Player Rater

27th September 2011 Category: General

24th September 2011 Category: General

Channel 7’s broadcast of Friday night's Collingwood vs Hawthorn Preliminary Final has angered fans around the country. Seven’s directors continuously showed ground level close-ups - in what one can only imagine was an attempt to bring the audience closer to the action. In reality it angered the audience. With every prolonged close-up, Seven’s million plus viewers grew increasing frustrated.

A sample of the reaction via Twitter:

erin_byrnes: This cracking footy match is being ruined by channel 7's atrocious camera work

EddieVukovic: Has Channel 7 strapped the camera to a seagull?

hdecure: Channel 7 your camera angles suck.

samdrummond: Camera angles are ruining a great game. We have to put up with this for another 5 years, Channel 7?!

scotthagart: Cracking game of footy, channel 7's coverage terrible!.

7th September 2011 Category: General

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The first 3 Rising Star nominations for 2011, might just finish, first, second and third at today's award ceremony.

Dyson Heppell, Luke Shuey and Mitch Duncan were the Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 Rising Star nominations this season, and as it turns out they've finished 1,2,3 in the Player Rater rankings.

The Top 3:

Dyson Heppell: Clubs always say they're relieved to have got "their man" in the draft, but in Heppell's case the Bombers might have been genuine. Heppell slipped to 8th overall in the 2010 draft due to rumours he'd suffered from persistent groin problems as a junior. Heppell's outstanding first season is made even more impressive by the fact that that he's a genuine first year player - playing nearly half the season as an 18 year old. Heppell played all 22 home and away games, averaging over 21 touches a game.

Luke Shuey: Despite having played only 6 games before this season, Shuey has benefitted from 3 years within the AFL system. Those 3 years have allowed him to build up the strength and fitness required to compete physically with the AFL's elite midfielders. Shuey averaged 20 touches and 4 tackles a game in 2011.

Mitch Duncan: After playing 8 games in 2010, Duncan came into the 2011 season with about as much experience possible for a player still eligible to be nominated for the Rising Star. Duncan has played predominantly on half forward this season, averaging 18 disposals and 1.2 goals a game. One of the major reasons for Geelong's renewed focus in 2011, has been the contribution of Duncan and fellow Rising Star nominees, Daniel Menzel and Allen Christensen.

Heppell and Shuey are almost too close to split in terms of player ratings, but with all factors considered it's hard to go past Heppell. He's a first year player - a 2011 debutant, and his contribution to his club in 2011 has been greater than any other nominee.

Player Ratings and Rankings for all Rising Star Nominees:

6th September 2011 Category: General

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Chris Judd has finished the home and away season as the top rated player for 2011.

Judd made a slow start to the season, but hit his straps in the middle of the year and beat out competition from teammate, Marc Murphy and a fast finishing Dane Swan to secure top spot.

At the end of Round 14, Judd was ranked 7th in the competition, behind Sam Mitchell and Marc Murphy (1st and 2nd respectively).

From Round 15 to Round 21, Judd averaged a game rating of 8.41 and went from 7th to 1st overall.

Judd later slipped to 2nd behind Swan, but got the top spot back in the final round of the season.

Click here to see a breakdown of Judd's game ratings for 2011.

Top 10 rated players for 2011:

6th September 2011 Category: General

2 down, 3 to go.

GWS had planned to break news of Callan Ward’s signing via a press conference today, but the Bulldogs beat them to the punch, releasing a statement yesterday confirming that Ward had signed with the new franchise.

Ward is believed to have signed a deal worth somewhere between $800,000 and $900,000 a year over 5 years. Ward is the second – of five players named earlier in year – to sign for the Giants. At this stage, reports from Damian Barrett back in August that the GWS had targeted (and planned to sign) 5 established stars, are holding true.

Tom Scully, Mitch Clark and Rhys Palmer are the 3 remaining players that are expected to confirm in the coming weeks, that they too will be on their way to GWS.

Of all the players named, Scully is the one with whom the most conjecture surrounds. Throughout the year, Scully and his management distanced themselves from reports that a deal had already been agreed with the Giants.

Scully’s manager Mark Kleiman released a statement early in year, saying that any decision on Scully’s future would be made at the end of the 2011 season:

"To ensure there are no distractions and that Tom can direct all his energies to the 2011 season, we recommended to him last August (2010) that we put contract talks on hold until the end of this season and advised the club accordingly,"

“We understand there will be speculation because Tom is such an outstanding young prospect, but, just as Matthew Pavlich and Jack Watts did last year, among untold others, we feel it is in Tom’s best interests to put the whole thing off until the end of the season.

2nd September 2011 Category: General

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Of the contending teams, Geelong are possibly the most unsettled. There are still question marks over the structure of the Cats forward line. It remains unclear whether Geelong will select Cam Mooney and/or whether the Cats will opt for a back-up ruckman to support Brad Ottens. 

Doubt surrounds the selection of a number of Geelong players, including, Cam Mooney, Tom Hawkins, Shannon Byrnes and Trent West.  

Geelong’s inconsistency in the second half of the season has also raised doubt over the inclusion of youngsters, Daniel Menzel and Mitch Duncan. 

• Tom Lonergan is unlikely to miss out on actual selection - his rating of 6.06 suggests that he's been underrated by users.
• Selection of the team below is based on conventional structures. Geelong are likely to go in with at least 2 key forwards. Mooney beat out Hawkins for the 2nd key position. Trent West has been included as the second ruckman. 

Geelong's best 22:

FB: Corey Enright (7.04), Matthew Scarlett (7.17), Josh Hunt (6.30)

HB: James Kelly (7.24), Harry Taylor (6.94), Andrew Mackie (6.68)

C: Joel Corey (7.14), Joel Selwood (7.40), Travis Varcoe (6.45)

HF: Paul Chapman (7.16), James Podsiadly (6.58), Mitchell Duncan (6.72)

FF: Steve Johnson (7.39), Cam Mooney (5.94), Mathew Stokes (6.59)

Ruck: Brad Ottens (6.62), Cameron Ling (6.88), Jimmy Bartel (7.27)

Int: Trent West (6.47), Darren Milburn (6.45), Shannon Byrnes (6.35), David Wojcinski (SUB) (6.34) 

Click here for a full list of ratings

1st September 2011 Category: General

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It's been smooth sailing for Collingwood this season on the injury front - they've used less players (33) than any other team in the competition. But on the run-in to the finals, they've hit some minor bumps in the road. Suspension will see Dale Thomas miss the first game of the finals and a thumb injury to captain, Nick Maxwell has raised doubt over the defenders return.

Throughout the season Collingwood have ignored the fluctuating form of veterans Alan Didak, Nick Maxwell and (to a lesser extent) Harry O'Brien. There's no indication that this will change during the finals. Mick Malthouse has already stated that Maxwell will automatically return to the team once he overcomes his thumb injury. The ratings below provide an indication of the where those players stand in real terms.

• Cameron Wood was not included because for most of the season Collingwood have only selected one of Jolly (6.64) or Wood (6.31).
• Leigh Brown (6.07) was included ahead of Didak (6.10) because he plays as the second ruckman.

Collingwood's best 22:

FB: Leon Davis (6.99), Chris Tarrant (6.61), Alan Toovey (6.23)

HB: Heath Shaw (7.23), Ben Reid (6.71), Harry O'Brien (6.42)

C: Dale Thomas (7.46), Scott Pendlebury (7.76), Ben Johnson (6.88)

HF: Steele Sidebottom (6.83), Travis Cloke (7.33), Dayne Beams (6.97)

FF: Andrew Krakouer (6.46), Chris Dawes (6.14), Alex Fasolo (6.42)

Ruck: Darren Jolly (6.64), Dane Swan (7.89), Luke Ball (7.36)

Int: Sharrod Wellingham (6.49), Jarryd Blair (6.24), Leigh Brown (6.07), Simon Buckley (SUB) (6.23)

Click here for a full list of ratings

30th August 2011 Category: General

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3 weeks ago, John Butcher hadn’t played a senior AFL game. 3 games and 3 promising performances later, Butcher’s a top target for at least 4 Victorian based clubs.

How did Port Adelaide let this happen?

Back in 2009, The Power selected Butcher with the 8th pick in the national draft. After struggling with persistent back problems last year, Butcher made his debut 3 weeks ago against Hawthorn in Round 20. In his first 3 games he’s averaged just under 4 goals and game and over 5 marks a game. In doing so he's caught the eye of clubs in need of a key forward.

From Port’s perspective, though, it didn’t matter what Butcher did in his first three games, they always intended on offering him a new deal - Clubs don’t release first round key forwards at the age of 20. So why - with his contract up at the end of the season - would Port put Butcher in the shop window?

Rewind to early August, Port Adelaide Operations Manger, Peter Rohde said: “He's shown a fair bit in the SANFL so he's one we want to give a chance to before the end of the season." But surely the club would have been better advised to secure Butcher’s signature before exposing his talents to the league?

Worst case scenario: Butcher goes home to Victoria and Port receive no compensation. 

24th August 2011 Category: General

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13th August 2011 Category: General

Video: Courtesy afldraftinfo.com

Taken with the 8th pick in the 2009 National Draft, Port Adelaide youngster, John Butcher is set to debut today against Hawthorn. In the lead up to the ’09 draft, Butcher was tipped to be taken number 2 - ahead of future second pick, Jack Trengove. In 2010 Butcher was struck down by injury - suffering stress fractures in his back. Of all the players taken in the first round of the '09 draft, Butcher is the only player yet to debut.