Wingers often try to use pace to exploit extra space available on the flanks that can be made available by their teammates dominating the centre ground.
In sports where the main method of scoring involves attacking a small goal (by whatever name) in the centre of the field, a common tactic is to cross the ball to a central teammate.
[1] Wingers are usually players of great pace or dribbling ability so as to provide cut-backs or crosses from which strikers can score.
In Australian rules football, the wingers require considerable pace and stamina, as they run up and down the ground linking play between defence and attack and are normally highly skilled in kicking.
Nowadays, there are different types of wing men in the game—out-and-out goal scorers, checkers who disrupt the opponents and forwards who work along the boards and in the corners.