bornadog
27-04-2016, 09:44 AM
Link (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/western-bulldogs/tom-liberatore-transforms-from-clearance-king-to-versatile-midfielder/news-story/6110ee78bd4dfdfb14dadc1c6f3836a6)
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/d18f6c2742a8a459f05416a7bb9e0435?width=650
IT is one of the season’s most unlikely transformations. In 2014, Tom Liberatore was the AFL’s hardball king.
The bruising ball-winner led the competition for clearances and tackles to win the Western Bulldogs’ best-and-fairest, aged only 22.
But in his comeback from a devastating knee reconstruction, coach Luke Beveridge has sought to expand Liberatore’s skill set and balance the Dogs’ midfield load.
One of the league’s most instinctive and dominant on-ballers has this year become a more versatile midfielder, and in recent weeks, part of the answer to the club’s injury woes at half-back.
They’re more like chameleons now, Beveridge’s Bulldogs.
Liberatore averaged seven clearances a game in his best-and-fairest year but has racked up only 12 in total this year over the first five rounds.
On Saturday night, the father-son gem failed to win a clearance for the first time in his 82-game career, with Mitch Wallis, Koby Stevens, Luke Dahlhaus, Liam Picken, Lin Jong and Toby McLean combining to help smash the Brisbane Lions in clearances 44-25.
As Beveridge said about the onball setup after Saturday night’s win, “We have lots of depth through there”.
Instead, Liberatore helped bolster the back line in the absence of injured trio Rob Murphy (knee), Jason Johannisen (hamstring) and ex-Hawk Matthew Suckling (ankle).
It is expected to be the same again on Friday night against North Melbourne.
“Some of those mids lend themselves playing in different areas,” Beveridge said.
“Not all of them lend themselves to be high defenders but we will utilise the boys that do in the next couple of months.”
As such, Liberatore’s centre bounce attendances have dropped dramatically from an average 26 a game in 2014 to only 12 this season, according to Champion Data.
More players are getting more opportunity inside the centre square cauldron, with more frequent onball changes in-line with the Hawthorn model.
The Dogs are exciting, and less predictable than the 2014 version, as Liberatore builds patiently towards rediscovering peak form.
After a knee reconstruction, that task is widely believed to take most players 18-24 months, something that will be weighing on captain Murphy’s mind, as he contemplates his own football fate.
Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson said Liberatore’s year out of the game had allowed other teammates to grow in his onball role, helping expand the Dogs’ midfield options.
“It gives others greater responsibility as well now, and we’ve seen guys like Wallis, (Marcus) Bontempelli, Koby Stevens and Lukey Dahlhaus go through there,” he said.
“Now they deserve their minutes in there too and that means they will have to share the load because they all want to go in there.
“And that’s the nature of modern footy because the best teams all have 10 players who they can rotate through the midfield.
“You need that flexibility to give the opposition different looks.
“And players need to push into other areas and not just rely on playing purely midfield. You need to become more rounded and play multiple roles these days.”
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/d18f6c2742a8a459f05416a7bb9e0435?width=650
IT is one of the season’s most unlikely transformations. In 2014, Tom Liberatore was the AFL’s hardball king.
The bruising ball-winner led the competition for clearances and tackles to win the Western Bulldogs’ best-and-fairest, aged only 22.
But in his comeback from a devastating knee reconstruction, coach Luke Beveridge has sought to expand Liberatore’s skill set and balance the Dogs’ midfield load.
One of the league’s most instinctive and dominant on-ballers has this year become a more versatile midfielder, and in recent weeks, part of the answer to the club’s injury woes at half-back.
They’re more like chameleons now, Beveridge’s Bulldogs.
Liberatore averaged seven clearances a game in his best-and-fairest year but has racked up only 12 in total this year over the first five rounds.
On Saturday night, the father-son gem failed to win a clearance for the first time in his 82-game career, with Mitch Wallis, Koby Stevens, Luke Dahlhaus, Liam Picken, Lin Jong and Toby McLean combining to help smash the Brisbane Lions in clearances 44-25.
As Beveridge said about the onball setup after Saturday night’s win, “We have lots of depth through there”.
Instead, Liberatore helped bolster the back line in the absence of injured trio Rob Murphy (knee), Jason Johannisen (hamstring) and ex-Hawk Matthew Suckling (ankle).
It is expected to be the same again on Friday night against North Melbourne.
“Some of those mids lend themselves playing in different areas,” Beveridge said.
“Not all of them lend themselves to be high defenders but we will utilise the boys that do in the next couple of months.”
As such, Liberatore’s centre bounce attendances have dropped dramatically from an average 26 a game in 2014 to only 12 this season, according to Champion Data.
More players are getting more opportunity inside the centre square cauldron, with more frequent onball changes in-line with the Hawthorn model.
The Dogs are exciting, and less predictable than the 2014 version, as Liberatore builds patiently towards rediscovering peak form.
After a knee reconstruction, that task is widely believed to take most players 18-24 months, something that will be weighing on captain Murphy’s mind, as he contemplates his own football fate.
Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson said Liberatore’s year out of the game had allowed other teammates to grow in his onball role, helping expand the Dogs’ midfield options.
“It gives others greater responsibility as well now, and we’ve seen guys like Wallis, (Marcus) Bontempelli, Koby Stevens and Lukey Dahlhaus go through there,” he said.
“Now they deserve their minutes in there too and that means they will have to share the load because they all want to go in there.
“And that’s the nature of modern footy because the best teams all have 10 players who they can rotate through the midfield.
“You need that flexibility to give the opposition different looks.
“And players need to push into other areas and not just rely on playing purely midfield. You need to become more rounded and play multiple roles these days.”