Prediction 2025 Most Important Player

[Danger in Texas]

If he can get his 20 thatll do.

I dont think Rankine plays 80-90% midfield next year either, 50-60% would be ideal.

Yeah exactly

Would love to see a pretty even mix of minutes between Dawson/Rankine/Soligo/Peatling/Crouch

 

[Crow_Magnon]

Reckon Bond needs to be rated higher. He's our best option for smaller, more nimble forwards, and has shown he can do the job. Without Hamill, we're limited in that area. Can't argue about the others too much.

 

[Coopers]

Important different from best right?

Filthy at #1. If he hits his potential and does what he looks like he can do... he'll be the best forward in the game. Will it happen? If he's injured we rely on old Tex. If he's just... playing poorly, we are dysfunctional.

Rankine at #2. If he plays those "I'm untouchable and the best player on the field, involved in everything" games more often than not, we are doing well.

Solid cases for Murray, ROB and Fog being hugely important as well. Don't know how we fix them being injured or being out of form.

 

[Smoooothy]

for the happy clappers
1 - Laird
2 - Smith
3 - RoB
4 - Murphy

for those of us who are actually in the real world
1 - Rankine
2 - Dawson (could easily interchange 1 and 2)
3 - Worrell
4 - Michaelanney
5 - Fogarty
6 - Thrillhouse
7 - Soligo

 

[Scorpus]

What's going to make us a finalist isn't players like Dawson and Rankine performing again to their usual high standard - they already did that and we didn't make finals - it's going to be other players taking their game to the next level

So from my perspective the most important players are those that have another level and need to reach it

1. Soligo - if he can take his game from being a 4th or 5th midfielder and elevate it to 1st or 2nd best mid, the overall strength of our side will go up massively

2. Peatling - if he can come in and do what we all want him to, we'll suddenly have a stronger midfield with more depth that bats deeper than just 1 or 2 players

3. Pick 4 - a top five midfielder in a midfield stacked draft should come in and have an impact in their first season and displace the 22nd best player in our side. It shouldn't be underestimated how massive a difference that could have on the team. Instead of us having our depth midfield rotation being guys like Berry, Schoenberg, Murphy and Laird we should have a future star in that role.

4. Curtin - the ceiling on this guy is enormous. If he can perform anywhere close to it, we'll gain another star into the team and it could be a huge improvement on a number of players across the field

5. Thilthorpe - with this likely to be Walker's last season, we need Thilthorpe to become the player he looks like becoming. That will be a massive benefit to our forward line, and the only reason I don't have him higher is because the midfield is more important to our success

If a couple of those five deliver a big year, it will be massive for us and should propel us up the ladder. Other mentions

6. Neal-Bullen - replacing probably the weakest player in our 22 with Neal-Bullen should change the dynamics of our forward line, that's if we get rid of Murphy of course which is no guarantee

7. Rachele - 20-30% more output from him and he's approaching star of the league levels, if we can get a top 10 pick up to his ceiling again that would be huge for the side

8. Cumming - if he's fit and firing he will change our ball movement off half back, finally adding someone else that has some pace and disposal, and it should mean the end of Smith. That's very important to us

9. Keane - showed he had all the offensive tools to his game, if he can cement his spot in the side and improve his defensive work, our backline will start looking elite with him alongside Murray and Worrell. If he falls away in quality we start looking a bit exposed down there.

10. O'Brien - he's been bloody terrible for years now, if he can work his way back into B&F form and start taking marks and doing literally anything around the ground, we won't have this useless lumbering turnover merchant in the team

 

[Danger in Texas]

What's going to make us a finalist isn't players like Dawson and Rankine performing again to their usual high standard - they already did that and we didn't make finals - it's going to be other players taking their game to the next level

So from my perspective the most important players are those that have another level and need to reach it

1. Soligo - if he can take his game from being a 4th or 5th midfielder and elevate it to 1st or 2nd best mid, the overall strength of our side will go up massively

2. Peatling - if he can come in and do what we all want him to, we'll suddenly have a stronger midfield with more depth that bats deeper than just 1 or 2 players

3. Pick 4 - a top five midfielder in a midfield stacked draft should come in and have an impact in their first season and displace the 22nd best player in our side. It shouldn't be underestimated how massive a difference that could have on the team. Instead of us having our depth midfield rotation being guys like Berry, Schoenberg, Murphy and Laird we should have a future star in that role.

4. Curtin - the ceiling on this guy is enormous. If he can perform anywhere close to it, we'll gain another star into the team and it could be a huge improvement on a number of players across the field

5. Thilthorpe - with this likely to be Walker's last season, we need Thilthorpe to become the player he looks like becoming. That will be a massive benefit to our forward line, and the only reason I don't have him higher is because the midfield is more important to our success

If a couple of those five deliver a big year, it will be massive for us and should propel us up the ladder. Other mentions

6. Neal-Bullen - replacing probably the weakest player in our 22 with Neal-Bullen should change the dynamics of our forward line, that's if we get rid of Murphy of course which is no guarantee

7. Rachele - 20-30% more output from him and he's approaching star of the league levels, if we can get a top 10 pick up to his ceiling again that would be huge for the side

8. Cumming - if he's fit and firing he will change our ball movement off half back, finally adding someone else that has some pace and disposal, and it should mean the end of Smith. That's very important to us

9. Keane - showed he had all the offensive tools to his game, if he can cement his spot in the side and improve his defensive work, our backline will start looking elite with him alongside Murray and Worrell. If he falls away in quality we start looking a bit exposed down there.

10. O'Brien - he's been bloody terrible for years now, if he can work his way back into B&F form and start taking marks and doing literally anything around the ground, we won't have this useless lumbering turnover merchant in the team

I mean, if all of the above happens for the 10 you mention but Dawson and Rankine play less than half a season each, we don’t make finals

But I get your point

 

[Scorpus]

I mean, if all of the above happens for the 10 you mention but Dawson and Rankine play less than half a season each, we don’t make finals

But I get your point

That's a different kind of importance.

If our two best players got injured for half the season you may as well write off the year, hit the draft and go again. Very unlikely any team would succeed under those circumstances.

What's important for us is taking the leap from bottom 8 to premiership contender and that doesn't happen without improvement from at least 5-8 squad members that currently aren't our best

 

[Danger in Texas]

That's a different kind of importance.

If our two best players got injured for half the season you may as well write off the year, hit the draft and go again. Very unlikely any team would succeed under those circumstances.

What's important for us is taking the leap from bottom 8 to premiership contender and that doesn't happen without improvement from at least 5-8 squad members that currently aren't our best

Is that the ‘most important players’ in a vacuum though, or specifically ‘most important players we need to see improvement from’?

Even if it’s different, it’s a valid way of looking at it

 

[Scorpus]

Is that the ‘most important players’ in a vacuum though, or specifically ‘most important players we need to see improvement from’?

Even if it’s different, it’s a valid way of looking at it

I think it's a distinction between our "best" players and "most important" players.

Dawson and Rankine are our best players.

But we've had them both for a few years now and finished outside finals. They are important, but how far does that importance stretch?

The way I see it is that all else equal to previous seasons, the difference between Dawson and Rankine playing at their peak or being injured is how high we finish in the bottom 10.

The difference, all else equal, between Thilthorpe being injured and Thilthorpe becoming a star of the competition and playing at his peak could be enough to take us to finals. Apply that to 2 or 3 players and the difference in performance could be massive. Achieving that is super important.

So I'd personally rank growth for players in the squad as being more important to success than our existing star players being available to play.

To be fair though I guess Kane did say in the OP it's who we could least afford to lose.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I think it's a distinction between our "best" players and "most important" players.

Dawson and Rankine are our best players.

But we've had them both for a few years now and finished outside finals. They are important, but how far does that importance stretch?

The way I see it is that all else equal to previous seasons, the difference between Dawson and Rankine playing at their peak or being injured is how high we finish in the bottom 10.

The difference, all else equal, between Thilthorpe being injured and Thilthorpe becoming a star of the competition and playing at his peak could be enough to take us to finals. Apply that to 2 or 3 players and the difference in performance could be massive. Achieving that is super important.

So I'd personally rank growth for players in the squad as being more important to success than our existing star players being available to play.

To be fair though I guess Kane did say in the OP it's who we could least afford to lose.

Yes, this is the key measure... who can we least afford to get successful next sesson.

Eg. The only reason I ranked ROB so high is because we have little backup ruck options & would seriously derail our season.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Is that the ‘most important players’ in a vacuum though, or specifically ‘most important players we need to see improvement from’?

Even if it’s different, it’s a valid way of looking at it

See my last post.

 

[Thrillthorpe7]

ANB ain’t gonna kick many goals though

He didn't need to at Melbourne for Petracca to thrive as more a mid/forward rather than forward/mid

 

[WeeBlake]

1. Rankine - match winner at his best, if he is killing it in the middle others (Soligo, Dawson) will get less attention. Need to look after his loading tho, those hammies are dodgy. 50% mid.

2. TT - as much for his ability to win it and distribute on the wing as inside 50. Our inability to transition early last year was partly due to his absence.

3. Dawson - need him back at his best, either in midfield or as a marking/rebounding half back

4. Soligo or Peatling- need to go to the next level

If that all goes well, we’ll be competitive every week.

 

[Sizzlepack]

Fun fact: I recently spoke to someone who works in list management for an AFL club. He said that according to his models, Rankine was the third-best midfielder in the competition this year. Getting a full season out of him is essential.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

The 19th man?

 

[Captain Furious]

Rankine is #1 - his speed & skill are unlike any other player we have and without him, our team lacks a point of difference. If you asked opposition coaches who the Crows player they would remove if they could, I think it'd be 17 out of 17 Rankine.

Surprised to see ROB so high with many, even with our ruck dearth. The only thing he does well is tap the ball, which statistically and practically, is the least important action in the game. ROB finished well clear as leading hit outs in the comp yet was dropped during the year and we finished bottom 4. It just doesn't matter who wins the tap.

Given we're still a little short on skill, I'd like to see him start in the SANFL - we can't afford to give up a spot in the team to a player who can't perform the basic actions the sport requires. We have 5 best 22 players who are 195cm and above, let's rotate them through (+ Tex in the forward line) to provide a basic physical contest (or not and look to shark the tap as an extra mid) without ever worrying about winning the tap. Run the opposition ruck into the ground by half time and create constant outnumbers at contests. We haven't done anything original or forward thinking since Blight and ROB just doesn't make us better.

 

[adelaidecrows]

Reckon Bond needs to be rated higher. He's our best option for smaller, more nimble forwards, and has shown he can do the job. Without Hamill, we're limited in that area. Can't argue about the others too much.

Wasnt the issue when he was drafted that he was green and had to do a lot of maturing? another solid pre season under his belt, he could be every bit of a best 22 even starting defender. Like many of our young players he is showing up those who thought the world was ending and labelled our drafting shit. It was sub par between 2016-2019 and I do think that had a lot of Pyke interfering with our draft selections and not to mention the Gibbs howler which cost us some talent.

 

[Captain Furious]

Wasnt the issue when he was drafted that he was green and had to do a lot of maturing? another solid pre season under his belt, he could be every bit of a best 22 even starting defender. Like many of our young players he is showing up those who thought the world was ending and labelled our drafting shit. It was sub par between 2016-2019 and I do think that had a lot of Pyke interfering with our draft selections and not to mention the Gibbs howler which cost us some talent.

Without wanting to derail the thread with a topic that has been well and truly covered:

In 2020 we had 4 top 30 picks and ended up with Pedlar, Cook and Berry - none of who make our best team. (TT was a no brainer at 2)

In 2021 we took Rachele over NWM, even though we'd seen NWM up close at our academy

In 2022 the drafting of MM had nothing to do with our recruiting team

Last year, we had 3 top 30 picks and with the team desperately in need of midfield class, we took a tall, a guy who didn't even make his state team and a half back flanker.

To say our drafting is shit is kind. It's the number 1 reason we haven't made in finals 7(!) years.

 

[Eagleboy2011]

Without wanting to derail the thread with a topic that has been well and truly covered:

In 2020 we had 4 top 30 picks and ended up with Pedlar, Cook and Berry - none of who make our best team. (TT was a no brainer at 2)

In 2021 we took Rachele over NWM, even though we'd seen NWM up close at our academy

In 2022 the drafting of MM had nothing to do with our recruiting team

Last year, we had 3 top 30 picks and with the team desperately in need of midfield class, we took a tall, a guy who didn't even make his state team and a half back flanker.

To say our drafting is shit is kind. It's the number 1 reason we haven't made in finals 7(!) years.

I still feel Pedlar and Berry will turn out good. Cook has plateaued.
Rachelle is a gun.
Of last years draft not too many of the draft picks after our second pick are excelling. Hawthorn got a gem in Calsher Dear in the late 50's.

 

[Captain Furious]

I still feel Pedlar and Berry will turn out good. Cook has plateaued.
Rachelle is a gun.
Of last years draft not too many of the draft picks after our second pick are excelling. Hawthorn got a gem in Calsher Dear in the late 50's.

You’d prefer Rachele to NWM? Surely not.

Berry is a 2 touch player with ineffective disposal while Pedlar is a lesser quality player now than he was in his rookie year. Pity, he looked great but I’d be very surprised if he made it now. Cook is the one out of those that may still be a shot but there’s only so many games you can barely touch the footy before patience runs out.

 

[LoBu]

You’d prefer Rachele to NWM? Surely not.

Berry is a 2 touch player with ineffective disposal while Pedlar is a lesser quality player now than he was in his rookie year. Pity, he looked great but I’d be very surprised if he made it now. Cook is the one out of those that may still be a shot but there’s only so many games you can barely touch the footy before patience runs out.

We may have both next year, fingers crossed.

 

[Eddie Murphy]

People are underestimating Rachele here. Like ROB, we have very little depth for his position if we lose him, and we'd be forcing Rankine out of midfield.

 

[Geoffa32]

Thilthorpe.

Showed in his few games this year how dominant he can be.


As a key forward.....

 

[Mutineer]

Without wanting to derail the thread with a topic that has been well and truly covered:

In 2020 we had 4 top 30 picks and ended up with Pedlar, Cook and Berry - none of who make our best team. (TT was a no brainer at 2)

In 2021 we took Rachele over NWM, even though we'd seen NWM up close at our academy

In 2022 the drafting of MM had nothing to do with our recruiting team

Last year, we had 3 top 30 picks and with the team desperately in need of midfield class, we took a tall, a guy who didn't even make his state team and a half back flanker.

To say our drafting is shit is kind. It's the number 1 reason we haven't made in finals 7(!) years.

Of course the drafting of Max M had plenty to do with the recruiters, they obviously rated him highly because when the bid came in higher than the draft pundits were predicting they matched immediately.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

People are underestimating Rachele here. Like ROB, we have very little depth for his position if we lose him, and we'd be forcing Rankine out of midfield.

Feel free to make your own list & rank him higher.