THEY rarely win best and fairests like Kane Cornes, Brett Kirk and Brady Rawlings did earlier this century, but Marcus Windhager is winning prized bouts again this year to keep the tagger in vogue. 

Windhager has been executing that role intermittently since Brett Ratten first sent him to Tim Kelly late in his debut season in 2022, where he held the All-Australian to a career-low four touches. Then, he kept dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale to season-low disposal count a few weeks later.

Windhager was seldom used as a tagger in 2023, but last year, the Next Generation Academy graduate clamped then-Gold Coast captain Touk Miller, nailed the brief on Neale again and restricted Port Adelaide star Zak Butters in the space of a month.

This year, Windhager has been one of Lyon’s most reliable weapons, tagging some of the biggest stars in the game across the first 14 rounds. In the past two games, Windhager has nullified six-time All-Australian midfielder Marcus Bontempelli and Kysaiah Pickett, who has since signed the longest current contract in the AFL.

The Western Bulldogs smashed St Kilda by 72 points last Thursday night, but Bontempelli had minimal impact on the result after being held to 13 disposals across 99 minutes of the match-up, ending his streak of at least 15 disposals that was at 106 games. Windhager was the only Saint to feature in the coaches’ votes.

‘One of the best pieces of play you’ll see’: Windhager at work

Marcus Windhager earns plenty of plaudits after running down Matthew Kennedy in a huge tackle, before completing the play with a fine goal

Before the bye, Windhager had one of the toughest tasks of round 12 – stopping Pickett seven days after he kicked 5.4 from 24 disposals in one of the best individual performances of the season – in Alice Springs. Not only did he hold Pickett to nine touches in 108 minutes, but he also finished with 28 of his own to collect seven coaches’ votes.

Windhager also attracted the attention of the coaches when he limited the influence of reigning Carji Greeves medallist Max Holmes in the win over Geelong in round two, while kicking two goals from 25 disposals at Marvel Stadium.

Port Adelaide captain Connor Rozee couldn’t shake him in round four before Ken Hinkley moved him to half-back the following week to reignite his season, while Finn Callaghan had his quietest performance of the season when Windhager followed him around Norwood Oval during Gather Round. 

Now, Collingwood’s Brownlow Medal contender Nick Daicos awaits under the roof at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

Windhager spent time on Daicos in round two last year, where he restricted the superstar to 22 disposals – three months before Alex Neal-Bullen’s King’s Birthday job in June – while finishing with 24 disposals and seven clearances of his own.

The two-time All-Australian midfielder has been closely tagged twice in the past six weeks with Fremantle’s Corey Wagner restricting him in round nine, in a game where he was hampered by injury.

Melbourne wing Ed Langdon nailed the job description on King’s Birthday before Collingwood’s bye, holding Daicos to just 12 disposals in their head-to-head, on a day where he finished with less than 20 touches for only the second time this season, following a season-low of 18 against the Dockers.

In the three games between those jobs, Daicos collected 28 disposals against Adelaide, 38 against North Melbourne and 32 against Hawthorn, moving without an ultra-tight checking job from the opposition.

While Lyon has always valued the role, head of game plan and strategy Corey Enright played alongside one of the best taggers ever – Cameron Ling – during Geelong’s famous era between 2007 and 2011. Windhager is getting the job done each week, but is now facing a fresh Daicos off the bye.