Nick Vlastuin for medium defender.
Who is the the games best defender currently? What defender has had the best season? ( can be lockdown or medium).
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- May 12, 2015
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Sam Taylor never gets beaten, if he was playing for a Victorian team his profile would be enormous
- Dec 9, 2015
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He's in a different category, due to his rare skill set.
- Nov 28, 2017
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As good as Tom Stewart is no disrespect, I would not put him in the same breath as Alex Rance it's crazy that is going to win 5 AA's in a row like Rance did.
and may be bias,
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One player who isn't there yet but might be soon in the discussion is Tyler Young at Richmond. Started playing footy in 2019 in Albury, went to Frankston, but only played a few games due to Covid season cancellation, then 14 games in Richmond's VFL side before a rookie promotion this year.
(from AFL website) Twenty-one players classified as defenders or key backs have participated in at least 35 contests this year.
Young has the equal-second best loss rate of those 21 players, tied with James Sicily at a miserly 14.3 per cent from his 49 contests (with Jacob Weitering in first with 10.9) meaning he neutralises or wins 85.7 per cent of his battles.
Not bad for your first year. A lockdown defender but has good skills so will only get better as a general player.
(from AFL website) Twenty-one players classified as defenders or key backs have participated in at least 35 contests this year.
Young has the equal-second best loss rate of those 21 players, tied with James Sicily at a miserly 14.3 per cent from his 49 contests (with Jacob Weitering in first with 10.9) meaning he neutralises or wins 85.7 per cent of his battles.
Not bad for your first year. A lockdown defender but has good skills so will only get better as a general player.
- Jul 13, 2015
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Hardwick has consistently been top 2 or 3 small defenders his entire career. Yet never recognised.
So many great defenders at the moment.
Moore , quaynor , Murphy
Taylor , Stewart, weitering
May , Sicily and plenty more.
All Australian defender will be the hardest to pick this year going to be a case for anyone who misses out
Moore , quaynor , Murphy
Taylor , Stewart, weitering
May , Sicily and plenty more.
All Australian defender will be the hardest to pick this year going to be a case for anyone who misses out
I disagree. You obviously can't compare them as Rance played most of his career as a fullback but Stewart is just ridiculously fast, a better ball user, and incredibly good at winning ground balls. He's won a B&F, he's carried the defense in a premiership season, and we saw finals derailed without him in 2021. What more can he do in 7 years of footy? At the rate he's going he'll blow past Rance.
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This season no one has been better than Jack Payne
- Nov 23, 2015
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If you want a defender who actually defends an opponent (and possibly, even if not!), then it's Sam Taylor. Notwithstanding that he lost a few games through injury (which may cost him an AA jacket), this year:
www.foxsports.com.au
- he has become just the second player to be ranked number one for both winning and (not) losing defensive one-on-one contests in the same season (Eagles Jeremy McGovern the only player to achieve the same feat, in 2016)
- his one-on-one win rate sits at 61 per cent (well above McGovern's 47%)
- his loss rate is 7 per cent (better than McGovern’s 15%)
- he's the leading KPD for intercepts per game (10.83, ahead of Sicily 9.43, Moore 8.84, Balta 8.61, then Wilkie, Ballard, Lever, Stewart, Aliir, Vlastuin, Andrews, Collins)
- he's the leading KPD for contested marks per game (2.25, ahead of Ballard 2.21, Moore 2.16, Balta 2.11, Sicily 2.00, then Weitering, Barrass, McKay, Aliir, Cox, Andrews)
- he's sixth for one percenters amongst KPDs
- all while matching up on the opponent's No 1 KPF
AFL’s most unlikely MVP is in defensive utopia. An Ablett-like feat looms after ‘frightening’ form
How ’frightening’ star became AFL’s most unlikely MVP and revealed Giants’ $1m masterstroke
www.foxsports.com.au
Sam Taylor by a country mile.
He's been good and I'm a big fan but Taylor in a league of his own at the moment
If he was at Geelong they'd be saying he's better than Hakeem Olajuwon.
