Tagging is nothing new in the AFL and an issue best left to the umpire on the day

St Kilda midfielder Marcus Windhager crossed a line while trying to clamp down on Collingwood star Nick Daicos. A pair of free kicks awarded to Daicos against Windhager, and a $1,000 fine later imposed on the Saint, are a small price to pay out of their running battle on Saturday night.
It was all part of a two-way tussle that Ross Lyon called 'a bit of theatre' as he defended his combative midfielder after the game that the Magpies won by 34 points. The Saints' coach even queried whether there are 'two sets of rules going around' – but Lyon is unlikely to like the answer he receives, while a greater good can come from the spotlight being shined on Windhager's tagging tactics
Daicos isn't the first AFL player to face a tagger. Let's hope he isn't the last. Only the most one-eyed supporters want to see the stars of the game treated like a protected species while running around doing as they please. Close-checking on a potential match-winner – whether a gun midfielder or dangerous forward – does not have to be a blight on the game. It tends to throw a pinch of spice into the contest and can add to the spectacle between two otherwise far from evenly-matched teams.
The Magpies' vice-captain knows what is coming his way each time he laces up his boots. The umpires are surely aware too, while holding the keys to punishing and in turn preventing foul play. But even with the extra eyeballs of having four field umpires watching the game up close, Windhager was hardly sanctioned as he niggled, pinched, scragged and lifted his knee into the back of Daicos's leg.
'They both had their moments, Daicos had a fair bit of ball,' Lyon said after the game. 'I know we'll probably go early, look at a couple of those free kicks, I'm not sure they were free kicks. But I think we'll take that in and ask the question, are there two sets of rules going around? I'm not sure.'
Windhager made his intentions clear before the opening bounce, as he bumped and pushed Daicos in the middle of the ground. These were typical tactics for someone tasked with limiting the influence of one of the best players in the game.
Immediately after the first bounce the umpires put Windhager on high alert. An open-handed whack into Daicos's midriff left the Magpie searching for breath as he prepared to take his free kick. Windhager stood the mark smirking and shaking his head over the decision, but the match review officer backed the umpire's call as a fine was handed down the following day.
Long gone are the days when the leading players, or their teammates, can take matters into their own hands. But Daicos turned the tables at the next centre bounce when he brought Windhager to ground in a tackle and was prepared to give away a free kick to make his own statement when shoving the Saint back into the turf. The clashes continued for the remainder of the game though Windhager would give away just one more free kick to Daicos for holding onto him without the ball.
The effectiveness of giving up one player to nullify the impact of an opponent will remain one up for debate. When it works, it can be a game-changer. Though having only 17 players focused on the ball too often leaves a side competing like they are one short.
Windhager tagged Daicos for 36 minutes when the two sides last met, before the shackles were released after half-time. Daicos finished with 22 disposals and three clearances on a relatively quiet day. Windhager earned two coaches votes for his 24 touches and seven clearances as the Saints pulled away to a shock win over the then-reigning premier.
Sign up to From the Pocket: AFL Weekly
Jonathan Horn brings expert analysis on the week's biggest AFL stories
after newsletter promotion
The Saints' disruptor-in-chief has become one of the best run-with players in the game. He restricted Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli to his lowest disposal count for five years with only 14 last week. Windhager played his role, but it could not prevent the Saints being trounced by 72 points.
'The job of the tagger is to disrupt, isn't it? That's his job. He's doing that within the rules, I suppose, if they don't pick it up,' McRae told Fox Footy on Saturday night. 'I'm not going to comment on the kneeing and things like that. That's obviously up to others to decide if that's a bit too far.
'I just loved how Nick got on with it tonight. One of the big things with being a tagger is, 'let's see if they can go with you?' Some weeks they can run with you, some weeks they can't. Again, I thought Nick won that battle.'
Daicos was back to being one of the best afield this time against the Saints with 30 disposals and five clearances. The 22-year-old even had a final say with a team-lifting goal late in the game. Whether Windhager is sent to Daicos for round three the next time the Saints and Pies meet is something for Lyon to decide. But whether any cheap shots and underhand tactics are stamped out or allowed to run free is a question that should be left for the umpires of the day.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Mail​

41 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

Four-year-old Aussie girl is fighting for life after freak accident during family's idyllic Bali holiday

The family of a four-year-old Australian girl fighting for life after a shock accident in Bali have issued a heartwarming update. Marigold Jessie had been travelling with her family to Bali, Indonesia, when she fell from a treehouse at their Balinese villa fracturing her skull. The incident immediately caused bleeding on the brain and she was rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery. The surgeries in Bali helped alleviate the pressure from her brain before she was brought back to Adelaide. Her aunt, Sophie McInnerney, said Marigold is now in intensive care at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide. 'Goldie isn't a stranger to hospitals … it's where she spent the first 100 days of her life after she was born at just 25 weeks,' Ms McInnerney wrote on a fundraising page for the family. 'Goldie has an incredible fighting (and feisty) spirit and is the bravest little soul we know, but she has a long road ahead to recovery. 'Lucky for Goldie, she has the most doting and dedicated parents in Nick and Carly who will be there holding her hand the whole way.' The GoFundMe page has raised more than $62,000 for the four-year-old. 'This experience has and will continue to take its toll on Nick and Carly on so many levels and they are going to need a lot of love and support to get through this,' the page read. The Adelaide Crows football club are among those to have supported 'Goldie'. The club donated a signed guernsey to the family's local football club, with any proceeds going toward Marigold's cause. 'The (Booleroo Melrose Wilmington Lions Football Club) family will do whatever we can to support Nick, Carly, Billie and Goldie and wrap our arms around them at this time,' a post from the club read on Instagram. Their local netball association also extended its support on Facebook. 'The netball community extends its deepest support to Carly and Nick McCallum following a tragic accident to their daughter during a family holiday in Bali,' a post from the Northern Areas Netball Association read. 'Carly has always been a proud supporter of netball in our region and her Mum Millie Foulis, a NANA Life Member.'

BBC News

an hour ago

• BBC News

What is DRS in Formula 1?

DRS in Formula 1 stands for Drag Reduction System - a device controlled via the steering wheel that allows drivers to increase speed and pressing the DRS button, a flap on the car's rear wing opens, reducing drag by allowing air to flow through the can only be used in designated zones on circuits, primarily along straights. These zones are determined by detection points.A driver must be within one second of the car in front at the detection point in order to use DRS, which helps drivers overtake and escape the 'dirty air' created by the car is only available in dry conditions and is disabled during wet system - first introduced in 2011 - was implemented to increase the chances of on-track are notified via their steering wheel display when DRS is practice sessions and qualifying, DRS can be used freely within the activation zones to help set faster lap number of DRS zones varies by circuit - for example, Monaco has just one, while the Australian Grand Prix features four. What will happen to DRS in 2026? DRS will be removed in 2026 as part of new Formula 1 all cars will be able to activate a low-drag mode on straights at any time, regardless of proximity to another separate power-boost modes will replace DRS on the steering wheel.'Z-mode' opens elements on the front and rear wings to increase downforce and speed through can switch to 'X-mode', which reduces drag to maximise straight-line modes will be available in specific zones around each track and can be activated manually by the driver. 'It was only ever meant to be a temporary solution' The idea behind the DRS overtaking aid was to create a sticking-plaster solution to the problem created by aerodynamics in is, make the car's performance dependent on downforce, and overtaking will always be hard because the disruption to the airflow over a car behind another reduces its grip and makes it hard to follow was meant to simulate a slipstream - a straight-line advantage to the car behind - and the plan was to make overtaking possible, not to balance those demands has not always been easy - sometimes overtaking has been too easy; sometimes it still was only ever meant to be a temporary solution. And when the current regulations were conceived, the hope was that it could be discarded, because following would be a lot easier. It became apparent even before they were introduced in 2022 that would not be the another rule-set has forced another solution. But it's not because DRS hasn't worked; it's because the rear wing opening has had to be added to the front wing doing something similar to balance the energy demands of the new cars with their new hybrid 2026, there will be a 'push-to-pass' system that gives an extra boost of electrical energy for the car behind. It's arguably even more artificial than DRS, and whether it will work is far from the only question hanging over the new rules. What have the drivers said? There were mixed views from F1 drivers about the new regulations when they were announced last summer."I have spoken to some drivers who have driven it on the simulator - I haven't - and they said it's pretty slow so we will see if it's the right direction or not," said Lewis Hamilton at a drivers' news conference in 2024. "We have just got to make sure the cars are efficient, fast and a step forwards and actually racing is improved."McLaren's Lando Norris said: "I guess there are reasons for it but I don't want it to go the opposite way. Especially with how complicated it is."You could have massive gaps and then people are going to say it's boring again. Right now it is as exciting as it has been for a very long time."This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. What is Ask Me Anything? Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. More questions answered... What are penalty points in F1 and how do they work?How does Formula 1 points scoring work?How does F1 measure photo finishes?

The Guardian

2 hours ago

• The Guardian

Lions warn Joe Schmidt over Wallabies player release for tour matches

Every big tour is a hectic learning curve as the 2025 British & Irish Lions are already finding. The squad had to call off their post-arrival recovery dip in the Pacific Ocean – a letdown both for local news crews and the lurking sharks off Cottesloe beach – because of inclement weather and the first media squall of the trip has also blown in. The Lions chief executive, Ben Calveley, has made clear the touring side expect the Wallabies head coach, Joe Schmidt, to make his national players available for their Super Rugby teams before the Test series commencing next month and the host nation has been gently reminded of that contractual detail following the Lions' arrival in Australia. 'The agreement is very clear; it says that Test players have to be released to play in fixtures leading into that series,' Calveley said at the Lions' official welcome overlooking the Swan River. 'That is our expectation. It's really important that these games are competitive. 'It's not just for a performance standpoint – the players do want to test themselves and build towards the Test series – but it's also right for the fans, partners and broadcasters who are all expecting competitive fixtures, and for the rugby-loving public. That would be their expectation as well.' The opening game against Western Force should fulfil that criteria with Nic White, Darcy Swain and Nick Champion de Crespigny all potentially available to face the Lions on Saturday. But another couple of Wallaby squad members, Carlo Tizzano and Ben Donaldson, have been retained in camp by Schmidt before Australia's warm-up Test against Fiji next week and it remains unclear how many will represent the Lions' next clutch of opponents. 'We'll see a competitive fixture at the weekend and that's what we're looking for,' Calveley said. 'We want to make sure our guys are battle-hardened when it comes to that Test series against the Wallabies.' Following the Western Force game, the next three fixtures are against the Reds, the Waratahs and the Brumbies, and Lions tour manager, Ieuan Evans, is similarly keen to encounter the strongest possible opposition. 'I think what's clear is that we are an elite sporting touring team and we need to be challenged and tested in our preparations towards the Tests,' Evans said. Discussions, accordingly, will continue with Australian officials, although the requirements of the Australia-Fiji game in Newcastle will clearly complicate the situation. The Lions, meanwhile, insist there are no plans to divert from their traditional tour rota but Calveley did say he was potentially open to the idea of the Lions touring other countries such as France in future. 'You can certainly understand why people would get excited about that sort of concept. We would as well. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion 'What's not to like about some of those wonderful clubs you could play against and some of those wonderful venues? I think what's encouraging for us is that whatever country you speak to they are interested in having a relationship with the Lions, whether that's in their country or on UK or Irish soil.'