All Hail the Team Players
June 3rd 2008 06:38
There is one thing in common between the players that do what their team asks of them week in, week out, without seeking the attention of the spotlight: the handball.
Here is the list of the top ten handballers in the league:
Daniel Cross
Sam Mitchell
Brad Sewell
Joel Corey
Lenny Hayes
Brett Deledio
Nathan Foley
Simon Black
Kane Cornes
Scott Thompson
Is there a trend running through this list?
For a start, with the exception of Mitchell and possibly Black, all fall under the radar that seeks out the flashy, the entertaining, the unconventional. They play very team oriented roles - plunging their bodies under the packs to try to extract the ball for their team. Five of these players (Mitchell, Hayes, Thompson, Foley and Sewell) are also in the top ten players for clearances.
Of the teams represented here, it is probably that their young fans would not choose these players as their idols. Bulldogs? Aka, or Brad Johnson. Hawks? Buddy. Cats? Ablett. Saints? Riewoldt, or maybe even Milney. Tigers? Richo. Port? Chad Cornes, the Burgoynes or Tredrea. Crows? McLeod. Lions? Jonathan Brown.
As important as there players may be to their teams, the ten listed above perform their team duty with skill and professionalism. It's a much more demanding task than being a star forward and there is much less glamour.
And yet despite the importance of these players to their teams' success, only one (Black) features in the top 10 in current Brownlow betting. He is second at $4.75. You'd have to go to $35 to find the next from this list (Sewell, Corey and Thompson). Incredible, considering Corey leads the league for total possessions - by 27!
Ahead of the workhorses lie the glamour players such as Richo, Franklin, Brent Harvey, Aka, and Jonathan Brown.
Furthermore, the media are less likely to attack players like this than others. Consider St Kilda, who are in the middle of a media grilling these days. Read all about Ball, Riewoldt, or Dal Santo not performing, nothing said about Hayes. If the focus shifts to Adelaide, it will more likely be McLeod or Burton who get the most heat, rather than Thompson.
Sewell and Mitchell were comprehensively beaten by the Bulldogs' midfield this weekend, but the headlines ran that Franklin had been 'dammed' (a cute pun for Tasmania). He kicked five goals!
And Foley has just been named Richmond's interim co-captain.
Finally, for all who doubt the importance of the handballing player: the top four sides have 12 of the top 25 handballers. The bottom four have one. Between them.
Have a look back at the list above. Those are the ones who deserve much more praise than they get. I'll be interested to come back at the end of the season and see if there is a correlation between a team's top handballer and their best and fairest.
Here is the list of the top ten handballers in the league:
Daniel Cross
Sam Mitchell
Brad Sewell
Joel Corey
Lenny Hayes
Brett Deledio
Nathan Foley
Simon Black
Kane Cornes
Scott Thompson
Is there a trend running through this list?
For a start, with the exception of Mitchell and possibly Black, all fall under the radar that seeks out the flashy, the entertaining, the unconventional. They play very team oriented roles - plunging their bodies under the packs to try to extract the ball for their team. Five of these players (Mitchell, Hayes, Thompson, Foley and Sewell) are also in the top ten players for clearances.
Of the teams represented here, it is probably that their young fans would not choose these players as their idols. Bulldogs? Aka, or Brad Johnson. Hawks? Buddy. Cats? Ablett. Saints? Riewoldt, or maybe even Milney. Tigers? Richo. Port? Chad Cornes, the Burgoynes or Tredrea. Crows? McLeod. Lions? Jonathan Brown.
As important as there players may be to their teams, the ten listed above perform their team duty with skill and professionalism. It's a much more demanding task than being a star forward and there is much less glamour.
And yet despite the importance of these players to their teams' success, only one (Black) features in the top 10 in current Brownlow betting. He is second at $4.75. You'd have to go to $35 to find the next from this list (Sewell, Corey and Thompson). Incredible, considering Corey leads the league for total possessions - by 27!
Ahead of the workhorses lie the glamour players such as Richo, Franklin, Brent Harvey, Aka, and Jonathan Brown.
Furthermore, the media are less likely to attack players like this than others. Consider St Kilda, who are in the middle of a media grilling these days. Read all about Ball, Riewoldt, or Dal Santo not performing, nothing said about Hayes. If the focus shifts to Adelaide, it will more likely be McLeod or Burton who get the most heat, rather than Thompson.
Sewell and Mitchell were comprehensively beaten by the Bulldogs' midfield this weekend, but the headlines ran that Franklin had been 'dammed' (a cute pun for Tasmania). He kicked five goals!
And Foley has just been named Richmond's interim co-captain.
Finally, for all who doubt the importance of the handballing player: the top four sides have 12 of the top 25 handballers. The bottom four have one. Between them.
Have a look back at the list above. Those are the ones who deserve much more praise than they get. I'll be interested to come back at the end of the season and see if there is a correlation between a team's top handballer and their best and fairest.
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