Every time I hear a conversation about the best small forwards in the AFL 1 name is always mentioned and I have never known why.
The name is Cyril Rioli and in my opinion he is the most over-rated player in the competition. Yes I understand he is a four-time premiership player, Norm Smith medallist and a two time All Australian but the way he gets talked up is so undeserved. Cyril is entering his ninth season in the AFL. He has played a majority of his career up forward because his body won’t allow him to spend much time in the midfield. I am going to compare Cyril’s statistics with two of the game’s best small forwards.
Here are some facts:
– Rioli has played 157 games and kicked 221 goals (Average of 1.41 goals a game)
– Chad Wingard has played 89 games and kicked 148 goals (Average of 1.66 goals a game)
– Eddie Betts has played 229 games and kicked 404 goals (average of 1.76 goals a game)
Out of the three players mentioned above Rioli averages the least goals per game, Also, keep in mind that if you cancel out Wingard’s first season in 2012 where he didn’t spend much time forward at all, he has played 70 games and kicked 139 goals, that is an average of two a game in the past three seasons.
Here is a list of averages from the games supposed “best small forwards”
Rioli averages:
Disposals – 15.49 per game
Tackles – 4.46 per game
Goal assists – 1.03 per game
Wingard averages:
Disposals – 17.51 per game
Tackles – 2.63 per game
Goal assists – 0.74 per game
Betts averages
Disposals – 12.06 per game
Tackles – 3.10 per game
Goal assists – 0.93 per game
In my opinion a great small forward should kick 40+ goals a season. Wingard has kicked 40+ goals three times in his four-year career, Betts has kicked 40+ goals five times in his 11-year career and the most overrated small forward in the competition, Cyril Rioli, has only kicked over 40 goals one time in eight seasons.
I am a Port supporter and I believe the game’s best three small forwards are Wingard, Betts, and Stringer. It’s time everybody got off of Rioli’s bandwagon. He isn’t in the top 50 best players in the AFL.
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