Opinion
There were some outstanding performances from rookies in Round 6, including two players on debut.
Tom Powell puts his name in the mix for the best of the lot, overtaking Errol Gulden in the rookie ranking leaderboard, while some unlucky players missed out on votes this week due to the high amount of good rookie games.
1. Jacob Koschitzke (Hawthorn)
It’s hard to beat a five-goal haul on debut, but Jacob Koschitzke’s game was simply outstanding. His first quarter was huge, kicking three goals, which set him up for a big day to help his side beat Adelaide in a thriller. The Hawk ended the day with 5.3, 11 score involvements and two goal assists. Eight of his nine marks were inside 50 and three were contested.
2. Riley Thilthorpe (Adelaide)
You can’t play much better on debut than Riley Thilthorpe did for Adelaide. The number two draft pick had to wait a while to play his first game, but after this performance he should remain well positioned inside the Crow’s best 22. Thilthorpe kicked five goals (all in the second and third quarters), took five marks and got plenty of the ball with 16 disposals. He also contributed with six score involvements and a goal assist.
3. Tom Powell (North Melbourne)
In any other week, Tom Powell’s performance would have been enough to get the five votes. The young midfielder did the basics, collecting plenty of the ball with 25 disposals, taking eight marks and laying three tackles. But it was the other things that Powell did that impressed the most, getting nine ground ball gets (equal-most for North), five intercepts and four rebound and inside 50s.
4. Martin Frederick (Port Adelaide)
It was a brilliant debut for the 20-year, who picked was up as a category B rookie, yet was composed in defence, with only one ineffective disposal from his 23 touches (96 per cent efficiency). Frederick took six mark, had eight intercepts, three of them being intercept marks. He also helped out the forwards with three inside 50s, five score involvements and a goal assist. The exciting defender also won the hard ball, collecting six ground-ball gets.
5. Nik Cox (Essendon)
On one of the biggest stages of the year, Nik Cox didn’t show any signs of nerves in his sixth game. He was a big marking presence for the Dons, picking off Collingwood’s attempts to exit their defence on three occasions. Cox took eight marks for the match, three of them contested. His 15 disposals went at 86 per cent efficiency, a great figure when seven of those possessions were contested.
Warming the bench
James Jordon was the unlucky sixth man, with 18 disposals and five tackles for the Demons, while Giants ruckman Matt Flynn had 22 hit outs and six marks. Miles Bergman was impressive for Port with 16 touches and seven marks, while Beau McCreery and Lachie McNeil kicked three and two goals for Collingwood and the Bulldogs.
Rookie rankings leaderboard
Tom Powell (14 votes)
Errol Gulden (12 votes)
Nik Cox (ten votes)
Heath Chapman (eight votes)
James Jordon (seven votes)
James Rowe (seven votes)
Matt Flynn (five votes)
Braeden Campbell (five votes)
Jacob Koschitzke (five votes)
Riley Thilthorpe (four votes)
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