West Coast Eagles workhorse Matt Priddis cannot possibly be overlooked again for All-Australian selection this season.
The 29-year-old midfielder has been one of the most effective and hardest working on-ballers in the competition for many years now.
Yet he has never been rewarded with an All-Australian guernsey. What is truly remarkable is that he has only once even featured in the 40-man All-Australian squad, back in 2011.
Last season, Priddis was phenomenal for West Coast, averaging 27 touches, seven clearances and six tackles en route to winning the club’s best-and-fairest award.
Despite being his side’s best player, albeit in a disappointing campaign for the Eagles, he was bizarrely not considered worthy of the 40-man AA squad.
This is the Priddis story – nothing has come easy to him in his football career. A prolific ball winner at under-age levels and then in the WAFL, he was overlooked three times at the national draft.
He was belatedly rookie listed by West Coast but could manage only two games in the 2006 premiership season, during which he won the Sandover Medal as the best player in the WAFL.
Since debuting that year as a 21-year-old, Priddis has been as reliable as any midfielder in the land. Across his 171 games, he has averaged 26 possessions, six clearances and six tackles a game. That is an extraordinary return over such a long sequence of matches.
Accordingly, he is a hugely-respected figure at West Coast, where he is revered for his inspiring work ethic, courage and selflessness.
Few footballers in the competition have the same level of impact as Priddis when not in possession.
He chases, harasses, tackles and shepherds with ferocity. He smothers with desperation. He throws his body into the contest continually, clearing space for his teammates and ensuring opponents leave the ground sore and bruised.
While his colleagues and coaches cherish these endeavours, they often go unnoticed by football followers and pundits. Priddis is pigeonholed by many in the football community as a stats-gatherer who rarely has a decisive influence on games.
His foot skills aren’t up to scratch, they say. He doesn’t break the lines, they argue. He rarely kicks goals, they note. Yes, Priddis is not an elite kick. Yes, he does not often bounce his way up the wing. Yes, he is not a prolific goal kicker.
But he makes up for all of that, and then some, with his grunt work. Priddis may not often dominate games in the manner of worshipped midfielders like Gary Ablett, Scott Pendlebury or Patrick Dangerfield.
Every week, though, his teammates know they can count on him to make life easier for them. Meanwhile, he’s gathering 25 to 30 touches, lording it at the clearances and putting heavy defensive pressure on any opponent within reach.
No player has had more possessions this season than Priddis’ 580 at an average of 29 per match. He is also second for clearances (at seven a game), third for tackles (seven per outing) and third for contested possessions (15 a match).
He has been a major factor in West Coast’s resurgence which has put them in contention for a finals berth. Finally, he is getting some recognition in recent weeks with calls for him to be an All-Australian.
Ironically, it took a 42-possession effort against the competition’s highest profile side, Collingwood, for some eastern state pundits to belatedly take notice.
It wouldn’t bother Priddis. He is one of the lowest-maintenance stars in the AFL. But it’s time he stops flying under the radar and is given the credit he deserves.
jax
Guest
If WC make the finals they are a chance to beat the first team they play. Most likely Freo or Port and we've already established that WC could have beaten them both this year. Anything can happen in a final. In saying that Freo and Port are in better form now but so is WC. The bombers are above WC and that's another game WC should have won. WC definitely won't win a flag this year. I think Priddis' other qualities make up for his kicking. I watch him weekly and his kicking while not penetrating is not as bad as you might think.
Gecko
Guest
Ronan that was a great analysis of Priddis and you've sparked a great discussion. One aspect I think is underrated by TV media is a player's consistency. In the last 6 or 7 years, I can't recall a single bad game from Priddis. And he doesn't miss many games through injury or getting reported. In terms of consistency, he's ahead of Pendlebury, Dangerfield, Martin, Sloane, Harvey and Lewis, all of whom occasionally have low output days. Having said that, the AA team probably only has room for one grunt midfielder, and I'd give that to Josh Kennedy ahead of Priddis.
Ash
Guest
Your point is well made. But my point re the flat track bully thing is that if WCE come 8th, they would not have beaten a side above them. So, logically, you could conclude that they would be there to make up the numbers and not a legitimate premiership contender. Conversely, on their day, North and Essendon could cause an upset against Geelong or Freo. But I still maintain that Priddis ain't All-Australian and my point is that even Leigh Matthews who hasn't seen a lot of him knew that he wasn't an A-grader. Once you see Priddis kick the ball during the 'heat of the moment' this becomes glaringly obvious!
Tom from Perth
Guest
Ballas is the form pocket of the competition and is a lock for AA. It's a shame that Walters was injured for most of the season or we'd have both pockets purple!
Steele
Guest
Hopefully Priddis gets a guernsey this year. Thoroughly deserves it. I'd have Ablett, Rockliff and Fyfe as my locks. Priddis should atleast make it to the bench. He probably is underrated, such a bloody reliable player.
Jax
Guest
Leigh Matthews commentating on a game in the heat of the moment versus all of the AFL coaches carefully considering and casting their votes after the game Priddis just played against their side..... hmm, I'm sticking with the coaches on this one. If you had been watching WC then you'd know that they aren't flat-track bullies but that depends on what your definition of one is. If it's purely win/loss then maybe yes but I look deeper than that. Yes they've beaten up on some of the lower teams but every team has played them at least once this year and only 4 teams have beaten WC by 28 points or more and 3 of those are in the Top 4 and the other is 6th. Cats @ Skilled - R4 Hawks in Tassie - R11 with a 6 day break - WTF, WC & Freo travel to Tassie every year which is a disgrace and a 6 day break to boot! North @ Subi - R12 Sydney @ Subi - R16 Rohan keep it up as we need some balance. The vast majority of Vic commentators don't have a clue when it comes to the interstate teams and with so many of them it's important that people get exposed to this kind of stuff. Think about it, most of the media in Vic based, most of the readers here are Vic based so no wonder they don't see outside of the bubble and the minute you expose some of them to a point of view their Vic media hasn't exposed them to they belittle it.
Ash
Guest
Leigh Matthews during WCE v Sydney: "Priddis is a good player but his (inefficient) disposal means that he's probably not an A-grade midfielder". Priddis is good, but there are a lot of midfielders who: (a) Kick goals (b) Kick the ball efficiently (c) Are match-winners. Let me reiterate. I think Priddis is a good, consistent player ... but there are at least six midfielders in the comp who are better and that is why the article stinks. I would want him as my 4th best mid in the team, not the best. Ronan O'Connell is in poor form at the present time. He should realise that some AFL followers do take notice of the Eagles even though they have been flat track bullies all year.
geoff
Guest
Its pretty impressive that not only has he got the ball the most he avgs 7 tackles a game. Also hard to argue with the coaches who have him 4th.
bryan
Guest
He has the same great "heart" that Sean McManus has. Macca was always in there,taking the "fight' up to the opposition,just like Matt Priddis. The hard workers who get the job done every week rarely get the plaudits heaped on Buddy & the like.
Don Freo
Guest
AA is picked on position. Harvey has not been in AA form in a pocket. In fact, I'm sure you'll find most of those goals have come from running onto a receive through the centre. Ballantyne, Thomas and Betts are all ahead of Harvey...Wingard's first 8 games are better than Harvey's forward pocket efforts. Same with the Mosquito Fleet at Brisbane. Harvey is midfield only...and, therefore, he misses.
Jax
Guest
if a tagger is good enough they should be in the AA side. Every team has designated taggers and all teams tag the opposition in most of the games i see. Excluding a player based on their role no matter how important that role may be to team success doesn't sit well with me. They would need to be consistently exceptional at it to get an AA but give them a fair chance at it I say
Jax
Guest
he's untaggable that's why. You can't stop him, you can only try to limit his influence which is pretty much the same with all the elite players. They tend to tag Shuey or Gaff before Priddis
Jax
Guest
I wouldn't go so far as to say Freo are streets ahead of WC btw. Yes they are better atm but not by streets. Freo beat WC by 19 points and 7 points in the 2 games they played and WC had more shots on goal in the 19 point loss but didn't kick straight. How is that streets apart? As I keep trying to say. Top ranked teams have not being able to blow WC away this year. They've had a few bad losses which makes it an exception, not the norm.
Pumping Dougie
Guest
Breust (and Riewoldt) can play Half Forward - he's kicked 51 goals this year (sensational). Harvey (and Ballantyne) can play Forward Pocket - he's kicked 27 goals and averaged 25 disposals.
Jax
Guest
we're talking about different games I think johno. I was referring to their R7 clash where WC kicked 7.12 to Freo 11.7 ie WC 19 shots to Freo 18. WC lost by 19 points
jax
Guest
I haven't checked the scores and can't recall exactly but now that I think about it WC were ahead at 1/2 time and were the more dominant team. Freo came out after 1/2 time and put the foot down and blew them away. I agree Freo is a better team ATM but WC can beat them. Derbies have long histories where the underdog wins. It's just something about derbies
jax
Guest
I agree Don and I hate it. They aren't real fans IMO. It's people like you that make a WC fan like Freo just that little bit more
johno
Guest
???? In both games they were down at 3/4 time - 3 goals in one and 4 goals in the other. If they played the last term like the played the first three then they would have lost by 4 goals (lost by 3) and lost by 5.5 goals (lost by 7 points) You need to understand that Freo is streets ahead of West Coast at the moment.
johno
Guest
You don't see taggers getting AA gigs, just as you shouldn't see mass accumulators getting AA gigs. Priddis is a little too one dimensional for me. This is the second article by a West Australian / Ex-West Australian journo pumping up Priddis's tyres. Chadwick wrote one earlier about how he should win the Brownlow. It's a contractual thing for these blokes to pump up the best West Coast mid fielder, no matter where he site on the scale of mids in the AFL. The question is if I was picking a team to play an AFL game from all players available this year (Ablett with a good shoulder) based on their performances throughout the year I would not be picking Priddis. I would go Selwood, Fyfe, Ablett on the ball with Jacobs as the Ruck. Priddis isn't a wing I wouldn't pick him on the bench ahead of Pendlebury or Rockliff. So that's my inside mids / onballers done. My forwards / half forwards have to be able to kick and create goals. My backs have to be able to lock down an opponent and break the lines with kicking and run.
Jax
Guest
if they'd played the last quarter like they had the first 3 then they should have won but I agree... they could have and didn't