Hayden Young’s transition from a half back to a midfielder gained momentum on Saturday, with the 22-year-old shutting down a legend of the game while playing 70 minutes as a tagger on Patrick Dangerfield.
 
Used in four centre bounces in the final quarter against GWS in round 14, Young attended a further 12 in Fremantle’s seven-point win against Geelong on Saturday at GMHBA Stadium.
 
Justin Longmuir was praised for the move by Leigh Montagna on Fox Footy’s First Crack podcast, with Fremantle winning the clearances and contested ball by 10.
 
“They played with great effort but I think this just slipped under the radar (with) the decision to put Hayden Young as a tagger on Patrick Dangerfield,” Montagna said.
 
“He kept Danger to 16 disposals and only three clearances and Young had the 19 disposals and three clearances himself.
 
“I like that Justin Longmuir tried something different. The midfield has been an issue for Fremantle (and) the contested ball, so they looked at (Young).
 
“He went head-to-head with Dangerfield for 70 minutes and probably took the honours in a tough role.
 
“It highlighted that if you can stop Dangerfield, with the way their midfield is, you can get a hold of them.”

The no.7 pick from the 2019 AFL Draft could follow a similar trajectory as Adelaide star Jordan Dawson, who has become one of the most dangerous midfielders in the competition following his move from half back.
 
“He has the capabilities to be like a Jordan Dawson, a player that has the attributes as a half back and can step in and out of traffic,” Montagna said.
 
“He’s a beautiful kick, so why not have a look at it? Why not see if they can unearth what they’ve already got on their list and play some players in different positions.
 
“There’s still plenty they can learn and maybe they’ve unearthed something. I want to see them continue to go with it.”
 
Defender Luke Ryan also praised Young, with Ryan almost resigned to seeing Young depart the backline group.

“Unfortunately we will lose him I think, he’s going to be playing midfield after that (performance),” Ryan told 6PR.
 
“(We wanted to) go for their captain and trying to expose them on defence and I thought Youngy did that, he was unbelievable.
 
“He was a tough bull in there and if we get the ball in his hands, we’re going to be a lot better team.”

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