Social media is a minefield.
Virtual connections exist to connect the physically separated. Boasts and posts exist to show achievement and demonstrate feeling. In modern society it is almost obligatory for younger people to participate online, despite the pleas to never use the internet again.
The same is true of football players — constant connections possible with teammates, rivals, friends and fans. From Snapchat to Instagram, Twitter to Facebook, players are closer to the fans than ever before.
LinkedIn might be the most prosaic of platforms, designed to connect employees to employers, to boast of the office hustle and grind. Footy players are also at home on LinkedIn.
Pages filled with side hustles, from clothing lines to media work and internships, fills the profiles of AFL players past and present.
But the hardest worker in the league has possibly the most understated work profile.
Ed Langdon. Always Unemployed.
Over the past two seasons no player arguably worked harder on the field than Langdon. His seemingly-endless endurance means that he can run for days, and contribute right up to the final siren.
Perhaps he is hustled out.
But 2023 signals a change to his approach, and to the Demons' approach to the wing or outside midfield role. The arrival of former Bulldogs vice captain Lachie Hunter has signalled a change back to the future.
Wingin' it
For much of football's history, footballing positions were not just descriptive but also prescriptive. Forwards stayed forward, often prohibited from crossing halfway or even a third up the ground.
Followers followed the ball all day, adding numbers to the battle. And the wings stayed on their wing, occasionally with forays forward and back but usually on their side. The wing was often athletic yet slight, built to dodge opponents via dazzling footwork and sheer speed.
As football evolved, so did the role. Robert DiPierdomenico attacked the role with physicality, imposing himself on the contest with his brawn. Wings started to moonlight as extra forwards or defenders, or extra numbers at the contest.
These days the wings play a few different but not mutually exclusive roles. Most clubs deploy their wings in different ways, depending on the talent on their list and preferred gameday strategy.
One example is the positioning at a stoppage between the arcs. Often one wing will pop into the hole at the defensive side of the contest and play a role as a "sweeper". Their main jobs are to prevent opposition sides from exiting straight through the back of the stoppages and to provide an outlet for their team to exit the stoppage and move the ball forward.
Here, Hugh Greenwood wins the ball on the inside of the stoppage and handballs it to Bailey Scott, playing as the sweeper for North. Harry Morrison, playing as the sweeper for the Hawks, rushes up to affect the kick but is a split second too late in getting there.
The sweeper has to read the ball off hands effectively. If they overcommit too early, the opposition side has a fast break up the ground. If they fail to commit quick enough, they could be also outnumbered and effectively useless.
The other wing, on the "fat" (or bigger) side of the ground, plays a slightly different yet somewhat related role. Above, that role is played by Hawthorn's Karl Amon and North's Daniel Howe.
This spacing wing has to read the play — either supporting the defensive unit if the ball is lost or providing an upfield, in-corridor option in case of a clear win. The spacing winger has to read the play faster than practically any other player on the ground to be effective.
Some teams will set the spacing wing more aggressively ahead of the ball, while others will look to drop them back and have a forward cover the spot. Some sides like to sit the player right on the edge of the stoppage to provide an extra option via the handball. Others, such as Richmond, like to sit them far wider, stretching the ground out and making it harder to defend when they win the ball.
Much of the play of wings isn't about what they do with the ball, but how they close off space and cover ground without it. Chasing hard and reading the play are key attributes of a good wing — even more than getting their hands on the ball. Langdon excels at this.
As play evolves, each wing will often have a different position relating not just to the side boundaries, but to the goals. Some players play both roles on the ground, but most teams designate players for the sweeper and spacing wings regardless of where the ball is on the ground.
Some teams also play with throwing one of the wings permanently back, as an extra number in defence. That allows more space for upfield players to push forward, and has the potential to create mismatches. There's no one uniform approach to the wing or outside midfield role.
But Melbourne's approach so far in 2023 might be a case of going back to the future.
Splitting time
Last off-season, Melbourne struck a well telegraphed yet somehow last minute trade with the Bulldogs for father-son recruit Lachie Hunter. The former Bulldog sought a fresh start and has immediately formed an unusual partnership with Langdon at the Dees.
Where most sides deploy their wings as sweepers at the stoppage, the Dees have attempted to use them as attacking options running down field, nearly in line with the ruck contest. This attacking focus is enabled by the Demons' stellar defence and dominant rucks. It's a risk that even if they lose a ruck contest, opposing sides won't be able to hurt them on the scoreboard.
There's also another interesting, if not old school, trick to Melbourne's wing deployment this year.
The ABC has analysed the average place of disposal for every player in the league over 2022 and 2023. Last year, forwards like Tom Lynch, Bayley Fritsch and Tom Hawkins were the deepest forwards in the competition, while Aiden Corr was the deepest defender. Brisbane's Jarryd Lyons got his ball, on average, closest to the middle of the ground.
Last year, Langdon served as a fairly conventional wing, playing across both sides of the ground in both the sweeper and spacing role, depending on his partner.
Hunter, on the other hand, was the player whose disposals skewed most to one wing of the ground — in his case the left wing.
This year the Demons have gone back in time, splitting Langdon entirely to the right hand side of the ground while Hunter covers the left. This means both players have covered the full variety of functions — covering space, hunting stoppages, drifting forward and playing spare defence — but almost exclusively on their side of the ground.
For opposition sides not expecting the move, it has created positional uncertainty and occasionally mismatches.
This clean bifurcation of the ground is very unusual in modern wing combinations. Other clubs generally have their players serving a variety of sweeping and spacing roles based on their strengths, which take them to both sides of the ground.
The new Blake Acres and Oliver Hollands pairing at Carlton, for instance, is typical of the overlapping nature of modern roaming wings.
While it's only round three, it does throw a different look for other teams to contend with. The Demons have scored the second most points per stoppage clearance of any side this year, behind only Adelaide.
It's not all roses however — they've also conceded the most opposition points per clearance of any side.
Witness the fitness
The Demons duo also has another advantage over other sides — their sheer aerobic ability.
In the era of the interchange caps, working out rotations is key. Most players decline in output as they get more fatigued.
Part of the big value of Langdon is his sheer ability to stay on the field, and stay productive, for long stretches. While specialist forwards and defenders, especially talls, are expected to rack up nearly 100 per cent of game time, it is extremely rare for midfielders to do the same.
Since coming to Melbourne, Langdon has led all midfielders for time on ground percentage, allowing the Demons to work extra, shorter rotations for their burst midfield players. That means they've somehow been able to make players like Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver even more dangerous than they would be in other sides.
Hunter is also at the top end for time on ground, giving the Dees even more flexibility. Both impress with their repeat efforts and ability to cover ground, even when they are not getting the ball.
Both Hunter and Langdon are renowned for their repeat efforts around the ground and ability to cover ground.
With Melbourne already poised to be at the pointy end of the ladder again this year, teams will need to work out how to counter their wing kings to have a chance of beating them.
