In todays Sun they descibed the way Hawthorn assess teams and themself. They ranked every play on a 1-5 basis

1 being elite AFL Players

2 Highly Talented AFL level Players

3 Core

4A Improving

4B Below Standard Declining Aging

5 Developing/Rookies

How do we stack up?

IMO

1-0 players we have no elite

2- 4 Johnstone, Bruce, Mclean, Robertson

3-14 Mcdonald, Green, white, Bell, Davey, Wheatley, Neitz, Rivers, Whelan, Carroll, Miller, Jones, Sylvia, Bate

4a-11 Dunn, Petterd, Bartram, Buckley, Frawley, Jamar, PJ, CJ, Newton, Warnock, Bode

4B-8 Godfrey, Yze, Biz, Brown, Holland, Pickett, Ward, Ferguson

5-6 Garland, Hayes, Hughes, Neaves, Neville, Weetra

I dont think yze is that bad. Maybe a "3" for yze

He had a horror year but in the past he has been a great player.

The rest i agree though.

of the 4B category- Godfrey,Biz,Brown,Pickett,Ward are gone, and one of Ferguson and Holland will join after trade period. Yze is core imo when fully fit. That leaves only 1 left (one of Ferguson and holland)...

That is great work by Bailey! really cleaning out the dead wood.

as of category 1- i tend to agree. we have no elite afl players. thats why i got so excited by the prospect of Judd. we seriously need to start developing some elite players, bc you need them to be a premiership side!!!

developing some of our 2,3,4A players into category 1 players is the most important thing towards getting us a premiership..

imo, the players on our list who are capable of being category 1 are:

Mclean, Sylvia, Bate, Rivers. (maybe Jones but i see him as always being part of the highly talented (but not quite elite) category

its really sucks that Johnstone and Bruce never made it to category 1- they are both capable of it. that is what makes them disappointing players for me. they have not succeeded as they could have, letting themselves down and MFC down.

1- 0

2- 6 Bruce, Mclean, Robertson, McDonald, Whelan, Jones

3- 9 Rivers, Green, White, Bell, Davey, Neitz, Carroll, Sylvia, Bate

4a- 9 Dunn, Petterd, Bartram, Buckley, Frawley, PJ, CJ, Newton, Warnock

4B- 6 Yze, Holland, Ferguson, Wheatley, Jamar, Miller (cruel because he's young but true)

5- 9 Garland, Hayes, Hughes, Neaves, Neville, Weetra, Petterd, Frawley, Bode

Who have I missed?

1- 0

2- 6 Bruce, Mclean, Robertson, McDonald, Whelan, Jones

3- 9 Rivers, Green, White, Bell, Davey, Neitz, Carroll, Sylvia, Bate

4a- 9 Dunn, Petterd, Bartram, Buckley, Frawley, PJ, CJ, Newton, Warnock

4B- 6 Yze, Holland, Ferguson, Wheatley, Jamar, Miller (cruel because he's young but true)

5- 9 Garland, Hayes, Hughes, Neaves, Neville, Weetra, Petterd, Frawley, Bode

Who have I missed?

Bruce can't kick, Whelan is tireless but winding down, certainly isn't a 2. Both 3s.

I'm not having a go at your rankings, it's actually pretty sobering to see how few very good players we have on our list.

Bruce can't kick, Whelan is tireless but winding down, certainly isn't a 2. Both 3s.

I'm not having a go at your rankings, it's actually pretty sobering to see how few very good players we have on our list.

Agree completely. Still think Whelan was one of the best small defenders in the comp before his last major injury, but may be declining now due to lack of football. Bruce is definitely a 2 and, sadly, our closest to 1 IMO. Even though his kicking aint spectacular. Just looking at my rankings again, not so sure Robbo deserves to be a 2. Mclean, Mcdonald and Jones defintely do IMO (although Jones and Mclean still developing), and could maybe throw Rivers in there.