David King has praised West Coast coach Adam Simpson for the way he deployed ruck duo Nathan Vardy and Scott Lycett in Saturday’s dramatic Grand Final victory over Collingwood.
The Eagles pair got the better of Magpies star Brodie Grundy, limiting the All-Australian ruckman to just 10 disposals - way down on his usual output.
North Melbourne great King says pushing Vardy and Lycett forward to further stretch the Pies' defence was a match-winning tactical decision.
SIMPSON’S GRAND FINAL MORNING PHONE CALL TO PAGAN
SHEED’S GRAND FINAL WINNER “BOYHOOD DREAM STUFF”: DAL SANTO
THE LESSON ALL PLAYERS SHOULD TAKE FROM DARLING
“There was a couple of really important things done in the coaches box: the move of Vardy and Lycett to rest forward, not on the bench,” King told SEN’s Whateley.
“It made Tom Langdon pick-up a man where he didn’t want to be, generally on the last line or at worst 30 metres from goal.
“Lycett was involved in a goal – the LeCras handball over the top to Hutchings – so they got something out of a miss-match.
"To think they had (Josh) Kennedy, (Jack) Darling and a resting ruckman, that’s incredibly tall.
“I thought the tactical move to put a tall forward shaped the game. I thought the Vardy contested mark was really significant.
”To get a goal out of that of that move, you’ve already got one in terms of a setup previously from Lycett, but to get one out of Lycett and Vardy deep forward was just sensational coaching.”
Listen to David King’s chat on SEN’s Whateley with Gerard Whateley in the player below