Moved Thread McGrath vs Taranto vs McCluggage

Who would you take?

  • Andrew McGrath

    Votes: 64 16.6%
  • Tim Taranto

    Votes: 147 38.2%
  • Hugh McCluggage

    Votes: 174 45.2%

  • Total voters
    385

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I still think hes being played out of position. They've put him into the midfield far too early.

Look at Rayner, we are purposefully playing him up forward and hes good for 1.6 goals a game. Give it another season and we'll start running him through the middle, which we have done on occasion and he looked scary enough then.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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I still think hes being played out of position. They've put him into the midfield far too early.

Look at Rayner, we are purposefully playing him up forward and hes good for 1.6 goals a game. Give it another season and we'll start running him through the middle, which we have done on occasion and he looked scary enough then.
Fair point
We may be fast tracking him there when there are better options (parish showed today what continuity does for his game), whilst McKenna has been off his game the last few rounds and raz has been out
Two positions in the 50 arcs where Andy could be making a difference.
 

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M Malice

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McCluggage in the afl.com team of the week for the 3rd time this season, also in the coaches votes again, interestingly McCluggage and Taranto are on the same total votes ie. 23.

Both these guys will be exceptional AA level players IMO, jury still out on the level that Andy McGrath can get to.
 
Could have sworn Bruce was just questioning whether Mccluggage and Taranto could catch up to McGrath this year after their good starts to the season. Did anyone else hear it? Surely he jests.
Well he did just lose his mind that McGrath was able to deliver a 15 meter pass to a free player who was directly in front of him, then laud him for “his vision”, so anything is possible with the rapidly declining Bruce.
 

Beer n Skittles

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At the time it felt like Essendon just took McGrath to spite GWS. What were GWS offering for pick 1 again, something like picks 2 & 8?
 
McGrath looks rushed whenever he gets it and is quick to give a 2m handball to a player who is immediately under pressure.

Last night at one stage he had 22 possessions for 150m gained which sums this up, and its not like he plays as an in and under mid. He’s playing on a wing or off half back in an outside running role a lot of the time.

McCluggage currently has more than double that distance at half time of today’s game with less possessions.
 
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McGrath looks rushed whenever he gets it and is quick to give a 2m handball to a player who is immediately under pressure.

Last night at one stage he had 22 possessions for 150m gained which sums this up, and its not like he plays as an in and under mid. He’s playing on a wing or off half back in an outside running role a lot of the time.

McCluggage currently has more than double that distance at half time of today’s game with less possessions.
I would say a third of McGrath's possessions come from the bloke he just handballed to giving it back to him because he's under the pump. Shows how misleading stats are.
 
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I would say a third of McGrath's possessions come from the bloke he just handballed to giving it back to him because he's under the pump. Shows how misleading stats are.
Mate, we were absolutely shithouse last night, apart from Merrett, Raz and McGrath. * me he's judged harshly.
 

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Ok. McGrath is ****. Sorry, absolutely ****.


I recall both Hodge & the Hawks getting hammered relentlessly for years in their taking him as the number 1 pick ahead of Judd....No one says anything about that any more.

McGrath has time on his side, but I'm not seeing the same level of development, natural ability & potential in him that either of these other 2 boys, in Taranto & McCLuggage have.

Sure, he was the best junior, but so was Xavier Ellis & Beau Dowler in their respective positions for their draft year.
 

bungalow_bill

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Champion Data says: His ability to kick goals from midfield is unprecedented. From 17 games this year, he averaged 24 disposals and two goals per match — a feat never achieved in the AFL.

Interesting in light of a recent stat where Hugh was second only to GAJ in number of games with 20 possessions and 2 goals. IIRC Hugh - 3 GAJ - 4
 
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https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/af...s/news-story/d1a659494f8a88a46302f9a8bb3c25d5

O.k then....He was rated & ranked as the number one junior for his year.
By Champion Data. :rolleyes: They had Dylan Clarke at 12 and he went at 65 and will be lucky to be on Essendon's list next year.

Brett Anderson, Matt Balmer and Knightmare all had McCluggage at 1. I had Taranto at 1, McCluggage at 2, and also had Ainsworth, Petrevski-Seton, Setterfield and Scrimshaw ahead of McGrath.
 
Feb 24, 2013
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By Champion Data. :rolleyes: They had Dylan Clarke at 12 and he went at 65 and will be lucky to be on Essendon's list next year.

Brett Anderson, Matt Balmer and Knightmare all had McCluggage at 1. I had Taranto at 1, McCluggage at 2, and also had Ainsworth, Petrevski-Seton, Setterfield and Scrimshaw ahead of McGrath.


Doesn't matter….Opinions always vary on these things all the time.

Blokes both rated & picked inside the Top 20 fail & drop off the radar all the time....Your example of Clarke is a nonsense deflection argument....I could just as easily nominate Blaine Boekhorst as an equal & opposite example, of a player not even rated, yet taken at pick 19.

The fact remains that Champion Data are the AFL's official stats mob, which meant that McGrath was the AFL's official Number 1 ranked & rated junior....Maybe a clue to the political machinations involved in his 'rigged' Rising Star award, where Burton had the clearly superior season, & yet failed to poll a single 3 voter by every single judge....Enough with the pedantry already.
 
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Jun 18, 2007
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Doesn't matter….Opinions always vary on these things all the time.

Blokes both rated & picked inside the Top 20 fail & drop off the radar all the time....Your example of Clarke is a nonsense deflection argument....I could just as easily nominate Blaine Boekhorst as an equal & opposite example, of a player not even rated, yet taken at pick 19.

The fact remains that Champion Data are the AFL's official stats mob, which meant that McGrath was the AFL's official Number 1 ranked & rated junior....Maybe a clue to the political machinations involved in his 'rigged' Rising Star award, where Burton had the clearly superior season, & yet failed to poll a single 3 voter by every single judge....Enough with the pedantry already.
What? You're the one who stated unequivocally that he was the best junior in the country, then shifted the goal posts to 'highest ranked by Champion Data'. CD ranking points are themselves subjective (what's a hard ball get, what's a loose ball get, what's contested, what's uncontested - a CD employee told me this personally only a few weeks ago). Stats are for people who don't understand what they're watching. Citing CD's ranking of Clarke is not a deflection - it's an example of how wrong they frequently get it.

Anyone who said McGrath was the best junior was wrong. Yeah, it's a judgement call, it's an opinion. It was an opinion of the St Kilda recruiters in 2001 that Luke Ball was better than Chris Judd - a wrong opinion.

Anyway, we're in basic agreement that McGrath is a long way from the top two in his draft class.
 

bungalow_bill

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It's interesting that this particular top 3 is being discussed in the media. Will be debated for many years to come same as the 2001 top 3.
 

Isaac Cumming No 1

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Taranto is tough and unusually for us in recent years has earned a spot in our best 22 since he was drafted. He may have been given a rest in his first year if injury didn't force our hand anyway.

He's stepped seamlessly into the midfield rotations this year and has been outstanding. He's ahead on results in my view.

There's something very rare about Mcluggage though, in his poise, balance and disposal that just screams class.
 
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Taranto is tough and unusually for us in recent years has earned a spot in our best 22 since he was drafted. He may have been given a rest in his first year if injury didn't force our hand anyway.

He's stepped seamlessly into the midfield rotations this year and has been outstanding. He's ahead on results in my view.

There's something very rare about Mcluggage though, in his poise, balance and disposal that just screams class.

Think this is very fair. Clug's first quarter yesterday was absolutely sublime, best player in the competition sort of stuff, but he doesn't hit that level consistently just yet. Having an excellent season.

Taranto a more consistent high performer than Clug at this stage I think though the difference in quality is reducing over time. McGrath nowhere in sight though that doesn't make him a bad player.
 
Feb 24, 2013
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Anyway, we're in basic agreement that McGrath is a long way from the top two in his draft class.

I'd say he'd be lucky to crack the Top 10 in retrospect, on current form alone....He's looking like the 'Luke Ball' option of the Hodge/Ball/Judd triumvirate....Cept he went at pick 1 rather than 2.....Youch.
 
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