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Find your Sport Nation frequency“Taggable”: Why opposition clubs should focus on Freo’s prime mover
Connor Scanlon • July 14th, 2025 7:45 pm
Former AFL forward Josh Jenkins has labelled Caleb Serong as “the most taggable player in the game”, pointing to a clear pattern in poor performances when the Fremantle star is faced with hard tags.
Serong starred for the Dockers in their come-from-behind 13-point win over Hawthorn in Perth on Saturday night. He had 29 disposals and nine clearances but it might have been a different story if the Hawks put some time into him.
Serong managed to avoid another hard tag, and Jenkins believes he would’ve been over the moon when he found out that Finn Maginness was the starting sub prior to their game.
“Don’t tell me at 20 past 6 on Thursday night Caleb Serong didn’t just bring up the AFL teams, and just think, ‘Oh okay, Maginness is in the (Hawthorn) team, I’d suggest I’m going to get tagged,'” Jenkins said on SEN Mornings.
“And then maybe an hour before the game when the subs are listed, Caleb Serong’s body language goes from a 6 out of 10, to a 10 out of 10, when he knows that he’s not going to get the tag.”
Jenkins feels the Freo star is gettable if given some close attention.
When matched up with Swans tagger James Jordon in Rounds 2 and 17, Serong was restricted to just 19 and 11 disposals respectively. Likewise, against St Kilda, Marcus Windhager held Serong to just 15 and 18 disposals in Rounds 8 and 16 respectively.
In every other game this year, the Fremantle midfielder has recorded 25 or more touches, underlining how significantly his output drops when being faced with a hard tag.
Jenkins broke down why Serong, despite his elite ball-winning ability, struggles more than his top-end peers when put under heavy attention.
“I’ve labelled Serong the most taggable player in the game,” Jenkins said.
“I think because of size that he doesn’t have, and some of the physical attributes that he doesn’t have, he is very much vulnerable.
“The stats would back me up.”
Despite being in the same size bracket as the likes of elite on-ballers such as Zak Butters and Nick Daicos, Jenkins suggested that Serong lacks the explosive burst, strong frame or elite speed running to consistently shake off taggers.
The two-time All-Australian and two-time Doig Medal winner's performance on Saturday further proves Jenkins' point that he stars when let loose, but has little impact when facing close attention.
With Jenkins convinced that Serong is the easiest player in the AFL to shut down, opposition clubs may now see a clear blueprint for limiting the Dockers prime mover.
