The AFL’s best player, Nathan Fyfe, plays his 100th game at the highest level this weekend. Let’s take a moment to reflect.
It has been a fascinating first 100 games for Fyfe, who has endured injury, suspension, contract speculation, grand final heartache and tasted success at the highest of individual levels.
It’s almost been a full career’s worth of events and achievements in just five-and-a-bit short years.
I’ll declare an interest now. My Twitter handle – @RyanBuckland7 for those who aren’t yet following – is in a small way a reference to Fyfe, who is, on reflection, my favourite player to watch (sorry Buddy).
He has managed to improve his effectiveness and output every season since his debut in 2010, after he went number 20 in the 2009 AFL draft. Oh yeah, he went at number 20. That’s kind of a big deal.
Drafting is a little bit of a crapshoot. There’s only so much you can know when you’re a team picking up a raw, 17 or 18-year-old who has been applying his trade against blokes that are as likely to be astronauts as professional football players in their 30s. But consider these selections:
Port Adelaide (#9): Andrew Moore
Carlton (#12): Kane Lucas
Western Bulldogs (#15): Christian Howard
Melbourne (#18): Luke Tapscott
Melbourne, incidentally, had four chances to select Fyfe, but passed up. Just one of their selections, the oft-injured Jack Trengove, still plays footy for the Demons. Sliding doors, hey?
Anyway, here’s how Fyfe’s career has shaped up so far.
| Year | Games | Disposals | Marks (uncontested) | Marks (contested) | Scoring Shots |
| 2010 | 18 | 16.1 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| 2011 | 21 | 25.1 | 3.3 | 2 | 1.6 |
| 2012 | 11 | 23.4 | 3 | 1 | 0.7 |
| 2013 | 22 | 25.9 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| 2014 | 20 | 27 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 1.7 |
| Year | Clearances | Tackles | Contested Possessions | Disposal % | Inside 50s |
| 2010 | 1.7 | 3 | 6.8 | 60.7 | 3.6 |
| 2011 | 3.6 | 4 | 12.5 | 61.5 | 3.8 |
| 2012 | 4 | 3.7 | 12.4 | 56.4 | 4.4 |
| 2013 | 5.9 | 3.4 | 13.9 | 63.6 | 4.3 |
| 2014 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 16.1 | 69.6 | 3.4 |
I won’t run you through the numbers. They kind of speak for themselves. Fyfe does it all, and in volumes that are almost unsighted in AFL history.
Fyfe is currently the game’s fourth-best player on the Official AFL Player Ratings. I have no problem saying he is three spots too low.
Want some proof? Here are his 2015 numbers:
| Games | Disposals | Marks (uncontested) | Marks (contested) | Scoring Shots |
| 7 | 30.3 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| Clearances | Tackles | Contested Possessions | Disposal % | Inside 50s |
| 7.6 | 3.1 | 17.9 | 76.4 | 5.9 |
There’s no AFL-equivalent to the NBA’s player efficiency rating (PER), but if there was, Fyfe would be putting up Wilt Chamberlain circa 1962-63 numbers.
Still not convinced?
I’d like to introduce you to a new statistic. It’s not like me to introduce new statistics and put impressive-sounding, over-capitalised names on them, I know, but bear with me. Its called the Nat Fyfe Quadrant. Or NFQ, for short.
What is the NFQ?
It’s well-known that Fyfe is great over his head. So far in 2015 Fyfe has taken an average of 2.6 contested marks per game. That would make him the second-most prolific taker of contested marks to this point in the season. In first place is Carlton’s Levi Casboult, who takes an average of 3.2 per game – which is a pretty significant number. The AFL average is 0.46 contested marks per game.
While Casboult is a good mark, he’s a much more pedestrian player around stoppages. Fyfe, on the other hand, is among the game’s elite in the clinches, and this season he’s been credited with 7.6 clearances per game. The AFL player average is 1.8.
This, sports fans, is the Nat Fyfe Quadrant.
There are just 32 players that have managed to be above average in both clearances and contested marks so far this season. And almost half of those players (15 to be exact) are ruckmen, who are credited with a contested mark if they manage to clunk a kick in.
But while 17 players are above average on these two measures, none are on the same planet as Fyfe, who is setting himself up to be considered one of the greatest players of all time. The boy could be anything if he keeps on the trajectory he’s on now.
Let’s all bow down to the AFL’s Iron Throne, for we know who the king is.
donut
Roar Rookie
Seems like you're a Futurist, two Brownlows later and a 2019 highlights package on the AFL website that shows him doing as many ridiculous things above 2m+ than at eye level. Got any other tips?
jax
Guest
Tim Wason on Talkimg Footy tonight said "Yeo reminds me of a young Nat Fyfe". Last week On the Couch Jonathon Brown said "Yeo is a star, I knew he was a star the minute he arrived at the Lions". I'm not the only one seeing it then. Let's give him a few years to see what he develops into but the raw talent is there, no question.
chris
Guest
Hird definitely... Giving away a lot of Free kicks in afl games teamwise is very bad... The teams with good skills convert them into goals with alarming regularity, fyfe is a good player... But if he wants to win a premiership he will need a different coach... Therefore I'm thinking he will end up at north Melbourne... Or Essendon...
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
Something else to consider is Cousins ability to break tackles. In fact if you look at old footage you'll see that opposition players found it impossible to grab him and hold on Fyfe gets up momentum and storms through, which makes it hard to hold him Different styles suit different body types. When the Eagles had Judd,Fyfe's size, and Cousins and Kerr, and Fletcher,all hard to stop their combined inside 50s were the best in the land. Fremantle has four good midfielders. That helps Fyfe to be the best he can be.He says it himself.
jax
Guest
It's closer than you think. Is it fair to compare one player against another when one of them (Cuz) clearly had a massive disadvantage in the area of contested marks due to his height/genetics? In Cuz's last 4 years he played 7 games at WC (2007) before getting sacked and 32 games at Richmond (2009-2010) with a 1 year suspension in 2008. That's 4 years of footy that he wasn't at his best and playing for his original club in his usual role. That's his fault I know but Fyfe has only played 100 games and who knows what will happen between now and the end of his career. Maybe his stats will get better or maybe something terrible will happen to him as it did to Cousins. No-one can answer that one just yet. Cuz played 270 games so let's deduct 39 games for the last 4 years (and the goals he kicked) and bring it back to 229 games played which is more than double the sample size that we have for Fyfe. His goal average is now the same as Fyfe. If you count Cousins first 100 games his goal average is better than Fyfe. I haven't looked at any other of Cuz's first 100 game stats but that would be interesting to see where he sat at the time. So Cuz beats Fyfe in some areas and Fyfe beats Cuz in some others with contested marks being the ONLY key differentiator between the two players. If you removed CM's from the equation Cuz wins by a nose but we all know that this is what makes Fyfe that little more unique and dangerous but Cuz never had a chance to compete on that stat because he wasn't blessed with being born 11cm taller. If Fyfe was born 11cm shorter Cuz would win but only just and Fyfe's career isn't over so he might end up in front, can't say. If Cuz was born 11cm taller who knows how many CM's he would have taken but I think he would have been pretty close. Both great players and much closer than you might think when you look at it objectively.
Ant
Guest
How do you compare Fyfe's stats to a bloke named James Hird at the same time? As well as team impact and accolades. James Hird- A premiership player and Brownlow Medalist at 88 games. I'd like you to say who you think has had the better 100 games?
kick to kick
Guest
Great player Cousins. But at .2 contested marks per game and a lower goal average per game than Fyfe, he doesn't beat the new champ.
jax
Guest
It's wish the AFL would remove ineligibility due to suspension from the Brownlow Medal. If you get suspended for 3 weeks you don't collect votes for 3 weeks, that is the penalty. It could be taken one step further by disallowing votes in the game that the offense occurred.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
You are all forgetting Ben Cousins 22.57 possessions 4.52 clearances 4.53 inside 50s 9.7 contested possessions 1.8 tackles and he was 179 cm and 79 kg
mattyb
Guest
Interesting take jax,i do predict Fyfe to overtake them all,but holhardadly agree there is a new breed of footballer we are only just beginning to see.Great call jax.
jax
Guest
If you were offered to choose between Ablett (Snr & Jnr), Wayne Carey and Fyfe who would you pick? I'd take Carey and Ablett Snr over Fyfe and probably Jnr as well because he can kick straight. No disrespect to Fyfe as he should end his career as a champion but he's got to play at this level for at least another 5 years before we can rank him alongside those names for eternity. I'm expecting more Fyfe like players to arrive on the scene in the coming years. Bonts & Yeo are two that have already arrived but there will be more.
13th Man
Guest
yeah, imagine a fully fit Mora with a couple of full pre seasons in him alongside Fyfe, Hill, Mundy, Barlow, Neale. Geez what a scary thought. It really is a pity that Mora never has reached his potential due to injury. Lets hope he can come back.
13th Man
Guest
oh come off it Brian! Just because you victorians don't want a West Australian to win the brownlow for two years in a row! That was not worth a suspension. A fine was a fair punishment there. The Bulldogs player wasn't hurt, Dogs got the free kick. Fyfe got fined. That was fair.
13th Man
Guest
It'll come. That is the one area he has to work on i agree. But skill wise, i think he has everyone covered. The fact that he is only 23 and already this good means that he could well be the games greatest ever player. Still a long way to go for him but he could be something else if he isn't already!
Casper
Guest
13th Man - talk about hyperbole. No doubt Fyfe is a top player, but as he showed again last Sunday, he lacks the nerve to kick set shot goals when under pressure. The really great players would have nailed that.
13th Man
Guest
was the best midfielder of all time but he may well have been past by Fyfe in that regard as well
13th Man
Guest
Yeo is good but he will be no where as good as Fyfe. I think we are seeing quite possibly the best ever most complete AFL player. I am being serious Fyfe is that good, he is only 23!!, what is he going to be like when he is 27, 28? I know its a big statement but Fyfe could well be remembered as the greatest ever AFL player!
kick to kick
Guest
Even if I’m a slightly reluctant convert, the figures tell me that Ryan Buckland is right and that Fyfe is not just the best all round player currently, but maybe the best all round midfielder of the modern era - the era when stats like contested marks and hardball gets have been kept. James Hird is an obvious point of comparison. A great player and overhead mark as well contested ball winner Hird could turn a game. Two centimetres shorter than Fyfe and the same weight he had a similar brief roving through the midfield and pushing forward. But his per game career averages are mostly outdone by Fyfe though Hird was more damaging on the score board. The other fascinating comparison is with Gary Ablett jnr. He and Fyfe are very close with Fyfe in the lead in contested possessions and as the taller man well ahead in contested marks. Ablett has more inside 50s and goals per game . For me these stats have Fyfe slightly ahead but that is up for debate. Disposals (all stats per game) Hird 20.06 Fyfe 24.18 Ablett 24.99 Contested Possessions Hird 8.86 Fyfe 12.94 Ablett 11.46 Marks Hird 5.87 Fyfe 4.57 Ablett 3.21 Contested Marks Hird 1.01 Fyfe 1.43 Ablett .43 Clearances Hird 3.25 Fyfe 4.71 Ablett 4.28 Inside 50s Hird 4.23 Fyfe 4.00 Ablett 4.46 Goals Hird 1.36 Fyfe.88 Ablett 1.34 None of the other great roving midfielders of recent times including Koutifides, Judd, Voss, Pendlebury, Goodes, Swan, Selwood, Dangerfield can match the overall balance of career stats that Fyfe puts up. And he’s getting better with his 2015 stats well above career averages to date.
anchorman
Guest
In the Purple and white Chevron you should have added.
Tom from Perth
Guest
Nice