Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson names his pre-season top 50 players in the AFLEDITOR ON DUTY: MARK ROBINSON
March 19, 2018 AS the game adopts radical change in terms of how you score, combined with Geelong’s midfield expansion, Patrick Dangerfield could win the Coleman Medal this year.
He’s about $34 if you’re keen, but that’s an aside.
His ability to kick goals is why Dangerfield is No. 1 in the top 50 and Dustin Martin is No.2.
Everyone could argue for hours about who is the better player and by argument’s end, there won’t be a united voice.
There are seducing arguments for both players.
Even the great Leigh Matthews was moved so much by Martin’s season last year that he declared Martin had compiled the best season of any player of all time.
Surely ‘‘Lethal’’ was joshing.
Because he would know. In 1977 Matthews had 658 disposals and kicked 91.59 playing as a midfield/forward for Hawthorn — and didn’t win the Brownlow Medal.
Martin last year had 744 disposals and kicked 37.29 playing midfield/forward — and won every fair dinkum award imaginable.
There’s an enchantment about Martin and about Richmond after the historic premiership, and as we sit here with the season starting on Thursday, Martin is the face, the hero and the marketing king of the AFL.
In some respects Dangerfield’s season seems to have been blotted somewhat by Martin’s bright lights.
Anyway, that was last season and this is the new season.
The arrival of 33-year-old Gary Ablett at Geelong — which is a different fantasy altogether — has prompted discussion about when Ablett Snr played forward as a 33-year-old.
That was in 1995 and Gazza Snr kicked 122.85. The next season, as a 34-year-old and his final season of football, he kicked 69.31 from 17 games.
Junior can’t and won’t do what Senior did because they’re different players. Senior was an incredible mark and scoring options and tactics have changed substantially
Gazza will play a lot more midfield than many suspect, meaning it’s more than likely Dangerfield will increase his forward 50m minutes.
And more minutes for Dangerfield means more goals.
He kicked 45.32 from 24 games in 2017, playing 74 per cent midfield and 26 per cent forward.
That could expand to 60, 70 maybe 80 goals if time spent in the arc was raised to, say, 50 per cent.
Martin’s breakdown was 71 per cent and 29 per cent.
Dangerfield’s marking is his weapon and, nit-picking here, that’s one aspect he has over Martin.
Martin would also kick more goals with more time, but Dangerfield has that one extra avenue.
Both players are bulls at the ball, and perhaps Dangerfield is a touch more frantic, but in the same argument, Martin is a better, more fluent kick and, as David King noted recently, plays with more angles and more swivel above the shoulders.
Anyway, we’ll find out.
The top 10 has the usual suspects — Franklin, Rance, Josh Kennedy from West Coast and Selwood. Some have said Selwood has peaked and he is now descending, but I disagree. The 10-year champ will escape the tag this year and will be enormous.
Nathan Fyfe (No. 3) could well be the No. 1 by season’s end.
The bolters are Joe Daniher (No. 8 ), Tom Mitchell (No. 14), Patrick Cripps (No. 15) who will also play more forward minutes this year, Ben Brown (No. 25) and a fit Max Gawn is in the top 30.
Sydney’s Isaac Heeney and Port Adelaide’s Ollie Wines — who will be the next Port captain — are speculative, but I have confidence they can take their game to new level. And Clayton Oliver is in the top 50 as simple as that.
Crows captain Taylor Walker gets smacked around sometimes by commentators, but there’s no denying his ability to score and assist. He’s at No. 50 behind Franklin, Daniher, Ben Brown, Tom Lynch from the Suns, Charlie Dixon and Jack Riewoldt as key forwards, but he absolutely deserves a spot.
Maybe I rate North Melbourne’s Brown too highly, albeit he’s the go-to target which means he gets more opportunity. But gee, he’s a good contested mark of the ball and kicks goals.
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