GWS forward Toby Bedford knows taggers don't receive much love, but he's ready to embrace the role if it means the Giants keep winning.
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Bedford played the tagging role for the first time in his junior and senior career when he lined up on star midfielder Zak Butters in Sunday's 22-point win over Port Adelaide.
Butters was restricted to just 17 disposals and 0.1.
When Butters went into attack, Bedford spent time on Connor Rozee, who only managed 14 disposals for the match.
Bedford finished with 16 possessions, eight tackles and a goal in arguably the best performance of his 50-match AFL career.
Given the huge success in the role, Bedford is being widely tipped to be the tagger again when GWS take on the red-hot midfield of ladder leaders Sydney on Saturday.
"Look, taggers aren't really loved amongst the AFL," Bedford said on Tuesday.
"It was a bit of a surprise for me when Kingers (coach Adam Kingsley) first called me last week and told me about it.
"It was one where I was like, 'Oh, it doesn't really matter, as long as I'm out there helping the team win'.
"It's more an internal thing I was focusing on, helping the boys. We've been in a bit of a slump at times this year.
"Whatever we can do to get back on the winners' board is all we care about."
So how does Bedford feel playing a role that could see him become universally disliked amongst his rivals?
"It's fine. As long as internally we're winning and the boys are happy and the coaches are happy, I'm happy to play a role for the team that gets us wins," he said.
"I enjoyed it because we went out there and got the win. How could you not enjoy winning?
"Playing around the ball was something different as well, you're always involved."
Bedford, who had kicked just six goals in 12 games leading up to last Sunday's match, hasn't yet been told whether he'll be playing the tagging role again this week.
But with Sydney boasting the likes of Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney and Errol Gulden, there are plenty of targets on the table.
Warner, who is averaging 24.3 disposals and 3.7 clearances to go with 22 goals, looms as the biggest danger, but he is harder to tag given the way he mixes midfield with forward-line duties.
"He's a star, like the rest of them," Bedford said.
"It would be different if I had to match up against him in comparison to the two boys I matched up on the weekend.
"I'm willing to do it if the team needs it."
Fifth-placed GWS (8-5) have won just twice in their past six matches, and they face a huge task to topple a Sydney unit that have won nine straight games to sit three victories clear on top of the ladder.
Australian Associated Press
