I have listed the top three players from every team. These are the guys whose teams could least afford to lose in them in their Round 1 match.
Blues
Liam Jones did an outstanding job curtailing the influence of the Tigers’ key forward in Jack Riewoldt keeping Riewoldt to a solitary goal.
Nic Newman kicked an inspirational goal from the boundary line that he struck beautifully from outside the 50 metre arc. Along with that Newman displayed exquisite kicking skills with his penetrating left foot.
Marc Murphy won plenty of the ball with outstanding handling.
Tigers
Toby Nankervis managed to kick three goals and worked tirelessly.
Bachar Houli won plenty of the ball and used the ball extremely well.
Jack Higgins kicked three goals including an important third goal that arrested the momentum that the Blues had built up.
Magpies
James Aish played an important role for the Magpies off a half back flank as he used the ball extremely well.
Chris Mayne showed great endeavour and never stopped trying, accumulating 22 possessions.
Top Phillips used the ball well and made good decisions when he had the ball.
Cats
Tom Stewart proved plenty of run off the half-back line collecting an impressive 26 disposals and more importantly, used the ball well.
Brandon Parfitt showed a great appetite for the contest, making every one of his 22 possessions count and finishing with an important goal.
Rhys Stanley helped curtail the influence of Brodie Grundy.
Demons
Jake Melksham kicked two important goals for the Demons, even though they lost the game, Melksham kept them in the contest on the scoreboard.
Christian Salem provided plenty of run with 30 of his 32 possessions kicks.
James Harmes embraced his role in the midfield displaying a great appetite for the contest.
Power
Justin Westhoff is the obvious one as he finished the game with five goals.
Scott Lycett helped curtail the influence of Max Gawn.
Jack Watts provided plenty of run out of defence in a new role for him.
Crows
Rory Atkins played a good game finishing with 31 disposals, despite starting on the half forward flank.
Alex Keath provided plenty of runoff at half-back with 20 possessions.
Wayne Milera was effective, showing plenty of dash and dare when he had the footy.
Hawks
When James Sicily finishes the game with 26 possessions, there is a fair chance that you have won the game. That was the case in the Hawks game against the Crows as every disposal he has is valuable.
Ben Mcevoy controlled his dual with Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs finishing with two goals.
James Cousins kicked two goals and played an important role for his squad.
He may not have played the opening game of the season had Tom Mitchell, Tom Scully and Chad Wingard been available for selection but Cousins certainly grabbed his opportunity.
Bulldogs
Marcus Bontempelli is a fantastic player, possibly one of the best in the competition and he showed why making all of his disposals count.
Aaron Naughton took his opportunity to cement himself in the Bulldogs forward line finishing the game with three goals.
Tom Liberatore finished the game with 28 disposals in his first game back at AFL level in a while.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Swans
Isaac Heeney played an important role for the Swans finishing the game with two pivotal goals as Callum Sinclair managed to have 44 hitouts as opposed to the Western Bulldogs’ ruckman Tim English’s 19.
Tom Papley was impressive showing great endeavour finishing with 19 disposals, a goal and six tackles.
Lions
Charlie Cameron kicked three important goals for the Lions while Stefan Martin curtailed the influence of Nathan Vardy in the ruck.
Alex Witherden provided plenty of runoff at halfback.
Eagles
Dom Sheed was the only player on the ground that finished the game with over 30 possessions.
Tom Barrass never stopped trying, even playing part of the game in the ruck, finishing the game with 12 hit outs.
Jack Darling was an important part of the Eagles structure in the absence of Josh Kennedy, kicking two goals for the game.
Saints
Jack Steven was an important part of the Saints team, showing great leadership, making every one of the possessions that he won count.
Matthew Parker finished with two goals on debut.
Sebastian Ross was pivotal to the Saints winning the game as he finished the game with 27 disposals, playing most of his footy in the middle of the ground.
Suns
Anthony Miles was one of the reasons why the Suns nearly won the game.
Jarrod Witts showed great leadership keeping the Suns in the contest.
David Swallow displayed why he is co-captain of the Suns finishing the game with 3 goals.
Giants
Stephen Coniglio kicked three goals while accumulating over 30 possessions.
Lachlan Keefe notched two important goals in the second quarter to give the Giants all of the momentum on the scoreboard.
Jeremy Cameron was the Giants main target going forward finishing the game with three goals.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Bombers
Andrew Mcgrath was possibly the Bombers best player.
Dyson Heppell never stopped trying finishing the game with 25 possessions. Heppell showed great endeavour when he could have been despondent.
David Zaharakis put in a reasonable display considering the circumstances with the Bombers annihilated on the scoreboard.
Dockers
Cam Mccarthy is the obvious one finishing with five goals, providing a target for the Dockers midfield.
Michael Walters kept the momentum going for the Dockers with three goals.
Rory Lobb was an important part of the Dockers structure playing as a forward and a bit in the ruck, Lobb finished the game with two goals.
Kangaroos
Jamie Macmillan was unbelievable in terms of the endeavour that he showed when there appeared to be nothing to play for as far as the Kangaroos were concerned, trying to provide run for the Kangaroos finishing with 37 disposals.
Todd Goldstein won 34 hit outs and like Macmillan put in a lot of effort as far as his appetite for the contest is concerned.
Ben Brown provided a target for the Kangaroos going forward finishing the game with two goals.
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