RARELY do eight-disposal games receive plaudits these days but Collingwood defender Jack Frost deserved the one vote he received in the Anzac Day medal.
It wasn't because his four kicks and four handballs were gilt-edged.
The main reason his game came under notice was because of two selfless decisions he made that stopped goal-scoring opportunities for Essendon.
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The most decisive came in the third quarter when he ran off Joe Daniher like a baseballer stealing bases to spoil Jake Carlisle who was set to mark in goalkicking range.
Frost never looked like making the spoil until he made it.
The act was both heartening for the Magpies and demoralising for the Bombers.
It wasn't the only time Frost sprinted off his man as Essendon challenged, again timing his run to perfection to disrupt the attack.
The 22-year-old told AFL.com.au such moments aren't times for contemplation, more the sort of split-second decision The Clash best summed up in their song, Should I Stay or Should I Go?
"It's an instinctive decision, I guess," Frost said.
"If you see a guy by himself and you know the ball is going up high then you just have to go.
"You can't think twice about it because if you hesitate then you're probably not going to get there so you've just got to go."
Frost said such moments weren't solo performances. They were a result of less obvious efforts further afield.
"The midfield was great today," Frost said.
"[If] their entries are high and loopy, it gives us a chance to spoil it so it comes a lot from the midfield and the pressure they put on."
However what Frost's decisions also reflected was a back six or seven that is starting to trust and work for each other, and drive the opposition loopy in the process.
As Frost imagined, but could never know, when he left his man to spoil Carlisle, his teammate Marley Williams was slipping in behind him to stand next to Daniher.
Never mind that Williams is 181cm and Daniher 201cm.
"We try to cover for each other as much as possible. If someone is out of position we've just got to play on their man for as long as we can until we can handover so we just work on that synergy and cover for each other," Frost said.
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Frost covered for teammates all day but those efforts don't show up on statistics sheets. They are decisions that only behind the goals vision highlights.
His positioning was so outstanding he regularly put doubt into Bomber midfielders' minds as they moved the ball through the centre.
This gave chasing players the time to create turnovers.
Frost could not speak highly enough of the crew surrounding him.
"We've been working on connection between the back six and I think everyone showed composure when the heat was on," Frost said.
"We didn't crack under pressure, we took our time and we made the right decisions for the most part of the game so really happy with that."
Another key defender in Nathan Brown also polled a vote, his 10 disposals not reflective of the important role he played as well.
