Opinion
Time for part two!
Ahead of the 2023 AFL season I wanted to look at which players could crack into the top 10 of their club’s Best Fairest who weren’t in there last year. Perhaps, they were injured during the 2022 season or their form didn’t quite stack up. I will be exploring this by examining the league in three groups of six teams.
The middle six teams are Geelong, Gold Coast Suns, Greater Western Sydney, Hawthorn and Melbourne.
3. Mark Blicavs
4. Tom Hawkins
5. Tyson Stengle
6. Tom Atkins
7. Zach Tuohy
8. Brad Close
9. Sam De Koning
10. Tom Stewart
It is a crowded top 10 in the Geelong Best and Fairest count as they have so many even contributors. If it wasn’t for suffering injury twice, Max Holmes could have made the top 10. His ability to break the lines running up and down the wing was pivotal to the Cats’ success.
He rolled his ankle against Fremantle in Round 7 and didn’t get back into the team until Round 15. Once he was back, he didn’t miss a beat until unfortunately injuring his hamstring in the preliminary final. Look out for Holmes to finish in the top 10.
2. Noah Anderson
3. David Swallow
4. Jarrod Witts
5. Sam Collins
6. Matthew Rowell
7. Ben Ainsworth
8. Brandon Ellis
9. Nick Holman
10. Izak Rankine
It was of no surprise to anyone that the Gold Coast Suns captain won the Best and Fairest. However, it was the return of Jarrod Witts after suffering an ACL injury early in 2022 that gave the Suns a lot of confidence. Witts ended up finishing fourth in the count, which might just give some motivation to a teammate in a similar position, Ben King.
There is a lot of excitement around him. In just his third season he kicked 47 goals. We don’t want to put too much expectation on him coming back from an ACL injury. He has got support in the forward line with the likes of Mabior Chol and Levi Casboult, who led the goal-kicking respectively for GCS.
If he gets a full run at it, top 10 in the Best and Fairest is easily doable. Although, it will be interesting to see if goal-kicking is rewarded. As mentioned before Chol and Casboult topped the goal-kicking charts, but didn’t appear in the top 10.
2. Stephen Coniglio
3. Tom Green
4. Harry Himmelberg
5. Jesse Hogan
6. Harry Perryman
7. Toby Greene
8. Josh Kelly
9. Isaac Cumming
10. Callan Ward
The obvious player to miss out on the top 10 last season would have to be Lachie Whitfield, who was sixth in disposals, fifth in marks, eighth in score involvements, and ninth in tackles. He also finished 11th in contested possessions, which is not really his strong suit as he’s a running link-up player, shown by finishing fifth in metres gained.
Lachie Ash is another player to watch out for. He played every game apart from Round 10. Playing on the wing he finished in the top 10 for disposals (10th), marks (ninth), and tackles (10th). Coming into his fourth season he is a strong contender to finish in the top 10.
2. Jai Newcombe
3. Dylan Moore
4. Blake Hardwick
5. Tom Mitchell
6. Mitch Lewis
7. Jaeger O’Meara
8. Finn Maginness
=9. Harry Morrison
=9. Jack Scrimshaw
10. Jack Gunston
A surprising absentee from the top 10 Best and Fairest count was leading goal-kicker Luke Breust with 40 goals for the season. It wasn’t just his own goals, as he also ranked second in score involvements, eighth for tackles and eighth in contested possessions. However, at the age of 32, the question is can he replicate or better that performance this season? I’m not sure.
Luke Breust (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Conor Nash, in his fifth season, played the most games he ever has with 21. It resulted in his best campaign to date. He was ranked sixth in contested possessions, ninth in score involvements, fifth in tackles, and fourth in clearances. He understands what’s required at this standard and he could well finish inside the top 10 in 2023.
2. Christian Petracca
3. Steven May
4. Jack Viney
5. Angus Brayshaw
6. Max Gawn
7. Bayley Fritsch
8. Kysaiah Pickett
9. Alex Neale- Bullen
10 Ed Langdon
James Jordan played in every game during the 2022 season, sometimes coming on as a sub. However, he didn’t play in the two finals which Melbourne ended up losing. He’ll be looking to fully bounce back this season and cement himself in the starting 18. If he does that, there’s no reason why he can’t finish in the top 10 in the Best and Fairest.
2. Luke Davies-Uniacke
3. Bailey Scott
4. Todd Goldstein
5. Luke McDonald
6. Nick Larkey
7. Cam Zurhaar
8. Aidan Corr
9. Hugh Greenwood
10. Lachie Young
It will be great to see the spiritual leader at the Kangaroos, Ben Cunnington back. He missed much of the 2022 season but played the last two games and will be a powerful on-field presence in 2023. Although, given the health scare he’s had to overcome I won’t be pressuring him to finish in the top 10.
A promising young star is Paul Curtis who played every game in his fourth season. Playing on the wing he was ranked sixth for disposals, sixth in meters gained and eighth for score involvements. He could definitely make the top 10 with a good pre-season.
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