Player Watch #5: Christian Petracca – Norm Smith Medallist, 4 x All-Australian and 2 x Best and Fairest

[ponsdale]

Yeah I think most are saying he'd be deserving. I don't think Traccs has done enough to win but he's shown enough to be very excited about him

Agree about Trac - he's going to be fun to watch over the coming years.

 

[Simon_Says]

Prediction; lets see in two years how accurite this was.
In two years Petracca will be the best player in the comp.

 

[Sando22]

Agree about Trac - he's going to be fun to watch over the coming years.

Is yet to have that real breakout game IMO but when he does

Prediction; lets see in two years how accurite this was.
In two years Petracca will be the best player in the comp.

Can't say I disagree with that

 

[Captain Jack]

Two years is pushing it. Petracca is an absolute freak but I reckon his fitness will need plenty of work. Maybe give it 3-4 pre-seasons for him to work up to a majority midfield time, somewhat like Dustin Martin's career has progressed.

 

[Proper Gander]

I'm going with it, except in 2 weeks. Can't really go worse than my Garland prediction

 

[Sando22]

I'm going with it, except in 2 weeks. Can't really go worse than my Garland prediction

What was your Garland prediction?

 

[Proper Gander]

What was your Garland prediction?

Oh he's playing 4 more games in 2016 or my avatar gets it. Have no idea what made me bet on this, and the tiny window is closing. May as well bet on Dawes for the Coleman

 

[Sando22]

Oh he's playing 4 more games in 2016 or my avatar gets it. Have no idea what made me bet on this, and the tiny window is closing. May as well bet on Dawes for the Coleman

Haha that's great.
Probably one of the more memorable avatars on BF IMO.
You might as well change it now

 

[ponsdale]

Haha that's great.
Probably one of the more memorable avatars on BF IMO.
You might as well change it now

What's worse is i believe Topkent gets to claim the avatar, is that right Proper Gander ?

 

[Proper Gander]

What's worse is i believe Topkent gets to claim the avatar, is that right Proper Gander ?

Oh God. If he posts any crap about Matt Jones wearing my avatar...

 

[Topkent]

Oh God. If he posts any crap about Matt Jones wearing my avatar...

Are you forgetting about your avatar ...

 

[Proper Gander]

Are you forgetting about your avatar ...

s**t

 

[Topkent]

s**t

 

[Sir Hugh Percy]

Interestingly, the stats put Petracca in the frame to potentially win the Rising Star today. Personally, I think it will be Mills, but...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-09-06/the-stats-files-rating-2016s-rising-star-contenders

This year, Sydney Swans backman Callum Mills and Western Bulldogs onballer Caleb Daniel are tipped to fight it out for the prestigious award, with both players pushing strong cases to take home the Ron Evans Medal.

But perhaps it shouldn't be down to just a two-horse race.

Because using the most sophisticated algorithm ever applied to the sport – the Official AFL Player Ratings – Melbourne's emerging gun Christian Petracca and towering Gold Coast forward Peter Wright have strong claims to be firmly in the running.

To calculate the ratings, Champion Data awards positive and negative points to every action on the field to assess a player's impact on a match. It takes into account everything from intercepts to smothers to corralling to spoils plus every one-percenter in between. This season, Caleb Daniel's sheer football smarts helped him tally the most Player Ratings points of any nominee across his 20 games. The 168cm pocket dynamo averaged 21.4 disposals this season – the most of any nominee – and is a huge chance to become the Western Bulldogs' first ever Rising Star winner.

However, damaging forward Petracca shouldn't be without a chance of making it back-to-back gongs for the Dees after Jesse Hogan stormed to victory last year. Petracca led the Rising Star field for impact on matches this season and performed way above expectations in his particular role. He led the pack by averaging 11.5 ratings points per game (196 in total) - astonishing numbers after coming back from a knee reconstruction. For a 20-year-old general forward, his average rating per game was a stellar 52 per cent above expectations for a player his age in that role.

2016's Rising Star nominees ranked by their average AFL Player Ratings*

Player Club Position Matches Ratings total Ratings avg
Christian Petracca MELB Forward 17 196.0 11.5
Peter Wright GC Key forward 17 188.1 11.1
Orazio Fantasia ESS Forward 19 193.4 10.2
Clayton Oliver MELB Midfielder 13 130.1 10.0
Caleb Daniel WB Midfielder / forward 20 198.1 9.9
Jade Gresham STK Forward 18 168.9 9.4
Callum Mills SYD Defender 20 186.8 9.3
Darcy Parish ESS Midfielder 20 184.1 9.2
Connor Blakely FRE Midfielder 15 135.9 9.1
Jacob Weitering CARL Key defender 20 179.0 9.0
James Harmes MELB Defender 19 169.9 8.9
Blake Acres STK Midfielder / forward 16 142.5 8.9
Oscar McDonald MELB Key defender 15 131.8 8.8
James Sicily HAW Forward 21 181.9 8.7
Lachie Weller FRE Forward 22 183.1 8.3
Tom Papley SYD Forward 16 129.7 8.1
Daniel Rioli RICH Forward 18 136.1 7.6
Darcy Byrne-Jones PORT Defender 20 148.8 7.4
Darcy Moore COLL Key forward 17 118.0 6.9
Josh Dunkley WB Midfielder / forward 13 73.3 5.6
*Min 10 games

Only developing key forward 'Two Metre' Peter Wright's performances relative to expectations were higher (11.1 points per game, +61 per cent) among Rising Star nominees, with Mills coming in third (9.3 ratings points per game, +47 per cent above expectations).

 

[PerfectFooty]

Honestly think it should be weitering

 

[Sir Hugh Percy]

Honestly think it should be weitering

Agreed, but I think it will be Mills.

 

[Balony_pony16]

I think Caleb... He was a key player in heaps of Doggies wins

 

[Theseventhhamster]

I think Caleb... He was a key player in heaps of Doggies wins

Plus he's just adorable running out there with the men in his little helmet.

 

[Sando22]

Just had Traccs interviewed on SEN and god he's a ripper.
Is super confident which I love but told the story of the terminally ill little fella he's been keeping in touch with and it's great to hear a young fella giving a bit back.

 

[Sando22]

Traccs not in top 5 - spare me.

 

[schmuttt]

Traccs not in top 5 - spare me.

Was fair enough honestly, Trac is clearly a star but you're a bit bias if you think he should have been up there. His year was a bit up and down, coming off a knee so I didn't have huge expectations.

 

[Sando22]

Was fair enough honestly, Trac is clearly a star but you're a bit bias if you think he should have been up there. His year was a bit up and down, coming off a knee so I didn't have huge expectations.

Yeah I know. Just love the kid so much and reckon he's every chance to end up the best of that crop. I understand that doesn't translate to him being best this year and I am definitely super biased!

 

[CWaffles]

God I love hearing that, unfortunately I think that due to him being used as a half forward we didn't even see half of what he capable of. Next year he should spend time through the middle and thats when we will see how big of a talent this bloke is.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

I had a decent bet on Trac so of course i wanted him to win the RS but i honestly dont think he was worthy of top 5. Dont get me wrong, he does some freakish s**t, but his finishing skills let him down so much this year, if he could have converted more of the numerous chances he had to kick goals he could have been top 3. But quite frankly his accuracy was atrocious, and people say Hogan cant kick at goal?

Thought Oliver actually had a better year than him anyway. Trac didnt play much midfield so a case can be made to say he had limited chances to showcase what he can do but i thought Clarry was the cleaner player at the end of the day.

Will be interesting to see who turns out the better finished product.

 

[Jordie_tackles]

havnt seen enough of the others to comment tbh

But the fact we had Trac, Oliver, Hunt all impact this season with Weideman in the bank I really don't care tbh

Plus Brayshaw