The role of the tagger in an AFL team is important, but are they getting away with breaking the rules when it comes to stopping the big guns of the competition?
Brent Macaffer went straight to Richmond superstar Trent Cotchin on Friday night. He hardly left his side for the remainder of the night, restricting Cotchin to just 13 disposals.
Macaffer annoyed Cotchin to a point that I’ve never seen before. It takes a lot for Cotchin to lose his cool, but he did on Friday night. He was beyond frustrated with the treatment he was receiving. Cotchin fought back late in the match, wrestling Macaffer and standing up for himself and his team, but it was a case of too little, too late.
Macaffer was touching, blocking and holding onto Cotchin all night long. Was Macaffer breaking the rules? I certainly think so.
Macaffer certainly isn’t the first tagger to employ these tactics – the name Ryan Crowley should ring a bell.
Macaffer did his job, and I’m sure Nathan Buckley was beyond pleased with the way his midfielder played. What I don’t understand is why a tagger is allowed to grab onto his opponent and a backman isn’t.
As soon as a defender even touches his opponent the whistle is blown. A small jumper grab or hold of the arm is enough for the umpire to award a free kick. Surely the rules should be the same for every player, regardless of the position they play.
The tactics of most taggers are the same. Hold onto and block your opponent, and hope the umpires don’t see. Macaffer did this, and luckily for him and Collingwood the umpires weren’t aware of it for the majority of the match.
The role of the tagger is an ugly one. They don’t necessarily want the ball – they just want to stop the best player on the opposing team.
While I think this role is necessary, what I don’t think should be tolerated is the blatant overstepping of rules by most taggers.
If you can’t beat your opponent fairly, you’re simply not good enough and that’s the way it should be. I respect a tagger that outworks his opponent – what I don’t respect is a tagger who has to break the rules to help his team.
Brent Macaffer clearly overstepped the boundaries of fair play on Friday night. I hope sooner rather than later, the umpires wake up to what has been and is still going on around the league.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
Damien Hardwick has predicted Toby Greene's one-match suspension will be upheld by the AFL tribunal, but the triple-premiership coach says he wouldn't ban the…
Jonathan Brown has made a passionate plea to the AFL on On the Couch to give players leeway as they make split-second decisions, following…
Matthew Lloyd told Footy Classified that his skinfold result was a wake-up call for him after being above the level that was allowed.
What an appallingly run competition the AFL is. Nobody really talks about it. We all love footy, so the AFL must be doing great.…
It is time that the tribunal became more simplistic, closed defence loopholes, and became representative of the game that it is trying to serve.
Toby Greene has been offered a one-game suspension after making high contact with Carlton's Jordan Boyd, adding to his list of bans in recent…
