The reason?
A lock-down role on the opposition’s prime mover.
Nick Dal Santo has been one of the most consistent players in the competition over the last decade but Macaffer managed to restrict him to only 16 possessions while equalling Dal Santo's amount of ball use on his own.
Watch Brent Macaffer speak to CTV’s Glen Moriarty in the Collingwood rooms shortly after the team’s 26-point win over St Kilda on Friday night.
Having played five of Collingwood’s six senior games this season, Macaffer is now beginning to feel settled again in the Magpies starting line-up after two horror years ruined by injury.
3. Brent Macaffer
Kicks: 10 Marks: 7 Handballs: 6 Possessions: 16 Frees For: 1 Frees Against: 3 Tackles: 1 Hitouts: 0 Goals: 0 Behinds: 0
What he said…
On tagging Dal Santo: I got told earlier on in the week that I was going to have a role to play on Dal Santo and that was really exciting to play on a guy of his ilk. If I could play my role and do a job on him it’s going to go a long way towards winning the game.
On the pressure for spots: Every game I feel a lot of pressure and I’m sure a lot of guys do know there’s spots up for grabs. The first few games I was just trying to find my feet. I was just coming back and I was coming into games where at half time I was absolutely knackered and felt like I was going to throw my guts up and I’m just really starting to find my feet and get some run in my legs.
On how close the team is to producing its best form: I think we’re a long way away. It was only last week that we got smashed by Essendon so tonight was a good start but we’ve got a lot to work on.
What they said…
“Macaffer might have booked himself into becoming the club's midfield stopper this year. He outmuscled, out-pysched, outworked and at times out-thought Dal Santo, restricting not only his possession rate, but also the territory that he had to work in. At times it even looked as if he got into his opponents' head,” – The Herald Sun’s Glenn McFarlane.
“Collingwood also played with a tagger - Brent Macaffer closed Nick Dal Santo down - which is something it has typically avoided,” – The Age’s Michael Gleeson.
