MVP 2021 Nick "426" Smith Memorial Trophy Leader-Board

FootyGuy13 · Mar 23, 2021

Welcome to the 2021 edition of the Melbourne Board's MVP main thread; the Nick "426" Smith Memorial Trophy. While the league is still suffering the effects that became the norm in 2020, the Dees have had quite the busy off-season by getting a big name recruit and bigger name coaches. Once again, I am running this while to trying to figure out how to contribute to the board elsewhere, and keeping the scoring method the same as it's been since 2008. It'll be an interesting race to see who will come out on top at the end of the year; I reckon our best players are fairly close in their chances of getting this. All I hope is the people keep showing up and putting their votes in every week.

Honour Roll (Bluey Truscott placings)

2020 - Christian Petracca (1st)
2019 - Max Gawn (=1st)
2018 - Max Gawn (1st)
2017 - Clayton Oliver (1st)
2016 - Max Gawn (3rd)
2015 - Tom McDonald (3rd)
2014 - Nathan Jones (1st)
2013 - Nathan Jones (1st)
2012 - Nathan Jones (1st)
2011 - Jack Trengove (5th)
2010 - Brad Green (1st)
2009 - Aaron Davey (1st)
2008 - Brad Green (3rd)*
2007 - Nathan Jones (2nd)
2006 - Brock McLean (3rd)
2005 - Brent Moloney (3rd)
2004 - Adem Yze (3rd)
2003 - Abandoned after Round 3
2002 - Adem Yze (6th)
2001 - Started in Round 10

FootyGuy13 · Mar 23, 2021

Round 1 v Freo
10 - Steven May (103)
9 - Jake Lever (93)
8 - Tom McDonald (34)
7 - Christian Petracca (17)
6 - Charlie Spargo (13)

Round 2 v Saints
10 - Clayton Oliver (108)
9 - Christian Salem (77)
8 - Kysaiah Pickett (60)
7 - Christian Petracca (34)
6 - Max Gawn (31)

Round 3 v Giants
10 - Max Gawn (101)
9 - Kysaiah Pickett (85)
8 - Jayden Hunt (41)
7 - Ed Langdon (36.5)
6 - Jack Viney (15)

Round 4 v Cats
10 - Jake Lever (67)
9 - Christian Petracca (63)
8 - Ed Langdon (45)
7 - Clayton Oliver (39)
6 - Jack Viney (39)

Round 5 v Hawks
10 - Max Gawn (121)
9 - Jake Lever (74)
8 - Ed Langdon (47)
7 - Michael Hibberd (36)
6 - Christian Salem (17)

Round 6 v Tigers
10 - Christian Salem (69)
9 - Christian Petracca (45)
8 - Jake Lever (31)
7 - Luke Jackson (15)
6 - Max Gawn (11)

Leader Board After Round 6

Round 7 v Kangaroos
10 - Kysaiah Pickett (88)
9 - Luke Jackson (67)
8 - Bayley Fritsch (58)
7 - Ed Langdon (15)
6 - Christian Salem (9)

Round 8 v Swans
10 - Tom McDonald (102)
9 - Clayton Oliver (63)
8 - Steven May (58)
7 - Christian Salem (35)
6 - James Harmes (17)

Round 9 v Blues
10 - Tom McDonald (71)
9 - Clayton Oliver (58)
8 - Christian Salem (48)
7 - Jake Lever (30)
6 - James Jordon (18)

Round 10 v Adelaide
10 - Clayton Oliver (212)
9 - Christian Petracca (36)
8 - Ed Langdon (31)
7 - Max Gawn (6)
6 - Jake Lever (5)

Round 11 v Bulldogs
10 - Clayton Oliver (66)
9 - James Harmes (53)
8 - Jake Lever (50)
7 - Angus Brayshaw (38)
6 - Charlie Spargo (30)

Leader Board After Round 11

Headless · Mar 28, 2021

Thanks for running this again, FootyGuy13. Love looking through the old records.

Headless · Jun 17, 2021

Pretty tight at the top, really.

Headless · Jul 12, 2021

This must be the closest top four we've had in a while, FootyGuy13?

Gysberts2Bate · Jul 13, 2021

Interesting to see how consistent Lever’s place at the top has been. Took Oliver a few more rounds to warm up evidently, but Jake’s been number 1 since R5

Gysberts2Bate · Jul 13, 2021

Don’t know if you can answer this FootyGuy13 without more effort than the question deserves, but is Oliver’s 47 votes between R8-13 the hottest five game streak in 426 history?

FootyGuy13 · Jul 13, 2021

Headless said:
This must be the closest top four we've had in a while, FootyGuy13?

In a while, yes, and the closest ever. No one that's been 4th with 6 rounds to go has ever been within scoring distance of first.

You have Nathan Jones in 2007 who won after being around 2 games behind in 4th, you have 2008 where nearly everyone rage quit voting after a 116-point loss to the Cats and 6 players could've won with a round to go and 2011 which saw 3 players jump the guy who was leading in those last 6 games.

Then there was a string of seasons in 2015-17 where it became close with 6 to go but someone either sprinted ahead, or did enough to seal the win with game/s to spare.

But those seasons were either low-scoring (2007, 2008) or where 4th wasn't a contender (2011, 2015-17) so we'll have to see if someone can break away or if this does continue to be a close race.

Gysberts2Bate said:
Interesting to see how consistent Lever’s place at the top has been. Took Oliver a few more rounds to warm up evidently, but Jake’s been number 1 since R5

Not quite. While Lever has been able to stay in the race for the 426 since hitting the lead in Round 5, what I might have to show after season is how Salem was ahead in Rounds 8 and 9, and Oliver's lead in Rounds 12 and 13 (and bye).

It's definitely been moving up top, it's just timing with the Leader-Board showing Lever in front.

Gysberts2Bate said:
Don’t know if you can answer this FootyGuy13 without more effort than the question deserves, but is Oliver’s 47 votes between R8-13 the hottest five game streak in 426 history?

I can answer this without effort because I already know that Gawn's streak of 5 BOGs in a row in Rounds 9 through 14, 2019 is the hottest in 426 history.

Gysberts2Bate · Jul 13, 2021

FootyGuy13 said:
I can answer this without effort because I already know that Gawn's streak of 5 BOGs in a row in Rounds 9 through 14, 2019 is the hottest in 426 history.

That'll do it. We truly were pox in 2019.

A11dAtP0w3R · Jul 29, 2021

I think ive clearly undervalued Lever this year compared to the rest of the board. Don't think he'd be in my top 6 or 7 if just going off my own votes

Headless · Jul 29, 2021

A11dAtP0w3R said:
I think ive clearly undervalued Lever this year compared to the rest of the board. Don't think he'd be in my top 6 or 7 if just going off my own votes

What would be your top 5-10 roughly?

A11dAtP0w3R · Jul 29, 2021

Headless said:
What would be your top 5-10 roughly?

No idea, would be pretty even I think, probably Oliver Petracca TMac May Salem top 5 as a guess.

Think ive given Fritsch more than he has here.

A11dAtP0w3R · Jul 29, 2021

ill go back and see since ive got fu** all to do, why not

A11dAtP0w3R · Jul 29, 2021

Oliver 25
May 20
TMac 17
Pickett 15 (genuine shock)
Petty 14 (lol)
Lever 14
Salem 13
Trac 11
Hunt 9
Gawn 9
Langdon 9
Spargo 7
Jackson 7
Fritsch 6 (i was way off)
Hibbo 6
Viney 6
Rivers 5
Gus 5
Melksham 4 (piss taking votes given in one game)
Vanders 4
ANB 3
Harmes 2
Jordon 2
Brown 1

FootyGuy13 · Oct 6, 2021

The 2021 season has come to an end while the celebrations are going to be in full swing until February. With barely any losses this season, the participation drop-off didn't happen until the second half of the season. It was also a close race for the lead of the 426, hardly any rounds where someone ended up having a game lead. Unfortunately, despite all the great performances over the season, only 1 player can have his name next to year the Dees when a Premiership.

And that player was...

While Petracca joins the group of people who have won the 426 by being the best Finals player, there's also a reason why Petracca was near the top all the way through the season (fell behind the leader by 16 points at most at some stages). Off the back of his 2020 dominance, it was great to see that he could still be among the best without the rest of the team relying on him. With Clayton Oliver standing up along side Petracca, the midfield has been the raging bull everyone has been waiting for. Oliver will most likely take out the Bluey Truscott and nearly took the 426 for himself if I had included the neutral fan votes. However, with the 426 supposed to what the Dees Board thinks is the best, Oliver will just have to put up with winning every other award instead including the Late Bloomer Award and having the most BOGs this year. The 2 seemingly took it in turns to be the main man in the middle, but ultimately it was Petracca that went Back-to-Back. Not like Oliver doesn't have many more opportunities to win many more.

It wasn't like the midfield carrying the team either. Much of the team success also came from the impenetrable wall of Jake Lever intercepting every thing that came in his direction. Jake Lever took out the Fast Starter and certainly was the best from the first 6 rounds. Lever was also in the lead every time I did an update, which was just good timing as he in the lead during Rounds 5-7, 10-11 and 15-18. Lever was the main headache for the opposition forwards every week but when he was only moderately getting the road of the enemy, Christian Salem was intercepting then rushing down the field before the other team realised they no longer had the ball. Earlier this season, Salem was being called "underated" before suddenly being in the lead of the 426 in Rounds 8 and 9. Salem also did a 2019 and disappeared in the last quarter of rounds. Luckily the Dees made finals so we got to find out that he reappears when September comes around.

1 and 2 were the midfield bulls, 3 and 4 were the defence blockade, 5 and 6 are the Ruck duo people weren't expecting quite this early. In 5th place was captain Max Gawn. Not his best season, I don't think many No.1 Ruckmen had great seasons this year, Gawn went 9 rounds without a Top 5 finish. I mean, if we just ignore the part of the season where he was the 12th best player on the team, he was up there with the rest of the Top 5 when he was on fire. But this year Gawn didn't have to be on fire every time he was on the ground, especially during that 9 round absence when Luke Jackson was voted the 2nd best player in the team. Jackson is still being played as a Forward-Ruck player but it does help to have an up-and-comer that can hold his own when Gawn is able to tower above the pack no matter where he is on the ground. There was a part of the season, with 3-4 rounds remaining, where it was looking like Jackson was gonna finish above Gawn. Then Melbourne played Geelong twice.

It's weird but also fitting how well this worked out. Midfield duo, Defence duo, Ruck duo, now in 7th and 8th are the team's best Forwards. With the forwards, the season can be spilt into 2 parts. Before and After Round 17. Before Round 17, Tom McDonald was making everyone look stupid by standing up when the teams wasn't putting up the best performances. It was great to see McDonald do well in the team again, especially now that we no longer have O(ther) McDonald to make him look good. After Round 17, and some part before as well, we had Bayley Fritsch scoring 6 goals in a game like it was just a thing he could do and not something Dees players haven't done consistently in years. Fritsch ended up 2nd on the Goal-kickers list after Finals and 3rd in the 426 after Round 17. The Forwards took the longest of all the positions to catch up to do what the rest for the team was doing, but it was great at the end of the season to just start smashing teams.

Rounding out the Top 10, we start realising that a few players deserve but missed out on a Top 10 spot. Though it's not like Steven May shouldn't be up there. May had a quiet year compared to 2020, but that's probably due to the whole defense clicking together and becoming an absolute unit. May, while intercepting, could also just bump his opponent straight out of the game, figuratively and literally. He could also take himself out of the game, especially when playing Geelong. Luckily he wasn't told about it the second time around. Another player who had a story of 2 season halves like McDonald was Ed Langdon. I don't know what happened to Langdon's second half of the season he was voted 19th best, but that first half of the season had Langdon set up to be in the conversation of being amongst the best this year. Maybe it was the fact that we just got used to a winger being a winger and sprinting down the field, who knows. Either way, everyone in the Top 10 and more did what they were supposed to do, didn't always get the spotlight and got the ultimate prize.

Those who got within a game of finished Top 10 as the season ended where the 2 small forwards in Kysaiah Pickett and Charlie Spargo. Pickett was in the lead, but no one cares who was in front after 3 rounds. Still a pretty good 3 rounds from him though. Both Pickett and Spargo had their moments, were fighting each other for a Top 10 spot at the end of the home and away season and got kept out when Fritsch rose up the ranks. Another that might have made the Top 10 if it wasn't for him scoring his first points in Round 17 was Harrison Petty. I was talking about Fritsch being one of the best in that time period, Petty could've nearly joined him up there.

About time I probably showed some of those stats:

The Cameron Bruce Fast Starter Award
I mean, you can see who was the best after 6 rounds in the 2nd post. But as a reminder, here's how Jake Lever was the best player back in April.

	R1 v Dockers	R2 v Saints	R3 v Giants	R4 v Cats	R5 v Hawks	R6 v Tigers	Total
Lever, Jake	9			10	9	8	36
Petracca, Christian	7	7		9		9	32
Gawn, Max		6	10		10	6	32
Salem, Christian		9			6	10	25
Langdon, Ed			7	8	8		23

The Nathan Jones Late Bloomer Award
The players that usually wins this don't get the spotlight as much as the Fast Starter since it's easier to win overall from the start of the season than it is from the end. Not impossible, and it's possible to win both but that's not what happened here. Clayton Oliver takes this and nearly got the 426 off the back of it.

	R18 v Hawks	R19 v Bulldogs	R20 v Suns	R21 v Eagles	R22 v Crows	R23 v Cats	Total
Oliver, Clayton	2	10	10			10	32
Jackson, Luke			9	9	9		27
Petracca, Christian	2		7	7	8		24
Petty, Harrison	10		6		6		22
Fritsch, Bayley	7				10		17

Most Best-On-Grounds
Clayton Oliver also got the most BOGs by a country mile, so it's not like he won based of the last quarter of games, just that it's when he timed his run.

Oliver, Clayton	7	R2 v Saints	R10 v Crows	R11 v Bulldogs	R19 v Bulldogs	R20 v Suns	R23 v Cats	QF v Lions
Petracca, Christian	3	R12 v Lions	R17 v Power	GF v Bulldogs
Gawn, Max	3	R3 v Giants	R5 v Hawks	PF v Cats
Salem, Christian	2	R6 v Tigers	R16 v Giants
McDonald, Tom	2	R8 v Swans	R9 v Blues
May, Steven	2	R1 v Dockers	R15 v Bombers
Lever, Jake	1	R4 v Cats
Jackson, Luke	1	R13 v Magpies
Fritsch, Bayley	1	R22 v Crows
Pickett, Kysaiah	1	R7 v Kangaroos
Petty, Harrison	1	R18 v Hawks
Neal-Bullen, Alex	1	R21 v Eagles

Best Finals Player
Lastly, we get to find out who is Mr September. Turns out it's the player that has always been touted as Melbourne's Mr September. Petracca was the only player to score in all 3 finals, with only a further 2 missing just 1 game. Petracca also nearly got a perfect run in Finals, almost guaranteeing that he go the 426.

	QF v Lions	PF v Cats	GF v Bulldogs	Total
Petracca, Christian	9	9	10	28
Fritsch, Bayley	8		9	17
Salem, Christian		6	7	13
Oliver, Clayton	10			10
Gawn, Max		10		10

Oliver, Clayton	977.22
Gawn, Max	622.22
Petracca, Christian	594.91
Lever, Jake	564.22
Salem, Christian	437.97
May, Steven	346.65
Jackson, Luke	336.16
Pickett, Kysaiah	334.22
McDonald, Tom	310.97
Fritsch, Bayley	257.41
Langdon, Ed	252.97
Spargo, Charlie	146.22
Harmes, James	140.47
Neal-Bullen, Alex	140.47
Petty, Harrison	139.22
Brayshaw, Angus	115.16
Viney, Jack	106.72
Jordon, James	84.00
Hunt, Jayden	83.00
Rivers, Trent	77.97
Brown, Ben	70.22
Hibberd, Michael	59.72
Tomlinson, Adam	49.00
Jones, Nathan	29.00
Sparrow, Tom	23.22
Bowey, Jake	18.97
Melksham, Jake	7.00
Smith, Joel	5.25
vandenBerg, Aaron	4.00
Brown, Mitch	3.00
Frost, Sam	3.00
Jetta, Neville	1.00
Weideman, Sam	1.00

Thank You for voting in these, giving your opinion and shaping the way the awards end up the way they do. Let's see what happens when we're the team that has to defend the Cup now.

Next up: Stats that may impress you

Gysberts2Bate · Oct 6, 2021

Pretty remarkable that Oliver didn’t win, and actually only has one 426 victory. I’d probably have Trac 3-5 in our best players of the year - still no doubt a very deserved win.

LeverPuller · Oct 7, 2021

Thank you again FootyGuy13 for running the 426 - very much appreciated by us all.

FootyGuy13 · Oct 9, 2021

Top 20 of (from left to right) the Highest Scoring Season, Biggest Take of Votes in 1 Game, Most Votes in a Season and Most Votes in 1 Game.

The Best Players against Every Club using the 3-2-1 System

The Best Players per every 100 Vote Threads

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MVP 2021 Nick "426" Smith Memorial Trophy Leader-Board

FootyGuy13

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