Opinion Is Harry Taylor now Geelong's most important player?

[Bobby_]

Taylor, could he single-handedly be the difference between Geelong challenging for more silverware or merely making up the numbers?
I ask this question as there seems to be something unfilled about his career to date. He's that brilliant of a football player, we should really be discussing him as one of our greatest ever defenders. But he's not. He looked like he was going to challenge Scarlett for a short period of time there.

Having watched Taylor recently in the International Rules series, we are reminded of just how awesome he can be when he's up and about.
If Taylor can recapture that All Australian form, not only match it but take his game up another notch, will he be just as important as what Ottens was at the tail end of his career?

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Nope. It's Zac Smith or if not, whoever else the incompetent Scott decides to play as a ruckman... probably Blicavs.

 

[ChookNorris]

Scary thing about this season. I see Clark having more depending on him than I would like.

 

[Cursed Cat]

Despite his limitations, I still see Hawkins as probably our most important player ..

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Despite his limitations, I still see Hawkins as probably our most important player ..

I agree. A ruckman also plays a part.

 

[Partridge]

Still Hawkins for me. Pretty comfortably. He's the only forward we have that we can reasonably expect goals from - big or small. He goes down and we're zero chance of playing finals.

We've got a number of players who are very important. He's the only one I consider irreplaceable.

 

[HaroLad]

Mitch Clark definitely

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Still Hawkins for me. Pretty comfortably. He's the only forward we have that we can reasonably expect goals from - big or small. He goes down and we're zero chance of playing finals.

We've got a number of players who are very important. He's the only one I consider irreplaceable.

Then whose fault is it when he stands there waving his arms in the air and our midfielders refuse to deliver it to anyone else in a better position?... sorry, carry on, I agree.

 

[Two Planks]

If Blicavs has more improvement in him, he will be the most important player in our team. Combining less rotations and the addition of either Stanley or Smith along with Dangerfield he is going to be a an unstoppable beast in 2016.

 

[jim boy]

He's the only one I consider irreplaceable.

The sad thing about that statement, is that its only true as we have no decent ruckman to replace.

 

[dangerwood]

I think stanley and smith or possibly dangerfield. I think we have cover for the others, if harry got injured we have henderson as coverage, likewise hawkins. Not ideal but i dont think we are as dependent as we were.

Ruckman is still our issue and we need one of the big guys to stand up and have a solid year. I also believe we have lacked grunt in the middle so if danger got injured wed be back to the lifeless centre square we had last year.

If I heard one of our KP players got injured right now id be disappointed but feel we could still get by. If I heard stanley or smith or both were not fit, id throw a tantrum.

 

[Seeds]

Hawkins by a long way. Taylor is now less important given we have recruited henderson and kolo seems to be coming along well.

 

[Seeds]

How can Blicavs even be remotely near this list when we don't even know what position he will play in next year. You may think he is an excellent player but he currently has no known position and therefore can't be irreplaceable.

 

[catempire]

I can see where you are going with this Bobby_. In terms of the player that we need to see recapture their best form in order for us to win a flag Taylor would be right up there and probably the one. He has been disappointing in recent years for mine. That's probably in part the first time we've seen him in a backline that is under fire and without Scarlett, Harley and much of Rivers. But hopefully it has also just been a form slump from which he can recover.

I can also see the perspective that positionally the most important player is probably Zac Smith as he can turn the tide on a weakness we have had since Ottens' departure. Stanley also has a role to play there with Vardy and Blicavs in the support cast instead of being asked to carry the load.

As to the most important player for me it's unquestionably Hawkins.

 

[Two Planks]

How can Blicavs even be remotely near this list when we don't even know what position he will play in next year. You may think he is an excellent player but he currently has no known position and therefore can't be irreplaceable.

X-Factor
Unpredictability
Point of difference
Impossible to match up on

 

[PetrikDngerfild]

Mitch Clark definitely

I'm sure Scott thinks this and will play him over someone else more worthy all throughout next season.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I too went Hawkins. As echoed by Partridge imo he's the only irreplaceable player I can think of on our list atm.

 

[strauchnyy]

I also went with Hawkins but I'm surprised no one has voted for our captain yet, more so that people think danger is more important.

I'd rank the most important players on our list as:

1. Hawkins
2. Selwood
3. Taylor
4. Z.smith
5. Danger
6. One of vardy or Clark always being there fit abd firing

People underestimate how influential Selwood is. Maybe it was his down year but he wills other players to lift and is the best captain (with hodge) in the AFL. He is better than danger and when he is not tagged abd hit behind play as much, more people will remember how important he is.

 

[Partridge]

X-Factor
Unpredictability
Point of difference
Impossible to match up on

And for things that help win matches, those attributes contribute zero, zero, zero and slightly above zero.

Hawkins is the opposite in many ways. He has no X-factor, he's very predictable, he's a key forward like plenty of others, and he's not too difficult to match up on. He's won way more matches for us than Blicavs though.

 

[Two Planks]

And for things that help win matches, those attributes contribute zero, zero, zero and slightly above zero.

Cyril Rioli

 

[Partridge]

Cyril Rioli

Who was astonishingly overrated for a big chunk of his career, until he actually started producing things called goals on a much more consistent basis.

 

[Two Planks]

Who was astonishingly overrated for a big chunk of his career, until he actually started producing things called goals on a much more consistent basis.

He is probably the best tackler / forward pressure player we have seen. His pressure creates panic that results in goals.

 

[Daniel McL]

I'd definitely say Hawkins but still understand why people would say Taylor or Selwood.

I'd argue Dangerfield may even be in the top 3 most important (behind Hawkins & Taylor) players at the club simply because he helps us in the midfield battles but also creates a domino effect where guys like Duncan & Motlop can play more outside adding some more class & run while guys like Caddy & Blicavs are all of a sudden our 3rd & 4th inside midfielders.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

No idea.

But I hope it's a ruckman. Because that means we won the 2016 premiership.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

And for things that help win matches, those attributes contribute zero, zero, zero and slightly above zero.

Hawkins is the opposite in many ways. He has no X-factor, he's very predictable, he's a key forward like plenty of others, and he's not too difficult to match up on. He's won way more matches for us than Blicavs though.

Agree. Our most important player needs to be a boring everyman. Like Ottens and Hawkins. Very very very good boring everymen, though. They win premierships.

Star players are for clubs that have given up and their supporters have only species and stats to talk about.