Freo weigh up which Tiger to tag

A flip of the coin, a roll of the dice or just a gut feel.

Whatever the method Fremantle uses, Richmond’s midfielders will be hoping their number doesn’t come up when Dockers tagger Ryan Crowley is assigned an opponent for Saturday’s AFL clash at Patersons Stadium.

Crowley has re-established himself as one of the best shutdown players this year, with the 28-year-old snaring the key scalps of Chris Judd, Scott Thompson and Luke Shuey among many others in 2012.

Another big job looms for the 134-game veteran against the Tigers, with one of Dustin Martin, Brett Deledio or Trent Cotchin in his sights.

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon is yet to decide on which star Tiger to target, and says he probably won’t let Crowley know until the last minute to keep the match-up top secret.

“Sometimes, they’ve got mates at Richmond so they text and twitter,” Lyon said on Thursday.

“So I just tend to leave it to the last minute before Ryan knows who he’s getting.”

Lyon said Shaun Grigg and Shane Tuck would also come under consideration for Crowley to tag, but it’s one of Martin, Deledio and Cotchin who are almost certain to feel the heat.

Two weeks ago, Lyon said it was a flip of the coin as to whether Crowley would tag West Coast’s Daniel Kerr or Shuey.

Unfortunately for Shuey, it ended up being him, with the emerging star restricted to just 11 disposals in his lowest AFL possession haul.

Last week, Crowley was assigned to Thompson, with the prolific Crow managing just 16 touches in his quietest game since round seven last year.

“I think Ross probably does flip a coin,” Fremantle midfielder Nat Fyfe says of Lyon’s method of choosing an opponent for Crowley.

“Last week was the (Patrick) Dangerfield or Thompson one.

“Crowley’s a really selfless player and has had a big year for us.”

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