Who will become your club's Mr. September?

Hahaha, Bosk your sense of humour is growing on me.

I agree to a certain extent, but some of those players you listed I would not put as 'role' players. Clarko outlined this really well along with Lyon a few weeks back when they were interviewed together before the round 21 match if memory serves me correct. Certain players are given a 'role' and thats it. Pav for example is hardly this. He is a key position player, a veteran and their leader. I certainly wouldn't classify him in this category. Varcoe is a creative forward/ wing that can if needed run off the back line. By and large though he is not a 'role' player either. Goldsack for Colingwood is a classic example of a 'role' player in the forward line. Buckley tasked him with the role of a defensive forward. His primary purpose is to keep the ball in the forward line at all costs applying forward pressure. If he scores goals at the same time then thats a bonus, but if he goes out of his way to do this and not get his primary job done - well thats when you see the sh****t hitting the fan in the box. Crowley is a classic example of a midfielder who has been given the role of tagging pretty much the most dangerous opposition mid fielder. It is highly unlikely Crowley is going to win the GF for Freo, but he could be instrumental in their success. If he decided to wonder off and be a loose hero and try to score a goal and get caught out, I'm pretty certain he is going to get a bollocking from the runner not long after if his direct opponent does some damage. He sticks to a role and does not deviate from it and he is very very very very very good at it... Nick Maxwell (although now retired) is probably the best 'role' player I have ever seen. Mr no frills did his job as the general in the back as the spare man. His sweeping ability is as good as I've ever seen, which is amazing considering his lack of ability. These guys are never going to elevate to levels that truly turn a game on it's head nor win it from nothing. BUT, they are absolutely essential to any team winning the premiership.

There are some players, beyond the usual list of match winners, that you could say if they took their game to a certain level then their team would massively improve their chances of claiming the big prize. On the eve of the 2008 GF I said to a Hawks mate, as we were mulling over their chances, that if Cyril Rioli had a big day out the Hawks would probably win. Sometimes it's those young players or even veterans whose best days are seemingly behind them that just add that indefinable something that lifts the team above and beyond. They may not even be the best player, but jet make it so hard for the opposition to counter. A quick sample for this series could be: Sydney - Gary Rohan, just adds another prong Hawthorn - Brad Hill, pace & meterage makes a huge difference to the Hawks Geelong - This one's a bit harder, maybe Blicav's, more likely Duncan perhaps Varcoe Freo - Pav, if he kicks 12 or so goals across the finals series then look out Port - Jared Polec, Port could get 5% improvement right here North - Aaron Black = pace and goals Essendon - Michael Hurley, offers solutions at either end, otherwise Zac Merrett Richmond - Conca or Griffiths

Big Brownie for North. Good topic. Roberts-Thompson was a classic Mr September. Maybe they should have an actual award for the unsung hero. Call it the Teddy Hopkins. Franklin will likely be playing in his 4th GF. Must be due for a big one.

What about Round 21?

Yeah...but there's a problem. If Freo wins this week, I've got to get through a whole week of discussion without Freo factored in (although I'm sure I'll find a way to turn the discussions)... ...but I'll have to wait 2 whole weeks before I see them play again. I'm figuring I might want them to lose this week so I can watch them for 4 more weeks.

Winston I don't think I have named all the best players from each team. If I wanted to do that I would have said the following: Franklin, Mitchell, Johnson, Fyfe, Gray, Harvey, Watson and Cotchin I'm sorry I didn't realise either there was a criteria for naming Mr September... Your opinion I guess is valid that you believe the worst player from each club should they raise their game better than the oppositions worst - then they will win. However, I just 110 percent disagree with it. Why? Well these players you mention are just not going to raise their level that much simply because they play a specific role. Even if these guys tried to elevate themselves by doing certain match winning feats, I'm pretty certain the coach would not be happy about it. These types of players do not win you premierships, but are integral to the success of the team at the same time. Take Jordan Lewis this year. He was asked why his performance on AFL 360 many months ago has risen quite a lot this year. He basically flat out said that he had been asked to perform a specific role for Clarko. That role in itself limits a players ability to really affect a match greatly in isolation, but is very important none the less. This year he has been given the opportunity to be creative in the mid field and thus we see the result. Players like Franklin and Martin have HUGE differences between their worst - average - best. If Franklin hits his best against the best sides then that's potentially match winning. Every coach in the AFL is dreading playing the Swans because if Buddy is on song, there is no a lot you can do about it. Chris Scott said this and I truly believe it because these guys I mentioned are match winners. For me if they fire they will be Mr September!

I'll start from the bottom up, as I don't think the bottom 3 have any hope of being there on GF day. It's not unusual :-) Tiges - Dustin Martin, sure he is there best, and it is going to take their best to have any hope of getting there. He will have to dominate week in week out to get them there, and why not cap it off with a Norm Smith effort. He deserves it. Bombers - Chappy, he's a proven performer and if he is fit and they make it, then he could pop up for a Jarman like 6 goals. North - Harvey, let's face it, if the Roos get that far through, this little old bloke will be playing out of skin. There won't be a player who will want it more on the day. He will be like Greedy...no handballs inside 50m Port - Cornes, he doesn't exactly have that xFactor but he could get the types of numbers that help his side to glory. There are too many obvious choices here, Gray, Hartlett, Schulz, Westhoff. I think one of Adelaide's favourite sons will produce the goods. Freo - Ballantyne, he had an ordinary final last year. Time to make amends. Enough said. Cats - Motlop, he is one of these dangerous, creative, flamboyant types that do exciting things in grand finals. First goal certainty. Hawks - Gibson, because he will have to stop either Buddy, Hawkins, Schulz or Pavlich on the day. Lake won't be fit enough to get the big jobs. Who'd have thought a defender would get amongst the list. Swans - McGlynn, missed out in 2012, played out of skin in 2013 Prelim to make amends, and here they are again and he is having his best season. If they make the GF, he is the reason they will win.

Surely Freo will be in the GF Don.....

See what I mean Gene? there is a lot of subjectivity around why it occurs. Nobody expects the same number of frees. Doesnt mean there aren't patterns though.

But they're not supposed to pay frees when a player ducks into a tackle. Decisions can therefore appear bewildering to the average punter. And I don''t think the answer is for everyone to follow suit because at some point some young kid will snap their neck. And while you may not agree, I have posted before of my frustration with some of the frees given against Freo - mostly in the first half of games and often in our defensive half. Hell, for the first time that I am aware of, our coach went public about the same thing. Interestingly since he did that 2 weeks ago, there have been much less complaints from Fremantle fans.

Oh but his club is doing the same, just no one wants to admit it, much easier to be a sheep and give in to tall poppy syndrome. Also as I have said for ages, lifting a shoulder is still the best way to break a tackle, regardless of whether a free results, Selwood escapes and usually doesn't even break stride, so the free is largely irrelevant. Should he just give up and be tackled? I think not.

"Recent articles have shown that there is a quite large differential in free kicks between the teams" The problem is most of the arguments always start with 'so and so got more free's than such and such. The reality is there is not one reason why free kick counts should be even or be expected to be even. Some teams just play a different style of game that will see them awarded or penalised more, some players are just sloppier in the contest than others, some teams employ better tackling techniques, others don't tackle nearly as much and are less likely to catch someone high, there are a million and one variables that go into why teams may get more or less frees and there is not one single mechanic that says it should all end up even or close to it at any point. Some times one team is very accurate in front of goals and the other is not, not one ever complains the behind counts weren't even. Sometimes one team just gives away more frees. End of story.

Selwood is a different topic all together, and on his ducking, I do not heap scorn on him, rather the rules makers who changed a rule, and left it open to manipulation. Selwood is the focus, for he was the first to manipulate it. And sure, it goes against the spirit of the game to do this, but the rule changed allowed this. So, firstly blame the Rules commitee, and then question why your club is not doing the same to gain advantage

There's no doubt in the round 22 game Geelong got the rub of the green in the 2nd quarter and then there were some square offs in the 3rd given to Hawthorn. The umpires aren't biased. The problem is AFL is the only sport I can think off where the rules change from year to year and sometimes from week to week. On Friday Selwood will duck his head, and get tackled in a kind of high manner which could be a free for him or holding the ball against him depending on whatever instructions are imparted on the umpires that week. The frustration of supporters is therefore inevitable given the constant changing. And that's all before the issue of whether the umpires see the potential infringement correctly.

I disagree Tim. But then I would. Recent articles have shown that there is a quite large differential in free kicks between the teams and Freo certainly have had some very lean patches e.g. 4 frees in total against the Bulldogs. There are a number of arguments - all subjective, of course - as to why this might be. My view is that some teams, or more accurately some players, are advantaged or disadvantaged. I also inwardly groan when I see certain umpires named for a Freo game. Top of my list, personally, are Nicholls and Pannell. Razor Ray I find entertaining. Happy for others to see it differently.

I actually get tired of the blame the ump mentality, from all Club supporters. And, as a fan who runs a 10000+ strong Hawks fan forum on FB, sadly, our fans are amongst the biggest whiners. In truth, the umps, and umpiring standard is consistently bad for all

Same old BS excuses.

I don't think there's any controversy that you've named the best player in each team. But I think given finals intensity, it is conceivable that each of these blokes will have 2 or 3 players on them at any given time, so isn't the point about who else can step up and turn a game?

I don't think the Cats will need Rosebury this weekend - I see Mathew Nicholls, Ray Chamberlain and Troy Pannell are listed for the Geelong v Hawks game. Your boys are in for a torrid time, methinks.