According to statistics on the club website, in 2008 it has been five of Essendon’s youngest players leading the way when it comes to putting pressure on the ball carrier.
After 12 rounds, Henry Slattery and Brent Stanton top the tackle count for Essendon with 38.
Slattery finds himself equal with Stanton despite missing one of the 12 games this season.
Leroy Jetta and Sam Lonergan come in next with 36 tackles each – an impressive effort given they have only played nine games this season, meaning they are averaging four tackles per game.
Bachar Houli is having a break-out second season with a rising star nomination and his determined pressure on the ball finds him in fifth place on the tackle count with 35 from 10-games.
“We have revisited this area (tackling) at training and in meetings and really focused on getting this back,” he said.
“We were pretty good in the NAB Cup and Round 1 but we dropped off for a period. I think two of the past three weeks were pretty good as far as tackling goes and it goes hand-in-hand with our recent better form.”
O’Donnell said it’s imperative that, as a player, you are able to close space and pressure your opponent.
“Your tackle doesn’t always dispose the ball but it allows your team-mate to close in,” he said.
“It might not be your tackle that causes the turnover but holds the opposition player up and put us in a position to get the ball back.”
The senior player who led the way with tackling on Friday night was Andrew Welsh who now sits in eighth place after laying fourteen tackles on the Eagles.
“For eleven of those tackles he took an opponent to ground and - considering 15 tackles is the AFL record - it was a really good, hard working effort and it was very impressive,” O’Donnell said.
Essendon’s top eight in terms of tackles for season 2008 are:
38 - Henry Slattery
38 - Brent Stanton
36 - Leroy Jetta
36 - Sam Lonergan
35 - Bachar Houli
34 - Nathan Lovett-Murray
34 - Jobe Watson
32 - Andrew Welsh
