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Who is best contested marker in afl?

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Then you also have to factor in who they are marking against. Fyfe takes some amazing contested marks but most of them are not against key position backmen who are generally the hardest to take a contested mark against. Lynch/Cloke/Hawkins have to take them 1-on-1 versus the best high ball defenders in the game on a weekly basis. Fyfe would only find himself matched up on these types of players for a few minutes here and there in some games and would go games at a time never having to compete in the air against them.

Very good point. One thing about contested marking defenders (eg Lake, Taylor) is that their opposing forward rarely attempt to spoil the ball.

Not suggesting Lake or Taylor aren't any good, as they've both shown their ability when going forward, but I always rate the marking ability of a forward greater than a defender, given the defenders key job is to stop the forward getting the ball.
 

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It's a shame that contested marking has been slowly eradicated from the game. The aversion that coaches have to the kick to a one on one contest has removed a great part of the game. The test of strength that we used to see between Dunstall and Silvagni, Lockett and Martyn or Carey and Jackovic ( just a few examples ) are rare in today's footy. Of the present crop I recken Kennedy is the best at standing his ground and clunking the one on one ball. The two Reiwoldts,Walker,Hogan,Hurley,Cloke, Fyfe and Casboult are pretty good. Lake would have been my overall pick if he hadn't finished up but the closest to him is McGovern.
Someone on our board said Clarko was dead again marks in the forward 50 because it slowed the game too much. Preferred crumbing quick goals etc. Whilst this sounded silly at the time it looks like this is how they play and post game interviews with players about awesome hangers etc are almost always qualified with "Clarko doesn't want me to mark them".

Then again maybe we're just sh&t at marking....
 
Most contested marks in 2015:

avg, player, total
2.55 Tom Lynch 51
2.53 Tom Hawkins 48
2.35 Jesse Hogan 47
2.23 Max Gawn 29
2.09 Cale Hooker 46
2.06 Levi Casboult 33
2.06 Travis Cloke 35
2.00 Aaron Sandilands 46
1.83 Jack Riewoldt 42
1.82 Josh Bruce 40
1.82 Tom Hickey 20
1.77 Brian Lake 39
1.74 Jarrad Waite 40
1.68 Kurt Tippett 37
1.65 Nat Fyfe 33
1.64 Easton Wood 36
1.63 Drew Petrie 39
1.59 Joe Daniher 35
1.56 Josh Kennedy 39
1.56 Liam Jones 14
1.48 Josh Jenkins 31
1.44 Charlie Dixon 23
1.42 Jack Redpath 17
1.41 Jake Carlisle 24
1.40 Jack Darling 21
1.40 Jeremy McGovern 28
1.38 Lachie Henderson 22
1.33 Harry Taylor 28
1.33 Ty Vickery 20
1.33 Todd Goldstein 32
1.33 Sean Dempster 28
1.33 Patrick Ryder 24
1.33 Elliot Yeo 32
1.32 Ben McEvoy 25
1.31 Lachlan Hansen 21
 
Most contested marks from 2014 to 2015:

avg, player, total
2.42 Tom Hawkins 104
2.24 Tom Lynch 94
2.09 Max Gawn 46
1.97 Levi Casboult 69
1.92 Jarrad Waite 75
1.89 Aaron Sandilands 87
1.81 Travis Cloke 67
1.76 Jeremy McGovern 58
1.74 Lance Franklin 68
1.72 Kurt Tippett 62
1.71 Drew Petrie 84
1.69 Jake Carlisle 61
1.59 Tom Hickey 27
1.56 Ben McEvoy 50
1.53 Cale Hooker 69
1.53 Josh Bruce 49
1.52 Jack Riewoldt 70
1.48 Brian Lake 49
1.45 Nat Fyfe 58
1.44 Joe Daniher 62
1.36 Jay Schulz 61
1.34 Harry Taylor 59
1.32 Jeremy Howe 58
1.32 Matthew Pavlich 58
1.30 Justin Westhoff 61
1.28 Nick Riewoldt 50
1.27 Josh Jenkins 52
1.26 Lachlan Hansen 43
1.26 Sean Dempster 54
1.24 Josh Kennedy 56
1.24 Jack Darling 46
1.24 Taylor Walker 47
1.23 Charlie Dixon 37
 
Most contested marks from 2013 to 2015:

avg, player, total
2.24 Tom Lynch 112
2.14 Tom Hawkins 139
2.12 Travis Cloke 125
2.04 Levi Casboult 94
2.00 Jarrad Waite 106
1.82 Aaron Sandilands 102
1.75 Kurt Tippett 84
1.75 Drew Petrie 124
1.71 Max Gawn 60
1.59 Brian Lake 86
1.59 Tom Hickey 27
1.57 Lance Franklin 94
1.54 Jake Carlisle 88
1.54 Ben McEvoy 83
1.53 Liam Jones 58
1.49 Jack Riewoldt 101
1.45 Nick Riewoldt 87
1.43 Cale Hooker 96
1.43 Justin Westhoff 100
1.42 Lachie Henderson 81
1.42 Joe Daniher 68
1.42 Jeremy Howe 92
1.41 Harry Taylor 96
1.41 Lachlan Hansen 76
1.36 Josh Kennedy 90
1.35 Charlie Dixon 58
1.34 Nat Fyfe 83
1.33 Ty Vickery 64
1.33 Mike Pyke 85
1.30 Josh Bruce 56
1.27 Matthew Pavlich 71
1.26 Taylor Walker 54
1.23 Jay Schulz 85
1.22 Jack Darling 71
1.21 Josh Jenkins 70
 
Neither Roughead nor Riewoldt are anywhere near this list.

Casboult is actually really good. Waite when he's on and Butcher from Port.

Cloke is brilliant too, but prefers the one-on-one pushoff type contest.
Hogan and Tom Lynch (GC) are the future of the contested marking game.


As far as littler players go Fyfe and Sloane are almost never beaten in the air.
 
Different ways to take a contested mark.

One on one forward: Hawkins or Cloke, Dixon

One on one back: Lake or Hooker

Mix of 1on1's, packs forward: Lynch, Hogan, Casbout

Intercept marks down back: McGovern, Howe, Taylor, Easton Wood

Ruckman: Gawn, Sandilands, McEvoy

Around the ground contests: Fyfe
 

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Nick is comfortably on top for the number of contested marks taken since they started recording the stat in 1999 and his career average of 1.98 per game is not far off Trav Cloke's 2.09 or Barry Hall's 2.02 (from 1999 onwards) and he is ahead of Johnno Brown's 1.91, Tredrea's 1.88 and Hawkins' 1.87, but he doesn't take anywhere near as many of them these days and works up the ground more than he probably ever has.

Matthew Richardson at almost 3 a game leaves them all in his wake.
 
Hawkins is the best one-on-one contested mark, but couldn't take a pack mark (in fact he couldn't even get his hands to the ball in a pack) if you paid him. Which we do.

Interesting to note the two biggest one on one body forwards (Hawkins and Cloke) have both been down the last couple of years (I know Hawkins has been injured in that time). Has the game changed enough to make that strategy ineffective with the whole team defence mantra?
 
Yeah Jarryd Roughead is the biggest small forward in the history of the game
If he was 10cms smaller he would be one of the greatest small forwards of all time but due to his height he is just and exceptional KPP player

Which sounds like an insult but its not, guys still a star and If i could choose someone to partner Hogan it would be Roughy for sure
 

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Interesting to note the two biggest one on one body forwards (Hawkins and Cloke) have both been down the last couple of years (I know Hawkins has been injured in that time). Has the game changed enough to make that strategy ineffective with the whole team defence mantra?

That and teams FF have to start in the centre square and run back towards goal meaning they take it uncontested
Melbourne played with Hogan much deeper an started him almost from the goalsquare some times and he averaged 2 and a half ish per game
 
Kennedy getting separation is the very definition of an uncontested mark- although he is very capable when he doesn't get separation.

I don't think it is though. When you mark on the lead and your direct opponent doesn't have body contact, it doesn't count as a contested mark.
 
That and teams FF have to start in the centre square and run back towards goal meaning they take it uncontested
Melbourne played with Hogan much deeper an started him almost from the goalsquare some times and he averaged 2 and a half ish per game

That's it isn't it.
Even in the last 2 or 3 years that full forward line has pushed further and further up into the centre square.
 
Then you also have to factor in who they are marking against. Fyfe takes some amazing contested marks but most of them are not against key position backmen who are generally the hardest to take a contested mark against.


A lot of Fyfe's contested marks happen at Freo's kick-ins, where he is actually up against key backmen. Fair enough that those key backmen are not trying to body him out of the contest, but he's still competing in the air against them.

After Sandilands, Fyfe is the player that Freo look to kick to if they go long at a kick in. In that sense he is playing a key forward role for us in that situation.
 
A lot of Fyfe's contested marks happen at Freo's kick-ins, where he is actually up against key backmen. Fair enough that those key backmen are not trying to body him out of the contest, but he's still competing in the air against them.

After Sandilands, Fyfe is the player that Freo look to kick to if they go long at a kick in. In that sense he is playing a key forward role for us in that situation.

They try and kick to a contest where he can go third man up. It's different then when we see the 1v1 contests
 

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Who is best contested marker in afl?

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