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May and Lever - Best Defenders in Last 20 Years?

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Following on from great season last year both May and Lever have been playing amazing footy.

Lever was bog against the TigersĀ 

May was outstanding against DogsĀ 

Huge upgrade from Oscar and Frost.

Would have to go close to being our best key positionĀ defenders in the last 20 years. Thoughts?

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    Ā 

    You are on the wrong forum for posts such as this. The thread should be titledĀ Ā "Are May and Level a waste of high draft picks andĀ front-running pea-hearts like the rest of the team", and then you would have got a lot more readers on board.

    To be honest thoughĀ - unless Neitz was at CHB there isn't much competition. When I saw the post of of our 2000 GF team, I didn't think any of those (perhaps with the exception of Ingerson and Febey) would make the current team - and no-one between 2000 and 2020 stands out in my mind. So the answer, particularly for May, is probably "yes". Jury still out on LeverĀ atm.

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    5 minutes ago, spalding said:

    You are on the wrong forum for posts such as this. The thread should be titledĀ Ā "Are May and Level a waste of high draft picks andĀ front-running pea-hearts like the rest of the team", and then you would have got a lot more readers on board.

    To be honest thoughĀ - unless Neitz was at CHB there isn't much competition. When I saw the post of of our 2000 GF team, I didn't think any of those (perhaps with the exception of Ingerson and Febey) would make the current team - and no-one between 2000 and 2020 stands out in my mind. So the answer, particularly for May, is probably "yes". Jury still out on LeverĀ atm.

    Cheers, our defence is working really well and only getting better

    If Brown was fit we would be looking at top 4

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    May yes. Lever still has to put a quality full season together.Ā  the longer they play together the better

    when you have confidence in your big men at the back to mark/spoil, it makes it a lot easier for the others to run off and rebound

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    • Demonland changed the title to May and Lever - Best Defenders in Last 20 Years?

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    Jake Lever ā€“ absolutely spoiled everything and looks the fittest heā€™s been since heā€™s been at Melbourne. Eight marks, seven rebounds and used it magnificently (86per cent).Ā 

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    Frawley at his best would be pretty close to May,Ā 

    Jared Rivers at his best asĀ 3rd man up is superior to Lever during his time so far Ā at the Dees.

    Richo still has nightmares of being Nichoā€™s beech, though ?

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    Ā 

    Frawleyā€™s AA season was the bestĀ season a Melbourne defender has had in my time watching Melbourne, and that includes Mayā€™s very good 2020. He was an athletic beast and was basically unbeatable, although it proved to be a flash in the pan.

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    They will need to be......the pill will be going into their area a fair bit this year!

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    Any Love for Anthony Ingerson. He wasn't no flash, butĀ he was a very handy key Backman who wasn't beaten to often if I remember correctly. Great spoiler. Someone kick me.Ā 

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    11 minutes ago, 4_Kent_Watts said:

    Any Love for Anthony Ingerson. He wasn't no flash, butĀ he was a very handy key Backman who wasn't beaten to often if I remember correctly. Great spoiler. Someone kick me.Ā 

    I was a massive fan of Ingerson back in the day. Did all the team things and didnā€™t get beaten too often one on one.Ā 

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    Key defender or just defender?

    My love for the Wrecker is still very strong. Think he edges out Nev in the back pocket position.Ā 

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    7 hours ago, spalding said:

    You are on the wrong forum for posts such as this. The thread should be titledĀ Ā "Are May and Level a waste of high draft picks andĀ front-running pea-hearts like the rest of the team", and then you would have got a lot more readers on board.

    No, No, Mr Spalding, it's, "May and Lever would be our best defenders in 20 years except that Goodwin ruined them so now we've wasted all those high draft picks and turned two great players into front running pea-hearts."

    Anyway, for the topic itself; I think May has managed to demonstrate he is legitimately elite and we have every reason to be confident he will keep it up.Ā  Sustain his current/recent level and he is indeed our best KPD this century.

    Lever still hasn't been able to put together his best aspects all at the same time in any kind of consistency for us, so I wouldn't go that far yet.Ā  It's definitely possible though.

    As others have noted, the other 'best key defender' options have been either more on the dependable worker end of things (which deserves full respect for sure) or only had shortish bursts of being really outstanding.

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    Lever's still got a few things to work on, like bringing the ball out of defense - which is horrible. His spoiling and intercept marking are top notch.

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    So far Lever is probably only a pass for his time with us. A lot of that is because of his injury issues and he had periods last season he was showing his worth, but we need him to get back to being a damaging interception marker. Having someone take a grab in defence and be able to rebound is absolutely massive in the modern game.Ā 

    May is a gun, early days this yearĀ but I think heā€™s annoyed he got overlooked for AA last season and his gunning for it big time.Ā 

    If those two have big seasons we look good down back, we just need someone to really step in to own the small defender position (I love Jetta but he shouldnā€™t play many games this year).Ā 

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    9 hours ago, Nelo said:

    I was a massive fan of Ingerson back in the day. Did all the team things and didnā€™t get beaten too often one on one.Ā 

    Plenty of love here - symbolised that 2000 team perfectly, was underrated and rarely lost a battle during that year.Ā  Unfortunately his knee gave way the very next year.

    Lever did look great Monday, May has been mint for the past year, however its after these 2 where the headaches start.Ā  Though Tomlinson may be a surprise

    Ā 

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    1 minute ago, Waltham33 said:

    Though Tomlinson may be a surprise

    That would be a very big surprise. He should be dropped for Petty.

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    8 hours ago, JimmyGadson said:

    Ummm Alistair Nicholson..?Ā 

    Yeah...nah.

    I still remember a game at the MCG when he forgot to take his tracksuit top off when running on to the ground from the interchange bench. This would have been back in the days when interchange players waited a long time for their turn so kept jackets on to stay warm. He ran on about 20 metres, realised and returned quickly to the bench to discard the unnecessary garment.

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    I would feel happier to review this after a couple of years time when we get to see the full benefit of May & Lever together with some continuity as the team hit's their straps, no doubt these two make us a much better side but we need a number of players to lift to their level for us to get the max out of them both.

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    On 3/11/2021 at 4:04 PM, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    Yeah...nah.

    I still remember a game at the MCG when he forgot to take his tracksuit top off when running on to the ground from the interchange bench. This would have been back in the days when interchange players waited a long time for their turn so kept jackets on to stay warm. He ran on about 20 metres, realised and returned quickly to the bench to discard the unnecessary garment.

    velvet sledgehammer loves to tell the story about when big al came to him at the start of the 2000 grand final he said 'fantastic, been waiting for this match-up' or words to that effect

    four goals in a 10 goal premiership...that's almost under par for lloyd ultimately

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    Ā 
    On 3/11/2021 at 4:04 PM, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    Yeah...nah.

    I still remember a game at the MCG when he forgot to take his tracksuit top off when running on to the ground from the interchange bench. This would have been back in the days when interchange players waited a long time for their turn so kept jackets on to stay warm. He ran on about 20 metres, realised and returned quickly to the bench to discard the unnecessary garment.

    I often wondered what world he was in half the time..

    I remember one day at the G, I was sittingĀ MCC (centre wing), and had the pleasure to watch him attemptĀ to gatherĀ up a bouncingĀ loose ball not two or three... but four times.

    Nobody around. No pressure. Just big Nicho fumbling over himself in a pre-game warmup.

    Ā 

    Ā 

    Suffice to say we got flogged that day.

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    We have had some pretty poor defensive units in the last 20 years, but individually some good players.Ā  Frawley, Whelan, Jetta, Ingerson were all at times, excellent defenders.Ā  The game has moved past Nev now but at his best he was very good.Ā  Frawley was a star in 2010; Whelan about as tough and courageous a player as I've seen at Melbourne and Ingerson was one of the main reasons we made the 2000 GF.Ā  Nathan Brown was underrated by the football world by and large but was also a very courageous player.Ā  May is probably a better player than most of those guys but we are basing his Melbourne contribution off just last season.Ā  I actually think Lever is potentially the best player of all of them.Ā  He's crazy brave in the air.Ā  His disposal can let him down a little but he looks fit, tuned in and ready to repay the club's investment.Ā  And he is likely to see a bit of the ball, too.

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