Andrew Welsh has quickly grown into his new role as a tagger on the opposition's best midfielders.
The 25-year-old successfully limited the impact of Brownlow-medallist, Chris Judd, who had just 12-touches yesterday for Carlton.
This match-influencing effort against one of the league's best players follows solid performances against Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell and West Coast’s Matt Priddis over the previous fortnight.
“It is a different role and hasn’t been too bad so far because the team has been travelling well and getting a few wins on the board,” Welsh said.
“At the start of the season it was pretty interesting. I was lining up one week at centre-half forward and the next at centre-half back. To be able to settle into a role and know the player who you will be playing on early in the week and really focus in has been enjoyable so far.”
The role comes as a welcome surprise for Welsh after seven years at the football club.
“I think with such a young side, you have to be willing and able to adjust to any of the roles that Matthew Knights is going to throw at us,” he said.
“This role is something new and something that I am enjoying so far but it has been good to settle into a role for the past few weeks.”
Welsh has been drawing inspiration from his teammate Mark McVeigh in order to keep some of the league’s best midfielders at bay.
“My experience from playing on guys like Priddis, Judd and Mitchell is something that I can put into my game now,"" he said.
""I have taken a bit from guys like Brad Sewell and Mark McVeigh who are solid taggers and hope to take something from their games and look to putting it into my game in a couple of years down the track. It is good to get an understanding into how hard these top-line players really work.”
While his new role is a rewarding one, Welsh has had to work on particular areas of his mental preparation in order to make an impact on matchday.
“Your concentration has to be at the top of your game from the start of the match to the end and physically you cop a lot more knocks,” he said.
“You notice that your opponents really try to get you off a bit and try to block you around the pack and it is something that I have been dealing with and am finding it really fun to get out there and ruffle up some feathers.
“I find that my fitness hasn’t really been too bad, it is mainly the concentration that I have to keep working at to get through the whole game.”
