Toby Bedford has earned the nickname of Snooze not just as a play on words from his surname, but because when he plays his best game as a midfield tagger, he can put his opponents to sleep. His team's shockingly long injury list has meant he has been called upon to play more inside midfield than his coach would have preferred, and there have been days when he his stats look more like a generic coalface warrior than the defensive-minded mid that he has been groomed as, like Hugo Garcia, James Peatling and Willem Drew. Perhaps next year will bring more luck.
Toby Bedford has earned the nickname of Snooze not just as a play on words from his surname, but because when he plays his best game as a midfield tagger, he can put his opponents to sleep. His team's shockingly long injury list has meant he has been called upon to play more inside midfield than his coach would have preferred, and there have been days when he his stats look more like a generic coalface warrior than the defensive-minded mid that he has been groomed as, like Hugo Garcia, James Peatling and Willem Drew. Perhaps next year will bring more luck.
Toby Bedford has had some of the biggest tagging jobs in the league this year but has now reverted to a regular defensive half forward flanker, as has James Jordon at Sydney and Marcus Windhager at St Kilda. The man they call Snooze did quite a good job on some of his shutdown targets, but coaches can often change a tagger's role not because of his own effectiveness, but to open the team's structure up more to win the game rather than not lose it. Today he is highly likely go to Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, nonetheless, as by far the most damaging Saint.
Bedford must climb from cot
Casey took full dividend from an exciting first season from small forward Toby Bedford. Developed through the club's Academy, the youngster is renowned for his high intensity pressure. Bedford's primary focus is to add kilos to the frame, regularly struggling to compete physically with seasoned senior bodies. Expectations are low for debut, look elsewhere for fantasy.
Don't sleep on Bedford
Averaging five tackles per game at TAC Cup level and seven at the Championships, pressure is Toby Bedford's one-wood as a small forward. Goals and disposals are not as generous on his stat sheet, with less than a goal per game and a possession rate that struggles to reach 15. Bedford is built in the modern style of Richmond's mosquito fleet, and he would have thrived in the Tiger system. The Demons need those types too, and they have a good one already in Charlie Spargo. It's hard to see Bedford getting many senior games this year unless Spargo goes down.
