In this game of AFR, depth is good, but Superstars are better. Commissioner Caple created the table on the team page where players ranked in the top 20 of a position are highlighted in green. If your player is not in that top 20, you are starting from behind the 8 ball. And what is better than a top 20 player – the top ranked player. As an example looking at last year’s stats for the Forward position; there was a 4 point drop off in the average score from Harry McKay in first to Tom Hawkins in 6th place, where as there was only a 0.5 point per game drop off from the 15th ranked player to the 20th ranked player. Having the top player in a position matters.
Superstars make super teams. The Dingoes dominated for years off the work of Aaron Sandilands (in fact they haven’t won a title since they traded him). Natas’ first 10 years of excellence was largely due to Dustin Fletcher. The Titans and Brawlers established dynasties (and scoring records) due to Tom Mitchell prolific accumulation of disposals. Having the best player in any one position gives you an advantage that can not be beaten.
There are 10 positions, and 10 teams in each league. On average, each team should have one player who is leading the league in a position. If your team has the leading player in two positions you are above average. Three positions is basically unheard of. And yet as things currently stand, there is one team who has 4 different players leading the league in 4 different positions… The Digital Dingoes.
Nick Larkey is the best forward in the league. Christian Petracca is the best centre in the league. Bailey Smith is the best tagger in the league. And Brodie Grundy is the best ruck in the league.
What does all this add up to? Are the Dingoes the favourite for the Premiership as things stand? Has the move to the Sunshine of Queensland cleared the fog of the last 10 years from the mind of the Guru? Are the Dingoes back…
The Judge’s Verdict – need more evidence.
Bruce McAvaney
Dear Judge (or should that be janitor),
The Titans and Brawlers have each won just 1 flag in the Tom Mitchell era. I’d suggest that the court of public opinion would successfully argue that this is not a “dynasty”. Now, 4 flags in 6 years? That’s a dynasty and a case study in which you could learn just a little bit.