STOP! HAMMER TIME
Axed Cat Hamling to take on Buddy
THE young defender axed by Geelong just two years ago looms as a vital cog in the Western Bulldogs’ bid to foil the rampaging powers of Lance Franklin in Saturday’s Grand Final.
Joel Hamling looks set to spend time on Franklin as part of a rotating Bulldogs defence that has made an art form out of defending dangerous options rather than a permanent opponent.
It is a stunning rise for the rangy 23-year-old, who was such a raw talent in his first season at Geelong in 2012 he was not even selected in the club’s VFL grand final side.
Four years later he is on a collision course with the game’s most explosive forward, on the biggest stage of all, in the Bulldogs’ first shot at premiership glory in 55 years.
The Bulldogs defence makes up for an apparent lack of individual firepower with a rolling zone that chops and changes match-ups based on the situation.
Jeremy Cameron was a victim of that last week, held goalless by a combination of Hamling, Dale Morris, Easton Wood and Fletcher Roberts who all had an equal amount of time on the GWS spearhead.
Jon Patton still bobbed up with four goals and Rory Lobb kicked two goals on Hamling, but the Dogs admirably hung tough to secure the cour- ageous six-point win.
“Joel’s been amazing,” Bulldogs livewire Luke Dahlhaus told the Geelong Advertiser.
“For some of the injuries we’ve had this year, we’ve had heaps of boys stand up and re- ally cemented their spot in the team and he’s been incredible.”
Franklin was the most destructive player on the ground in the opening stages of last week’s smashing of Geelong, drawing defender Tom Lonergan up the ground in a blistering first quarter that set the tone for the night.
But if the Dogs are faced with a similar scenario, their organised defence will just deploy the right player at the right time.
“Joel’s a really good footballer,” Bulldogs young gun Caleb Daniel said.
“He’s got a really good football brain, he knows when to go for his marks and when to spoil. He was playing undersized (against GWS) but you couldn’t really tell.”
Hamling has taken his second chance at the Dogs, helped by injuries that have forced him to step up into roles beyond the expectations on him when he joined the club as a “break in case of emergency” type at the end of 2014.
The Dogs had gone hard after Lonergan that year, but when that failed, they homed in on Hamling, who was freshly delisted by the Cats after sitting at the end of the club’s long queue of tall defenders.
Hamling, pick 32 in the 2011 draft, was out of his depth in 2012 as a forward, but was switched to defence in 2013 and showed vast improvement as a reliable, honest stopper in 2014.
He finished third in Geelong’s VFL best-and-fairest that year, ahead of Jake Kolodjashnij (fourth), but it was not enough to keep his spot, despite his upward trajectory after long hours of investment on the track over three years.
Now Geelong’s defence is two years older and on the lookout for new talent. Taylor has two more years left, Lonergan is out of contract and Mackie has one more year. Kolodjashnij shores the Cats up for the next decade, Lachie Henderson the next five years but there are a few midterm queries.
Hamling was never going to be the next Alex Rance or Matthew Scarlett but he has proven to be a good insurance option. And ultimately, it’s been the Bulldogs’ gain.