Film study: Brennan O’Neill vs. Graeme Hossack

Watching the 6-foot-3, 240-pound goliath Brennan O’Neill dodge at you full speed is one of the most intimidating prospects in professional lacrosse.

That may only be matched by seeing the 6-foot-2, 230-pound cyborg named Graeme Hossack stalk you with a six-foot metal pole (or shoot one of his 123 mph shots at you, like what happened to the PLL’s Manager of Photography Nick Ieradi).

That unstoppable force and the immovable object will collide for the third time this weekend on Saturday Night Lacrosse when the Denver Outlaws take on the Utah Archers in Salt Lake City.

In O’Neill’s second career game, he announced his arrival on the professional stage with a miraculous nine-point performance (7G, 1T, 1A, 6-for-15 shooting) against the Archers. He scored six of his seven goals in the fourth quarter and overtime, entirely overwhelming the Utah defense and sparking a statement come-from-behind victory.

Hossack was out of the lineup for that matchup, however. He was back on the field when the two squads went head-to-head in Salt Lake City last August, and held O’Neill without a point and to 0-for-13 shooting with two turnovers.

“He came in and he said welcome to the league,” Archers midfielder Tre Leclaire said after Utah’s 13-9 win. “He just did his job.”

While Denver won the teams’ first game in 2025, Hossack took O’Neill out of the game once again. Hossack limited the former Duke Blue Devil to two assists and 0-for-10 shooting while adding a two-pointer of his own on the other end to match O’Neill’s point total.

Through two matchups, O’Neill has shot 0-for-13 when Hossack is the closest defender. Hossack is the only player to defend five-plus shots against O’Neill and hold him scoreless.

Much of that is because Hossack is the one defender in the league who can match O’Neill’s athleticism. He has a strong base that can absorb the absolute power O’Neill generates, and he’s a rare specimen who can actually push the 2025 Lexus All-Star Game MVP off his line and stay on his shoulder despite multiple rollbacks.

Hossack is also surprisingly fleet of foot and can run with O’Neill when he’s sweeping across the middle of the field. He’s one of the best defenders in the world at navigating picks.

Despite his massive frame and heavy steps, he’s still nimble and light on his feet when squeezing through traffic. His powerful slap checks are also punishing, which can blunt the power of even O’Neill’s shots.

Hossack’s success against O’Neill is also thanks to a defensive scheme that takes some pressure off him to totally contain O’Neill. Utah is willing to switch the matchup on picks, even on big-littles. That means that, when Hossack does get caught by a pick (which is rare), he doesn’t have to overextend to recover to O’Neill. He trusts Utah’s shorties to force tough shots.

The Archers have one of the best trios of short sticks in the league. The strength of Piper Bond and Beau Pederson is especially useful when dealing with O’Neill.

Below, Hossack got picked off, but Bond got in on O’Neill and forced a contested shot while his momentum faded away from the cage, and Brett Dobson kicked it out of play.

Having Dobson in the cage certainly helps as well. The Archers defense plays not necessarily to entirely prevent shots, but to force shots that Dobson can gobble up in cage. O’Neill has taken 23 total shots in his last two games against Utah, so he’s certainly had his opportunities.

Yet it’s the Archers’ trust in Dobson that permits Hossack to be aggressive, preventing the easiest looks because he knows that his goalie has his back.

On this play in the Utah-Denver matchup in June, Hossack hastily closed out to O’Neill to prevent a step-down shot. O’Neill took advantage by face-dodging under Hossack, but Dobson shut the door on the low-angle shot.

It’s still impossible to completely lock O’Neill down. Even against Hossack, he’s earned his chances but has been unlucky with a couple shots off pipes. His roll back to his right after dodging hard topside put Hossack on the ground on this play.

Because Dobson stepped out to his high arc along the top of the crease to diminish the angle, O’Neill tried to place the ball perfectly but hit the crossbar as a result.

Crucially, Hossack didn’t let O’Neill get topside where he likes to unleash his massive on-the-run wind-up. O’Neill had to take a slightly awkward (albeit closer) shot.

These two All-World talents will put on another show this weekend in Salt Lake City. Hossack continues to make his case as one of the Defensive Player of the Year front-runners, while O’Neill and the Outlaws offense have looked unstoppable in recent weeks.

O’Neill seems due to get on the score sheet against Hossack. The veteran defender may just be his kryptonite, though.