WHILE the spotlight shines on Fremantle's Nathan Fyfe, another Docker midfielder is laying claim to becoming the game's next Shaun Burgoyne.
Dockers midfielder David Mundy has stood up in big moments for several seasons now but in the first four games of 2015 he has taken his game to another level.
Averaging 28 disposals, six marks, with almost an exact split between contested and uncontested possessions, the 29-year-old is winning and using the ball beautifully.
Already in the same class as Burgoyne in many ways, Mundy is flexible enough to be deployed judiciously when required, as Burgoyne has been at Hawthorn.
This could make Fremantle an even better team.
Lyon knows Mundy's capabilities as his comments after round one demonstrate.
"When he gets going we know we're not a bad team," Lyon said.
And he is smart enough to ensure his value is maximised by keeping his mind open to how he is used in the future.
In 2015, Mundy has gathered 62 per cent of his possessions in the back half whereas in 2014 he grabbed 55 per cent of his possessions in that section of the ground.
That's comparable to Burgoyne's numbers last season when the 32-year-old gathered 61 per cent of his possessions in the back half.
During Hawthorn's wins this season Burgoyne has racked up similar numbers but in the two losses he has 55 per cent of possessions in the back half.
Mundy isn't yet pushing back defensively as far as Burgoyne, gathering a significant percentage of his disposals between the centre and the defensive 50 but he has the capacity to play as a defender if needed.
After all, that's why Fremantle recruited him with pick No.19 back in the 2003 NAB AFL Draft.
Mundy can, if required, play in defence as he can read the ball off the opposition's boot.
What Mundy isn't doing this year is pushing too hard forward, gathering just five per cent of his touches inside forward 50 and he is yet to kick a goal (Burgoyne hasn't kicked a goal in 2015 either)
Four games is a small sample size but in each of the past seven seasons Mundy has gathered no fewer than 8.8 per cent of his possessions inside the forward 50.
If Mundy can mirror Burgoyne, that would make Fremantle a better team because the triple premiership Hawk (two with Hawthorn) has built his reputation as a flexible 'Mr Fix-it' who has swung into action whenever his team has needed him most.
The best illustration of that is Burgoyne's performance in the final quarter of the 2013 preliminary final, which dragged Hawthorn over the line.
Even against Port Adelaide in the second half last week, Burgoyne was instrumental in the Hawks’ comeback.
He takes, and makes, risky kicks, while his decision-making under pressure is sublime.
The same can be said of the 29-year-old Docker with the luminous boots and the gliding gait.
In both round one against Port Adelaide and Saturday, Mundy was the first midfielder with his hands on the ball in the last quarter accepting the responsibility to get to work.
Against the Sydney Swans, Mundy picked up 10 disposals in the last quarter, had three clearances and put the ball inside 50 on three occasions, launching one score.
He drifts around the ground like a plastic bag on the breeze and then sweats on each stoppage he attends, never over-committing, poised to pounce like a cat stalking a mouse.
Mundy's final disposal on Saturday night showed his Burgoyne-like quality of standing tall when the moment demands he become involved.
At a boundary throw-in at half-back with one-and-a-half minutes remaining and the Swans closing, Mundy's first move was to block Sydney Swans tall Sam Reid from being third man up, following an instruction Lyon had given his troops at three-quarter time to curb Reid.
He then pushed off Reid and swung to the front of the stoppage to shark Sandilands' tap and gain metres by kicking the ball forward, averting the danger momentarily, creating another stoppage which led to a Dockers' turnover goal.
There was nothing flashy about the action but it was effective and based on hard work from the moment he arrived at the crucial stoppage empty-handed until he left with the football in his mitts.
The coach noted Mundy, along with Fyfe, was one of two midfielders who stood up in the last quarter.
Not for the first time and from the Dockers' perspective at least, hopefully not the last.
Stats supplied by Champion Data
