Have Rance at #1 and Grimes at #7.
Ranking the top 10 defenders since 2010By Ed Carmine
zerohanger.com
27 April 20211. Alex Rance (185 games)With five All-Australian blazers, a B&F, as well as a premiership medal in 2017, even if his cocksure personality may grate you, there is no denying Alex Rance’s status as the past decade’s premier defender.
Across his 11 seasons at Tigerland, the former first round draft pick averaged more than 16 disposals, five marks and seven one-percenters per game, proving the Western Australian backman was adept at both winning the football and raining on his opponent’s parade.
Although injuries curtailed his career, it would take a bolt from the blue to dethrone the terrific Tiger as the best defender since 2010.
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl-k7NNz6ng2. Jeremy McGovern (144 games)
3. Corey Enright (157 games)
4. Josh Gibson (160 games)
5. Shannon Hurn (232 games)
6. Harris Andrews (119 games)
7. Dylan Grimes (177 games)Despite being seen as one of the best contemporary defenders in the game, Dylan Grimes’ early years at Tigerland bore little fruit.
Although the Northern Knights product made his debut in the final round of the 2010 season, it would take him a further four years before cementing his place in Damian Hardwick’s 22.
Still, like a cellared sangiovese, Grimes has only gotten better with age.
Having played the entirety of his career within the bounds of this list’s criteria, the 29-year-old was an obvious choice for our catalogue, due to his three premiership medallions, his All-Australian blazer in 2019 and his ability to lead such a successful back six.
8. Harry Taylor (237 games)
9. Heath Shaw (233 games)
10. Robert Murphy (145 games)
https://www.zerohanger.com/ranking-the-top-10-defenders-since-2010-2021-82643/
