Integral Impact – Round 9
Written by Nathan Sepe
Defence – Sam Docherty
A captain’s performance stood out in a result that left all supporters disappointed and disheartened. Docherty played his role well throughout the match, with a start down back also leading to some transitional work up the wings as the quarter progressed, a sight that Baggers fans enjoyed and seemed to work well in the context of the match. Docherty’s push up to the wing created greater opportunities for effective kicking transition down the ground and helped to pull out the Demons forwards down the ground to create an imbalance within their forward line to halt the Demons offensive transition.
Docherty totalled 27 disposals, going at 74% disposal efficiency, with 58% kicking efficiency come the end of the match. Docherty’s tackling pressure was ranked third for the Baggers with six tackles, two coming from inside 50, as well as nineteen pressure acts, also equal third for the Baggers. Docherty was proficient off the halfback line with four clearances, all coming from stoppage clearances. Docherty was terrific with his bodywork, totalling five intercepts, yet again equal third for the Baggers, and finished with three scoring involvements plus a goal assist, a higher contribution than usual for Docherty. Docherty’s contested possession rate was in the middle range at 46%, putting himself forward in congested scenarios and playing a key role to break the stoppages and tally some clearances. Docherty was effective down low, totalling fifteen ground ball gets, enabling the side to move forward quickly without a halted transition for the most part. Docherty stood up for the majority of the game with a great captain’s performance and earned his second mention in this year’s integral impacts.
Midfield – Sam Walsh
Another performance from Walsh that comes to no surprise from the Baggers faithful, however still seems to amaze us all on the consistency of talent he possesses at such a young age. Walsh got it done where he needed to get it done and provided consistent effectiveness and provided a contested ball when near it. Walsh was able to keep with his direct opponents throughout the ground, rotating off a few of Melbourne’s key midfielders in Petracca, Salem and Oliver, limiting them to all under 30 disposals, a positive to take out of the match considering the Demons midfield domination in the past.
Thirty touches for Walsh, adding up stats that most supporters do not notice or account for, however his ability to read the play so effectively leads to the little things making a big difference, especially in a side where others are usually underperforming for the most part. Walsh went at 70% disposal efficiency and a much lower than usual 50% kicking efficiency, however was more effective with handballing. Similar to Docherty, Walsh had four scoring involvements, productive around the forward 50 but more so inside the middle of the ground. Walsh’s tackling pressure was relatively high with five tackles, however a much higher pressure act count of 20, ranking third for the Baggers for the match. Walsh had three stoppage clearances, a fair share in relation to the rest of the side and managed five inside 50s. Walsh was second on the ground for both sides in distance covered with 15.7km, which is less than usual, however astonishing the tank the kid has at such a young age, running at 142 metres per minute. Walsh put in another all-round performance, nothing more than usual, but his consistency was key to earning him his sixth spot in the Integral Impacts series.
Forward – Harry McKay
Battered and bruised, McKay stood up through adversity and produced another highlight for the season, bagging some goals in what was a tough day for our forward line, only kicking ten goals, our third lowest this year. Going off with a shoulder injury in the first quarter, it seemed to be all gloom for the big forward, struggling to get full rotation and extension on his right shoulder, posing a problem for our forward line. However, with the match going on Harry managed to loosen up and find some momentum, playing through the pain to snag three goals and finish as the top goal scorer for the Baggers come the end of the match.
Harry totalled eight touches going at 50% disposal efficiency; however, six of those touches were contested possessions, three of which were turned into goals. McKay was involved in four scoring involvements, moving efficiently up and down the ground, utilising his improved running ability to overcome the shoulder soreness at times during the match. Harry totalled three contested marks and three marks inside 50, an impressive stat for the discomfort he seemed to be in during the match. It would have been fascinating to see what more he could have done if the soreness was not there. Harry was still strong around the contests with 16 pressure acts and four one percenters, a great stat tally for the tall forward who has often been sitting deep inside forward 50. Harry played a big role in keeping the Baggers in the game, kicking two important third quarter goals to spark some hope within the playing group; however we all know that did not go to plan. The leader of the Coleman medal keeps getting stronger and stronger, and it is no surprise to see Harry gain his third mention in the Integral Impacts series.
