Essendon coach Brad Scott has revealed the unsurprising conclusion that the Bombers may tag in-form star Magpie Nick Daicos in the ANZAC Day clash, flagging that multiple players may be given the duty to hinder the son of a gun.
Daicos' tear of form has been emblematic of the Pies' five-game win streak, tallying 34 and 38 disposals in the last fortnight, despite being tagged by Swan James Jordon and Lions pair Jarrod Berry and Josh Dunkley in consecutive games.
Scott is well aware of the influence Daicos has, and his ability to shake the tag in recent weeks, hoping to better the approaches taken by Collingwood's previous opponents this season.
However, the Essendon coach knows it will be no easy task.
"We'll try," Scott said with a smirk.
"He'll certainly have an opponent, I suspect multiple. We'll try and learn from others as well, but the problem is whether he's tagged, not tagged, he's found a way to be influential... we're going to have to find a way to curb that.
"There's not going to be one mode of attack with him. I suspect it's going to be hard to stop him getting the ball so if you judge his game purely on possessions, that's going to be a challenge. That's not the way we're going to measure it.
"The reality is everyone goes in with a plan. I haven't really observed one that's worked for any period of time yet. We either try and execute those plans better, or we try something different."
Midfielder
Disposals
Tackles
Clearances
Scott also confirmed that Todd Goldstein would make his season debut on ANZAC Day, commending his attitude and preparation to ensure he is immediately ready to be thrust onto the biggest stage.
Goldtsein has suddenly become more than just Essendon's ruck-coach-in-training, as two long-term injuries to Sam Draper and Nick Bryan have meant the Bombers will have to dig deep into their ruck depth for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, they boast 36-year-old veteran Goldstein, who remains the only ruckman to record 10,000 career hitouts.
"He's ready, he's always been ready," Scott said.
"We've had difficult (selection) decisions, even the decision to play Wright ahead of Goldstein last week was not as cut and dry as it may have appeared.
"We talk all the time to players about how you can't control when your opportunity's going to come, but you can control how ready you are to take it when it does come. That's a very difficult message to give to players when the opportunity isn't there or they're not getting the opportunity that they want.
"But we've had multiple examples of this so far this year. Will Setterfield comes in through an opening through injury, and he takes his opportunity. Peter Wright took his opportunity clearly last week. Goldy's just got an incredible attitude and he's always been an elite athlete; he's always been someone who prepares himself.
"He's played a selfish role in developing (Vigo) Visentini, Draper, Bryan, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to play. He wants to play.
"He's always said to me, 'I'll do what's best for the team and when you need me, I'll be ready'. And now, we're in a situation where it's likely we'll need him.
"...If anyone can do it, he can do it."
