Position 2022: Defender Discussion
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Really tough list to make to be honest... I value the players who can hit the highest degree of kicks with the most consistency with that generally being the kick inside 50.
McLuggage would definitely be in the list, elite by either foot and I think the best kick inside 50 in the league right now. Unfortunately he's got the absolute yips in front of goal so that area does break down.
Duncan is very good but does have a bit of Lloyd about him that he makes a lot of safe kicks but he also generally nails the harder kicks that he attempts and has always been great going inside 50. A lot more one footed than Clug.
Dawson the best at Sydney last year, I don't actually think he gets maximum value on his kicking always, probably a tactical thing as Horse hates players who attack by foot, but interested to see how he goes this year at Adelaide where I think he'll kick under more pressure more often.
Cerra is up there for sure as mentioned, very similar to Clug in that I always feel like he will hit the target going inside 50.
Walker is a phenomenal kick at Adelaide, hard to rate as he kicks a lot less often than the others and very often it's from a mark which does make it an easier kick, but can't argue him being elite.
I actually really rate Neale as a kick but he's definitely not in this list (I'm just going through each club for names). Daniel Rich however should be here somewhere, awesome kick of the footy.
Pendles has always been an exceptional kick, did have a few issues at times last year but still mostly brilliant.
Zach Merrett is an excellent kick at Essendon, ability to hit really rare angles and just the composure to hold for the right kick more often than not. He doesn't have the penetration of some of the other names but I'd say he's the guy I want kicking for my life to hit a pass inside 35m from a contested situation. Ridley is also a terrific kick at the Bombers.
Martin is probably the best high degree of difficulty kicker but he's very ordinary on the easy stuff so it's hard to rate him accurately, if I need a 45m across the body kick that only a handful can even hit, it's him, if I need someone to hit a simple 20m pass he's way down the list! He reminds me of that golfer who always swings the driver as hard as he can, when crunches it he outdrives you by 50m and that's what you remember and then forget that he lost 6 balls in the trees on the other holes
Franklin is an exceptional field kick but similar to Walker doesn't get enough of it and also does a lot of it off marks.
Kelly has the best looking kick but the results are middling at best, one of the great contrasts between aesthetics and results there is. Whitfield another who looks really good but misses a lot of easy kicks, partly because he almost too ambidextrous in his kicking where he's really good on both but note quite elite on either, he's also got Sucklingitis of thinking he's a better kick than he is when making decisions.
May is a great kick also, a guy you'd always want taking more kicks.
Gray has always been a guy who can hit the I50 targets and is just a clever kick, similar to Merrett really with more goal-kicking ability.
Short is a great kick also, doesn't get to hit the I50 kick as often as many of the others but does hit those line changing kicks coming out of 50 that clear the defense.
Macrae another I rate extremely highly, similar to Merrett again where he just takes the time, composes and picks the right option and executes with regularity. Bont has a lot of Martin about his kicking in that he is better on the harder kicks. Hunter is also an exquisite kick of the footy and right up with the best going inside 50 and hitting forward targets. Dale and Daniel are also terrific, Dogs have a scary good kicking side really.
Lukosius is in the Suckling school, he's an exceptional kick but I'm not sure he's quite as good as he thinks he is and he bites off kicks that aren't there. He may have the best leg(s) in the league but his decision making brings it undone more often than I'd like. Could be partly that he's pretty much never played with a target to kick to so is always trying to force it to mostly small forwards who've at least presented and rarely has that "safe" long kick that doesn't cause direct turnover. Weller also a really good kick but doesn't get nearly enough of it unfortunately.
Shuey is also a really good kick when playing.
I'm sure I've missed several and I'm way over 5 but that's the quick hits for me. Those are the names that quickly stood out to me when going over the club names! I don't know if any of them actually hold up statistically, I know I'm always surprised by who are some of the worst kicks in the league when comparing to eye test and also end up surprised often by who the best kicks are.
It's interesting results for sure, massive bonus seems to go for the dinky kicks, even Schultz it feels like his long kicks must have all scraped into that category! Switkowski probably the only one on that list I'd have picked, that's for sure.
Worth noting the minimum kicks on that article are exceptionally low. Brayshaw for example is based on 13 kicks, Crowden had just 70 kicks (that's a month's work for many players). Colyer the only one with more than 100 kicks.
Some really odd results across all the teams to be honest.
McLuggage would definitely be in the list, elite by either foot and I think the best kick inside 50 in the league right now. Unfortunately he's got the absolute yips in front of goal so that area does break down.
Duncan is very good but does have a bit of Lloyd about him that he makes a lot of safe kicks but he also generally nails the harder kicks that he attempts and has always been great going inside 50. A lot more one footed than Clug.
Dawson the best at Sydney last year, I don't actually think he gets maximum value on his kicking always, probably a tactical thing as Horse hates players who attack by foot, but interested to see how he goes this year at Adelaide where I think he'll kick under more pressure more often.
Cerra is up there for sure as mentioned, very similar to Clug in that I always feel like he will hit the target going inside 50.
Walker is a phenomenal kick at Adelaide, hard to rate as he kicks a lot less often than the others and very often it's from a mark which does make it an easier kick, but can't argue him being elite.
I actually really rate Neale as a kick but he's definitely not in this list (I'm just going through each club for names). Daniel Rich however should be here somewhere, awesome kick of the footy.
Pendles has always been an exceptional kick, did have a few issues at times last year but still mostly brilliant.
Zach Merrett is an excellent kick at Essendon, ability to hit really rare angles and just the composure to hold for the right kick more often than not. He doesn't have the penetration of some of the other names but I'd say he's the guy I want kicking for my life to hit a pass inside 35m from a contested situation. Ridley is also a terrific kick at the Bombers.
Martin is probably the best high degree of difficulty kicker but he's very ordinary on the easy stuff so it's hard to rate him accurately, if I need a 45m across the body kick that only a handful can even hit, it's him, if I need someone to hit a simple 20m pass he's way down the list! He reminds me of that golfer who always swings the driver as hard as he can, when crunches it he outdrives you by 50m and that's what you remember and then forget that he lost 6 balls in the trees on the other holes
Franklin is an exceptional field kick but similar to Walker doesn't get enough of it and also does a lot of it off marks.
Kelly has the best looking kick but the results are middling at best, one of the great contrasts between aesthetics and results there is. Whitfield another who looks really good but misses a lot of easy kicks, partly because he almost too ambidextrous in his kicking where he's really good on both but note quite elite on either, he's also got Sucklingitis of thinking he's a better kick than he is when making decisions.
May is a great kick also, a guy you'd always want taking more kicks.
Gray has always been a guy who can hit the I50 targets and is just a clever kick, similar to Merrett really with more goal-kicking ability.
Short is a great kick also, doesn't get to hit the I50 kick as often as many of the others but does hit those line changing kicks coming out of 50 that clear the defense.
Macrae another I rate extremely highly, similar to Merrett again where he just takes the time, composes and picks the right option and executes with regularity. Bont has a lot of Martin about his kicking in that he is better on the harder kicks. Hunter is also an exquisite kick of the footy and right up with the best going inside 50 and hitting forward targets. Dale and Daniel are also terrific, Dogs have a scary good kicking side really.
Lukosius is in the Suckling school, he's an exceptional kick but I'm not sure he's quite as good as he thinks he is and he bites off kicks that aren't there. He may have the best leg(s) in the league but his decision making brings it undone more often than I'd like. Could be partly that he's pretty much never played with a target to kick to so is always trying to force it to mostly small forwards who've at least presented and rarely has that "safe" long kick that doesn't cause direct turnover. Weller also a really good kick but doesn't get nearly enough of it unfortunately.
Shuey is also a really good kick when playing.
I'm sure I've missed several and I'm way over 5 but that's the quick hits for me. Those are the names that quickly stood out to me when going over the club names! I don't know if any of them actually hold up statistically, I know I'm always surprised by who are some of the worst kicks in the league when comparing to eye test and also end up surprised often by who the best kicks are.
It's interesting results for sure, massive bonus seems to go for the dinky kicks, even Schultz it feels like his long kicks must have all scraped into that category! Switkowski probably the only one on that list I'd have picked, that's for sure.
Worth noting the minimum kicks on that article are exceptionally low. Brayshaw for example is based on 13 kicks, Crowden had just 70 kicks (that's a month's work for many players). Colyer the only one with more than 100 kicks.
Some really odd results across all the teams to be honest.
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Hewett is an interesting one. Clearly Carlton rate him highly giving him a four year deal.
Touted as playing as a defensive midfielder, (not a tagger), similar to the role that Ed Curnow used to play.
At the same age as Hewett is currently, Curnow averaged 25 disposals, 7 tackles and 101.5 SC for the season. I wonder whether Hewett can average similar thus making him a viable value pick in DEF?
Touted as playing as a defensive midfielder, (not a tagger), similar to the role that Ed Curnow used to play.
At the same age as Hewett is currently, Curnow averaged 25 disposals, 7 tackles and 101.5 SC for the season. I wonder whether Hewett can average similar thus making him a viable value pick in DEF?
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Hunter Clark is another I'd like to throw up in that price bracket around Hewett.
Has there been any word of Clark being released to the mids next year?
The guy simply oozes class and think it is only a matter of time until he hits premium numbers in Supercoach.
5 scores of 95+ in the first 8 rounds last season and then scores took a turn for the worse with a few injury affected games as well.
Has there been any word of Clark being released to the mids next year?
The guy simply oozes class and think it is only a matter of time until he hits premium numbers in Supercoach.
5 scores of 95+ in the first 8 rounds last season and then scores took a turn for the worse with a few injury affected games as well.
Because that is the time when you will be bringing in premium players to complete your side. After Round 12, best to bring in premium players who have already had their bye, as you maximise the number of games you get out of that player.
Premiums you might be targeting after Round 12:
Ridley, Short, Whitfield
Steele, Walsh, Merrett, Parish, Wines, Kelly
Taranto, Stringer, Martin
There's honestly not a lot. Will all of Taranto, Stringer & Martin be top 10 forwards? Will Josh Kelly or Whitfield be injured? You'll probably be targeting midfielders for your first upgrades (as they give you the most points), so you might already have 7 or 8 premium midfielders by Round 12, further reducing your options.
So don't go too crazy on the Round 12 bye players in your initial team.
Premiums you might be targeting after Round 12:
Ridley, Short, Whitfield
Steele, Walsh, Merrett, Parish, Wines, Kelly
Taranto, Stringer, Martin
There's honestly not a lot. Will all of Taranto, Stringer & Martin be top 10 forwards? Will Josh Kelly or Whitfield be injured? You'll probably be targeting midfielders for your first upgrades (as they give you the most points), so you might already have 7 or 8 premium midfielders by Round 12, further reducing your options.
So don't go too crazy on the Round 12 bye players in your initial team.
Averaged 88 for a season in a fairly similar role, a few genuine tags and a bit of HF work. Last year was on 90 over the last 9 in a similar role also. Did have a couple of tags in there but nothing too hard, couple of games just didn't score well unfortunately.
Will be interesting how defensive he ends up being as I think his scoring will be very clearance based, he's actually good at working to space for the short option but his best SC source is clean hands at stoppages leading to clearances and an ability to tackle well. Tackling should come regardless but the clearance work can be negated and limit him a fair bit if he's too defensive.
I don't think he's got quite the spread that a prime Curnow had, he's not on that level as a runner, but he can score. Realistically I think his range is probably in the 85-105 with the 85-95 being where I'd put my money if I had to. It's questionable if that's enough at his price and would probably need a pretty down year across the board even on the higher end of that 95 area.
Definitely think he's a great pick in draft comps and if the role is better than advertised it could definitely help his cause and raise the floor a bit on that range. I think he's probably not quite there in classic but will be watching closely. I really like him as a player but if they're already talking defensive role I think he might just be pigeon holed.
Worth noting if/when Cripps is injured he'd probably be worth a closer look as you'd think he's next in line for that role given their list.
Love Clark but hate him as a fantasy pick. Durability has been bad and Ratten doesn't really seem to know what he has there or have any idea how to use it. Ratten has really struggled with that as a coach throughout his career, very much a coach who sees a good kick and pretty much instantly assumes they can't be an inside midfielder and have to be used in periphery roles. Billings and Clark seem to be the two who suffer this fate for the Saints.
Just no runs on the board right now for me to look at him as a starting pick.
It's not a terrible plan but I wouldn't be looking to find balance at the expense of picking a better player, it's a tiebreaker between equals, not a reason to pick someone.
As @Locky27 has said above, r12 is the bye you want the least premiums from heading into the byes as you get two rounds to upgrade into them over the byes and avoid a premium missing a round. That bye, at this point in time, looks kind of sparse on options as well so could be the one to avoid. That said it's likely, imo, that people will have one of Whitfield, Short or Ridley in that D2/3 slot given the field available and the respective prices.
With the extra trades this year it should also be a bit easier to manage the byes during them, 4 trades will be a lot each week. The round 12 is the hardest to dodge in as well because you can't trade out of it without trading into another bye so really just bandaids are available.
Will be interesting how defensive he ends up being as I think his scoring will be very clearance based, he's actually good at working to space for the short option but his best SC source is clean hands at stoppages leading to clearances and an ability to tackle well. Tackling should come regardless but the clearance work can be negated and limit him a fair bit if he's too defensive.
I don't think he's got quite the spread that a prime Curnow had, he's not on that level as a runner, but he can score. Realistically I think his range is probably in the 85-105 with the 85-95 being where I'd put my money if I had to. It's questionable if that's enough at his price and would probably need a pretty down year across the board even on the higher end of that 95 area.
Definitely think he's a great pick in draft comps and if the role is better than advertised it could definitely help his cause and raise the floor a bit on that range. I think he's probably not quite there in classic but will be watching closely. I really like him as a player but if they're already talking defensive role I think he might just be pigeon holed.
Worth noting if/when Cripps is injured he'd probably be worth a closer look as you'd think he's next in line for that role given their list.
Love Clark but hate him as a fantasy pick. Durability has been bad and Ratten doesn't really seem to know what he has there or have any idea how to use it. Ratten has really struggled with that as a coach throughout his career, very much a coach who sees a good kick and pretty much instantly assumes they can't be an inside midfielder and have to be used in periphery roles. Billings and Clark seem to be the two who suffer this fate for the Saints.
Just no runs on the board right now for me to look at him as a starting pick.
It's not a terrible plan but I wouldn't be looking to find balance at the expense of picking a better player, it's a tiebreaker between equals, not a reason to pick someone.
As @Locky27 has said above, r12 is the bye you want the least premiums from heading into the byes as you get two rounds to upgrade into them over the byes and avoid a premium missing a round. That bye, at this point in time, looks kind of sparse on options as well so could be the one to avoid. That said it's likely, imo, that people will have one of Whitfield, Short or Ridley in that D2/3 slot given the field available and the respective prices.
With the extra trades this year it should also be a bit easier to manage the byes during them, 4 trades will be a lot each week. The round 12 is the hardest to dodge in as well because you can't trade out of it without trading into another bye so really just bandaids are available.
It could be a target, normally the last bye or round after is the target, which basically means you'd be hoping to finish in round 12/13.
To be fair though, at least a part of that is that the 2nd round of cows need time for their mooing, so basically the rookies in round 7-9 need until the later byes to make enough cash.
Definitely opens up a different tactical approach of perhaps finishing earlier with suboptimal premiums compared to waiting a couple more weeks for the extra cash to go harder. Depending on the gap/value that exists this is genuine coinflip to easy decision
The weak r12 options may also delay this slightly if that does become your finishing target.
I'd also argue that getting the balance right through the byes and finishing before them would take some pretty insane luck because you're definitely going to be value seeking in your trades and often with those targets you take what you can get as opposed to having a lot of choice.
Final kicker is obviously whether burning those trades to finish the upgrade a bit earlier stacks up against needing them to avoid chaos later in the season. I've possibly read it wrong but my understanding is basically that we can "Trade Boost" just 5 times during the season in which case using them all early definitely could leave you very exposed in a later round where you need them to get out of a covid related trouble, for example.
Would certainly be interesting to crunch the numbers and see if burning the 5 early does stack up from a points generation perspective. I think my personal lean right now is that the trade boost is going to be used mostly for rookie targets where there are 2-3 in a round and normally I'd have to let one go. That's where my head is at now but a lot of work to go in to the planning before I lock that in!
To be fair though, at least a part of that is that the 2nd round of cows need time for their mooing, so basically the rookies in round 7-9 need until the later byes to make enough cash.
Definitely opens up a different tactical approach of perhaps finishing earlier with suboptimal premiums compared to waiting a couple more weeks for the extra cash to go harder. Depending on the gap/value that exists this is genuine coinflip to easy decision
The weak r12 options may also delay this slightly if that does become your finishing target.
I'd also argue that getting the balance right through the byes and finishing before them would take some pretty insane luck because you're definitely going to be value seeking in your trades and often with those targets you take what you can get as opposed to having a lot of choice.
Final kicker is obviously whether burning those trades to finish the upgrade a bit earlier stacks up against needing them to avoid chaos later in the season. I've possibly read it wrong but my understanding is basically that we can "Trade Boost" just 5 times during the season in which case using them all early definitely could leave you very exposed in a later round where you need them to get out of a covid related trouble, for example.
Would certainly be interesting to crunch the numbers and see if burning the 5 early does stack up from a points generation perspective. I think my personal lean right now is that the trade boost is going to be used mostly for rookie targets where there are 2-3 in a round and normally I'd have to let one go. That's where my head is at now but a lot of work to go in to the planning before I lock that in!
He's looking like being a very good player. Two tons from 5 games last year, he was potentially on track for a third before getting injured in Rd 2, the other two games were immediately after coming back from a few months off, where he was building back into form.
Waiting to see his role / preseason form before I consider him further, I probably have too many Hawks players I am considering to consider him a lock. He does seem underpriced with that sort of scoring ability though.
Waiting to see his role / preseason form before I consider him further, I probably have too many Hawks players I am considering to consider him a lock. He does seem underpriced with that sort of scoring ability though.
maybe a bit early to look at rookie priced players but one name to keep on your radars (he looks nice at D6 compared to some rookies right now) is Mitch Hinge
Very unlucky not to get a a crack in a deep Lions team before heading to the crows, also very unlucky to do his shoulder or he likely would have played plenty last year.
While there is plenty of competition for spots around half back/wing he is very versitale - can play tall or small and he seems hard at it too so not just outside.
Very unlucky not to get a a crack in a deep Lions team before heading to the crows, also very unlucky to do his shoulder or he likely would have played plenty last year.
While there is plenty of competition for spots around half back/wing he is very versitale - can play tall or small and he seems hard at it too so not just outside.
