For a long time i have pondered who people think Melbourne's most important player is

i'd be interested to see in order of top 5

1. Nathan Jones

2. Colin Garland

3. James Frawley

4. Jack Watts

5. Colin Sylvia

i just think Howe could be in there in the near future as could Trengove

interested to see your thoughts on this

Oh and here I thought you wanted to know hat my thought was at that very moment and I thought "well here comes my first ban :P"

Frawley on song is our most important followed very closely by a fit Clark.

Jones while a gun for us, is a midfielder not in the elite bracket of the comp.

So all in form and fit

Frawley

Clark

Jones

Garland

Dawes

Most important or best?

Best is what I think you've proposed. Most important would be the players we want to lead the club forward and be genuine stars of the competition:

Hogan

Frawley

Watts

Gawn

Viney

If those 5 can be in the best dozen of their positions (ie key forward, key back, floating forward, ruck, inside mid) we will go a long way to being a competitive finals team once more.

Our most important player is Hogan. Easily.

Most important or best?

Best is what I think you've proposed. Most important would be the players we want to lead the club forward and be genuine stars of the competition:

Hogan

Frawley

Watts

Gawn

Viney

If those 5 can be in the best dozen of their positions (ie key forward, key back, floating forward, ruck, inside mid) we will go a long way to being a competitive finals team once more.

most important

Interested to know why you've put Hogan and Viney in there? as they have only played a small handful of games

Most important versus best - an interesting difference. As far as most important to our immediate future/success:

Frawley

Clark

Hogan

Jones

Garland

Frawley, Clark, Jones and Garland have leadership influence and impact, train well, and have been through 6 years of horror while maintaining high standards. This influence working its way down through our list will be invaluable IF we can get the right coach in place.

Hogan because he is the first star since Ox and Farmer.

Howe would be no. 6 because of his spectacular feats that make young Dee supporters put 38 on their back.

However, our best and most important by 2015 will be:

Hogan

Viney

Toumpas

Gawn

Frawley

Most important versus best - an interesting difference. As far as most important to our immediate future/success:

Frawley

Clark

Hogan

Jones

Garland

Frawley, Clark, Jones and Garland have leadership influence and impact, train well, and have been through 6 years of horror while maintaining high standards. This influence working its way down through our list will be invaluable IF we can get the right coach in place.

Hogan because he is the first star since Ox and Farmer.

Howe would be no. 6 because of his spectacular feats that make young Dee supporters put 38 on their back.

However, our best and most important by 2015 will be:

Hogan

Viney

Toumpas

Gawn

Frawley

Anyone feeling the love for Trengove, Grimes or Howe?

i reckon he could become unstoppable (Howe) with more experience

he's a rare talent

1. Jones

2. Frawley

3. Dawes

4. Viney

5. Trengove

Your most important players on a footy ground are your midfielders who play in at the centre square and fight it out for clearances as well as around the ground. Every week that's where the majority of the best players in the comp play. In that regard Jones is our best midfielder and I think fully fit Viney is probably our best. I have hopes that Trengove can step up a level and as captain he'd be our third most important mid. I'd have Grimes but I think he's really more of a flanker but he might prove me wrong.

Similarly you need a gun defense to win anything and the centre piece of any good defense is the best tall defender. Frawley is a great one on one defender who can rebound the ball. I'm still backing him in as our second best player on our list behind Jones as well as most important.

The other aspect to any good side is a key forward. I was tempted to go with Hogan or Clark but it's too much to ask for them to be our most important players. You might not be top 4 without superior talents but you can undoubtedly play finals with a CHF like Dawes who provides leadership and work rate on the field. So in that regard he's top 5 as well.

Anyone feeling the love for Trengove, Grimes or Howe?

i reckon he could become unstoppable (Howe) with more experience

he's a rare talent

I don't think he'll ever be unstoppable as a forward. He just isn't quite natural enough at working players off the ball or getting to position and the very good defenders know where the drop of the ball will be and don't get their heads stood on as much as the bad ones!

He's got a very good mix of speed, skills (when he doesn't rush) and fitness that make him hard to match up on either deep forward, half forward or through the midfield and I think that will be his role more than as a consistent star either forward or in the midfield.

Grimes and Trengove were voted our best leaders so they must be important to have them around the mark as most important players. They fit similarly to guys like Dawes and Garland as vital in dragging the team up the ladder but they probably don't have the upside like Viney and Hogan as the stars we need.

Gawn.

Frawley

Viney

Hogan

Clark

Plus 3 other quality mids from National Draft and AFL draft

if we were to snare Dale Thomas somehow,

we he go number 1 on the list

1.mitch clark: he is the one capable of kicking a bag of goals

2. nathan jones: spiritual leader

3. james frawley: takes on and often beats the oppositions best forward

4. colin garland: fast becoming our best and most consistant player

5. jack grimes: brave strong captain who bleeds for the cause ( don't underestimate his influence

6. jack trengove: our best defensive midfielder, will be top ten in the comp when he finds his speed and becomes a complete player

viney, toumpas,howe,blease,dawes,hogan,fitz,terlich,m.jones,sylvia

all have the potential to push up

6. jack trengove: our best defensive midfielder, will be top ten in the comp when he finds his speed and becomes a complete player

funny you say that, i have admired his defensive capabilities i reckon he could turn into an absolute gun...

speed is a definite issue

Who's our most important player?

When we have the ball, it's the guy with the ball. When we don't have the ball, it's the guy trying to get the ball.

Importance to current performance

Clark

Frawley

Garland

Jones

Dawes

Importance to our future performance

Clark

Frawley

Garland

Viney

Hogan

N. Jones

Grimes

Frawley

Garland

Watts

Trenners' speed - or lack thereof - will be negated if the interchange cap comes in, especially if its at an extreme number like 80 - it's likely to be 100 I would wager.

Players with elite endurance will benefit enormously.

Who's our most important player?

When we have the ball, it's the guy with the ball. When we don't have the ball, it's the guy trying to get the ball.

unnecessary comment from you.

Trenners' speed - or lack thereof - will be negated if the interchange cap comes in, especially if its at an extreme number like 80 - it's likely to be 100 I would wager.

Players with elite endurance will benefit enormously.

from my memory, Trengove has elite endurance... just lack of speed at the moment

he will gain that speed back

I would like to squeeze Tom Mc into this five but could understand if others disagree.

This bloke is able to take out a forward like Riewoldt at the young age he is now. Kicking and decision making aside as they will improve with more games and confidence, I think Tom will be a real key performer in years to come.

unnecessary comment from you.

Seriously? How is it unnecessary? It's actually philosophically true. Every player is important, because there are 22 on the field at any one time.

Alan Jakovich

Toumpas absolutely has to be in the mix in the years to come.

Touted as a possible number two midfielder pick in a strong draft.

He's important.

he's also soft as day old butter left out in the adelaide summer sun.

he's also soft as day old butter left out in the adelaide summer sun.

As moronic a comment as I have ever read

I think Howe is over rated. Doesn't kick enough goals to be a good forward doesn't get the ball enough to be a good midfielder.

I think he has the right amount of trade currency to get us a good player.