Top 50 Players

[ossie85]

ossie85's Top 50 of the Year

Hi everyone, thought I'd get a jump on Mike Sheahan and list my top 50 of the year. The list includes finals performances, and the main criteria is team impact and importance during the year that was 2010!

REMEMBER THIS IS ONE MAN'S OPINION! Please share your own :)

1. Dane Swan (Won all bar the Brownlow, first man to crack 800 possessions in a year, and was vital to Collingwood's engine room. Impossible to go past him for 2010).

2. Gary Ablett (Stunning form continues, but managed to kick 40-odd goals also, only Swan's sheer numbers go past him)

3. Luke Hodge (All-Australian Captain was stunning this year, and should have scored way more Brownlow votes)

4. Aaron Sandilands (Sandi was the best ruckmen by so far this year it wasn't even funny)

5. Brendon Goddard (plays everywhere, and plays it superbly. Monster efforts in two grand finals)

6. Joel Selwood (What can you say about Joel? Improves every year)

7. Paul Chapman (Hard to find a more damaging player than Chappy, played all bar one game this year)

8. Chris Judd (A deserving Brownlow medal winner, and is the only reason Carlton made the finals)

9. Brian Lake (Never seen a key back get so much of the ball, would have been a bit higher, but is a little loose IMO)

10. Lance Franklin (For mine the best forward of the year)

11. Scott Pendlebury (The Norm Smith medalist is a smooth and calm as they come, if not for Selwood, he would be the wonderkid)

12. Nick Riewoldt (Poor grand finals, but he was the reason they made it that far. Yes, he missed 11 matches, but boy was he great when he did play, I had to put him high)

13. Lenny Hayes (The other Norm Smith medalist made a mockery of his not being selected in the All-Aus team this year, a real superstar)

14. Alan Didak (When Didak plays well, Collingwood win)

15. Jack Riewoldt (Breakout year for the Tiger, Coleman medalist, and still on the improve)

16. Brent Harvey (A true superstar of the game, played with gallantry)

17. Barry Hall (Probably the recruit of the year, and the reason the Dogs made the top 4)

18. Matthew Pavlich (Faded towards the end of the year, but can't deny his impact)

19. Leigh Montagna (Would have been higher, but marked him hard because of his atrocious grand final, a ball magnet none-the-less)

20. Mark LeCras (The best small-forward in the AFL for the year)

21. Harry O'Brien (Dashing out of defence, there was simply something about Harry this year)

22. Brad Green (Unlucky not to be All-Aus, but Green was Melbourne's best player with 50+ goals through the midfield)

23. James Frawley (Has another 12 or so years in him, and he is already one of the comps best defenders)

24. Jobe Watson (Lead Essendon superbly in his first year)

25. Steve Johnson (Plenty of goals, plenty of class)

26. Corey Enright (tagged a bit towards the end of the year, but vital for Geelong)

27. Harry Taylor (gets a lot of flack, but Harry T was the best CHB this year)

28. Mark Jamar (Crucial to Melbourne's success)

29. Adam Cooney (The Coondog adds that explosive factor to the Dogs, was sorely missed in the end)

30. Michael Barlow (Never have I seen a first year player play so well. Was on track for top 10 had he not gotten injured)

31. Brett Deledio (I'm a hug fan of Lids, and his move to defence has been a masterstroke)

32. James Kelly (Stepped it up a notch this year)

33. Darren Jolly (The best goal-kicking ruck in the AFL this year, and was superb in GF2)

34. Shane Mumford (Mummy is a scary prospect for the future, expect domination in 2011)

35. Dale Thomas (Unlucky not to get All-Aus nomination, one of the most improved in the comp, stunning Grand Finals, Daisy has arrived)

36. Luke Ball (Yes, Ball is rated this high. Not many "in-and-under" players get recognised, and Ball was a huge in for Collingwood)

37. Chris Newman (Lead Richmond well, and was a king-pin down back)

38. Brady Rawlings (Defensive tagger of the year, and one of my favourites)

39. David Mundy (Hard not to like this kid! Freo should be very excited)

40. Heath Shaw (Monster grand finals - including "the" moment - and provided huge run out of defence all year)

41. Matthew Boyd (Faded away towards the end, which is why he isn't as high as you'd expect. Very good player!)

42. Andrew Swallow (I expect him to keep improving next year and lead the North Melbourne midfield)

43. Daniel Cross (One of the most underrated midfielders going around)

44. Nick Dal Santo (Goes missing occasionally, but a gem of a player)

45. Jonathan Brown (A controversial inclusion in the list, played injured most of the year, but the Lions would probably have only won 1 or 2 games this year without him)

46. Nick Malceski (Supercoach star this year! Malceski returned to his best football)

47. Kade Simpson (I thought was superb this year, and stood up next to Judd this year when Murphy and Gibbs faltered)

48. Sam Fisher (I'm a fan of this lad, and very important to Saints backline)

49. Dale Morris (you understand his importance when he doesn't play for the Dogs!)

50. Leigh Brown (BROWN?! I hear you cry! But he provided structure and security for the Pies all year, and has a premiership medal to show for it).


Big apologies to James McDonald, Kane Cornes, Jimmy Bartel, Kieren Jack, Richard Douglas, Chris Knights, Dustin Fletcher, Cyril Rioli, Adam Goodes, Ryan Griffen, Sam Gilbert, Heath Grundy, Eddie Betts, Stephen Milne, Nick Maxwell, James Podsiadly, Brad Sewell, Shaun Burgoyne, Daniel Hannebery, Dustin Martin and a whole heap of others. This was a damn hard list to make. Fletcher and Goodes made the All-Aus short-list, but IMO weren't all that great this year.

Particulary Adam Goodes, I just wasn't that impressed with his year this year. He has had better years, and didn't influence as much as he could have. I am also feeling particularly guilty over leaving out Jack.

Who have I missed out? How big an idiot am I in this list?

By Club:

Collingwood: 9 (Swan, Pendlebury, Didak, O'Brien, Jolly, Thomas, Ball, Shaw, Brown)
Geelong: 7 (Ablett, Selwood, Chapman, Johnson, Enright, Taylor, Kelly)
St. Kilda: 6 (Goddard, Riewoldt, Hayes, Montagna, Dal Santo, Fisher)
Western Bulldogs: 6 (Lake, Hall, Cooney, Boyd, Cross, Morris)
Fremantle: 4 (Sandilands, Pavlich, Barlow, Mundy)
Melbourne: 3 (Green, Frawley, Jamar)
North Melbourne: 3 (Harvey, Rawlings, Swallow)
Richmond: 3 (Riewoldt, Deledio, Newman)
Carlton: 2 (Judd, Simpson)
Sydney: 2 (Mumford, Malceski)
Hawthorn: 2 (Hodge, Franklin)
Brisbane: 1 (Brown)
Essendon: 1 (Watson)
West Coast: 1 (LeCras)
Adelaide: 0 (apologies to Douglas, Knights)
Port Adelaide: 0 (apologies to Cornes)

[Fletch74]

After a quick glance. Don't have time for a thorough look ATM.

Leigh Brown!!! LOL :P Showing your true colours there Ossie, whether he provided structure or not.

[benjy251090]

Leigh Brown was amazing this year, is a solid player for the Pies, very versatile

Good list Ossie, agree with most of them but as you said a lot could have been switched and still made a good list

[CrowsFan]

You got something against the South Australians ossie? :P

[ossie85]

I'm not alone :)

All-Aus selectors didn't nominate any either!

[CrowsFan]

Haha fair enough then

[Justin Bieber]

Johncock could of featured near the bottom despite his missing games ;). Had a few crackers.

Might get through the list when I have time :P. So long but from a little sneak pick, looks alright. Everybody has different views so can't really object to somebody else's!!

[Fireballz]

Though I do understand your reasoning, I don't think Nick Riewoldt deserves a spot that high up on the list! He would barely scrape in to the 50 for mine. Just because he missed so much footy, and the Saints for the most part got the job done without him.

Simpson and Boyd might have finished higher also, maybe put Barlow a bit further down the list coz he missed half the season (unluckily for him). Jack could probably scrape in but it's 50-50 between him and say Swallow, Cross, NDS, Morris so yer fair enough. And you're right not to give Goodes a go. He didn't do enough in the middle of the season and when H&A points were on the line, Jack and Hanneberry stepped up more than he did (see 4 point loss to Richmond).

My opinion anyway and as you said Ossie, everyone's got one! I think you've nailed the top 10 for sure.  8)

[hawk_88]

Not bad list. Few I don't think deserve to be there, or as high as you have them, based on this year solely.

Criminal leaving Cyril out though. Best small forward of the year (apart from Le Cras) and also ran through the midfield. There are a few other I also think should be there but I mention Cyril because he is Cyril.

Obviously a very subjective thing though. Am guessing that Mike's list will be a bit different though.

[ossie85]

Has Cyril Rioli played two great games in a row? I don't deny his talent, but his numbers and influence on games just don't add up yet. Opinion yet again though

[hawk_88]

A great game is a a very subjective concept, but if you look at something more objective like SC he had a period of 6 matches when he finally got fit after his injury where he averaged 128. From round 10 he averaged 115. Pretty consistent.

Subjectively, having watched him play every match this season, he had consecutive great games this year. He had consecutive great games in his first year and held the team together in the first half of 2009. 

[hawk_88]

I guess the main ones I think need to be there that aren't are:

Cyril
Jack (he won the sydney b&f)
Griffen
Mitchell
Douglas

[ossie85]

Fair points!!

Which 5 would go out?

[hawk_88]

Heath Shaw (had a good year, not as good as previous years though)
Nick Malceski (had a great year no doubt, but doesn't quite make the top 50 for me. Grundy is probably just ahead of him IMO if I was ranking)
Nick Riewoldt (have to look at this through this years performance, only played 10 games, 6 great ones and 4 average ones. Yes injury effected this massively, but his end output was 2 goals a game.)
Jonathan Brown (Didn't play enough good games. only averaged 2 goals a game)
Leigh Brown (Had a great year, his best year, but doesn't quite make it)

These players would be between 50-70 on my list, but I can't have them above the 5 I listed.

[ossie85]

Fair call. Mike agrees with on Heath Grundy over Malceski (unless he's put Malceski in the top 20!). I'm in love with Shaw over his two massive grand finals. Jono Brown was rated higher in Mike's list, I just can't ignore where the Lions would be without him.

Here are 25 players Sheahan hasn't picked yet, and only has 20 spots left.

Ablett
Chapman
Cooney
Cross
Didak
Enright
Franklin
Goddard
Green
Hayes
Hodge
Johnson
Judd
Kelly
Lake
Montagna
Mundy
Pendlebury
Riewoldt, J
Riewoldt, N
Sandilands
Selwood
Shaw
Swan
Watson

So, you're probably right, Nick Riewoldt doesn't make the cut