Mick McGuane ranks and reviews every AFL club’s defence for the 2022 seasonMick McGuane
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
February 22, 20221. Melbourne
2. Port Adelaide
3. Western Bulldogs
4. Brisbane
5. RichmondThe top-liners: Jayden Short (22 Games in 2021, 98 Average SuperCoach Score), Nick Vlastuin (12, 85), Liam Baker (22, 83), Nathan Broad (14, 76), Sydney Stack (7, 75), Dylan Grimes (21, 71), Noah Balta (14, 66), Robbie Tarrant (10, 65), Daniel Rioli (18, 62), Rhyan Mansell (13, 48)
The top-ups: Ben Miller (1, 49), Sam Banks (0, 0), Tom Brown (0, 0), Joshua Gibcus (0, 0), Bigoa Nyuon (0, 0)
MICK SAYSOut: David Astbury. In: Robbie Tarrant. It was clever recruiting by the Tigers, who are also set to get back Noah Balta following an ankle injury that saw him miss the second half of last season. Having Tarrant and Balta at your disposal to play on the best opposition key forwards allows Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin to focus on the intercepting roles they are so good at. Add in Jayden Short, Liam Baker and Nathan Broad and the Tigers are as good as anyone defensively when great effort is given up the ground to limit or slow opposition entries. Sydney Stack shapes as the X-Factor. Someone has to take over the Bachar Houli role after his retirement last year. Stack has all the attributes to be that man and become an elite defender of the competition if he applies himself in a disciplined manner.
6. Sydney
7. Geelong
8. Essendon
9. GWS
10. Fremantle
11. St Kilda
12. West Coast
13. Hawthorn
14. Carlton
15. Collingwood
16. Gold Coast
17. Adelaide
18. North Melbourne
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/mick-mcguane-ranks-and-reviews-every-afl-clubs-defence-for-the-2022-season/news-story/32bbe3f57c121db788e9cb28e3631f29