{"id":828069,"date":"2026-07-28T01:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/828069\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T01:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:17:17","slug":"brownlows-over-flags-greats-flag-management-warning-to-contenders-as-superstars-in-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/828069\/","title":{"rendered":"Brownlows over flags? Great\u2019s \u2018flag management\u2019 warning to contenders as superstars in spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s questions on Brownlow Medal contenders Nick Daicos and Marcus Bontempelli \u201ctrying to chase votes\u201d instead of resting in fourth quarters to help their respective sides\u2019 premiership pushes. <\/p>\n<p>Kangaroos great David King has urged flag contenders to manage their stars as best they can on the run home to ensure they have their full ensemble available in September.<\/p>\n<p>It comes after Sydney rested big guns Isaac Heeney (15 minutes), Brodie Grundy (21), Tom Papley (21) and Charlie Curnow (nine) in the fourth quarter of Saturday\u2019s blowout win over GWS.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/afl?extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra\" title=\"kayosports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last six weeks, Brisbane (26) has used the fewest players in the competition, followed by Fremantle (27) and Collingwood (28), while Sydney (32) sits at the other end of the spectrum as it navigates a heavier injury toll.<\/p>\n<p>With four rounds left in the home and away season, King says the management of stars is vital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about flag management now and we are seeing teams do it,\u201d he said on Fox Footy\u2019s The First Crack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest luxury you\u2019ve got is to throw the banana lounge on the bench in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFremantle is the ones I\u2019ve been on, because they have to do (extra) travel. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a real mental battle, too. Bank the game, take the four points and rest your stars as much as you can &#8230; no risks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is the only way to win the flag. If you lose one on the way in when the game is shot to bits with 10 minutes to go in a meaningless fourth quarter, then more fool you.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the margins between Brisbane, Fremantle, hawthorn, Geelong and Melbourne is (small). Lose two stars and you\u2019re gone.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Marcus Bontempelli and Nick Daicos (Photo by Dylan Burns\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n<p>That brought King to the Daicos and Bontempelli discussion.<\/p>\n<p>Daicos played 100 per cent game time in the final quarter of Collingwood\u2019s 34-point win over Adelaide, while Bontempelli spent 84 per cent time on the ground in the fourth term of the Bulldogs\u2019 57-point smashing of Richmond. <\/p>\n<p>While King had no issues with Daicos playing out the game against the Crows when the game was in the balance, the dual premiership Kangaroo questioned why the Pies superstar wasn\u2019t pulled late.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo these clubs still think they\u2019re in the premiership race? So, why is Nick Daicos playing 100 per cent of the fourth quarter?,\u201d King posed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know he\u2019s done it across the course of the year, he\u2019s done that nine times. He\u2019s a magnet they haven\u2019t really had to manage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs he out there for the Brownlow, or are they out there to a win a flag?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think when the game was decided, you have to protect him. Every team is targeting Nick Daicos.<\/p>\n<p>Pies beat Crows to continue top 6 quest | 02:38<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wonder when they start saying: \u2018We want you to win the Brownlow, right? But we want to win finals, as well. We\u2019ve got to get you there in reasonable order\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s carrying a shoulder. I just wonder whether that will be a prime focus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Bontempelli returned for the final 10 minutes against the Tigers and kicked two late goals when the game was well and truly over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBontempelli goes back on for that last 10 junk minutes. What\u2019s the point of that?,\u201d King posed.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he thinks Bontempelli was also trying to chase Brownlow votes, King said: \u201cOf course they are. Honestly, what else are they doing?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave you spoken to any of the superstars lately? Of course that\u2019s what they think.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s questions on Brownlow Medal contenders Nick Daicos and Marcus Bontempelli \u201ctrying to chase votes\u201d instead of resting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-828069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}