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Joined February 2016
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Adrian loves to settle into an elevated seat looking down on the wing and regularly commutes between Docklands and the MCG. You can follow him on twitter at @adrian_poly where he complains too much about how bad footy is on TV. He likes to rank things.
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After the zombie season that was 2020 and the shocker of a year that went with it, it’s amazing how much comfort normal can…
For all the weirdness that was footy in 2020, here we are in a familiar place, with the seemingly indestructible Tigers ready to unveil…
If there’s been a more bizarre lead-in to an AFL season, then I can’t remember it. The games are due to kick off in…
Stirling started things off with 50-41 on Monday, and Josh had the numbers to back up players 40-31, and now it’s my turn as…
On Thursday, women’s footy champ Daisy Pearce said on SEN Radio that she thought “Dustin Martin is the best player to have ever played…
Past performance is no guarantee of future results, but if history is any guide, at least one of 2019’s bottom-six teams will play finals…
If five years ago you had suggested Richmond would one day be mentioned in the same sentence as the great dynasties of the AFL…
Not even the most broken, pessimistic Melbourne fan could have seen 2019 coming. A preliminary final appearance was followed up by a 5-17 season…
“No, we don’t owe anyone anything, mate, they’re professional footballers with contracts.” Those words were spoken by a list manager involved in the Joe…
Through good luck and good management, Geelong have played finals in 12 of the past 13 seasons. It’s a ridiculous run of excellence that…
You couldn’t blame St Kilda’s list-building team if they threw their arms in the air out of frustration after the Suns were handed an…
For the eighth year in a row we have a Victorian team taking on a non-Victorian team in a grand final. The Eagles snapped…
Back in 2015, as the Giants were coming good, you couldn’t throw a shoe without hitting someone in the footy community who was fearfully…
Injures and idiocy have done their best to spoil what shaped as the more interesting of the two preliminary finals. Just when the Giants’…
It’s tough to convince yourself this one will be a contest. The Tigers have been rolling for a few months now – unsurprisingly since…
In a lopsided first finals round, these sides were at least involved in games that were somewhat compelling. The Lions looked every bit the…
Semi-final round is always a bit strange. One team coming off a win, the other a loss. The higher-ranked side playing host on the…
This is about as good a match-up as you can ask for in the bottom half of the eight. They’re evenly matched and it’s…
It might not be the best match-up of the round, but Cats-Magpies is certainly the biggest. It’s got almost everything you want from a…
September is always a bittersweet time of the year. The year’s best month of footy kicks off tonight – the best teams playing in…
Cam had Fyfe at 1
The Roar’s AFL top 50 wrap: The full list, who voted for who, team of the top 50, plus best clubs
No, he isn’t, and that’s not what I wrote. But if two players are basically dead even and the tiebreaker is that one of them dominated the most recent finals series that seems pretty reasonable to me. We’re talking the gap between 1 and 2, not 1 and 20.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 10-1
One of them tore the last finals series apart and the other hasn’t played in a final in half a decade. I wouldn’t call it strange, Don Freo.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 10-1
There are plenty of players who made selectors’ top 50s but didn’t crack the final list. Stirling will have more details on Saturday.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 20-11
Fyfe was unanimously voted in the top 2. There’s no conspiracy here, Jay’s just picking nits to separate two players with little to separate them.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 10-1
Breust was All-Oz in 2018 and dropped off a bit last season. He didn’t receive a nomination from any of the voters.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 20-11
Unfortunately there are still no stats on the AFL website so can’t check marks, but you can check intercept possessions on the app and yes, Ryan’s average of 8.6 was second to McGovern’s 8.7. According to the Prospectus Ryan averaged 2.5 intercept marks, which is a fair way behind Phil Davis at 3.8 and McGovern at 3.4 but in the Sicily (2.7) range.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 30-21
No, I think you’re on the money. The other problem is that we all get bored very quickly. Merrett emerged as a really good player really quickly and then stagnated for a while – or perhaps even went backwards a little in 2018. I think he got better last season, but because he hasn’t changed much as a player in a few years and isn’t a superstar, he gets overlooked for shiny new toys like Dunkley, Taranto and McCluggage.
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 30-21
Yep, almost all fair and as Cam says, a couple of us did have him in, though the margins between player 35 and player 70 are extremely thin, so I understand others leaving him out. But mostly JamesH, I enjoyed your suggestion that a player could fly under the radar at lowly Essendon – what a time to be alive!
The Roar's AFL top 50 players: 30-21
There was no good reason, Tony. I just grabbed a chunk of his prime as a sample, but in retrospect I should have just used his entire career because it’s still ridiculous.
In defence of Daisy Pearce
I reckon the bye is overplayed in terms of its impact on the second week; the comp is just really even now. We had three of four losing qualifying finalists go out in straight sets in the two seasons before the bye.
Straight-sets exits await Geelong and Brisbane
Pick 3 is better than pick 8 and pick 3 is better than pick 18; it’s not really a matter of opinion.
The Crows must axe some of their favourite sons
It’s a fair question on Davis vs McGovern. McGovern had better defensive 1v1 numbers and got a bit more of the ball while also using it better in my view. It’s close though.
Who's set for All Australian honours?
Thanks for sharing your first-hand experience Tom. I was told by another Canberran that many turned out on the night specifically to be part of the experience – and probably left at half time because of said temperatures. I was at a Ballarat game last year, standing on the hill with the rain and wind smacking me in the face where it “felt like” minus-4.5, so perhaps I’m just a glutton for punishment.
The highs and lows of a long AFL season
Young teams usually stink. Sydney are young and they stink. I didn’t realise it was controversial to suggest the team on the bottom of the ladder was bad.
Sydney vs Essendon: Friday night forecast
Fair call. I should have written “strong-bodied” or “mature”. None of them are small, but not all “big” in this era of footy.
Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne: Friday night forecast
Great point about Beams, Peter. I shouldn’t have missed that. Perhaps I never stopped thinking of him as a Collingwood player.
Collingwood vs Geelong: Friday night forecast
Nowhere did I say or suggest that. It’s all well and good to disagree with people in these things – that’s half the fun – but five people who watch a lot of footy thought long and hard and independently rated Rance between 1 and 7. Maybe, just maybe, the bloke who’s anchored one of the best defensive units in footy over the past two seasons is a bit better than you give him credit for.
The Roar AFL Top 50 2019: 10-1
Probably because their equity ratings value long kicking, which McGovern is better at than Rance. You won’t get a bad word about McGovern from me. Those same ratings have McEvoy and Ryder half a dozen spots ahead of Cripps and Bontempelli; they’re imperfect.
The Roar AFL Top 50 2019: 10-1
More Alex Rance stats:
Alex Rance set new H&A records in 2018 for intercept possessions per game and total intercept possessions. His team was No.1 in the league for points from turnovers.
The Roar AFL Top 50 2019: 10-1
Fyfe might miss a few games. Mitchell will miss the entire season. The point of the exercise is to value guys for 2019 and for 2019 Mitchell has no value.
The Roar AFL Top 50 2019: 10-1
After the 9-1 start they were 6-3 including an after-the-siren loss in Geelong. It’s really only the final three weeks that were off.
AFL 2022 Radar: 'Will the real Western Bulldogs please stand up'