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The bye rounds are a time for reflection. Last week we put together our respective All-Australian sides, and now it’s time to review The Roar Top 50, which Ryan and Rose put together at the start of the year with Mick Cowley, Sarah Olle, and regular commenter TomC.
Who has disappointed you the most so far?
RYAN: Is it too soon to say Gary Ablett Jr (ranked 1)?
That’s a little unfair, but of those who’ve been regulars, it’s been some of the old stagers on our list: Brent Harvey (28), Steve Johnson (29) and Brendon Goddard (43). Hayden Ballantyne (34), who’s running at less than a goal a game, would be up there as well.
ROSE: We can give Gary a pass, but all eyes will be on him in his return this weekend. Those names you mentioned are fair enough, and we can add to that the likes of Bryce Gibbs (21) and Ryan Griffen (22). I’ll put my hand up for those two, I had them both higher than anyone else.
Has Jarryd Roughead proven worthy of the No. 9 spot we gave him?
RYAN: Well, he’s second on the goal kicking list at the Hawks, who are the second best offence in the league, so I guess he’s going alright. I get the feeling Roughead is being turned into a midfield utility player rather than a pure forward: he’s also in Hawthorn’s top five for clearances (fifth, 3.3 per game) and contested possessions (third, 9.1 per game). He’s providing value, but perhaps in a different way than he has previously.
ROSE: Roughead has been used a lot differently this season, but I’ve watched a number of Hawthorn games where he’s been a non-event. In his last four matches he’s averaging 16 touches, four marks and less than a goal a game. That’s not top-10 material in anyone’s language.
RYAN: On Gibbs, he’s still a top-20 player in the league; don’t be too harsh on yourself. One glaring omission from our top 50 is Josh J Kennedy from the West Coast Eagles. Has he become the best key forward in the game?
ROSE: Ouch, we missed the dominant Coleman medal leader; he’s been an irresistible force. Speaking of those we missed, a few ruckman come to mind – Todd Goldstein, Shane Mumford and Nic Naitanui, who is in hot form right now. Would any of those be worth inclusions if we did another list?
RYAN: Goldstein is a force of nature, but does he create that much more value than someone like a Max Gawn when all said and done?
I was out on Nic Nat coming into the season, thinking his recent deal with the Eagles was going to be an albatross. Turns out his niggles must have been quite limiting over the past couple of years. We got it broadly right on the ruck front, although perhaps Sam Jacobs (31) was rated a little high.
And what the hell has happened to Nick Malceski (49)? Has the move from top-four Sydney to bottom-four Gold Coast exposed him as a ‘flattered by the scheme’ guy?
ROSE: We might as well throw Sarah under the bus on Malceski. Four of us didn’t have him in the top 50, but her ranking of 10 saw him make the cut. The rest of us must have had reservations, but even still his fall from grace has been astounding.
Who have we underrated of those who actually made the top 50? Paddy Dangerfield (11) and *cough, cough* Robbie Gray (12) should be pushed higher, and perhaps Dustin Martin (27). Chad Wingard (40) is also back to his best, gathering a lot more football after a lean 2014.
RYAN: I’ve already come clean on Gray – my oversight of his abilities and influence was almost as bad as Melbourne’s handling of the last 41 seconds against the Saints. But I had Martin at number 10 personally, and after his last five weeks I’m very comfortable with that call. The guy is a genius with the ball – almost like he’s got psychic powers to just make it go places he wants it to go.
Dangerfield deserves a higher spot, although his next 10 weeks will be all the more fascinating by Adelaide’s recent run of re-signings (and, by the way, very public parading of said re-signings). I had The Chad at number 27, so again feel comfortable that we underrated him as a collective.
Looking at our top 10 below, Dangerfield deserves a spot there, so who do you think comes out? And is there a change in the order? (I suspect there may be at the top.)
ROSE: Joel Selwood (5) still has enough credits in the bank to be worthy of a place. Josh Kennedy (6) from the Swans is down in every area, Travis Boak (8) isn’t being as influential on the outside, Roughead we’ve spoken about, and Dyson Heppell (10) should never have been that high to begin with. I had him at 28 in my rankings, while you had him as high as 6. Is that one you’d like to revisit, or has he lived up to your expectations? Perhaps if he stopped the ridiculous third-man up business, he’d have more impact.
RYAN: I don’t think anyone at Essendon is worthy of a top 10 place right now. Something smells funky at Windy Hill. Heppell is still a top-10 player in the league, but his performances in the first few months of the year would see him slide out.
On Selwood, do you think that’s an issue with the players he has around him now? When the opposition had a whole midfield of superstars to contend with, he could shake the tag a little easier. Now, all of the opposition’s attention goes to Selwood. The Cats are dead last in clearances and contested possessions, despite Selwood sitting seventh in the league’s clearances table and 12th for contested possessions.
ROSE: Selwood’s been carrying the Cats midfield for a few years, and been the only player the opposition targets, so I’m not giving him that excuse. He’s just having a shocker, playing frustrated and angry, not covering the ground enough defensively, and making bad decisions when he does win the ball. He averaged 27 touches a game across his first six this year, but is only averaging 19 a match over the last six, which is frankly pathetic for a man of his standing in the game. I’d like to see him laying double-figure tackles to make up for it, but he hasn’t reached that mark once this year. Perhaps he’s carrying something.
RYAN: What about Lance Franklin (3)? I had him as my centre half forward in our All Australian column – despite his individual output being a touch lower than last year. Is he still a top-five player?
ROSE: Yeah, Buddy holds his place there comfortably, along with Scott Pendlebury (4) and Nat Fyfe (2) obviously. Speaking of the Swans, did you know that not one of us five panellists had Dan Hannebery in their top 50? That will change come season’s end.
RYAN: Not even in the top 50? Wow. That’s a huge oversight on our collective behalf. I’d have him comfortably inside the top 30 if we were doing this exercise from scratch. His standing in the Swans midfield has improved, largely because of the slight dip we’ve witnessed in other stalwarts like Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker.
We’ve seen 12 rising stars nominated so far this year, including Jesse Hogan and Angus Brayshaw from Melbourne, Tom Boyd and Mitch Honeychurch from the Dogs, Patrick Cripps from Carlton, and Issac Heeney from the Swans. That’s my pick of the class so far. Who do you think cracks the top 50 AFL players first?
ROSE: Great question. We’ve seen some special talents so far, and Cripps, Heeney, Hogan and Brayshaw (in no particular order) are the standouts. I’d say Cripps probably cracks the top 50 first, given that he’ll get more opportunity to show his wares. And Hogan is an absolute beast, so he won’t be far away.
RYAN: Yeah, Cripps has something special about him. One-hundred-and-ninety ccentimetres and almost 90 kilograms already, and he’s only, what, just over 20 years old? That makes me feel old. Another West Australian big bodied midfielder, ready to take the game by storm. There’s been a few of those recently. It does feel like one of the better rising star classes in recent years – and West Coast Eagle Liam Duggan still hasn’t cracked a nomination!
ROSE: Good call on Duggan. And as a Richmond man, I’m not giving Corey Ellis back either. We’ve snared a good one there.
That just about wraps up our review of our pre-season top 50. Any other topics in mind for us to discuss next week?
RYAN: For next week, why don’t we run a ruler over the 18 teams, and slap an ‘outperforming’, ‘about right’ or ‘underperforming’ label on them? That could be fun. And interesting.
ROSE: Not a bad idea around the halfway mark of the season. Perhaps The Roarers could give us some more ideas in the comments below.
The Roar’s pre-season top 50
(As voted by Cameron Rose, Ryan Buckland, Michael Cowley, Sarah Olle and TomC)
1. Gary Ablett (Gold Coast)
2. Nathan Fyfe (Fremantle)
3. Lance Franklin (Sydney)
4. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
5. Joel Selwood (Geelong)
6. Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
7. Luke Hodge (Hawthorn)
8. Travis Boak (Port Adelaide)
9. Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn)
10. Dyson Heppell (Essendon)
11. Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
12. Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide)
13. Tom Hawkins (Geelong)
14. Tom Rockliff (Brisbane)
15. Matt Priddis (West Coast)
16. Jobe Watson (Essendon)
17. Luke Parker (Sydney)
18. Jordan Lewis (Hawthorn)
19. Dayne Beams (Brisbane)
20. Rory Sloane (Adelaide)
21. Bryce Gibbs (Carlton)
22. Ryan Griffen (GWS)
23. Trent Cotchin (Richmond)
24. Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle)
25. Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
26. Kieran Jack (Sydney)
27. Dustin Martin (Richmond)
28. Brent Harvey (North Melbourne)
29. Steve Johnson (Geelong)
30. Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
31. Sam Jacobs (Adelaide)
32. Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs)
33. Shaun Burgoyne (Hawthorn)
34. Hayden Ballantyne (Fremantle)
35. Callan Ward (GWS)
36. Alex Rance (Richmond)
37. Eric Mackenzie (West Coast)
38. Luke Breust (Hawthorn)
39. Harry Taylor (Geelong)
40. Chad Wingard (Port)
41. Jarrad McVeigh (Sydney)
42. Daniel Talia (Adelaide)
43. Brendon Goddard (Essendon)
44. Steele Sidebottom (Collingwood)
45. Marc Murphy (Carlton)
46. Nick Smith (Sydney)
47. David Mundy (Fremantle)
48. Jack Gunston (Hawthorn)
49. Nick Malceski (Gold Coast)
50. Taylor Walker (Adelaide)