Player Rater

29th September 2011 Category: Analysis

Image: Slattery Media Group

If finals football separates the men from the boys, Jordan Lewis symbolizes the former.

Lewis has never been considered a top 20 or even top 50 player in the league, but if you were selecting the ultimate finals team in 2011, he’d be one of the first names on the sheet. Lewis is effectively a midfielder in a key position body. Dermott Brereton, who played most of his career as a centre half forward, said recently that he and Lewis were almost physically identical in terms of their playing height and weight. Couple that frame with unflappable courage and you have the ultimate finals football competitor.

In sports like Basketball and Soccer, the measure of a players greatness is often defined by a players ability to execute the technical side of the game on the biggest stage. In AFL that step up has more to do with increased physical intensity. If AFL players are judged by their ability to make that step, Jordan Lewis is at the very top.

See below Lewis’ performance against Collingwood in last week’s Preliminary Final.