The 2024 AFL season is here!
Not officially – no, the first bounce of the season proper isn’t for another few weeks, but The Roar’s annual countdown of the league’s top 50 players has arrived.
If you’re new here, it’s all very simple. Five Roar AFL experts – Liam Salter, myself, Dem Panopoulos, Cameron Rose and Matt Russell– each listed our top 60 players as of this very moment.
If you haven’t checked out our list so far, you can do so below.
>> The Roar’s AFL top 50 players, 50-41
>> The Roar’s AFL top 50 players, 40-31
>> The Roar’s AFL top 50 players, 30-21
>> The Roar’s AFL top 50 players, 20-11
Today, we get to the big guns. The cream of the crop. The best in the business. It’s time for the Top 10.
I asked each of our five experts to submit a list of their Top 60 players, based on right here, right now. If you lined every single AFL player up against a wall, who would you pick first, and second, and third, and so on, for a team you’re making from scratch?
I then awarded 50 points for 1st, 49 points for 2nd and so on until the 50th player. As a potential tie-breaker, I gave 0.5 points to any player someone ranked from 51st to 60th.
If two players were tied for total points, tie-breaker 1 was to give the higher ranking to whomever had the most top-50 appearances; i.e. three rankings in the 40s and two misses was better than two in the 30s and three misses.
If that was equal, then the second tie-breaker was highest ranking, i.e. if a player was ranked 5th by one of our experts, then that was deemed better than if one only got as high as 8th.
If you’re interested in exactly how we voted, I’ve put the full table below this list; it should go without saying, but unless you want spoilers you should probably read the whole article first.
If you’re interested in exactly how we voted, I’ve put the full table below this list; it should go without saying, but unless you want spoilers you should probably read the whole article first.
Before we get to the Top 10, some honourable mentions.
Isaac Quaynor (Collingwood)
51st on our list, three of our panellists had the Magpies defender in their top 60s, making him desperately unlucky to just miss the cut.
And despite me calling him the real star of Collingwood’s back six midway through last year, I was one of the two who didn’t have him. Sorry, Isaac.
Isaac Quaynor will have to console himself with his premiership medal after missing our top 50. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Oscar Allen (West Coast)
Just one of our experts had the West Coast spearhead outside their top 60s – neatly, three of us had him at either 41 or 42; like for Nick Larkey, it’s a superb effort for a key forward in one of the worst sides in the league to rank so highly.
His omission is actually making me rethink the current ranking system I’m using to determine our top 50s, because Allen was certainly just as deserving of a spot as, say, Jack Macrae or Bayley Fritsch, who spotted in despite having just two of us pick them.
Tim Taranto (Richmond)
*Kane Cornes likes this*
Ditto with Allen – four of our five experts had Taranto in their top 60s, with one even rating him as high as 33rd.
Stiff to miss out – but hey, at least he cracked the top 150!
Steven May (Melbourne)
After he cracked the top 10 last year, I thought the Dees defender dropped off slightly but noticeably in 2023, and figured ranking him 28th was about fair.
So imagine my shock to see all but one of my fellow experts – who had him exactly 50th – boot him off the list entirely! The most brutal thing to happen to May since Jake Melksham put one on his chin.
Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
One of the most controversial non-picks in last year’s rankings was all five of our experts collectively ignoring Ollie Wines, a mere 17 months on from his 2021 Brownlow Medal win.
And clearly one of our experts concurs, ranking Wines an impressive 28th. Unfortunately for him – and Power fans – the rest of us disagreed, leaving him off our lists entirely. Again.
10. Tom Stewart
Geelong Cats | Defender
Tom Stewart has completed seven AFL seasons. He’s been an All-Australian in five. Absurd.
The clear pick for the best defender in the game, Stewart does it all: he’s an elite intercept mark, despite an unassuming size, while also a precise ball-user and incredibly tough to beat one-on-one – in fact, Champion Data rates him elite in all three of those categories.
It’s fitting the 30-year old has cracked the top 10 through consistency: while only two of our experts rated him in their own top 10s, the lowest anyone had him was 18th (as it happens, that was me – and given how many new ones he’s torn my Bulldogs over the years, I’m not sure I agree with past Tim anymore).
Tom Stewart celebrates making it to 10th in The Roar’s top 50 players list. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
9. Charlie Curnow
Carlton | Forward
Quite genuinely, this time last year I ranked Harry McKay ahead of Curnow on these pages. Whoopsie.
Winning a second straight Coleman Medal, the Blues spearhead proved his remarkable career renaissance in 2022 was no fluke to lead Carlton’s charge to an unexpected preliminary final berth.
With career-highs for goals (81), Brownlow votes (17) and marks (6.9 per game), Curnow’s influence over every Blues game was profound. With his lethal mix of pace on the lead, strength in the contest and powerful marking, he’s as close to Lance Franklin as our game has ever seen – and he’s a better kick for goal, too.
I had Curnow 7th on my list, with only one of our experts ranking him outside the top 10 – down at *checks notes* THIRTY-THREE? Wowee.
8. Clayton Oliver
Melbourne | Midfielder
For all the turbulence of his off-season, and the injury-plagued 2023 he endured before it, Oliver remains unquestionably one of the AFL’s elite core.
Starting out in 2016 as a contested beast with unmatched ferocity at the coalface, the Dees superstar has added more strings to his bow with every passing year; improving his ball use, becoming a greater attacking threat, kicking more goals, and most recently, setting a world record for the longest two-week injury lay-off in history. (Thanks for the updates all season long, Goody.)
You’d be silly to think Oliver won’t pick up right where he left off in 2024; with all of us experts ranking him in the top 16, and as high as eighth on two occasions, we at The Roar are certainly backing him to bounce back in a big way.
7. Zak Butters
Port Adelaide | Midfielder
Coming from outside our top 50 12 months ago, Butters’ ascent to superstardom in 2023 happened so suddenly it was hard to believe he hadn’t been a Brownlow Medal-frontrunning, stoppage-dominating, goal-kicking midfield maestro for years already.
As with his fellow 2018 draftee Connor Rozee – aren’t those two names going to be linked forever and a day? – a permanent move to the midfield instantly transformed the 23-year old into a star of the game. Averaging 27.5 disposals a game, Butters proved he could win his own ball as fiercely as anyone going around, while remaining every bit as polished on the outside as Rozee – though not quite as smooth-moving.
His 41-disposal, two-goal effort in the rain to single-handedly sink Melbourne in Round 10 was quite clearly the best individual performance of 2023, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
With four of our panellists ranking Butters in the top 10, and as high as fifth in one instance, I doubt I’ll get much disagreement in these parts. Nor would I from the AFL Coaches or Players Associations, who named him Player of the Year and Most Courageous Player respectively.
6. Lachie Neale
Brisbane Lions | Midfielder
Everyone knows why Neale is a star – the number one clearance player in the game, he’s silkily smooth away from stoppages, a driving force into attack and a tackling machine without the ball. In short, just about the complete midfielder.
The reigning (and two-time) Brownlow Medallist the beating heart of a Brisbane team that transformed overnight from laughing stock to premiership contender, and nearly flag-winner in 2023, the minute he walked through the door in late 2018.
So why is he here, on the outskirts of the top five? Well for me, who had him ninth, the answer was again his lack of scoreboard impact. With just three goals for the season – two in a demolition of Richmond – he’s never been a prolific goalkicker, which, despite his individual success, has always left him a rung lower than the genuine all-time greats.
To put his numbers into perspective, the three midfielders ahead of him in these rankings bagged 19, 28 and 19 goals respectively in 2023. If Neale has one area of the game to improve on, it’s that.
Lachie Neale reacts to missing the top five of The Roar’s player ratings. And losing the grand final by less than a kick. That too. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
5. Jeremy Cameron
Geelong Cats | Forward
It’s pretty good going when you can kick 53 goals and put together an all-time great six-week stretch in a year pretty much universally deemed a ‘comedown season’ – but that’s just how good Jeremy Cameron was in Geelong’s 2022 premiership campaign.
No player last year touched the level Cameron hit across the first eight rounds of 2023: averaging 18.5 disposals and 6.6 marks per game while booting 33 goals AND polling 11 Brownlow votes, the Cats spearhead was simply unstoppable.
That he flagged from there – outside of a monumental seven-goal haul to nearly beat Collingwood on his own in Round 22 – was largely a symptom of the Cats’ decline from reigning premiers to missing the finals altogether. The moment Cameron began to plateau, Geelong simply struggled to cope.
Still, a key forward with the aerobic capacity of an elite midfielder without sacrificing any size, strength or marking power is just about the biggest asset in the game. If the Cats are to rise again in 2024, it’ll be with Cameron leading from the front.
4. Toby Greene
GWS Giants | Forward
I can probably sum up Greene’s standing as a footballer like this: I absolutely despise him, think his penchant for on-field cheap shots makes him the biggest grub in footy in my lifetime, and can’t stand the narrative that he is unfairly targeted by umpires or the AFL… and I rated him the second-best footballer in the league and would kill to get him in my team.
The ultimate impact player, Greene’s 17.75 disposals per game in 2023 were almost entirely of the highest class. When he’s not kicking team-lifting goals himself from any manner of angles or distances, he’s setting them up for teammates, ranking third for both goal assists and score involvements – and the four others in the top five in the former category combined for 61 goals in 2023, five fewer than Greene on his own.
An inspirational leader, the 30-year old is surely the best and most influential captain in the game – a heart and soul champion who you’d love to follow into battle knowing he’d inevitably be the one to turn the tide in your favour.
Only one of our other experts had him as high as I did, but with a lowest rating of 12th, my fellow judges clearly know quality when they see it.
Toby Greene – the best captain in the game? (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
3. Christian Petracca
Melbourne | Midfielder
Number one on this list last year, Petracca again finds himself right up the pointy end of the game’s elite – and like I said 12 months ago, it still feels like there is another level he can reach.
With four consecutive All-Australian nods, the Demons superstar has the contested ball-winning power of a Lachie Neale, along with the high-octane impact of Toby Greene. He’s had 112 scoring shots in the last two years alone, while still averaging 28 disposals a game – only woeful inaccuracy has prevented him from challenging for a 50-goal season.
Used up forward for longer stints than at any point since his switch to full-time midfielder in 2020, primarily to try and solve the Dees’ weaknesses in attack, Petracca wasn’t quite as eye-catchingly dominant as in 2021 and 2022, which perhaps explains him falling three places in our rankings.
Third is where I had him, at any rate; and with four of my fellow experts rating him in the top five, and all in the top 10, there’s no doubt he’s still as spectacular a footballer as anyone going around.
2. Nick Daicos
Collingwood | Defender/Midfielder
Finishing nine points adrift of our No.1 pick, Daicos would have really challenged for the top spot had it not been for one of our experts ranking him down in 8th. (That was me: more on that in a sec.)
After a Rising Star win in 2022, the Magpies son of a gun somehow ascended to new heights in 2023, becoming a near-unbackable Brownlow favourite and winning a host of other individual awards as he led the Pies’ white-hot start to the season.
His Anzac Day heroics with two final-quarter goals to snatch the game off Essendon were the highlight. But in truth, every game was a standout on its own, with the now-20-year old’s unmatched ball-winning ability, outrageously good vision and skills and his nose for the big sticks, kicking 19 goals for the season despite spending plenty of time at half-back.
Not until Hawk Finn Maginness shut him down completely in Round 21 did he have fewer than 25 disposals in a match.
Two of our experts had seen enough to name the second-year superstar No.1 on their list, while one other had him here in second. For me, though, I felt, much like Richmond did for peak Dustin Martin, that the Pies moulded their game style around Daicos’ brilliance and covered for him defensively, which is why I rated him lower than players I considered more complete all-round stars like Jordan Dawson (5th) and Errol Gulden (7th).
I’m a harsh judge, though – and given he rose from outside the top 50 up to second on these pages in just 12 months, he might well be the number one seed this time next year!
1. Marcus Bontempelli
Western Bulldogs | Midfielder
First. First. First. Second. Second.
That’s how my fellow experts and I ranked the Bulldogs captain in our top-60 lists; it was literally impossible for anyone to pip him.
Fittingly, having been a mainstay in most peoples’ top 10s for half a decade now, the Bont is officially (in our eyes, at least!) the best player in the land.
Somehow, he actually reached a new level in many ways in 2023, despite the Dogs crumbling around him to miss the finals; Bontempelli posted career-highs for disposals (27.65 per game), tackles (7.5) and clearances (7.6), all while ranking fifth in the league for score involvements, third for contested possessions and equal fourth for inside 50s. With nearly a goal a game, too, the 28-year old is the complete midfielder.
He can also do this, apparently.
Polling 29 Brownlow votes, the Bulldogs captain is closing in on the one big prize his glittering CV lacks, and as the hot favourite heading into 2024, he’s as good a chance as anyone of adding ‘Charlie’ to his accolades as well.
Put simply, Bontempelli is the best in the business. Long may he reign.
The Roar’s 2024 AFL Top 50
50. Jack Steele (St Kilda)
49. Tom Hawkins (Geelong Cats)
48. Josh Dunkley (Brisbane Lions
47. Bayley Fritsch (Melbourne)
46. Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs)
45. Tom Papley (Sydney Swans)
44. Chad Warrner (Sydney Swans)
43. Nick Larkey (North Melbourne)
42. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
41. Josh Kelly (GWS Giants)
40. Taylor Walker (Adelaide Crows)
39. Jack Viney (Melbourne)
38. Shai Bolton (Richmond)
37. Jack Sinclair (St Kilda)
36. Noah Anderson (Gold Coast Suns)
35. Callum Mills (Sydney Swans)
34. Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs)
33. Luke Davies-Uniacke (North Melbourne)
32. Rory Laird (Adelaide Crows)
31. Harris Andrews (Brisbane Lions)
30. Touk Miller (Gold Coast Suns)
29. Joe Daniher (Brisbane Lions)
28. Tom Green (GWS Giants)
27. Caleb Serong (Fremantle)
26. Dustin Martin (Richmond)
25. Jacob Weitering (Carlton)
24. Sam Taylor (GWS Giants)
23. Andrew Brayshaw (Fremantle)
22. Zach Merrett (Essendon)
21. Jordan De Goey (Collingwood)
20. Tim English (Western Bulldogs)
19. Charlie Cameron (Brisbane Lions)
18. Darcy Moore (Collingwood)
17. Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
16. Sam Walsh (Carlton)
15. Max Gawn (Melbourne)
14. Errol Gulden (Sydney Swans)
13. James Sicily (Hawthorn)
12. Jordan Dawson (Adelaide)
11. Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide)
10. Tom Stewart (Geelong Cats)
9. Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
8. Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
7. Zak Butters (Port Adelaide)
6. Lachie Neale (Brisbane Lions)
5. Jeremy Cameron (Geelong Cats)
4. Toby Greene (GWS Giants)
3. Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
2. Nick Daicos (Collingwood)
1. Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
CHECK OUT THE FULL TABLE
Please note the below is sorted column-wise not by each of our panellists, but in order (L-R) of highest ranking given to a player to lowest ranking.
| Rank | Player | #1 rank | #2 rank | #3 rank | #4 rank | #5 rank | PTS |
| 1 | Marcus Bontempelli | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 248 |
| 2 | Nick Daicos | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 239 |
| 3 | Christian Petracca | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 229 |
| 4 | Toby Greene | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 222 |
| 5 | Jeremy Cameron | 3 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 216 |
| 6 | Lachie Neale | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 211 |
| 7 | Zak Butters | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 206 |
| 8 | Clayton Oliver | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 204 |
| 9 | Charlie Curnow | 3 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 199 |
| 10 | Tom Stewart | 5 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 198 |
| 11 | Connor Rozee | 4 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 25 | 185 |
| 12 | Jordan Dawson | 5 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 165 | |
| 13 | James Sicily | 15 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 25 | 165 |
| 14 | Errol Gulden | 7 | 13 | 22 | 26 | 136 | |
| 15 | Max Gawn | 12 | 16 | 23 | 27 | 42 | 135 |
| 16 | Sam Walsh | 9 | 19 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 133 |
| 17 | Patrick Cripps | 9 | 19 | 24 | 24 | 48 | 131 |
| 18 | Darcy Moore | 4 | 14 | 18 | 39 | 129 | |
| 19 | Charlie Cameron | 7 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 129 | |
| 20 | Tim English | 10 | 21 | 24 | 30 | 119 | |
| 21 | Jordan De Goey | 18 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 58 | 117.5 |
| 22 | Zach Merrett | 18 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 39 | 113 |
| 23 | Andrew Brayshaw | 13 | 16 | 30 | 34 | 55 | 111.5 |
| 24 | Sam Taylor | 7 | 14 | 22 | 110 | ||
| 25 | Jacob Weitering | 14 | 20 | 25 | 36 | 109 | |
| 26 | Dustin Martin | 3 | 18 | 39 | 39 | 56 | 105.5 |
| 27 | Caleb Serong | 17 | 27 | 29 | 33 | 45 | 104 |
| 28 | Tom Green | 17 | 19 | 22 | 43 | 103 | |
| 29 | Joe Daniher | 23 | 26 | 28 | 36 | 50 | 92 |
| 30 | Touk Miller | 12 | 21 | 35 | 46 | 58 | 90.5 |
| 31 | Harris Andrews | 20 | 26 | 30 | 45 | 83 | |
| 32 | Rory Laird | 15 | 22 | 37 | 51 | 54 | 80 |
| 33 | Luke Davies-Uniacke | 22 | 27 | 38 | 43 | 49 | 76 |
| 34 | Tom Liberatore | 24 | 28 | 31 | 46 | 75 | |
| 35 | Callum Mills | 21 | 24 | 40 | 46 | 73 | |
| 36 | Noah Anderson | 23 | 28 | 31 | 60 | 71.5 | |
| 37 | Jack Sinclair | 29 | 32 | 33 | 40 | 70 | |
| 38 | Shai Bolton | 21 | 33 | 37 | 48 | 65 | |
| 39 | Jack Viney | 19 | 35 | 44 | 44 | 62 | |
| 40 | Taylor Walker | 9 | 42 | 42 | 60 | ||
| 41 | Josh Kelly | 17 | 32 | 49 | 55 | ||
| 42 | Scott Pendlebury | 11 | 38 | 54 | 53.5 | ||
| 43 | Nick Larkey | 21 | 31 | 58 | 60 | 51 | |
| 44 | Chad Warner | 34 | 34 | 37 | 59 | 48.5 | |
| 45 | Tom Papley | 25 | 45 | 45 | 48 | 41 | |
| 46 | Jack Macrae | 15 | 49 | 38 | |||
| 47 | Bayley Fritsch | 26 | 38 | 38 | |||
| 48 | Josh Dunkley | 37 | 40 | 43 | 51 | 53 | 34 |
| 49 | Tom Hawkins | 34 | 38 | 50 | 57 | 31.5 | |
| 50 | Jack Steele | 35 | 43 | 44 | 53 | 31.5 | |
| DNQ | Isaac Quaynor | 32 | 40 | 51 | 30.5 | ||
| Oscar Allen | 41 | 42 | 42 | 51 | 28.5 | ||
| Tim Taranto | 33 | 44 | 50 | 52 | 26.5 | ||
| Patrick Dangerfield | 30 | 47 | 25 | ||||
| Josh Daicos | 34 | 45 | 50 | 59 | 24.5 | ||
| Rowan Marshall | 36 | 46 | 47 | 52 | 24.5 | ||
| Darcy Parish | 27 | 56 | 24.5 | ||||
| Steven May | 28 | 50 | 24 | ||||
| Hugh McCluggage | 29 | 50 | 59 | 23.5 | |||
| Tom Lynch | 30 | 52 | 57 | 22 | |||
| Zac Bailey | 38 | 46 | 18 | ||||
| Max King | 35 | 52 | 16.5 | ||||
| Jai Newcombe | 36 | 57 | 15.5 | ||||
| Isaac Heeney | 41 | 47 | 53 | 14.5 | |||
| Stephen Coniglio | 40 | 55 | 56 | 12 | |||
| Kysaiah Pickett | 41 | 55 | 10.5 | ||||
| Tim Kelly | 44 | 54 | 7.5 | ||||
| Dan Houston | 47 | 48 | 57 | 7.5 | |||
| Callum Wilkie | 49 | 52 | 2.5 | ||||
| Luke Ryan | 55 | 60 | 1 | ||||
| Mitch Duncan | 13 | – | |||||
| Lincoln McCarthy | 14 | – | |||||
| Aaron Naughton | 20 | – | |||||
| Ollie Wines | 28 | – | |||||
| Mitch Owens | 32 | – | |||||
| Jack Crisp | 35 | – | |||||
| Cameron Guthrie | 36 | – | |||||
| Finn Maginness | 37 | – | |||||
| Jeremy Finlayson | 39 | – | |||||
| Jamie Elliott | 41 | – | |||||
| Luke Jackson | 41 | – | |||||
| Dayne Zorko | 43 | – | |||||
| Zach Tuohy | 47 | – | |||||
| Tom Mitchell | 48 | – | |||||
| Sam Docherty | 49 | – | |||||
| Harry Sheezel | 50 | – | |||||
| Steele Sidebottom | 53 | – | |||||
| Charlie Dixon | 54 | – | |||||
| Jayden Short | 54 | – | |||||
| Dion Prestia | 55 | – | |||||
| Nick Blakey | 56 | – | |||||
| Cameron Zurhaar | 56 | – | |||||
| Sam Powell-Pepper | 57 | – | |||||
| Tom Barrass | 58 | – | |||||
| Jamarra Ugle-Hagan | 58 | – | |||||
| Jacob Hopper | 59 | – | |||||
| Izak Rankine | 59 | – | |||||
| Oscar McInerney | 60 | ||||||
| Harry McKay | 60 |
Tassie
Roar Rookie
Absolute numbskulls. Has it ever occurred to you that the "easiest position" is just the player making it look easy? Otherwise why doesn't every team have someone play that easy role to that standard? Colour me stupid but I thought McCrae played daicos in that role because he believed it to be the best chance for team success. I'm no rocket scientist but he might have been on to something. No half back for Nicky D this year, much more attacking role. Onwards and upwards pies, catch us if you can. See what you ef el o gee esses have to say then. Did you spell that out?
Handles
Roar Guru
I think Weitering is a more consistent player than late-career May, but May's best is still better than Weitering's.
Knackaz
Roar Rookie
Just like Nick Daicos …
Tim Miller
Editor
I love Marshall and I think it's worth noting four of us experts had him in our top 50s quite happily. Him missing out was more to do with my process than anything else, really - maybe I should make the cut-off three top-60 nominations instead of just the two in future years.
Knackaz
Roar Rookie
Errol Gulden is a better, harder and tougher footballer than Nick Daicos. This season will prove it beyond doubt. End of story …
Steele
Roar Rookie
It might seem harsh Macca, but punters were very keen to see how he’d fare. He didn’t fire a shot and that’s always remembered when it comes to legacies. Having said that, once again if it’s the schoolboy method Curnow’s just about number one. You are also wrong about Walsh imo, as his legend did grow and is very highly rated. 16 is a high mark for him and just about right I would have thought. If he gets through unscathed he may be top ten, but once again he’s got a niggle.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
There’s no way Daicos is a top 2 player in the game. He may well get there in a couple of years but right now he’s a receiver with good skills who’s scared of contact. If his name wasn’t Daicos and he didn’t play for Collingwood he’d be top 20ish. Bont is about right, although he was absolutely robbed on Brownlow night. Neale had, what was it, 13 touches or something and got 3 votes one week to win by 2. Word is that Bont is looking even bigger and better than last year too… Oliver is too high; he’s a butcher by foot. Consistently bombs it ping to no one.
Macca
Roar Rookie
But it’s an unrealistic bar for a forward, finals are low scoring affairs generally, 11-12 goals won most last year) and as I said the Blues win 2 of 3 finals so did Curnow play his role? And again Walsh was player of the finals but his legend didn’t grow. Finally May missing is odd to say the least
Steele
Roar Rookie
It has been applied, prior to last year’s shenanigans, Clarry would have been in most people’s top 3. No way known he’d be at 8. He’d just come off back to back CA awards. Furthermore, he’s only 8 positions in front of Walsh. How is that not fair? I don’t have issues with either, but I think Clarry’s actually been harsher dealt with than your guy if I’m splitting hairs.
Steele
Roar Rookie
Well that’s the point isn’t it? Playing on the better opponents is kind of expected in finals. And if you prevail in big games your legends grows, and unfortunately shrinks if you don’t. Funnily enough, one of those defender’s was May, but he’s not top 50 so maybe Curnow isn’t that good after all. (But he is of course).
Macca
Roar Rookie
But the same logic should be applied.
Macca
Roar Rookie
I like Sheezel but has been playing the easiest role inAFL
Macca
Roar Rookie
The finals issue is a made up nonsense, played 3 finals, Blues won 2, against some of the best defenders in the league but he only kicked 3 so no good. Conversely Walsh gets player of the finals but gets knocked for having limited impact last year.
Ace
Roar Rookie
A bit late on here Macca. Curnow at 33 was a bit OTT. He's what we call a match winner. Class With the questionable ones whereas I didn't think Sheezel would crack the top 50 he must surely not be far off. Set the odd record for 1st year player. Plus accolades. One to watch Most kids coming through in the last few years are now instant AFL players. It's remarkable
Ace
Roar Rookie
True :laughing:
Ace
Roar Rookie
Or Mark Robinson :laughing:
Ace
Roar Rookie
Someone is always forgotten and I think you are right....Marshall deserves a mention Luke Uniake-Davies string of 6 or more games when he came back from injury deserves a mention as well
Steele
Roar Rookie
Yes but Walsh isn’t as accomplished as Oliver yet. It’s not a fair comparison.
Steele
Roar Rookie
Yes well despite being a naughty boy, he was up there yet again in the coaches award until his discretion’s caught up with him. This is coming off winning it the two previous years. Only Gaz junior has won 3 in a row, and it’s not inconceivable to suggest he was on track to do the same. I really rate that award, it’s another midfielder award but it really is a better reflection on consistency and impact than the Brownlow.
Steele
Roar Rookie
The Curnow knock is obviously related to his final fade-outs, however this is supposed to be the school boy method. He would almost be first picked if that was the case.