Mike's Top 50

[Mantis]

21-50 released today (1-20 released tomorrow):

21 - Nick Dal Santo
22 - Brady Rawlings
23 - Matthew Pavlich
24 - Harry O'Brien
25 - Brett Deledio
26 - Brent Harvey
27 - Darren Jolly
28 - Jonathon Brown
29 - James Frawley
30 - Kieren Jack
31 - Mark LeCras
32 - Sam Fisher
33 - Matthew Scarlett
34 - Adam Goodes
35 - Harry Taylor
36 - Matthew Boyd
37 - Richard Douglas
38 - Sam Mitchell
39 - Ryan Griffen
40 - Steve Johnson
41 - Barry Hall
42 - Sam Gilbert
43 - Andrew Swallow
44 - Mark Jamar
45 - Heath Grundy
46 - Kade Simpson
47 - Luke Ball
48 - Chris Newman
49 - Cyril Rioli
50 - Shane Mumford

[comrade]

Kieren Jack and Richard Douglas rated higher than Griff?

How high was Mike when he wrote this?

[bornadog]

Kieren Jack and Richard Douglas rated higher than Griff?

How high was Mike when he wrote this?

What a joke, Griff is at least in the top 20.

[Mofra]

B&F and best finals prefromer (in the absense of Cooney) for a top 4 side is behind Ritchie Douglas & Kieran Jack?
The rumours of coke binges being the norm in print media must be true.

[Jasper]

Capt Gronna's Top 20

1 Swan
2 Ablett
3 Hayes
4 Goddard
5 Selwood
6 Riewoldt, N
7 Judd
8 Pendlebury
9 Hodge
10 Sandilands
11 Franklin
12 Lake
13 Didak
14 Riewoldt, J
15 Chapman
16 Enright
17 Cooney
18 Mundy
19 Montagna
20 Bartel

[Mantis]

^^^

Swap N.Riewoldt (who missed over 1/2 the season) for Watson who will slot in at the lower portion of the 20.

[Jasper]

^^^

Swap N.Riewoldt (who missed over 1/2 the season) for Watson who will slot in at the lower portion of the 20.

My bad, forgot Jobe.
Was assuming Mike's love for Saint Nick would carry him into Top Ten despite injury.
Drop in Jobe at 20, push everyone else up.

[LostDoggy]

Mike's love-affair with Selwood continues if he's a top 20 player. How he can REMOTELY be rated higher than Pavlich, J.Brown, etc. is ridiculous. The guy is a good midfielder, and a tough bugger, but he's in the same bracket as someone like Dal Santo or a fit Daniel Kerr ie. a top-class 2nd/3rd midfielder playing alongside a modern day great.. not to mention the fact that Joel is a great front-runner in a gun team.

Mark my words, we'll see the real Selwood next season now that Geelong's opponents don't have three guys trying to stop Gablett (not to mention Bartel, Chapman and Enright) with a team in decline, just as we saw the real Daniel Kerr once Juddy left WC, or, from a different sport, the real Scottie Pippen once MJ left the Bulls. Still good players, but geez, nowhere near as dominant as they looked in previous seasons.

And Pavlich not being in the top 10, much less the top 20, based on the year just past is nonsensical. Brady Rawlings ahead of Pav? Mike, you've got to get off that stuff.

[mjp]

In fairness to Sheahan, Jack did win the B&F for the Swans. I am surprised he rated him more highly than Griffen given Griff's continued outstanding form in big games (has a great finals record) but can live with it.

I am more surprised that Barry Hall came in so low. He kicked 70-odd goals this year which would make him one of the more valuable players in the competition...I would have expected to see him well up towards the top 20-25 on the list if it is indeed based on performances this season/looking ahead to next.

Adam Cooney and Brian Lake are our stand-out players. I would expect Lake to lob in the top 10 as the games best defender and Cooney to slot in somewhere between 10-20...you might think this is low but he has struggled with injury for a couple of years now and I think he is behind Swan, Ablett and Judd as the most explosive mids in the game.

Another consideration for the top 50 must have been Ben Hudson - I am disappointed to see he has missed out.

[LostDoggy]

In fairness to Sheahan, Jack did win the B&F for the Swans. I am surprised he rated him more highly than Griffen given Griff's continued outstanding form in big games (has a great finals record) but can live with it.

I am more surprised that Barry Hall came in so low. He kicked 70-odd goals this year which would make him one of the more valuable players in the competition...I would have expected to see him well up towards the top 20-25 on the list if it is indeed based on performances this season/looking ahead to next.

Adam Cooney and Brian Lake are our stand-out players. I would expect Lake to lob in the top 10 as the games best defender and Cooney to slot in somewhere between 10-20...you might think this is low but he has struggled with injury for a couple of years now and I think he is behind Swan, Ablett and Judd as the most explosive mids in the game.

Another consideration for the top 50 must have been Ben Hudson - I am disappointed to see he has missed out.

All great points mjp, although Griff won the Dogs B&F, and the Dogs finished higher than the Swans, so.. well, you know.

Barry's contribution is definitely underrated on the list, and the Beard has suffered from noreputationitis for a while now -- he doesn't play in a sexy position and his contributions aren't flashy, so I don't think he'll ever be truly appreciated outside the kennel unless he got himself a hot-ass girlfriend, started riding a Harley, and showed up every second week on the Footy Show riding the Harley into the studio with the hot-ass girlfriend riding pillion.

[comrade]

he got himself a hot-ass girlfriend, started riding a Harley, and showed up every second week on the Footy Show riding the Harley into the studio with the hot-ass girlfriend riding pillion.

Can someone photoshop this onto a t-shirt?

[Mofra]

Another consideration for the top 50 must have been Ben Hudson - I am disappointed to see he has missed out.
I can understand Jamar being rated higher, which means there weren't too many spaces left for the big fella. I'd like to say I rate him higher than Mummy but I've grown a beard in the last month so am far too biased.

[Mantis]

Deledio's high rating gives me the shits.... esepcially compared to Griffen.

The bloke can't handle a tag in the midfield so they send him down to HB to rack up numbers... How hard is that?

Griffen is so under-rated by flogs like Sheahan it isn't funny.

[Greystache]

Deledio's high rating gives me the shits.... esepcially compared to Griffen.

The bloke can't handle a tag in the midfield so they send him down to HB to rack up numbers... How hard is that?

Griffen is so under-rated by flogs like Sheahan it isn't funny.

And no doubt he'll have Luke Hodge in the top 10, probably top 5.

[LostDoggy]

Deledio's high rating gives me the shits.... esepcially compared to Griffen.

The bloke can't handle a tag in the midfield so they send him down to HB to rack up numbers... How hard is that?

Griffen is so under-rated by flogs like Sheahan it isn't funny.

I totally missed this, but based on this year, Deledio being rated higher than Bazza, Boydy and Griff is just ridiculous.

[GVGjr]

What a joke, Griff is at least in the top 20.

He is too inconstant to be given that sort of rating

[Jasper]

Mike's love-affair with Selwood continues if he's a top 20 player. How he can REMOTELY be rated higher than Pavlich, J.Brown, etc. is ridiculous. The guy is a good midfielder, and a tough bugger, but he's in the same bracket as someone like Dal Santo or a fit Daniel Kerr ie. a top-class 2nd/3rd midfielder playing alongside a modern day great.. not to mention the fact that Joel is a great front-runner in a gun team.

from a different sport, the real Scottie Pippen once MJ left the Bulls. Still good players, but geez, nowhere near as dominant as they looked in previous seasons.

And Pavlich not being in the top 10, much less the top 20, based on the year just past is nonsensical. Brady Rawlings ahead of Pav? Mike, you've got to get off that stuff.

Pav had about 7 good games this year. Rawlings probably had 20.
Don't disagree Pav's best is WAAAAY better, but Rawlings is highly under rated
Selwood is so much better than Dal Santo, it's ridiculous. He actually gets his own ball.
And we are talking about performance in 2010, so he easily exceeds J Brown and Pav

As for Pippen, his best individual season (93-94) was when Jordan was retired.
22 pts, 9 rbds, 6 assists, 3 steals.
Remained in the All NBA First team too

[LostDoggy]

Deledio's high rating gives me the shits.... esepcially compared to Griffen.

The bloke can't handle a tag in the midfield so they send him down to HB to rack up numbers... How hard is that?

Griffen is so under-rated by flogs like Sheahan it isn't funny.

Thankyou. Perplexes me how he's rated by so many, without achieving anything.

...and c'mon, Matthew Scarlett @ 33. It's the 2010 season. You reward the players who had standout seasons don't you?

[Jasper]

My bad, forgot Jobe.
Was assuming Mike's love for Saint Nick would carry him into Top Ten despite injury.
Drop in Jobe at 20, push everyone else up.

Apparently Jobe not on the list.

Missing link has to be a Pies player.
Presumably Heath Shaw, but possibly Nick Maxwell based on Mike's love of "leadership".
I suspect the former.

[jazzadogs]

Thankyou. Perplexes me how he's rated by so many, without achieving anything.

...and c'mon, Matthew Scarlett @ 33. It's the 2010 season. You reward the players who had standout seasons don't you?
Even Goodes. For the first half of the year, when he was playing forward, he did very very little. Scarlett is a joke.

Deledio is not the 25th best player in the game.

[The Adelaide Connection]

Thankyou. Perplexes me how he's rated by so many, without achieving anything.

...and c'mon, Matthew Scarlett @ 33. It's the 2010 season. You reward the players who had standout seasons don't you?

No. No he doesn't.

J. Brown in the top 10 will confirm that. Champion player who had a terrible year (played injured for most games and missed quite a bit).

I bet both he and Riewoldt (who only played half a year) both rank higher that Pavlich, who was sensational all year.

One of the knocks on Pavlich is that he has never done anything in finals (due to Freo not being there) and "that is where the real champs stand up". I bet Mike wont compare Pavlich in a side that was thumped by Geelong versus Riewoldt in a side that was thumped by the pies.

[LostDoggy]

He is too inconstant to be given that sort of rating

He has just won a B&F in a final four side.

Inconsistency does not allow this

He is so far superior to Delidio it's like comparing fine wine with water.

[Topdog]

No. No he doesn't.

J. Brown in the top 10 will confirm that. Champion player who had a terrible year (played injured for most games and missed quite a bit).

I bet both he and Riewoldt (who only played half a year) both rank higher that Pavlich, who was sensational all year.


No he didn't. he had a brilliant first half of the season but was very poor in the last half, particularly the last "quarter" of the year.

[GVGjr]

He has just won a B&F in a final four side.

Inconsistency does not allow this

He is so far superior to Delidio it's like comparing fine wine with water.
Those two points aren't related. As much as I rate Griffen, I can't see him as a top 20 player in the competition until he puts in more consistent performances.

[Remi Moses]

Wish Mike would take his typewriter,pink shirt and sail off into the sunset!
Mike could have his top 50 backflips for 2010!!

[Bulldog Revolution]

Kade Simpson, Chris Newman - handy players but top 50 in the comp? seriously

Grundy - huge improver but top 50?

[Scorlibo]

What is with Brady Rawlings at 22??? I don't care how many possessions he gets, he doesn't impact games enough to be in the top fifty let alone above players like Pavlich, Harvey and Goodes.

I don't mind the inclusion of Newman, probably Richmond's best player.

[Flamethrower]

Only 1 Bulldog in the top 20.....Brian Lake at 13.

1 Ablett, Gary
2 Swan, Dane
3 Goddard, Brendon
4 Selwood, Joel
5 Hayes, Lenny
6 Judd, Chris
7 Hodge, Luke
8 Chapman, Paul
9 Thomas, Dale
10 Riewoldt, Jack
11 Pendlebury, Scott
12 Sandilands, Aaron
13 Lake, Brian
14 Didak, Alan
15 Franklin, Lance
16 Enright, Corey
17 Montagna, Leigh
18 Mundy, David
19 Green, Brad
20 Kelly, James

[LostDoggy]

Only 1 Bulldog in the top 20.....Brian Lake at 13.

1 Ablett, Gary
2 Swan, Dane
3 Goddard, Brendon
4 Selwood, Joel
5 Hayes, Lenny
6 Judd, Chris
7 Hodge, Luke
8 Chapman, Paul
9 Thomas, Dale
10 Riewoldt, Jack
11 Pendlebury, Scott
12 Sandilands, Aaron
13 Lake, Brian
14 Didak, Alan
15 Franklin, Lance
16 Enright, Corey
17 Montagna, Leigh
18 Mundy, David
19 Green, Brad
20 Kelly, James


I keep looking for the name Cooney and I just can't find it.

Not in the top 20 and not in the top 50.

That's extraordinary. He's without a doubt one of the best fifteen players in the country.

It's finally happened; Mike's flipped his lid.

[Scorlibo]

^^^ I agree TR, Mike's gone bonkers. No Cooney, how can that happen? As usual he has snubbed our better players of higher positions, and I cannot believe that he has Dale Thomas at 9. Here I was thinking he never does anything other than run to space near the boundary and execute dinky little chip kicks, but apparently he's a more precious commodity than anything that is on 10 other clubs' lists, including ours.

Lake should be ahead of Selwood (what is he doing at 4?), Judd, Chapman, Thomas, Riewoldt and Pendlebury.

Oh well, it's just Mike - we always knew he was a reactionary git.

[LostDoggy]

Oh well, it's just Mike - we always knew he was a reactionary git.




Well yeah, but usually he's reacting to the last thing he's seen; not his new medication.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Why are the opinions of an ex-Werribee seconds player relevant?

[Go_Dogs]

Not his best effort as far as his ranking of Bulldogs players IMO.

I must admit to not having seen a heap of Brad Green over the past 12 months, but is he really one of the games elite players now?

[Mofra]

Thankyou. Perplexes me how he's rated by so many, without achieving anything.
He has two B&Fs in a team in the bottom 2-3 each year.
Griffen has a B&F in a top 4 side, taking the first tag during the finals series and being our best player for the series.

There is more than just a little difference between the two.

[LostDoggy]

I must admit to not having seen a heap of Brad Green over the past 12 months, but is he really one of the games elite players now?

Def not. 19th is well overrated. How he even rates him higher than Cooney is staggering :rolleyes:

[jazzadogs]

Reading the article that accompanied it, he mentioned how unlucky Bartel and Cooney were (and I think one other player as well?).

Said Cooney wasn't in because he didn't kick enough goals, and he finished 7th in our B&F so he can't be that good anyway.

[hujsh]

Reading the article that accompanied it, he mentioned how unlucky Bartel and Cooney were (and I think one other player as well?).

Said Cooney wasn't in because he didn't kick enough goals, and he finished 7th in our B&F so he can't be that good anyway.

Wow, completely ignored how high Cooney was in the B&F before injury, though you wouldn't expect a football journalist to know trivial facts like that, they're only professionals.

[jazzadogs]

And Lake/Hall came 8th/9th. Gia came third, so he must be included :rolleyes: It's all a bit silly.

But, at the same time, it's just a bit of fun and means nothing.

Very surprised he didn't include Maxwell. If Mark Robinson did it, Maxwell would be number 1.

[KT31]

Not his best effort as far as his ranking of Bulldogs players IMO.

I must admit to not having seen a heap of Brad Green over the past 12 months, but is he really one of the games elite players now?

Imagine if you ask each AFL club to pick between Green and Cooney, we know who they take.
IMO 17 out of 17 would take Cooney.(including Melbourne)

[Flamethrower]

I cannot understand how Sheahan can underrate Coons so badly. He is clearly the best and most important player at the Bulldogs, and for Sheahan not to have him in the top 50 shows how inaccurate and uneducated his opinion is.

When Adam was playing up until round 19 against Adelaide the Bulldogs were ranked number 1 in contested possessions and clearances in the AFL, he was neck and neck with Ryan Griffen in the B&F and the Doggies were virtually equal premiership favourites. After Adam was injured the Dogs dropped to 16th in contested possessions and clearances, Adam dropped to 7th in the B&F, and the Dogs blew out to $26 for the flag (and should have been out of the finals in straight sets).

That illustrates how good he is, and how valuable he is to us. So what if he only kicked 9 goals this year - the many assists he had, and the many times he hit Bazza on the chest laces out more than make up for it.

[Jasper]

I cannot understand how Sheahan can underrate Coons so badly. He is clearly the best and most important player at the Bulldogs, and for Sheahan not to have him in the top 50 shows how inaccurate and uneducated his opinion is.
That illustrates how good he is, and how valuable he is to us. So what if he only kicked 9 goals this year - the many assists he had, and the many times he hit Bazza on the chest laces out more than make up for it.

Mike just picks and chooses whatever stat he wants to suit his argument.
His defense of selecting Thomas as Top 10 player in the paper this morning defies logic.
When the All Australian selectors can't fit him in their top 40, his placement of Thomas just looks even more ridiculous.

eg. Luke Ball at 47. Despite being a friend of the family, how many goals does he kick. How much damage does he do by foot compared to Crossy and Jobe whom he also chose to exclude. He clearly needs a junior reporter to add some common sense to his "old man" syndrome