Sad reality is every player is capable of applying pressure agree and every player is capable of tackling ...... and God forbid, they now DO.
We aren't a better team at applying pressure because of three blokes yes we are, (6 blokes, 3 ins and 3 outs) (Butler, Castagna and Rioli), we are better as they all do it - captain included, and even blokes like Houli and Grigg and BEllis have joined the party.
So where was the previous logic? Truth is we were as you great mate Dimma said .. 'not a tackling side'. selective quote, try this...
A glaring weakness in the Tigers' performance was its tackling pressure, losing the count 42-63, despite St Kilda winning 58 more possessions.
Hardwick, however, said there was "some system to the madness".
"Sometimes we want high tackle numbers, sometimes we're prepared to sit off a bit and let them go certain ways," he said.
"It all interconnects with how you play. We're a low tackle side. Some sides are high tackle, depending on the style of game."
"We still expect better effort come the first half and the second half was better."
He was prepared to put all his eggs in one basket and have one bloke (first King and then later a miscast Steve Morris, who he ruined) be that tackling/pressure player, while he turned a blind eye to the likes of Vickery, who neither tackled (tackle stats are similar to Riewoldts), chased, nor applied a semblance of pressure, but allowed that to become thew standard by rewarding him with game after game. Reality dictates if Vickery had stayed stick with reality, he was booted last year, he would have been sent packing by roud three under the 'new' standard'. Any of Gordon, Dea, Arnott, McDonough NO, all duds could have done in 2015 what Butler and Castagna do now, but tackling and pressure was not a priority - keepings off was. Hardwick was content to think one defensive forward was enough. They ship him off to Harvard and he comes back to see a whole new world that's evolved in his absence if you believe that you just don't like the bloke and refuse to give him any credit, and renders any argument you post as tainted . The current team tackle, chase and harass across the board, not just forward so how do you explain our across the board tackle rank as mid pack, yet tackles inside 50 as elite?- but this was never a priority until this season.