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AFL top 100: Round 18 selection highlights

Trent Cotchin of the Tigers looks on during the 2017 AFL round 21 match between the Geelong Cats and the Richmond Tigers at Simonds Stadium on August 12, 2017 in Geelong, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
19th July, 2018
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Richmond is a very strong favourite to win Maddie’s Match on Friday night by a significant margin despite the fact that the match is at Etihad Stadium – not the MCG.

Both teams have won three of their past four matches.

Richmond are rightly red hot favourites for the 2018 flag. St Kilda – before their recent wins – they were one of the most disappointing performers.

Even though they lost two players through injury, St Kilda are slightly improved by both Josh Battle and Sebastian Ross whereas the Tigers will miss Bacher Houli.

Houli is one of their eight current top 100 game players – and a player who is definitely in the club’s best 22.

All of the other seven current top 100 players will be playing and will be joined in the top 100 by Dylan Grimes who will equal the games tally of Bill Barrot and Graeme Landy and therefore join these two players in equal 99th position.

The fact that the club will now have nine current players in the top 100 is a real indicator of how well the club is travelling at the moment.

Over their history, the Tigers have used 1,154 players and in order to make up the top 100 game players.

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They require a player to be in the top 8% of all players and to have represented the club for a minimum of seven seasons without missing too many games through either injury or form loss.

There is no reason why the club cannot continue to hang on to these players for a number of years yet and – even in this week’s game – some of the leading players will reach new milestones.

Shane Edwards, who is in career best form at the moment, will pass the exploits of the ‘Grey Ghost’ Jim Jess, one of the greatest characters of the club.

Shane Edwards

(Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)

Jess was part of the 1980 premiership and a popular player around the club. He accepted a cut in his annual payments to remain at the team until 1988.

Trent Cotchin also passed the career performance of another club favourite, Dick Clay. Clay had an outstanding career, playing in four premierships after being recruited from Kyabram.

Cotchin will also help make the number nine jumper more famous by equalling the 214 games played by Brisbane’s Ashley McGrath, the ninth most games played by any player in the jumper.

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Alex Rance will equal the games played by Barney Herbert, who started his career in 1909 and Brandon Ellis will match the total games of Englishman Bill ‘Polly’ Perkins.

St Kilda also has some high achievers. Sam Gilbert drew level with former champion Brendon Goddard who now plays at Essendon and is the subject of much discussion regarding his future in 2019.

David Armitage will match the game feats of Alan Morrow, a six-foot ruckman who was a member of St Kilda’s only premiership in 1966 and left the club the following year.

He and his good mate Bill Stephenson were both recruited from Sale in the same year under controversial circumstances involving payments.

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