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The AFL and its legions of hearty fans can’t seem to get enough of a slick-footed, fancy midfielder in the modern game.
It seems gone are the days when it was all about the 100-goal-a-year full forward, or the battle-hardened fullback punching way above his weight.
These on-ball types win all the Brownlows, rack up the incredible 40 possession games, earn everyone bulk Dream Team points, and once again have dominated an All Australian side.
On the whole, I think there’s nothing particularly outrageous about the 2013 team.
Each of these players have crafted out a solid year that probably deserves a little bit of back-slapping and a nice off-season holiday, before they get marched to an unenviable boot camp somewhere in Arizona.
But why can’t forwards claim forward spots and defenders get picked to hold down the back six?
I realise that statement might sound hypocritical as I was also guilty of including Adelaide’s Patrick Dangerfield on the half forward line in my team.
In my defence he did play forward at various points in the season, in an attempt to heal a gaping hole left by Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker. He managed to boot 31 goals, the most of any midfielder.
Kieran Jack is a much stranger selection in the forwards.
Sure, he deserves a spot in the team. You can tell he’s the son of a rugby league legend by his immense tackling pressure.
But should a guy who musted 24 goals this year be really picked as an All Australia forward?
Perhaps the forward flank is now a meaningless interchangeable position that allows an extra midfielder to run into the square after the bounce, hide in the forward line for a breather, or lose a tagger.
The rising crop of exuberant small forwards wouldn’t like that idea much.
Along with Lindsay Thomas having a career best season, crowds have been wowed with the likes of Steven Motlop, Michael Walters and Jamie Elliot this year.
Surely six attacking weapons are better than a few big targets and an overdose of midfielders?
If we now move to the backline, no one can argue Jarrad McVeigh and Sam Mitchell have had great seasons.
Both players can defend but have predominantly been classed as midfielders for most of their career.
The two players most hard done by to miss selection however are Carlton’s Andrew Walker and Sydney’s Nick Malceski.
These two are easily the best rebound defenders in the game and their stats show this.
Carlton always play their best footy when Walker and Kade Simpson are running out of the backline.
Walker probably also has my vote for goal of the year.
The poor bloke didn’t even get selected in the squad though!
I understand cutting Mitchell; a champion player who has been runner-up in the Brownlow last few years is very rough. Can someone please squeeze him in the midfield?
Another defensive issue – has Fremantle’s backline superiority been ignored?
I admit I was silly to originally pick Luke McPharlin this year considering injury has made a big spoil in his season.
Fremantle’s defence was that good this year you could almost pick any of their rookie backs for this team. At least the Tim Duncan look-a-like, Michael Johnson, slipped in.
Today’s game is certainly for midfielders and the current league has no quality shortage in this department.
Other fantastic midfielders to miss out include Nathan Fyfe, Michael Barlow, Josh Kennedy, Kane Cornes, Tom Rockliff and Brendon Goddard.
Oh, and it seems everyone forgot about fifth placed Richmond. Let’s chuck their not too shabby captain, Trent Cotchin, in the mix.
I’m a small forward in my local team. It’s always a cheeky slap in the face when that pesky on-baller wants to bench you and move to the forward flank or pocket because they ran out of puff trying to be the hero.
Forwards and backs deserve a bit of love too.
Let’s not forget you can’t fix every problem on a footy field by splashing midfielders everywhere.
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