đź’Ž AFLW 100 MVP - 3rd Edition - Who are the most valuable players ahead of the 2021/22 season?? đź’Ž

Of the ten youngest All-Australian players, who are you taking first in a re-draft?


  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
Draft Central Rookie Me Central has compiled, and is in the process of revealing, a countdown entitled “2022 AFL WOMEN’S TOP 50”.

When such a project succumbs to the vague and lazy “top” parameter so prevalent in most football “analysis”, it's probably not highly productive to compare it to my list where the useful and considered criteria is explained and abided by… But I can’t help myself from second-guessing the logic behind some of the selections.

What we do know for sure is this Top 50 is the amalgamation of eight separate lists submitted by people, of which at least a couple are absolute buffoons in my book, from various “independent media organisations”.

Here are the 50-36 rankings (with my own 100 MVP rankings in brackets), and comments in the instances where I can’t stay silent.

50 Ash Brazill (100 MVP: honourable mention) As it happens, I had Brazill at 50 in the first edition of the 100 MVP rankings back when a sensible risk assessment of her AFLW career didn't set off flashing lights and alarm bells. So it's good to know the multitude can be occasionally capable of shrewdness, albeit often late to the party.

49 Tayla Harris (41)
48 Courtney Hodder (34)
47 Eden Zanker (45)
46 Kirsty Lamb (51)
45 Tyanna Smith (12)
44 Breanna Koenen (77)

43 Dana Hooker (19)
Kneejerk codswallop after one freak off-field accident sullied an otherwise unblemished record of durability. Deserves the same high praise as fellow honest workhorses Kearney, Paxman and Bowers.

42 Georgie Prespakis (--) Quickly making a mockery of the whole concept now. Evaluating a player’s standing in the league before she has the chance to play in said league: not fair on her, and totally disrespectful of those who have earned the right of incumbency.

41 Breann Moody (74)
40 Hayley Miller (72)
39 Emma King (75)
38 Dakota Davidson (43)

37 Meg McDonald (--)
No counter-attacking chops to justify a place in the top 10% that, in terms of defenders, ought to be reserved for players of Kate Lutkins' quality. Combine that weakness with the fact she’s now 30yo and has always lacked any notable physical prowess, it would be unconscionable to have her above any young standout backs like Sarah Allan, Ruby Schleicher, Tahlia Randall… and quite a few more, so this countdown is going to be stacked with those types if any consistency is applied.

36 Stacey Livingstone (--) Ditto. But there’s also an even greater weakness being overlooked in Livingstone’s case, which (in case I didn't already make it clear) was on full display when she crumbled under pressure in the preliminary final loss to Brisbane.
 
Draft Central Rookie Me Central has compiled, and is in the process of revealing, a countdown entitled “2022 AFL WOMEN’S TOP 50”.

When such a project succumbs to the vague and lazy “top” parameter so prevalent in most football “analysis”, it's probably not highly productive to compare it to my list where the useful and considered criteria is explained and abided by… But I can’t help myself from second-guessing the logic behind some of the selections.

What we do know for sure is this Top 50 is the amalgamation of eight separate lists submitted by people, of which at least a couple are absolute buffoons in my book, from various “independent media organisations”.

Here are the 50-36 rankings (with my own 100 MVP rankings in brackets), and comments in the instances where I can’t stay silent.

50 Ash Brazill (100 MVP: honourable mention) As it happens, I had Brazill at 50 in the first edition of the 100 MVP rankings back when a sensible risk assessment of her AFLW career didn't set off flashing lights and alarm bells. So it's good to know the multitude can be occasionally capable of shrewdness, albeit often late to the party.

49 Tayla Harris (41)
48 Courtney Hodder (34)
47 Eden Zanker (45)
46 Kirsty Lamb (51)
45 Tyanna Smith (12)
44 Breanna Koenen (77)

43 Dana Hooker (19)
Kneejerk codswallop after one freak off-field accident sullied an otherwise unblemished record of durability. Deserves the same high praise as fellow honest workhorses Kearney, Paxman and Bowers.

42 Georgie Prespakis (--) Quickly making a mockery of the whole concept now. Evaluating a player’s standing in the league before she has the chance to play in said league: not fair on her, and totally disrespectful of those who have earned the right of incumbency.

41 Breann Moody (74)
40 Hayley Miller (72)
39 Emma King (75)
38 Dakota Davidson (43)

37 Meg McDonald (--)
No counter-attacking chops to justify a place in the top 10% that, in terms of defenders, ought to be reserved for players of Kate Lutkins' quality. Combine that weakness with the fact she’s now 30yo and has always lacked any notable physical prowess, it would be unconscionable to have her above any young standout backs like Sarah Allan, Ruby Schleicher, Tahlia Randall… and quite a few more, so this countdown is going to be stacked with those types if any consistency is applied.

36 Stacey Livingstone (--) Ditto. But there’s also an even greater weakness being overlooked in Livingstone’s case, which (in case I didn't already make it clear) was on full display when she crumbled under pressure in the preliminary final loss to Brisbane.
And here is 35-21 of the same list

35 Daisy Pearce (my 100 MVP ranking: 25)
34 Rebecca Beeson (35)

33 Sarah Allan (55)
32 Kerryn Harrington (--)
31 Janelle Cuthbertson (--)
Someone had their thumb on the scales by putting her top 20. An honest observer would unequivocally prefer Sarah Allan on their team over Cuthbertson and Harrington.

30 Emily Bates (8) Everybody likes to pretend they don't get sucked in by the stats sheet. And then most of them say a hack-kick extraordinaire like Ebony Marinoff (or Brittany Bonnici, or Ally Anderson, etc.) is better than a player like Bates who takes care of her teammates by taking care of the ball.

29 Katie Brennan (17)
28 Gemma Houghton (16)
27 Kate Hore (39)
26 Ellie McKenzie (9)

25 Ruby Schleicher (54)
No doubt she just had a very good season after five attempts (the previous four being "rubbish" in her own words), whereas the bland-by-comparison Allan has never put a foot wrong. And what about Libby Birch, whose ratio of good-to-bad seasons is the inverse of Schleicher's... is she going to be in the top 20, or will the goldfish memories claim another victim?

24 Ashleigh Riddell (7)

23 Ally Anderson (46)
22 Brittany Bonnici (52)

21 Darcy Vescio (31)
Hurts the popular narrative but the fact is Vescio and Brennan never lost their gift as match-winners. How many people rating those two highly now are the same people slinging mud at them during the previous few years under the old "game has gone past them" guise? Beats being too insecure to admit when you're wrong, at least.
 
Draft Central Rookie Me Central has compiled, and is in the process of revealing, a countdown entitled “2022 AFL WOMEN’S TOP 50”.

When such a project succumbs to the vague and lazy “top” parameter so prevalent in most football “analysis”, it's probably not highly productive to compare it to my list where the useful and considered criteria is explained and abided by… But I can’t help myself from second-guessing the logic behind some of the selections.

What we do know for sure is this Top 50 is the amalgamation of eight separate lists submitted by people, of which at least a couple are absolute buffoons in my book, from various “independent media organisations”.

Here are the 50-36 rankings (with my own 100 MVP rankings in brackets), and comments in the instances where I can’t stay silent.

50 Ash Brazill (100 MVP: honourable mention) As it happens, I had Brazill at 50 in the first edition of the 100 MVP rankings back when a sensible risk assessment of her AFLW career didn't set off flashing lights and alarm bells. So it's good to know the multitude can be occasionally capable of shrewdness, albeit often late to the party.

49 Tayla Harris (41)
48 Courtney Hodder (34)
47 Eden Zanker (45)
46 Kirsty Lamb (51)
45 Tyanna Smith (12)
44 Breanna Koenen (77)

43 Dana Hooker (19)
Kneejerk codswallop after one freak off-field accident sullied an otherwise unblemished record of durability. Deserves the same high praise as fellow honest workhorses Kearney, Paxman and Bowers.

42 Georgie Prespakis (--) Quickly making a mockery of the whole concept now. Evaluating a player’s standing in the league before she has the chance to play in said league: not fair on her, and totally disrespectful of those who have earned the right of incumbency.

41 Breann Moody (74)
40 Hayley Miller (72)
39 Emma King (75)
38 Dakota Davidson (43)

37 Meg McDonald (--)
No counter-attacking chops to justify a place in the top 10% that, in terms of defenders, ought to be reserved for players of Kate Lutkins' quality. Combine that weakness with the fact she’s now 30yo and has always lacked any notable physical prowess, it would be unconscionable to have her above any young standout backs like Sarah Allan, Ruby Schleicher, Tahlia Randall… and quite a few more, so this countdown is going to be stacked with those types if any consistency is applied.

36 Stacey Livingstone (--) Ditto. But there’s also an even greater weakness being overlooked in Livingstone’s case, which (in case I didn't already make it clear) was on full display when she crumbled under pressure in the preliminary final loss to Brisbane.
And here is 20-11 of the same list

20 Lauren Pearce (my 100 MVP ranking: 84) If you feel the best rucks are just as important as the best of other positions, then sure, put the best rucks inside the top 20 or so. But to include Pearce, and not Breann Moody, in that bracket is illogical... especially in a list which is otherwise heavily weighted towards performance in the most recent season. The "well she gets beat in the hitouts, but she's like an extra midfielder" spiel doesn't really cut it when Moody averages merely 2.6 disposals less and tackles just as much. Somebody ranked Pearce at 2nd which is idiotic.

19 Jaimee Lambert (13)
18 Isabel Huntington (44)
17 Tyla Hanks (4)
16 Chelsea Randall (24)

15 Monique Conti (3)
Laughable to not be in everybody's top 5, no matter how vague the criteria.

14 Kate Lutkins (23)

13 Georgia Patrikios (30)
I'mma say my analysis, which paints her as not-the-brightest-bulb, holds up better. Perhaps it's less about the coach than I initially figured though, and more to do with some other misguided people of influence.

12 Emma Kearney (20)
11 Erin Phillips (18)
 
Draft Central Rookie Me Central has compiled, and is in the process of revealing, a countdown entitled “2022 AFL WOMEN’S TOP 50”.

When such a project succumbs to the vague and lazy “top” parameter so prevalent in most football “analysis”, it's probably not highly productive to compare it to my list where the useful and considered criteria is explained and abided by… But I can’t help myself from second-guessing the logic behind some of the selections.

What we do know for sure is this Top 50 is the amalgamation of eight separate lists submitted by people, of which at least a couple are absolute buffoons in my book, from various “independent media organisations”.

Here are the 50-36 rankings (with my own 100 MVP rankings in brackets), and comments in the instances where I can’t stay silent.

50 Ash Brazill (100 MVP: honourable mention) As it happens, I had Brazill at 50 in the first edition of the 100 MVP rankings back when a sensible risk assessment of her AFLW career didn't set off flashing lights and alarm bells. So it's good to know the multitude can be occasionally capable of shrewdness, albeit often late to the party.

49 Tayla Harris (41)
48 Courtney Hodder (34)
47 Eden Zanker (45)
46 Kirsty Lamb (51)
45 Tyanna Smith (12)
44 Breanna Koenen (77)

43 Dana Hooker (19)
Kneejerk codswallop after one freak off-field accident sullied an otherwise unblemished record of durability. Deserves the same high praise as fellow honest workhorses Kearney, Paxman and Bowers.

42 Georgie Prespakis (--) Quickly making a mockery of the whole concept now. Evaluating a player’s standing in the league before she has the chance to play in said league: not fair on her, and totally disrespectful of those who have earned the right of incumbency.

41 Breann Moody (74)
40 Hayley Miller (72)
39 Emma King (75)
38 Dakota Davidson (43)

37 Meg McDonald (--)
No counter-attacking chops to justify a place in the top 10% that, in terms of defenders, ought to be reserved for players of Kate Lutkins' quality. Combine that weakness with the fact she’s now 30yo and has always lacked any notable physical prowess, it would be unconscionable to have her above any young standout backs like Sarah Allan, Ruby Schleicher, Tahlia Randall… and quite a few more, so this countdown is going to be stacked with those types if any consistency is applied.

36 Stacey Livingstone (--) Ditto. But there’s also an even greater weakness being overlooked in Livingstone’s case, which (in case I didn't already make it clear) was on full display when she crumbled under pressure in the preliminary final loss to Brisbane.
And here is 10-1 of the same list.

10 Anne Hatchard (my 100 MVP ranking: 26) Remember in 2020 when an Eva-less GWS won in SA? To be fair, Adelaide weren't at their strongest either (crippled Phillips, no Randall... sounds familiar). But you have to erase that match, and the grand final loss vs Brisbane, from your memory to justify more top 10 reservations for the Crows than for the Giants and Lions combined. Even if you only looked at the stats, you'd still have to make up a bunch of fluff in order to place Hatchard and Rebecca Beeson on separate shelves.

9 Chloe Molloy (1)
8 Karen Paxman (21)
7 Ebony Marinoff (47)
6 Madison Prespakis (5)

5 Alyce Parker (27)
Always good for high metres gained as long as that doesn't involve kicking the ball through the goals, but she's got a little bit of creativity via hand to distinguish herself from Ebony Marinoff.

4 Ellie Blackburn (6)
3 Jasmine Garner (2)

2 & 1 or 1 & 2, order TBC, Kiara Bowers (22) and Brianna Davey (15)
Parroting the umpires and Champion Data--isn't that what we have Sarah Black for? Why do we need independent media if it just means more people overlooking Ebony Antonio, Lily Mithen, Jenna Bruton, Sarah Rowe, Jess Wuetschner, Lucy McEvoy, Mikayla Bowen, Kalinda Howarth...
 
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