SEN host David King thinks that momentum is becoming increasingly important in modern footy.
With teams often winning games on the back of small momentum bursts, King believes managing those moments is key to being a successful side.
Players who can either gain your side momentum or stop the opposition from getting a head of steam are becoming more valuable and King has placed those elite few in groups of ‘fire starters’ and ‘fire blankets’.
“We talk about momentum,” King said on SEN Whateley.
“It’s about how you get it, how you keep it and how you get it on the scoreboard. Then on the flip side, it’s how do you stop it, what sort of levers can you pull?
“I just think there are some players that are fire starters and there are some players that you go to as a fire blanket.”
Beginning with the fire starters, King thinks they’re obvious and after going through the statistics with Champion Data, he says that Christian Petracca, Marcus Bontempelli, Lachie Neale and Patrick Dangerfield stand above the rest when games are in the balance.
After a hot start to the 2024 campaign, King is now also placing Isaac Heeney in that bracket.
“I reckon the fire starters are obvious in our competition,” King said.
“We talk a lot about the first 10 minutes of games when the games are within two goals.
“It’s Petracca, Bontempelli, Lachie Neale – they all come through when the games are in the balance, that's when they're at their most impactful - Dangerfield is the same.
“Those four stand head and shoulders above the rest and I think you can now put Isaac Heeney into that bracket.
“They're the guys that light the fire and good luck sorting out what you need to. They make you change your structural side of the game.
“They make you change matchups, they make you change your midfield, all those sorts of things.”
As for fire blankets, King says they’re the players coaches turn to when they need to arrest momentum and regain control.
King has Collingwood veteran Scott Pendlebury as the poster boy of fire blankets and put three other star players in that bracket.
“I looked at the fire blanket side of it is a different discussion. that’s who you go to when things are out of control,” King said.
“I think the poster boy for that has been Scott Pendlebury, putting himself in the position to (nullify the opposition).
“I think that we learn more about the Grand Final last year, when they needed a response, who do they go to? They go to Pendlebury if you want to put a fire out.
“Callum Mills has been that player at the Sydney Swans. Saying, ‘The problem is here, this guy is out of control, go and put that fire out’. Not necessarily to tag, but just go and arrest momentum back in the midfield.
“Jordan Dawson has been that player for the Adelaide Crows in his early stages, ‘We've got a problem at half-back’, he goes to half-back.
“Liam Baker has been that sort of player more specifically for Damien Hardwick than for Adem Yze just yet.”
After watching North Melbourne up close on Saturday to Fremantle, King thinks that the Kangaroos lack a fire blanket for when opposition teams get on a roll.
He pondered whether Harry Sheezel could be that player going forward after the Roos leaked seven goals in a disastrous third quarter after leading by 17 points at half-time.
“I looked at the Kangaroos game on the weekend, they were getting smashed in the middle (in the third quarter),” King said.
“I just wonder whether a Harry Sheezel could have put his hand up and said, ‘You know what, I am the man and I'm going in, this is sliding. I know I'm at half-back, I know my role’.
“I wonder when we get to that stage … he was in here (at SEN) this morning and I said, ‘How would it look if you said, you know what, I'm taking control of this footy club’.
“This makes you think because momentum now, it's really taken over footy, hasn't it?”
King’s best fire starters
Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
Lachie Neale (Brisbane)
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
Isaac Heeney (Sydney)
King’s best fire blankets
Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
Callum Mills (Sydney)
Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
Liam Baker (Richmond)
