Defensive forwards have become the most valuable players in the game – something that was made crystal clear in Geelong’s emphatic win over Adelaide at the weekend.

The 48-point margin might make it seem to have been a cakewalk, to quote a favourite Collingwood expression.

But for a good part of the game the Crows slugged it out pretty well before Geelong got away in the closing stages.

Adelaide managed to do that by borrowing what has become a vital part of the Cats’ game – exerting pressure by attacking opponents trying to move the ball out of defence.

The way the Geelong players do this is a fantastic skill, developed to complement the other modern football art, zone defence.

Zoning has made it unproductive to send long kicks out of the back half, instead forcing defenders to run and carry the ball, combined with the judicious use of handball, until a teammate manages to break clear and present a target through which to mount an attack.

It follows, then, that putting pressure on those ball-carrying, handballing runners while they’re still in their defensive half of the field is the best way to set up your own scoring chances by forcing mistakes.

And that’s where Geelong’s game-breakers like Gary Ablett, Paul Chapman and company come in.

They harass opponents unmercifully, denying them space and, most importantly, thinking time, as they try to turn back attacks, resulting in plenty of turnovers that lead to more and more points on the Cats’ scoreboard.

Both teams turned on this kind of pressure on Saturday night before it became apparent that the Cats were simply better at it, largely because, as Mick Malthouse observed on ABC-TV on Sunday morning, they have a pool of highly experienced, match-hardened players who can keep it up for longer than just about anybody else.

That wasn’t the only pertinent observation Malthouse made during his guest appearance on Barrie Cassidy’s Offsiders program.

The Collingwood coach, who comes off contract himself at the end of this season, reckoned, during a discussion centred largely around Terry Wallace’s future, or lack of it, at Richmond, that there wasn’t much to be gained by sacking a coach mid-season.

For one thing, he said, the club wouldn’t be able to appoint anyone able meet its long-term needs, but would get only a seat-warmer for the rest of the season – which has proved to be a pretty accurate observation over the years (Paul Roos at the Swans being a notable exception to the rule).

Whether the people making that decision will heed Malthouse’s advice is another thing after the Tigers suffered a fourth straight loss, this time not against top-class opposition like the first three, but to fellow cellar-dwellers Melbourne.

Mark Harvey also looks on shaky ground, despite being in the first part of an overdue rebuilding phase, with one wag quipping after Fremantle’s walloping by St Kilda at the weekend that the Dockers are now the bye.

Malthouse also had a few words in support of those of us who believe umpires need to have a lot less to say, particularly in the area of over-familiarity with players and what amounts to being self-appointed coaches.

He said the rugby union way of doing things was the way to go, with referees talking to “the captain” rather than “Smithy” or whatever when they wanted to make a point about team transgressions, and using players’ numbers when they needed to address them individually.

That way, Malthouse said, everyone was treated as an equal, as well as removing the possibility of umpires embarrassing themselves by using the wrong nickname.

He’s been around a long time, has Mick. And forgotten more about football than a lot of the people who lay down the law on some of these things will ever learn.

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