I've got a little confession. And he often does just that. Some might even go so far as to say he's one of the most underrated players going around (yep, I'm one of them). But I promise you there's not many! At his current average of 17.2 contested possessions per game, it is reasonable to assume that he will clear the 400-mark around the first week of the finals, however, itll be touch and go if Melbourne somehow end up a one-and-done team, after such a solid season. On Monday mornings at ESPN Australia headquarters, football debates and hypotheticals provide as much energy as the 9:30 a.m. coffee run. At various points of 2021 and early last season, Smith looked as if he was on a trajectory to becoming a top 20 player in the league. The pick of the bunch had to be his 38 disposal, 10 tackle, eight clearance and one goal game against the Kangaroos. A Above Average: Top 11% to 35% of the statistical category. Tahlia Randall, North Melbourne - spoils You are advised to change this password after using it to sign in again. Crisp's insane durability also has to be factored in, given he is currently riding a league-longest streak of 188 consecutive games played. While his shooting for goal has at times been a little underwhelming -- he's kicked 43.61 since the beginning of 2020 -- his ball use going inside 50 is as good as it gets. Dylan Burns/Getty Images. This was the third time this season they've won from a three-quarter time deficit. That's eight and a half seasons! The 24-year-old splits his time almost 50-50 between the wing and pure midfield and is one of the great link players in the competition, doing most of his damage on the outside with 16 uncontested possessions per game over the last two seasons. Dylan Burns/Getty Images. Top 30? A ball winner and clearance getter, first and foremost, a great link man between defence and attack, but someone who is also willing and able to do the dirty work. Electric. Curnow started the match with undersized Eagles defender Josh Rotham for company, and the Carlton star burst out of the blocks with three contested marks and two goals in the first quarter. One of the premier defenders in the league, the athletic Moore continues to be as solid as a rock for Collingwood. Sub Rhett Bazzo was then sent to Curnow, but it was Hurn's brief cameo on the spearhead that created the biggest highlight. Walsh was already considered an A-grader before the end of his sophomore season, and each year he continues to elevate his game. Anderson is one of the brightest young stars in the AFL and his game is developing at breakneck speed. And those in the second camp, I want to share some numbers with you. His finishing rarely lets him down, either. The Swans' dashing halfback Ollie Florent was a curious match-up on Greene for much of the contest and was mostly able to nullify the Giants' dangerman near goal. Not the most eye-catching. Approximately two thirds of matches are won by the team that records more rebound 50s per opposition inside 50 than its opponent. Darrian Traynor/Getty Images. Top 10?! Was it premature? ABC sports journalist James Coventry brought mainstream AFL analysis into the 21st century when his groundbreaking book, Footballistics, was released in 2018. There is a weak negative correlation between the rebound 50 differential and the margin. Even with a lean finals campaign, 2022 was clearly his best season yet. I'm not sure what it is but the Richmond spearhead always seems to be forgotten when we debate the great forwards in the AFL. However, considering the advantage fantasy points possess, their superiority over kicks is not very significant. Around this time, the AFL started to move out of the dark ages of basic statistical analysis and commenced the crawl toward advanced stats. In tight, he's equally as effective, able to win clearances and set up attacking thrusts from stoppages. 1. The 10 best AFL players at quarter time of the 2023 season Skip to navigation Search You have come to the ESPN Africa edition, for other ESPN editions, click above. And you certainly can't fit 21 into the top 10. Darcy Moore might be Collingwood's most valuable player. 7? I wasn't looking to be provocative with my claim, but I'd clearly struck a nerve with this particular colleague. Last year, De Goey upped his defensive pressure immensely, and had a career-best campaign in contested possessions and clearances as he spent more time around the ball. Thats not because a rebound 50 itself is harmful, but instead because teams that win the rebound 50 count tend to have lost the inside 50 count. Aside from the two mentioned above, Tom Green looks a likely candidate, whilst Caleb Serong shows the inside strength to win a heap of footy. Olivers best is 405, back in the 2018 season, where the Dees looked as though they may give their long-suffering supporters some respite before they headed west and fell to the Eagles in the prelim. It highlights just how much of a potent attacking force he really is. However, it is possible to give the tackle count some relevance. The Bulldogs owned the scoreboard for most of the second half but struggled to shake off the gallant Hawks. Except you aren't picking a team, you simply want the best player available. Who was the only player to average three goals per game last year? As it turns out, kicks are (arguably) the most important statistic in both AFL and AFLW the kick differential has a stronger correlation with AFLW margins than any other. The Rozee vs. Sam Walsh debate raged on during the pair's debut season, but by the end of year three the consensus seemed to be that Carlton's top pick was the clear-cut superior selection. with a few colleagues, I was quite surprised with how little pushback I received. Tom Mitchell was also close, 12 possessions away from joining the club in his 2018 Brownlow year as the Hawks went out of the finals in straight sets. in Neale. One aspect of his game he must work on is his ball use, having led the competition in turnovers last year with 6.71 per game. The differential for this statistic explains 31 percent of the variation in margins. Are his midfield days over? In just his seventh match, the midfielder anticipated the tap from a bounce close to goal, running down the short side and tapping the ball to himself with his right hand. Those who do it better than 99.5% of players in the sport deserve credit for it. The slippery conditions provided a truly scrappy contest - but one player wasn't fumbling that day. Emails will NOT be used for the sending of unsolicited, spam or promotional materials. Daniel Pockett/Getty Images. Hard-nosed Kangaroo Ben Cunnington still has the mark for contested possessions (32), while Joel Bowden's mark of 41 uncontested possessions in 2009 will take some beating. So what is it that makes Cameron so dangerous? Has there been a player in modern AFL history burst onto the scene with as much instantly recognizable star-power as the No. The result puts Collingwood clear on top with a 6-1 record after three straight wins, while it ends Adelaide's four-game winning run, with the Crows left to lament their inaccuracy in front of goal, having dominated long periods of the game. Sport, religion and family: Who is incoming AFL boss Andrew Dillon? That last-second shove before taking a chest mark is borderline unguardable. Did I mention Oliver was also the No. Can he be a successful forward? project. He reads the game better than anyone else and has the skills to match. The true reason, of course, is that it is better to have possession of the ball than it is to be tackling an opponent who has the ball. I mean, seriously; that was embarrassing. Lance Franklin celebrates the 1,000th goal of his career. Combine that with the fact he's the No. Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver impressed with 37 disposals, while Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw in his 150th match also shone. He had the second-most rebound 50s and eighth-most intercept possessions last season, as well as averaging a shade under 20 disposals per game. He's also taken the third-most contested marks inside 50m in that period. The modern game of football changed drastically in the early 2000s. Using accumulated stats from across the four home and away seasons of the competition (excluding finals), 21 players have made the cut, including the recently retired Jess Foley, with a minimum 10-game . 3 in disposals last year with 32.1 per game. Michael Willson/Getty Images, Club: Western BulldogsPosition: Key forward. Youngsters Jake Soligo (24 disposals and seven score involvements) and Riley Thilthorpe (seven marks including six contested) were excellent contributors, while Nick Murray continued to emerge as a reliable key back alongside Tom Doedee (14 intercept possessions). Quinn Rooney/Getty Images. But for all Adelaide's early dominance, the Crows were left to rue inaccuracy, including a run of three missed set shots, to only hold a 22-point quarter-time lead. Clayton Oliver might be the most consistent player in the AFL. Last season, Moore had the third-most intercept possessions and the fourth-most one-percenters. The result snapped a two-match losing streak for the Blues, who improved their win-loss record to 4-2, in addition to one draw. One aspect of Crisp's game that generally goes unnoticed is his elite pressure. Daniel Pockett/Getty Images. What can you say about this man that hasn't already been said? I'll even answer them. Elite? The Demons kicked their highest score this season and were on track to record their biggest winning margin against North Melbourne, before the Kangaroos kicked the last three goals of the match. Contested footy and tackling became the skills most likely to see a team contend for a flag, and with that came the necessity for the onballers to be bigger, stronger and more durable. Rozee is a clever, elusive, highly skilled player who kicks goals (aka the dream midfielder) and his positional switch was the main driver behind the Power turning its season around, improving from the horrific 0-5 start to finish a respectable 10-12. 1-ranked player last year in clearances, contested possessions and ground ball gets?! Plenty of Demons fans would argue May's the club's most important player, and with that list, that's certainly saying something. Overall, AFLWs most pivotal metrics are very similar to those of the AFL. Without any shadow of a doubt, Merrett is one of the best dozen midfielders in the AFL. 8 and watch him put in a shift. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Kangaroos remain the only winless team in the AFL, slumping to 0-6 for the first time in 49 years. At age 24, Bolton is the youngest player in the top 20 and I'd argue he has more upside than anyone on the entire list not named Chad Warner. But at his best, Grundy is the complete package. >>SEE ALL THE KEY TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL RECORD-HOLDERS BELOW. Izak Rankine does what he does best in this mesmerising goal. Dane Swan equalled the feat with 48 against Port Adelaide in 2008 Tony Shaw still had lots left in his tank in his 13th year. Like. Andrew Brayshaw enjoyed a breakout season in 2022. "You're crazy," he snapped, while furiously tapping away at his keyboard in search of stats that would substantiate his argument. The Giants' (3-4) key forward Jesse Hogan finished with two majors against the Swans' returning key defender Tom McCartin. Stephen Coniglio (28 disposals, two goals) and Harry Perryman (21, three) were superb throughout for the Giants, while Xavier O'Halloran (15, two) and Finn Callaghan (26) were also influential in promising signs for the future. He is the fire starter for the Bulldogs and arguably the team's most valuable player, doing his best work at stoppages by feeding the ball out to some of his more highly-praised teammates. you would see a team who wins the contested possessions win about 70 per cent of the time. The rising Pie finished just behind McDonald in the intercept possession stakes, averaging 8.1 per match, and also tied for the most intercept marks a game, with 2.6 a game. Then her family intervened, Jock Zonfrillo remembered as an 'incredible chef' and influential member of Australia's culinary landscape, 'You could tell where the Russians had been': These Australians returned to Ukraine to help the country rebuild, Baby with bowel obstruction died after hospital's failures, coroner finds, NT chief minister apologises to outgoing police commissioner over retirement settlement comments, Police officer holidaying in WA's Kimberley says she's never experienced crime like it, 'Disgusting public display': Russian Orthodox choir condemns Ukraine war supporters' presenceat concert, At least six people killed as dust storm causes pile-up on US highway, Tasmania's salmon farm industry has lost its 'social licence', minister says, but it wants it back, US federal department faces environmental lawsuit following SpaceX launch and explosion. Your email address will not be published. The average Victorian-based footy fan might not be overly familiar with Anderson. In 2022, he ranked eighth in the league for pressure acts. The Top Ten. Bailey Smith has one of the best engines in the AFL. Even still, he's flirting with the top 10. Who are the best players in the AFL and how would you go about ranking them? The once seemingly unassailable mark, set by Kevin Bartlett in 1983 has now been surpassed by Burgoyne, Michael Tuck and Brent Harvey (who still had a bit of gas in the tank when he finished up). Sam Walsh has been a star ever since he entered the AFL. You might also be surprised to hear Merrett averaged the fifth-most kicks of any midfielder last year, so enough of the 'cheap handballs' narrative. Can Nat Fyfe return to his devastating best in 2023? Hugh McCluggage celebrates a goal during the 2022 finals series. Both have a long way to go to be in the same ballpark as Oliver. As one of the great runners and line-breakers in the league, Crisp offers a totally different package to the average AFL midfielder. Lions fans knew early on that they'd secured a jet with McCluggage -- who was famously drafted third in 2016 behind Andrew McGrath and Tim Taranto -- but over the last two years he's developed his game further than anyone could have hoped. Midfielders and mid-forwards made up 64% of the list, followed by key forwards at 16%. Dylan Burns/Getty Images. Ash Johnson and Josh Daicos both goaled, before John Noble's running goal from 50m out with 2:52 left cut the margin to one point. One other interesting note (and I don't think this counts as a spoiler), Dunkley is the only player on this list who will play at a new club in 2023. Dangerfield's list of accomplishments are as long as anyone in the game, but he doesn't make this list (nor achieve a top 20 ranking) through legacy. On average, the team that registered more marks inside 50 has won by 15 points. His 103 goals over the last two seasons is the equal fifth-most in that time. Curnow booted his seventh when he snared a mark under the tight attention of Tom Barrass before kicking truly from 50 metres. Do I need to remind you of his match-winning after-the-siren goal against the Tigers last year? He was held goalless just once and was a multiple goal kicker on 14 occasions. More than a third of teams that have lost the handball count still managed to win the game. His masterpiece performance might well have been his effort on Sydney spearhead Lance Franklin in their qualifying final, holding him to just two kicks and no score, albeit in a loss. PODCAST: Click here to listen to the '50 best players' special episode, embroiled in an off-field racism controversy, floated the idea of a Curnow trade back in 2020, Miller is the most difficult player to match up on, The enduring magnetism of Scott Pendlebury. 1-ranked marker in the game, No.

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