ROOS PINPOINTS STEELE AS KEY MAN
WEST Coast must tag Collingwood jet Steele Sidebottom or it is handing him the Norm Smith Medal, according to premiership coach Paul Roos.
Sidebottom has stamped himself as this year’s Mr September with a blazing finals series that has him sitting atop the voting for the Gary Ayres Medal as the best finals player.
The Magpies midfielder is coming off a clinical 41-disposal preliminary final against Richmond, having amassed 31 touches in a semifinal and 27 in the qualifying final against the Eagles.
Roos said if he was $7 S Sidebottom (C) $9 E Yeo (WC) $10 A Treloar (C), B Grundy (C), S Pendlebury (C) $11 J Kennedy (WC) $13 L Shuey (WC) $15+ Others
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coaching West Coast he would have no hesitation putting a hard tag on Sidebottom, something he did when at Melbourne.
“He just has the capacity, like Scott Pendlebury, to change the game,” Roos said.
“He can change the game with a handball, change the game with a kick and he does things that other players simply can’t do.”
“When you’re planning against a team (you consider) how you take away the opposition strengths and what Steele does is give Collingwood the strength that no other player apart from Pendlebury can give.
“He’s such a critical player for them that he can create a goal out of nothing.
“For me, he will certainly be top of the match committee board for Simpson, whether (Mark) Hutchings goes to him or someone else.”
Simpson may already have the message, having sent Hutchings to Sidebottom in the sides’ two clashes this year.
Hutchings kept Sidebottom to 12 disposals in 68 minutes in round 17 and 10 in 56 minutes of the qualifying final, but the Pies onballer has got better with every finals match.
He has been involved with a direct match-up of 40 minutes or more in only four other games this year.
“He’s an all-round player that just makes Collingwood better when he has the footy,” Roos said of Sidebottom.