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'Elite'

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Kong

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The term 'elite' is beyond overused in football circles these days. On BigFooty the word gets thrown about nilly willy; Carlton supporters will tell you Jarrad Waite is elite, St. Kilda will tell you Dal Santo is in the elite bracket of midfielders.

However I've noticed a growing trend for media commentators to also use it unnecessarily. Just this morning on Triple M I was litening to the North v Richmond pre-game discussion, and they were mentioning Richmond's missing key players.

At first I thought I heard wrong, but Quartermain repeated himself after labelling all of Cousin, Cotchin and Foley 'elite'; I nearly swerved off the road. Not really, but I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Do people misunderstand the meaning of the word?
noun: Someone who is among the best at certain task.
adjective:Representing the choicest or most select of a group.

Regardless of the interpretation - and they're very similar, - that to me means the very top bracket of players; either in their respective position, or overall.

Cousins was definitely in that top echelon of midfielders - and players - in his day, and there is an argument to say Waite is in the top few defenders in the league (even though I disagree); as for Foley and Cotchin, no chance.

It really irks me that the word has little-to-no value in football circles anymore, because every clown and his dog will try telling you that player a from their side is 'elite', or 'verging on elite'.

For the record, I would consider the following players in this select group:

Ablett
Judd
Brown
Riewoldt
Black
Franklin
D. Cox
Goodes
Scarlett
Fevola
S. Johnson
Bartel

With argument for the following being within reason:

Pavlich
Selwood
Hodge
C. Cornes
Richardson
Goddard
Kerr (up until '08, at least)

That's my two cents for the day.
 
I agree. But I certainly believe Pavlich is in the elite bracket of footballers no questions asked. An absolute gun; just imagine if he was in a decent side. :eek:
 
Colin D'Cops said:
I agree. But I certainly believe Pavlich is in the elite bracket of footballers no questions asked. An absolute gun; just imagine if he was in a decent side. :eek:
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Yeah Pav's a tough one; he's the only one I reconsidered from my 'list'.

There's the argument that he'd be without peer in a good side, and as I said on the Main Board, he's been consistently good. However I don't rate him as highly - in terms of consistently winning games off his own boot - as Brown, Roo or Buddy.

Gun player though, no doubt.

The list was more my own two cents; the main point was intended to show how overused I find the word.
Players such as Foley and Cotchin shouldn't even be considered on a shortlist for players to be labelled as 'elite'.
 

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Haha, I knew I shouldn't have posted my own list. The point in my own list was to show how select 'elite' actually is; despite being subjective, if the actual meaning of the word is understood, any list shouldn't contain more than around 8-15 footballers.

Foley and Cotchin were called elite by Stephen Quartermain, which is a downright joke.

I got pretty much the same response on the same board; unfortunately some people took this as an opportunity for "let's argue that Pav is elite"; it was meant to demonstrate just how meaningless the word has become as a result of people misunderstanding and misusing it.

It's much like "Oh man, you're so bias". Kiddies trying to use adult words and instead of strengthening their own arguments, they devalue these words and attach a certain stigma to it.
 
HULK HOGAN said:
Hayes is elite right at the moment.
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Most probably, but has he been considered elite for a large period of time? He hasn't played a full season since 2005, so a durability question mark hangs over his head for me.
 

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Skeeta Olly said:
Point. Of. Thread. Missed.
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I. Think. Most. People. Understand. And. Agree. With. What. Whomb. Has. Said. :p

You can't generate a heap of discussion from this topic I don't think, so people think stuff this and post some players worthy of discussion.
 
Whomb said:
Haha, I knew I shouldn't have posted my own list. The point in my own list was to show how select 'elite' actually is; despite being subjective, if the actual meaning of the word is understood, any list shouldn't contain more than around 8-15 footballers.

Foley and Cotchin were called elite by Stephen Quartermain, which is a downright joke.

I got pretty much the same response on the same board; unfortunately some people took this as an opportunity for "let's argue that Pav is elite"; it was meant to demonstrate just how meaningless the word has become as a result of people misunderstanding and misusing it.

It's much like "Oh man, you're so bias". Kiddies trying to use adult words and instead of strengthening their own arguments, they devalue these words and attach a certain stigma to it.
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Really theres probably 20-30 elite players in the comp alot of players have claims going on there strenghths in the game (still no way Foley)
so at the moment IMO there is only 1 player in a group all on his own and that clearly means he is elite and that is Garry Ablett jnr the only elite player in the comp.
 

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Whomb said:
Yeah Pav's a tough one; he's the only one I reconsidered from my 'list'.

There's the argument that he'd be without peer in a good side, and as I said on the Main Board, he's been consistently good. However I don't rate him as highly - in terms of consistently winning games off his own boot - as Brown, Roo or Buddy.

Gun player though, no doubt.

The list was more my own two cents; the main point was intended to show how overused I find the word.
Players such as Foley and Cotchin shouldn't even be considered on a shortlist for players to be labelled as 'elite'.
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I think Pav is elite. Not many players can play KP forward and midfield effectively.

I agree with Foley and Cotchin. Foley will never be elite. He is good but not elite. Cotchin has the potential to be eilte but pre season injuries and on going ankle porblems could holt his progress for a while.
 
HoJuGoose said:
Watson?



*runs and hides*
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Not a bad question? Is Watson there yet? Probably not quite, but close.

Do we have any Elite? Is Fletch still an elite defender? Lloyd is no longer an elite forward. Is Hille an Elite ruckman when fit?

We seem to have a few possible future elite in Ryder, Hurley, Prismall, which is pleasing.
 

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