Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale is well prepared for extra attention from St Kilda's Marcus Windhager in an expected duel that could go a long way towards deciding the two sides' important AFL clash.
Windhager has re-emerged as a specialist tagger in recent weeks, helping his side to successive victories by blunting Gold Coast captain Touk Miller and West Coast sensation Harley Reid.
And while coach Ross Lyon flagged Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley as possible opponents, it is red-hot Neale who looms as Windhager's most obvious target at the Gabba on Friday night.
It comes after Neale tallied 38 disposals, 10 clearances and two goals against the Western Bulldogs last time out, leading Brisbane (5-6-1) to a 43-point victory that kept their finals flame flickering.
"Lachie gets attention most weeks, so it's nothing new for us, but we expect someone like a Windhager will come to him," Lions coach Chris Fagan told reporters on Thursday.
"He did a good job last week on Touk Miller, albeit Touk's a little bit of a different player to Lachie.
"And I think he went to Harley Reid in the second half the previous week, so no doubt there'll be some planning around Lachie or one of the other midfielders."
Fagan once complained about the "rough treatment" Windhager gave Neale when restricting the prolific ball-winner to a season-low 16 disposals during his stellar 2022 campaign.
But the coach feels his two-time Brownlow medallist has got "better and better" at handling tags throughout his career.
"It's a bit confronting when it first starts to happen to you, but once it becomes a regular occurrence you have strategies to overcome that," Fagan said.
"The important part about when someone is getting tagged is they continue to play a role for the team.
"I know Lachie's always got his head around that."
Saints boss Lyon has been forced to defend his perceived defensive game style this week, following a stodgy three-point win over Gold Coast in an extremely low-scoring affair last round.
Lyon rubbished suggestions that using a tagger is overly negative and counter-productive to playing team defence, while declaring his belief that Windhager's individual assignments have multiple benefits for the player and his team.
"For us, it's given Marcus a real focus," Lyon said.
"He's very disciplined with it and certainly plays within the rules and it's a good role for him.
"In the end ... they become really good players themselves. It's a good way to learn, so we think it's a win-win."
First-year defender Arie Schoenmaker will make his debut for St Kilda as Lyon seeks to shut down Brisbane key forwards Joe Daniher and Eric Hipwood.
Versatile tall Zaine Cordy returns, with key back Dougal Howard (hamstring) unavailable, while Zak Jones and Cooper Sharman have also been recalled.
Jimmy Webster (calf), Nasaiah Wanganeen-Milera (managed) and Tim Membrey (omitted) won't play against an unchanged Lions line-up.
The Saints (5-8) are chasing a third straight win for the first time since the opening weeks of last season.
Brisbane have won the past four meetings between the two sides and six of the past seven, including all three at the Gabba during that period.
