Mike Sheahan's Top 50

Daniel Wells of North came in at 48 and Lewis Jetta missed out so I'm guessing there was no room for Nathan Jones?

Anyone got the full list? Seems The Hun have wised up and can't get into this feature the usual way...

Wouldn't be surprised if none of our players made it, we're at the beginning stages of trying to win some respect, no one will just give it to us. (Not that Chuck doesn't deserve to be there, just goes hand in hand with team perception IMO).

Link to BF here.

Towards the bottom.

And once again, Melbourne has failed to make the list. Not to worry, the pre-season one is basically his man-crush list. The end of season list deals in actual facts and rates how players have performed for the year as opposed to how much he likes them. I'll expect two or three on that one.

Thanks Ralph!

As usual a few "controversial" ones apparently, but it's hard to argue with the list this time of year when everything is so unknown and last year is so far away. Cloke and Beams ahead of Swan seems strange to me, but that could just be because I follow a team desperate for quality mids.

It is an indictment on the MFC when both Kieren Jack & Nic Nat can make the top 25. (Both deserved btw)

We simply must train our players to higher levels.

Hopefully the inclusion of Byrnes & Dawes will assist in this.

And once again, Melbourne has failed to make the list. Not to worry, the pre-season one is basically his man-crush list. The end of season list deals in actual facts and rates how players have performed for the year as opposed to how much he likes them. I'll expect two or three on that one.

It's always amused me that there can be differences from his end of season list and his subsequent pre-season list. What's changed in that time given no-one has played a game?

Cloke at 12 is a joke.

It's always amused me that there can be differences from his end of season list and his subsequent pre-season list. What's changed in that time given no-one has played a game?

It's a way for the Herald Sun to sell more papers.

It's always amused me that there can be differences from his end of season list and his subsequent pre-season list. What's changed in that time given no-one has played a game?

Well, in theory his pre-season list is his predictions for how the coming season will go, while his post-season list is how he thinks the players have performed in the season just completed. As such he can make a case that player A didn't really do well last year but on talent/pre-season form should have a really big year, while player B was dominant last year but is getting on a bit and could be expected to slow down and have less of an impact.

My issue with the way he has done this is that I think there are a couple of Melbourne players who can be expected to have very strong seasons and should be in the list on that basis.

Mitch Clark would be the first of these. Last year he was on track to challenge for the Coleman until his foot broke. With more support and a better midfield he would be expected to match that output this season I would think.

I would also think that Nathan Jones deserves to retain the spot he claimed in the 2012 Post-season list. He is only going to get better, so why does he drop out of the top 50 again?

We also have some reasonable claims to putting a defender in there. If Frawley gets his AA form back he should be a lock. Tom Macdonald played on some of the best forwards in the game last year and beat them, and if he continues to improve could also be a shot. Then there is Watts, who Wayne Carey called as a possible AA this year after the first set of NAB cup games.

In all, I think the complete lack of a Melbourne presence in this list is a farce given that it is supposedly based on what players are going to do this year.

The list is compiled by a bloke who described us last year as a " pathetic and disgusting club" .

I wouldn't expect Jones to make the list even if he wins the Brownlow.

Then again, who cares about his list anyway? Then again, who cares about Sheahan anyway?

Well, in theory his pre-season list is his predictions for how the coming season will go, while his post-season list is how he thinks the players have performed in the season just completed. As such he can make a case that player A didn't really do well last year but on talent/pre-season form should have a really big year, while player B was dominant last year but is getting on a bit and could be expected to slow down and have less of an impact.

My issue with the way he has done this is that I think there are a couple of Melbourne players who can be expected to have very strong seasons and should be in the list on that basis.

Mitch Clark would be the first of these. Last year he was on track to challenge for the Coleman until his foot broke. With more support and a better midfield he would be expected to match that output this season I would think.

I would also think that Nathan Jones deserves to retain the spot he claimed in the 2012 Post-season list. He is only going to get better, so why does he drop out of the top 50 again?

We also have some reasonable claims to putting a defender in there. If Frawley gets his AA form back he should be a lock. Tom Macdonald played on some of the best forwards in the game last year and beat them, and if he continues to improve could also be a shot. Then there is Watts, who Wayne Carey called as a possible AA this year after the first set of NAB cup games.

In all, I think the complete lack of a Melbourne presence in this list is a farce given that it is supposedly based on what players are going to do this year.

I would've held off on pulling the trigger with Clark too. Reality is, there is an unknown factor about his injury. Will he come up as good? We hope, but others have no idea. I hope he makes his end of year Top 50.

Jones is/was out best chance of getting a player on this list, but I'm not sure I agree with your reasons, and I think Sheehan might feel the same way. He is our best midfielder, I'm not sure if he will get better, but one thing for sure is that he doesn't have better mids to lift his game, unlike some other teams. If we had some genuine stars in our midfield, I'd be very confident NJ could go another step up, but as it stands, we don't know.

And our defenders don't have reasonable claims at all, with the exception of Watts and Frawley. The latter was an AA 3 seasons ago now, and has far from been a standout since, so I'm not surprised he was left off. Watts is about the only one in out backline that you can see genuine improvement from over the past couple of years, playing some pretty bloody good footy last year. Putting another preseason under his belt would only benefit him, but would that've been enough to shoot him in to the Top 50 players in the league? That's something that is argued on here.

In summary, I'm far from surprised that we don't have anyone in the Top 50 (again), I just hope that we can get 2 or 3 players in his end of season list.

I agree with his Top 8, albeit not the order.

From there onwards it all gets a bit...Mike-ish.

Mike Sheehan Top 50 once again scratching my head as to what Mike's criteria is and how you get in. Also does he have different criteria for different players, Sheehan needs to decide what gets you in and stick by it.

I like Dangerfield but above Scotty Thompson has me asking questions, Nat Fyfe, Daniel Wells, Bryce Gibbs really good players but can’t say they set the world on fire in 2012 in fact Fyfe & Wells spent a lot of time on the sidelines due to injury. Dustin Martin potential but again hardly set the world on fire in 2012.

Matty Boyd, Nick Del Santo, Travis Boak, David Mundy, Nathan Jones & Heath Scotland all deserve to be in ahead of these boys on last years form. I would also consider Jones, Mundy, Boak & Del Santo have the ability to back it up again this season

The list is compiled by a bloke who described us last year as a " pathetic and disgusting club" .

I wouldn't expect Jones to make the list even if he wins the Brownlow.

Then again, who cares about his list anyway? Then again, who cares about Sheahan anyway?

I have to disagree there Redleg. Sheahan was one of the most respected journalists going round for a long time and his full time presence is being sorely missed at the Herald Sun where standards are declining at a rate comparable to that of the Age.

The fact that we have nobody in his top 50 is not a surprise in view of how the team went last year. Based on our performances both as a team and individually, Jones is the closest anyone from our 2012 list would get to any ranking in his list.

2013 will, I hope, be an entirely different matter but we have to have blokes earning it.

In the print edition Mitch Clark is listed among a small group of players "not considered due to injury".

There are some surprising aspects to his list, Melbourne not having a player isn't one of them.

The thing with the list is that it's a prediction of the top 50 players for 2013, but based on 2012 form. So it's a strange mix, but still needs to be viewed as purely a prediction. Whose to say Dustin Martin won't jump back into the top 50 players in the comp? He has the ability to do it, it's just that when you base it on 2012 form, it becomes a bit iffy.

NIK Nat at 25 is ridiculous. Has done nothing. Good highlight reel but then so did Jurrah.

Johnson and O'Keefe at 23 and 24 is a ludicrous decision. Both are top 10 in my eyes and both have enormous influence with their respective sides. Neither of these players wastes a kick and they get plenty of it.

Astonishing that they get marked so hard. O'Keefe especially - he is a gun footballer and much underrated. Johnson is just sublime. I'd have these 2 ahead of Beams, Kennedy, Dangerfield or Walker (all in Sheahan's top 10) You've got to be an A grade player for a certain length of time to be a top 10 player.

Sheahan doesn't have a clue and never did.

Andrew Gaff > Dustin Martin.

Martin at 25 42 is fanciful.

Edited March 11, 201312 yr by McQueen

Bryce Gibbs in there is surely a joke.

Again, Gibbs has the tools to be in the top 50 and Mike is predicting he will take that step this year.

Danger will absolutely cement himself as a top 10 player this year.

Patty D AND Tex!?!

I have a soft spot for Adelaide dunno why and a massive man crush on those 2

I'd pick Swan before Cotchin,Selwood,Watson and Dangerfield.

Those 4 are very good footballers but haven't produced what Swan has the last 4 seasons.Runner up to Judd in the Brownlow,won his own Brownlow the next year and had a great year last year.

Very short sighted Mike.