Accepting Mediocrity

I despise carlton as much as anyone, but Cripps is an absolute jet. He's clearly among the top handful of midfielders in the league, no point pretending otherwise. On topic, I think Oliver is a bit of a victim of his own consistency. He's been dominating since day dot, but so far hasn't really taken the next step to becoming a more damaging, goalkicking mid that many of us think he can become. That said, I'm more than happy for him to fly under the radar.

Agree with the premise - it's been a theme for decades. Not sure Viney belongs on that list though - he's finished top 2 in our B&F 4 times. He's as consistent as they come, and anyone that can't see his value (despite his obvious limitations) is a nuffie.

Coincidentally, the same year that a helmeted Angus Brayshaw came from absolutely nowhere to finish third!

I get what you're saying, but Petracca is currently nowhere near the level of Dusty, who is about as polished as polished gets (unless you're talking about looks). That said, Dusty didn't really stamp himself as a top player until 2017, so Trac definitely has time and the capability to reach a similar level. I don't think many would argue that the 3 most damaging midfielders of recent times are Dusty, Fyfe and Dangerfield. Trac has similarities with all 3 - ridiculously powerful, strong overhead and kicks goals. He fits the prototype perfectly - he's a long way from those 3 currently, but if he maintains the current trajectory, he'll be in brownlow conversations soon enough.

Gawn's performance was underrated on here I reckon. I know it's a flawed ranking system, but 185 supercoach points in a shortened game is a phenominal effort. Seemed like half our scoring chains started with a clean hitout to advantage from Maxy - proved that a dominant ruckman can still be an asset in modern footy.

Disagree. In the 2018 semi against the hawks, the greatest coach of the modern era opted to tag Brayshaw because he deemed him to be our most damaging midfielder. Brayshaw didn't have much influence in the middle, but went forward, took a couple of great marks and kicked 2 important goals. He's definitely not a winger, but he's not a one-trick pony either. His downfall has been massive, but he has time to turn it around.

Honestly, in an AFL media landscape overrun with nuffies, it's a genuinely impressive effort that he manages to still stand out as the nuffie king. Apparently he's Jeff Browne's son, who's a highly influential figure at channel 9. Says a lot.

No love for Maxy?

In 1987, the average team laid 25 tackles each match. Now it's over 60. I think skills have improved (for the most part). It makes sense - full time professional athletes, grounds are in much better condition than in days gone by, etc. Players just don't get the time and space that they used to.

Granted, the selection committee won't have much else to go off, but I really can't really see why round 1 form should have much bearing on our starting 22 for our next match. You can fluke a lucky mark or goal here or there. But it's laughable to think that anyone could pull off a BOG performance in a final through dumb luck - the Weid has considerable talent. Most supporters hold hope for him because they accept that a 22 YO, skinny key forward who's played 30 games and had injury issues might be a tad inconsistent. His 2019 was disappointing, sure, but he's got time to turn it around.

Drinking, drugs and poor life choices are as much a symptom of mental health issues as they are a cause.

Yeah I realize that, but I interpret it differently. IMO, the fact that he was still able to come back and play well at AFL level after a year out of the system really highlights how much he had left in the tank when he 'retired'. I'm not suggesting Junior wouldn't have made much difference to our playing list in 2011-12. Would 186 have happened if he was on the list? Who knows. But the fact is that we lacked leaders, and he was our best. The decision to axe him had nothing to do with form. It was based on a flawed coaching philosophy that overvalued youth and undervalued senior leadership.

He missed 6 matches in his final year and finished top 10 in our B & F. Barring an ACL-type injury, we almost certainly would have got 12-15 games per season out of him for the next couple of years, and he was still playing good footy at the Giants in 2012. In part, because we prematurely axed our best leader. IMO forcing Junior Mac into retirement was one of the biggest mistakes we made during that era, which is saying something.

Nah, that's a bit revisionist I reckon - the club let down Jnr Mac big time and paid the price. He missed a whopping total of 6 games through injury in his final year with us and, statistically, was performing as strongly as ever. He still had 2 good years left when we showed him the door - 2 years that would have been spent showing Scully, Trengove, Tapscott, Gysberts, Morton etc the ropes of AFL footy. Not saying he single-handedly would have turned around the careers of our many wasted draft picks, but our lack of senior leadership at the time was undoubtedly a massive problem. There's a reason one of the first things Paul Roos did when he arrived at the club was recruit a 31 year-old Daniel Cross.

Of all the 'couldabeens' that we've had at MFC, Jurrah is the one that hurts the most. Schwartz would have been a gun CHF, but we've seen plenty of similar players (just not at MFC!) Jurrah could dominate in the air like Goodes, crumb like Betts and do the freakish like Buddy. He was a truly unique player. Such a shame we only ever got a glimpse of what he could do!

He was drafted in 2008.

I'm in the NT as well, so have the same selfish reasons to support the idea. On the surface, you can make a good case for it. Virus locally under control? Check (touch wood). Borders secure? Check. Much needed injection of cash into a flailing local economy? Check. But looking at it rationally, I doubt it will happen. Logistics aside - if the AFL were responsible for re-introducing the virus to the territory, the fallout (AFL and Government) would be massive. Granted, it's a very slight risk, but footballers are young and stupid and mistakes will inevitably be made.

I think it would be worth banning them from training in large groups just to troll eagles fans.

Some revisionists on here. I'd bet that every single one of us thought Scully and Trengove would lead our midfield for a decade after the signs they showed in their first couple of seasons. We all hate him, but Scully is a very good footballer. He'll finish his career as a 200, maybe 250 game player. Not too many bad footballers achieve that. He's not a superstar by any stretch, but he's definitely not a bust at pick 1 either. I can only assume the author just forgot about Melksham. Putting bias aside, he's clearly a better player than the last few names on that list.

Agree to an extent, but Richmond were every bit as much of a basket case as us (both on and off field) in 2009. I'd doubt even Melbourne could have stuffed up a talent like Dusty (although we sure would have given it a good crack).

Not sure about this. Dangerfield isn't a great kick, but he's arguably the best midfielder of the last decade. Dusty doesn't tackle. Buddy isn't strong overhead, and isn't a great set shot. Great players can still have fundamental weaknesses. They have a couple of things that they do better than everyone else, and consistently deliver in big moments.

I was actually interested in this and checked a few phantom drafts that were done prior to previous seasons. I was a bit surprised - generally, the projected top 3-5 picks haven't actually changed all that much over the course of the year. This time last year - Green, Rowell and Anderson were in the frame for pick 1. In 2018, ditto for Lukosius, Walsh and Rankine. However, there have generally been a few names touted as top 5-10 picks that missed out on being drafted altogether. If there's a draft this year, it might actually go the other way - the top few picks might be incredibly valuable, whereas there might be little difference between pick 5 and 50.

To be fair, all footy fans desperately overrate their own players. I actually think MFC fans are generally more realistic than most. Ask the average tigers fan how many elite players they have and they'll peel off about a dozen names. No one has suggested Pickett, Fritsch et al are elite - they have the potential, sure, but so do about 300 other players in the AFL. IMO most neutral supporters would have Gawn as borderline elite, then daylight, with Petracca as being the best equipped to become elite in the next few years.

Funnily enough, I think a lot of Dees fans take Gawn for granted a bit. Some matches last year would have been heading towards 186 territory if it weren't for his efforts. It's true that a dominant ruckman winning hitouts doesn't automatically equal success, but neither does having one dominant midfielder. Grundy has won Collingwood's last 2 B&Fs. He's extremely influential for Collingwood. Gawn is every bit as influential for us. Mobile big blokes that take contested marks and control the air are worth their considerable weight in gold.

My 2 cents: Elite players don't win flags on their own - but history suggests it's almost impossible to win a flag without at least a couple. The term 'elite' is subjective and gets thrown around a lot. For mine, an elite player is genuinely in the discussion (among neutral supporters) as the best in the league for their position. By that measure, we have one - Gawn. We all love him - but the value of having a dominant ruckman in modern footy is debatable. Viney, Oliver and Trac are more than handy, but no neutral supporter would mention their names in the same breath as Fyfe, Dusty, Bontempelli, Cripps, etc (at this stage). May is very good, but I'd doubt many would list him in the best 5 defenders in the AFL - he's far too inconsistent. He's also 28, so unlikely to suddenly develop into the best fullback in the comp (even allowing for the Gold Coast factor). Jackson and Pickett are 2 of perhaps 50 highly promising, but ultimately unproven young players in the AFL. Statistically, it's highly unlikely that either of them become elite players (although early signs are promising). I love Fritsch, but Tim Membrey kicked 44 goals last year. He ain't elite. In order of most likely to become elite, I think: Petracca > Oliver > Lever > Jackson > Pickett