A masterful move from Justin Longmuir was behind limiting one of Melbourne’s biggest assets on Saturday at the MCG as the Dockers stormed to victory.
25 points down at half-time, James Aish was handed the job of tagging midfield beast Clayton Oliver.
Oliver had 24 disposals and four inside 50s to his name at the main break, but Aish’s job on him played a big part in the win.
Oliver and Aish had 12 disposals each in the second half, the Docker winning four clearances to have the better of Melbourne’s gun midfielder in the second half as Fremantle recorded a 38-point triumph.
It has left veteran AFL recruiter Matt Rendell questioning why it’s taken so long for teams to tag Oliver.
The 24-year-old has not copped a noticeable tag in 2022, his quietest outing of 19 disposals against Port Adelaide in Round 4 of his own doing.
“Fremantle has caused all sorts of havoc… why has it taken so long for someone to tag Oliver?” Rendell asked on SEN’s The Sporting Capital.
“It just staggers me this doesn’t happen week in, week out.
“Aish did a super job, I don’t reckon he would have tagged anyone before in his life and he was magnificent on him.
“Took him right out of the game and you take out (Christian) Petracca – he was crook – but you take him and Oliver out of their (Melbourne's) game and they come back to the field a bit and you’ve got to move that ball quickly, especially with Steven May out.
“You can’t go slow, and that’s what they did. They managed to control clearances, you can get it in quick when you control that.”
Petracca also had an uncharacteristically quiet game, finishing with just 10 touches.
Oliver is averaging 34.2 disposals, 8.4 clearances and 6.5 inside 50s in 2022, career-highs in all key facets of the game.