ball — high kicks from midfield pressure — he will be a chance.
If Cox gets the service he did on Saturday night he could prove unstoppable again.
LAST TIME
Round 7: Collingwood def Geelong by 22 points at Optus Stadium
THE VERDICT
Genuine toss-of-the-coin job. So much comes down to Joel Selwood’s ability to perform with a broken finger. Not sure the Pies can match those emotional highs, so Geelong by a whisker. Six points.
TAB ODDS
Geelong $1.77
Collingwood $2.05
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Originally published as AFL semi-finals: Tigers’ Kamdyn McIntosh reveals how modern-day wingers now wear many hats
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