Those who have Impressed

[H_T 2,941]

The following is a list of players who have really impressed me with their footy to date this season, for different reasons. Most of them I would have written them off at the start of the season thinking I would have seen the best of them*, or simply outstanding performances to date to take their game to another level#. Others such as Dangerfield, Ziebell and Cotchin are really promising players I think will make names for themselves. Others named are standouts in their respective sides: -

Adelaide - Dangerfield - still green, but is coming along and will be one of Adelaides keys to success

Brisbane - Sherman* - relishing under Voss

Carlton - Judd - hitting his straps again, can he possibly get any better?

Collingwood - Pendlebury - pure class

Essendon - Watson# - keeps improving each outing

Fremantle - Tarrant* - re-discovered his footy down back, motivated

Geelong - Ablett/Selwood# - love these two, ablett for class, selwood for hardness

Hawthorn - Rioli# - Wow. He is a magician.

Melbourne - Davey* - What a start to the season for him, red hot form

Nth Melb - Zeibell - the standout at the kangaroos this season, great pick up.

Port Adelaide - Tredrea* - he's back, had written him off.

Richmond - Cotchin - whilst he hasn't played much, he's pure class

St Kilda - Dal Santo* - Could have put Hayes here for his attack on the ball alone, Dal Santo 200% improvement on last season.

Sydney - Jolly - One of the AFL's top ruckman, in AA form with Cox

West Coast - Big Q - been playing on the ball in ruck, up forward, down back, big uitility or in this case big unit the Big Q.

W Bulldogs - Akermanis* - Was ready to write him off, was the difference against the Dees, very much still a match winner.

Name one player from each team that has impressed you to date....

[Adelaide Demon 0]

Adelaide - Taylor Walker. Has had a few poor games but has shown that he can take a mark and is capable of kicking a few. Good prospect. Tippett looks like a find as well.

Brisbane - Rich, the obvious choice. Assured player at the top level already.

Carlton - Judd, I agree with that, but Kruezer and Gibbs for mine, Gibbs for sure, he will be top 5 in the comp next year.

Collingwood - Pendlebury - pure class - agree... Sidebottom looks ok too.

Essendon - Ryder. Found themselves a good ruckman. Zaharakis as well.

Fremantle - Tarrant. Agree.

Geelong - Chapman. A real gun, under-rated because he's surrounded by so many other stars.

Hawthorn - Rioli, this kid is unreal, could be anything. Mitchell's last month has been great too.

Melbourne - Davey, risen to a new level, should be All-Australian if he keeps this up. The best kick in the world.

Nth Melb - Zeibell - ready-made star. McIntosh has been one of the best rucks in the comp too.

Port Adelaide - Boak. Tredrea too.

Richmond - Robin Nahas. Pokcet rocket!

St Kilda - Sam Gilbert. Developing in to a top-line defender, if he's not there already.

Sydney - McVeigh, Jude Bolton.

West Coast - Priddis, he's very good. Cox is one of the top 5 players in the league.

W Bulldogs - Higgins. Looking like a real talent.

[titan_uranus 22,751]

Adelaide - Walker

Brisbane - Rich

Carlton - Robinson

Collingwood - Anthony

Essendon - Pears

Fremantle - Hill

Geelong - Chapman

Hawthorn - Rioli

Melbourne - Davey

North Melbourne - Ziebell

Port Adelaide - Tredrea

Richmond - Nahas

St Kilda - Dal Santo

Sydney - Shaw

West Coast - Kennedy

Western Bulldogs - Higgins

[angryfijian 25]

Adelaide - Walker

Brisbane - Bradshaw

Carlton - Betts

Collingwood - Davis

Essendon - Lovett

Fremantle - Sandilands

Geelong - Varcoe

Hawthorn - Rioli

Melbourne - Moloney

North Melbourne - Ziebell

Port Adelaide - Tredrea

Richmond - Morton

St Kilda - Dawson

Sydney - Kirk

West Coast - Le Cras

Western Bulldogs - Hill

[Jerry Lundergard 392]

Adelaide - Vince

Brisbane - Rich

Carlton - Waite

Collingwood - Davis

Essendon - Hocking

Fremantle - Tarrant

Geelong - Selwood

Hawthorn - Rioli

Melbourne - Davey

North Melbourne - Ziebell

Port Adelaide - Gray

Richmond - Nahas

St Kilda - Goddard

Sydney - Bolton

West Coast - Cockie

Western Bulldogs - Higgins

[DemonDave 1,078]

Great thread HT!

For Mine:

Camry Crows: Walker

Brisvegas: Rich

Carltank: Betts

Colliwobbles: Anthony

Essendon: Hocking

Freo: Hill

Geelong: Varcoe

Dawks: Shoenmakers or Moss

Kangas: Ziebell

Melbourne: Chip Frawley closely followed by Davey

Port: Krakouer

Terrys Tigers: Nahas

Saints: Zac the Gorilla

Swans: Mcveigh

Wet Toast: Josh Kennedy

Dogs: Aker (thought he was finished)

[deeflog 679]

Melbourne - Moloney, in form that dees supporters thought they would never see from him and cats fans knew he had in him and thats why they really didn't want to let him go

[Kiss of Death 708]

Melbourne - Moloney, in form that dees supporters thought they would never see from him and cats fans knew he had in him and thats why they really didn't want to let him go

I'd have to disagree with that - I always thought he had it in him, if he actually got his body right. First thing one of my mates said when he heard of the trade was "what the hell? he's great!", and i agreed.

[Je Roos Salem 661]

These are my choices:

Adelaide- Jared Petrenko- Good youngster

Brisbane- Daniel Rich- Good in and under player who has performed as good as any other Lions play so far

Carlton- Kreuzer- Great young player who looks to become even better

Collingwood-Pendlebury- Been Collingwood's most consistent performer in the season so far

Essendon- Zaharakis- Other than the match winning goal against the Pies he has shown alot

Fremantle- Stephen Hill- Classy skilled youngster. Fast also.

Geelong- Chapman- Spotlight has gone on him so far

Hawthorn- Rioli - Had a huge season so far

Melbourne- Bennell and Davey- Bennell has been a good recruit but Davey has been in career best form.

North Melbourne- Ziebell- Hard at the ball and good skills

Port Adelaide- Gray- Good player who has stepped up from a no name player to a forward target.

Richmond- Nahas- Class recruit after a few years VFL experience

St.Kilda- Farren Ray- Has come from the Bulldogs and cemented his spot in a tough market and lifted his form.

Sydney- Hall- Has played a better year after being out of touch

West Coast- Josh Kennedy- Shown to be a good forward target for the eagles in the past couple of games

Bulldogs- Josh Hill- Hard to single out one for the dogs, but Hill has shown good omens as a small forward

[Eastie Boyz 0]

ADELAIDE - Dangerfield. Knew he could run but his hips will give him Ablett-esque tackle breaking ability

BRISBANE - Sherman. Always been a fan of the Sherminator but thought he was done. Had an outstanding year thus far

CARLTON - Michael Jamison. Thought he was pretty 'decent' but when not injured has impressed at full back

COLLINGWOOD - No one has really jumped out and said "I'm here" but Dayne Beams has been impressive for a 1st year player

ESSENDON - Heath Hocking. Finally got his body right and showing everyone what insiders already knew - the kid can play football

FREMANTLE - Stephen Hill. Had my doubts about him going at 3 but he's a jet with a good left shoe

GEELONG - Travis Varcoe. Really stepped up this year as a talented ball carrying midfielder/forward

HAWTHORN - Cyril Rioli. Freakshow

KANGAROOS - Gavin Urquhart. The superboot. Played his entire first year (07) in the reserves reserves but now provides a lot of the Roo's drive from half back

MELBOURNE - Aaron Davey. Argually at the cross-roads last year he, along with Lovett, have REALLY taken their game to a new level and are now 2 of the most damaging players in the AFL

PORT ADELAIDE - Nathan Krakouer. Transformed himself of a stick thin forward pocket to a running half back in the McLeod mould

RICHMOND - Nahas. After seeing him get mauled in the VFL grand final I thought there was no way known he'd ever make it at AFL level but he's definitely proved me wrong there!

ST KILDA - Dawson. Same scenario as Nahas. Thought any hope of an AFL career was gone when Hawthorn started playing him as a forward at Box Hill

SYDNEY - Mike Pyke. Canadian who saw a clip of Aussie Rules on YouTube and decided he wanted to play it? Sure why not

WEST COAST - Mitch Brown. Always saw him as a future CHF but with Kennedy effectively taking that spot he's being developed as a backman and performing admirably

WESTERN BULLDOGS - Shaun Higgins. Always thought he was a pretty decent player with a bad injury run but he's now on his way to becoming an 'elite' player (whatever that means!)

[titan_uranus 22,751]

RICHMOND - Nahas. After seeing him get mauled in the VFL grand final I thought there was no way known he'd ever make it at AFL level but he's definitely proved me wrong there!

I saw him last year during the home and away season and I thought he'd be a certainty to get drafted (but I didn't see the GF though).

[Eastie Boyz 0]

Well he ran into the other teams ruckman just before half time and almost KO'd himself then didn't really make an attempt to play out the rest of the game (obviously could be under physio instructions there).

Was barely sighted beforehand too. Saw a few games on telly and thought he'd be the inbetween VFL and AFL type of player. Too small to be any threat in the air and not quite nippy enough at ground level to be a true crumbing forward.

Glad to be proved wrong by anyone though - particularly midgets like him!

[45HG 1,539]

I've been impressed with, in no particular order:

Taylor Walker, Dangerfield, Hill (Freo), Ziebell, Rioli (though that's no big surprise), Grimes, Bennell, Dawson (great credit to him for fighting back), Vince - I think he's quality, Goddard is finding his feet, Dal Santo is proving a few people wrong, Tredrea, and NO ONE ELSE... just kidding

[Bristling T 11]

Adelaide - Patrick Dangerfield (hoping he does a little better in Supercoach from now on) close 2nd Taylor Walker

Brisbane - Daniel Rich

Carlton - Jarrad Waite (knew he was good but proving to be a top notch swing man)

Collingwood - Nathan Brown (hasn't done a lot this year but he looks good down back)

Essendon - David Zaharakis (10% because he's pretty good, 90% because he nailed the Pies on ANZAC day)

Fremantle - Stephen Hill

Geelong - Joel Selwood (still a star)

Hawthorn - Cyril Rioli (delicious)

Melbourne - Brent Moloney (look like the player we recruited all those years ago)

Kangaroos - Jack Ziebell

Power - Warren Tredrea (he's back big time)

Richmond - Mitch Morton (everyones going Nahas but i've only seen one good game out of him, plus Morton "ended" Wallace's career, so kudo's)

St Kilda - Brendon Goddard (took him a while to live up to #1 but is a superstar these days)

Sydney - Jarrad McVeigh

West Coast - Matthew Priddis (just a posession machine)

Western Bulldogs - Shaun Higgins (another Supercoach superstar)

[H_T 2,941]

Richmond - Mitch Morton (everyones going Nahas but i've only seen one good game out of him, plus Morton "ended" Wallace's career, so kudo's)

I can tell you, there are a few people down at Whitten Oval with a spring in their step at the moment!

They'll probably want to recruit M.Morton because of it too.