Banfield Prides Himself On Applying Forward Pressure

IT hasn’t always been the smoothest ride for Todd Banfield since returning to Swan Districts after six years in the AFL system, but he has now settled into a role as a small forward he is comfortable with and his main focus is on applying pressure on the opposition.

Banfield returned to Swan Districts in 2015 following six years in the AFL system after initially being drafted from Swans after he had a standout 2008 season.

On the back of being part of Western Australia's State 18s campaign in that 2008 season, Banfield earned his chance at league level for Swan Districts and slotted in nicely as a small forward remaining in the side for the last seven games, including the Grand Final against Subiaco.

He was drafted to the Brisbane Lions on the back of that and went on to play 53 matches at AFL level and kicking 57 goals. Through the 2010 and 2011 seasons, in particular, he was a permanent member of the Brisbane team and appeared he would be for a long time.

But he couldn’t break through for an AFL appearance at the Lions in 2013 and was delisted at the end of the season, but offered a lifeline on Richmond's rookie-list in 2014.

He enjoyed the year in Melbourne, but it didn’t lead to him adding to his 53 AFL matches either and by the end of 2014, it was back to Swan Districts for the 24-year-old to return to where it all begun for him.

It did take Banfield some time to adjust again to life back at home and without being a professional footballer anymore, and coping with all that entails in terms of suddenly having to juggle football with work and the rest of your life.

He was used as a running, creative defender over his first couple of years back with Swan Districts too and just couldn’t quite produce the consistent form he was after ending up playing 24 league games and five in the reserves over those 2015 and 2016 seasons.

But he returned to the role that firstly got him drafted and saw him make his mark at AFL level in 2017 as a small forward and he did so to great effect.

Banfield ended up kicking 24 goals for the season, including a best of four against West Perth in Round 12, and was a key component of Swans returning to finals action in Greg Harding's final season in charge as coach.

Adam Pickering has arrived as coach in 2018 and continued to use Banfield in that small role and he's having a good season to date kicking 13 goals while averaging 12.8 disposals and 2.6 tackles a game.

Those tackle numbers might not sound like a lot, but tackles in the forward half of the ground are like gold and most of those laid by Banfield have resulted in scoring shots either directly for himself, or one of his teammates.

While he enjoys kicking a goal, it's laying tackles and applying that defensive pressure that he now takes most pride in.

"Obviously it starts with the defensive pressure and that's pretty much me in a nutshell. If I am doing that then I'm usually having shots on the board as well," Banfield said.

"For me it starts with defence and if I kick a couple of goals in each game as well, then I'll take it. But for us smaller blokes, it's all about putting pressure on their defenders when they are getting it.

"And if the ball hits the ground, I have to be there and either do something with it put the pressure on if the opposition do."

Reflecting on his time in the AFL system – five seasons with Brisbane for 53 matches and then a year on Richmond's rookie-list – Banfield will always be proud of the opportunities he received and looks back fondly on the whole experience.

"I had six years in the system, which was amazing, and I enjoyed every year I had at Brisbane and then I had my last year at Richmond. That was a bit of an eye-opener and obviously the clubs are a little bit different," he said.

"Up at Brisbane, it's not an AFL state and the focus is more on rugby league but then going down to Melbourne where everything is AFL is an eye-opener. But both clubs were really good to me, I met a lot of people and enjoyed my footy at both clubs."

Swan Districts now sits fourth on the WAFL ladder still with a 5-5 record following last Saturday's hefty loss to Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval.

But if you take out the 96 and 82-point losses to Subiaco this season, Swans have put together a strong opening 10 games of the 2018 season. The other three losses were by 31 points to West Perth, 20 points to Claremont and 13 points to South Fremantle.

Those weren’t terrible performances then they've recorded 45 and 30-point wins against Perth while beating Peel Thunder by 14 points, East Fremantle by 90 points and East Perth by 13 in a game they particularly dominated for three quarters.

Banfield has been reasonably happy with Swans' season so far heading into Saturday's clash with Peel Thunder at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

"There were a couple of games, especially against West Perth and Claremont, where we lost from not probably playing to our standard so we let a couple of games go," Banfield said.

"But Pickers has brought a different game style that we've adapted to pretty well. Sitting fourth at this stage is pretty good and if we can peg a few more and try to finish higher up the ladder, you never know what can happen in the finals."