GREATER Western Sydney's Matt de Boer has relished a return to his role as a tagger and claimed another big scalp in Richmond superstar Dustin Martin on Saturday.
But while Martin and the Tigers were clearly unhappy with the Giant's nullifying tactics in their 49-point loss at Giants Stadium, de Boer is unfazed by the controversy after several off the ball incidents involving the Brownlow medallist.
After the match, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick wasn't shy about his concern at the treatment Martin copped against GWS, with the Tiger likely to face the scrutiny of the Match Review Officer after he clashed with Giants defender Adam Kennedy behind the play.
It cost the Tigers a goal when Brent Daniels was given a free kick close to goal because of Martin's high shot.
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Hardwick called for more protection for his player from the umpires, but de Boer denied he'd deliberately tried to get Martin to lose his cool as much as he did.
"It wasn’t intentional, he's obviously a superstar and champion of the game so I just tried to put some time into him and get at him as best I could," he said.
"I was definitely annoying (him) but I don’t want to talk to that.
"Our mids are guns around the ball which really helps.
"Superstar players always have a few tricks up their sleeve and the team might as well, but it’s a team approach so I can’t take credit in that regard."
This season, de Boer has reprised his role as a tagger after playing predominantly as a defensive forward in his first two years at GWS after crossing from Fremantle.
The 29-year-old not only shut Martin out of Saturday's clash and limited him to just 15 possessions but finished the day with 21 disposals of his own, to go with six tackles and five clearances.
He said it's a role he's happy to perform for the rest of the season.
"I think it’ll be putting some time into the opposition's best mids, but it won't be a pure lock down like (former Dockers teammate) Ryan Crowley used to do," he said.
"The game has changed a little bit in terms of the rotations and the efficiency there.
"I’m happy to go in and try and put some time into their best mids and let our boys get to work."
GWS coach Leon Cameron said after the win that he'd discussed the tagging role with de Boer over the pre-season, and injuries to star onballers Josh Kelly (hip/knee) and Callan Ward (knee) allowed him to move the ex-Docker into the midfield.
"With (Callan) Ward and (Josh) Kelly out (injured), we saw there was an opportunity and clearly over the first three rounds Matty has shown he can do that (role)," he said.
"You don't want to go with it all the time and 'Dutchy' (de Boer) has had a good couple of years for us ahead of the footy, so we'll continue to look at that.
"But if we want or need to go with it we will because Matty gives us great confidence that he can do it."
