Essendon begins their season with a fully fit squad after being decimated by injury in 2012.
Essendon's Brent Stanton may be given the job of tagging Crows young gun Patrick Dangerfield tonight.. Picture: Kym Smith Source: The Daily Telegraph
IT'S time Essendon reinvented Brent Stanton and it could start tonight if he's given the job of playing on Adelaide's dynamite midfielder, Patrick Dangerfield.
It's unlikely because Stanton hasn't got the inside game to match Dangerfield's ferocity, but at the same time he has the running capacity to go with Dangerfield, and possibly hurt Dangerfield offensively.
Whoever has to go to Dangerfield will have a ridiculous night.
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One opposition analyst suggested the Crows send Dangerfield to match Essendon captain Jobe Watson at the contest and then burn Watson off using his explosive speed. The analyst didn't like Stanton on Dangerfield for the simple fact that Stanton is not a coal-face footballer, and Dangerfield is perhaps the best hard-ball getter in the competition.
As it is, Dangerfield and his skipper, Scott Thompson, are key midfielders for the Crows and need attention.
With revitalised and injury-free Heath Hocking almost certain to tag Thompson, it leaves Dangerfield as the single greatest headache for Bombers coach James Hird.
Dangerfield is a unique player in the sense that he is elite at the contest -- thus wins his own ball -- and is elite as an outside runner.
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He was the No.1 hard-ball get player in the competition last year and, astonishingly, was ranked eighth overall in metres gained.
Champion Data tells us 59 per cent of his possessions were won in a contest, which was the second highest percentage of the top 50 disposal players.
He was also second for clearances in the competition.
On the face of it, Stanton wouldn't have a chance.
For hard-ball gets last year Stanton was ranked about 200th.
The Bombers spent much of the pre-season trying to develop Stanton's defensive game. They had to.
As a pure outside talent, Stanton has the capacity to hurt opposition.
The problem is, opposition sides eventually jump on him and Stanton's effectiveness is too easily curtailed. That's the nice way of putting it.
To be brutal, he is too easily tagged out of the game.
Last year, from Rounds 1-8, Stanton's numbers were elite, but when sat on for the second half of the season, his numbers dropped in all categories; namely in possessions (minus seven), clearances (minus one) and metres gained (minus 130).
Stanton's season mirrored Essendon's, which tells us he is a real barometer.
For all his qualities, Stanton can't remain largely an outside runner if Essendon wants to win the premiership.
The Bombers are the worst defensive team in the competition over the past eight years and part of the problem is too many players work harder running to one end than toward the other.
Stanton needs a more rounded game, as do the Bombers as a whole.
Maybe Dangerfield isn't his perfect match, but a run-with role who can hurt -- as opposed to a heavy tag -- could be the reinvention of Stanton.
Twenty-three touches and a defensive mindset is far better for the team than a mix of 35 touches on a good day and 15 on a bad day.
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