Cripps Bontempelli Merrett Kelly - the next big 4?

[ManOfClay]

2) Who has had best career to date? Kelly=Bont/Merrett=Cripps

How this isn’t Bont by the Flemington straight escapes me.

 

[eth-dog]

Who would you take out of the four?

These 4? I wouldn't trade Merrett for any of the other three. Of the other three though I'd take Bont then Cripps then Kelly for Essendon's needs, but Kelly is probably the best of them.

And if St. Kilda wanted any of them in they would require trading Billings and a first.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

Right, who would want a very damaging midfielder who gets 30 touches a game when you can have an inconsistent half forward who's kicking for goal leaves much to be desired?

This guy gets it.
I don’t think anyone doubts Billing’s has talent, but isn’t even close to any of the others yet.

Zerrit is an outright gun.

 

[Masqualero]

Levi 106 goals 78 behinds
Bont 78 goals 66 behinds
Cripps 23 goals 33 behinds

Definitely not Levi Bont levels, much, much worse.

He has great hands and is a good size, being more of a threat forward would be a nice bow to add to his game. He was fantastic tonight.

It doesn't count all the ones Levi put out on the full

 

[Jesslc]

These 4? I wouldn't trade Merrett for any of the other three. Of the other three though I'd take Bont then Cripps then Kelly for Essendon's needs, but Kelly is probably the best of them.

And if St. Kilda wanted any of them in they would require trading Billings and a first.

No not trade. You aren't giving Merrett away. If you didn't have any of them and you had to pick one. I don't think in your heart of hearts you'd take Merrett. I think you might just love Merrett with the perspective of an essendon supporter. Do you think thats a possibility?

 

[eth-dog]

No not trade. You aren't giving Merrett away. If you didn't have any of them and you had to pick one. I don't think in your heart of hearts you'd take Merrett. I think you might just love Merrett with the perspective of an essendon supporter. Do you think thats a possibility?

If you're accusing me of being biased, of course I am. Which is why I exclude Merrett from that POV. Merrett is firmly in the discussion, which is all I care about.

 

[cecil]

Time to condense 179 pages into a post:

Bont:
Strength: Hugely damaging, can influence a game with limited touches, can go forward and hit the scoreboard
Weakness: Still gaining a bit of consistency. Rarely has a bad game, but does go through more average patches.
Potential: If he gained a few more possessions a game, and tidied up his goal kicking he would be in the top 5 in the comp.

Kelly:
Strength: Very smooth, probably the more complete player out of the 4
Weakness: Still has a relatively small sample size of being a gun compared to the others
Potential: Needs to incrementally improve, including the odd extra goal, and will be top 5 in the comp.

Merrett: Racks up touches, good kick
Weakness: Isn't as damaging as the other two. Could hit the scoreboard more.
Potential: Will be interesting to see what happens if Essendons midfield improve. Will it allow him to drift forward more and kick goals?

Cripps:
Strength: Clearly the best inside of the 4. Can go forward
Weakness: Comparatively not as polished as the others.
Potential: Could be the best inside player in the league, but needs to gradually improve his classiness if he is to be top 5 in the league.

Best career so far: Bont. Hard to argue against I feel. AA/Club B&F in a premiership year, another B&F since. This year will be the tipping point if Kelly has a blinder and he stangnates.

Best year so far: Kelly 2017. Hard to argue against again.

Best future career: Noone has any idea. All 4 are probably currently top 20 players in the league which is astounding for their age. Bont gets looked down on recently because of the hype, Cripps and Merrett looked down on as they haven't played for teams challenging yet. Kelly probably looked more favourably upon because his outstanding year was nearest.

 

[90N90S]

You can build a team around Crippa and Curnow don't give a s**t about score involvements or his kicking.

Crippa is a absolute star will dominate teams for years to come.

All four in this poll are excellent players would have any of them but very happy we have Crippa.

 

[ManOfClay]

It doesn't count all the ones Levi put out on the full

What about the ones Cripps has too?

That first shot on goal last night was comical

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Can’t be stuffed trawling through the previous 178 pages of this thread, but if someone hasn’t said it already Matt Crouch definitely deserves to be part of this conversation. He’s a superstar.

 

[Masqualero]

Can’t be stuffed trawling through the previous 178 pages of this thread, but if someone hasn’t said it already Matt Crouch definitely deserves to be part of this conversation. He’s a superstar.

I'd rather include Graham

Jack Graham that is

 

[Milanista28]

Pretty good stat on Foxtel

Richmond v Carlton
Patrick Cripps - 36 disposals, 25 contested, 4 score involvements
Dustin Martin - 32 disposals, 17 contested, 13 score involvements

Martin played forward a lot yesterday and his team had 37 scoring shots so this stat should favor Dusty.

 

[Parish2McGrath]

Just saw this thread pop up on the main board for the first time in 2018.

Footy's back.

 

[cecil]

You can build a team around Crippa and Curnow don't give a s**t about score involvements or his kicking.

Crippa is a absolute star will dominate teams for years to come.

All four in this poll are excellent players would have any of them but very happy we have Crippa.

It could definitely be argued that the style of a player like Cripps suits you much better than a guy like Merrett would while rebuilding.

 

[Juddernaut08]

How this isn’t Bont by the Flemington straight escapes me.

If pressed, I'd put Bont just ahead of Kelly for career to date. But it's really that damn close.

Flemington straight is laughable stuff.

 

[Blackhawk42]

I don’t dislike the Bont at all.

Not that I’d expect you to, but you could check my posting history and you’d see I love watching play - one of my favourite opposition players.

Some others I love watching are Martin, Oliver, Ben Brown, Ryder etc...

Sorry, wasn't a dig at anyone specifically. I just see a heap of it on social media and amongst friends as I mentioned.

 

[Jade]

Sorry, wasn't a dig at anyone specifically. I just see a heap of it on social media and amongst friends as I mentioned.

Odd player to hate.

Is he renowned for being an off-field douche? Never heard anything like that myself.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

So Cripps, Bontempelli, Kelly and Merrett are the clear top 4.

Who's the next to make it a 5 and will there be 10 complete standouts?

 

[The 747]

If pressed, I'd put Bont just ahead of Kelly for career to date. But it's really that damn close.

Flemington straight is laughable stuff.

Two time B&F, one in a flag year. Premiership player. AA like the others. Bont comfortably ahead on achievements to date but slowed a little last year and the others are coming fast.

 

[Jade]

So Cripps, Bontempelli, Kelly and Merrett are the clear top 4.

Who's the next to make it a 5 and will there be 10 complete standouts?

Honestly I think Crouch should already be in the discussion. Gun.

 

[SkyhorseTamer]

Martin played forward a lot yesterday and his team had 37 scoring shots so this stat should favor Dusty.

Plus dusty had 1 tackle. Cripps had 7... cherry picking really.

 

[branedotorg]

One thing they both done over Kelly, Bontempelli & M Crouch is shine in a shitty team. Kelly has Shiel, Coniiglio, Ward, Scully, Whitfield around him taking a lot of pressure. Likewise Bont was incredible in the GF year but had a lot of support, less so though in 2017.

Hope I one day see Cripps playing (at Carlton!) in a team where there are 4-5 other mids everyone rates

 

[Ambrosia]

Odd player to hate.

Is he renowned for being an off-field douche? Never heard anything like that myself.

He's next level arrogant or at least was. That being siad it's hard to blame .

 

[Jade]

He's next level arrogant or at least was. That being siad it's hard to blame .

Meh, champions often are. Occupational hazard.

 

[doggies ftw]

He's next level arrogant or at least was. That being siad it's hard to blame .

Lol. Hes the most humble, down to earth bloke you'll ever meet. And thats from people who know him well. Not to mention literally every single person in the industry.