Best Contested Midfielder

[geelong_crazy26]

Who is the best contested midfielder you have seen play the game?? For mine it is paddy dangerfield. Currently sits no1 for all time contested possessions since the statistic was recorded.

In terms of pure power and inside grunt he gets my tick.

Another one right up alongside or equals is judd and also Fyfe in this convo.

 

[hawkman]

Kennedy

 

[Lingsface]

Who is the best contested midfielder you have seen play the game?? For mine it is paddy dangerfield. Currently sits no1 for all time contested possessions since the statistic was recorded.

In terms of pure power and inside grunt he gets my tick.

Another one right up alongside or equals is judd and also Fyfe in this convo.

I think Voss for me, Dangerfield is a star at it his will to get the ball is inspirational.
Guys like Cripps, Wines deserve a mention.
Also one of my all time favourite Cats- Garry Hocking.

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Tony Shaw and it's not even close

 

[PerthBoy86]

Currently Libba or Cripps

 

[Cleansweep17]

Who is the best contested midfielder you have seen play the game?? For mine it is paddy dangerfield. Currently sits no1 for all time contested possessions since the statistic was recorded.

In terms of pure power and inside grunt he gets my tick.

Another one right up alongside or equals is judd and also Fyfe in this convo.

Yeah I was gonna say danger too. He’s still got it to at his age which is amazing.

 

[MF]

Josh Kennedy.

He averaged 13.8 a game over his career and he went to another level in finals where he had 15+ contested possessions a total of 16 times.

 

[RonnieRaven]

Not sure of others but Fyfe a beast averaged over 2 contested marks a game in his second year.
His contested marking some of the best ever by a mid.

 

[Dazb86]

Cale Morton

Cale Morton

Age

34

Ht

192cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.9

5star

K

10.8

4star

HB

8.1

5star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.6

4star

CL

1.3

3star

No current season stats available

D

17.0

5star

K

10.2

4star

HB

6.8

5star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.0

3star

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Currently Libba or Cripps

Libba in his prime was freakishly good at contesting in the middle. I recall a game at geelong he had something like 21 contested possessions and they were real grunt style stuff..

 

[Grrr]

Dangerfield in his peak, not perhaps the best purely contested player, but he had/still has to a lesser degree, the ability to break away from the contest. He does not get it and give it out to a player still in the contest zone like a lot of contested mids, but gets it and takes off. Judd was much the same although not quite as contested. Ablett Jnr was probably the most complete inside/out player, as his contested work was very good, averaging from 13 -17 at his peak, but his ball use was as better than anyone mentioned as well.

 

[g_TRAIN]

Kennedy
Oliver
Cripps
Danger

No order.

If I had to back any mid in a contested 1v1 though it would be Dusty

 

[PhatBoy]

Kennedy was a freak

 

[Grrr]

Kennedy was a freak

Dangerfield had 7 years above 15+ Contest Possessions per game per season, Kennedy had 6.
Kennedy a slightly better average, 13.8 v Danger 13.2.
Also Kennedy Clearances 6.2 vs 5.5.
Not a lot in it.

Cripps is going at 14.7 Contested and 6.2 Clearances, not too shabby.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Dangerfield had 7 years above 15+ Contest Possessions per game per season, Kennedy had 6.
Kennedy a slightly better average, 13.8 v Danger 13.2.
Also Kennedy Clearances 6.2 vs 5.5.
Not a lot in it.

Cripps is going at 14.7 Contested and 6.2 Clearances, not too shabby.

I think what separates judd and dangerfield from cripps and Kennedy is they have a more power based element to their game compared to a strength based one if that makes sense.

Both could contest and burst through at the same time with power, where as Kennedy and cripps are more brute in and unders who dish it out

 

[Robroy22]

Bucks, Ricciuto and Voss are on a par, Shawry was a bugger but not even close to the best, Gavin Brown and Millane were way ahead of Shaw in terms of their contested ability but as much as it hurts me to say it....Greg Williams and Leigh Matthews were easily the best two midfielders (contested was their middle names). Those two basically were unstoppable and would each make mince meat of today's supposed "inside bulls". Size was never a problem to either of em. G&D and an innate ball winning capacity set them both aside from all the rest.

 

[Mr Meow]

Josh Kennedy.

He averaged 13.8 a game over his career and he went to another level in finals where he had 15+ contested possessions a total of 16 times.

Kennedy is a great nomination.

Not as skilled or damaging as Dangerfield (goals, goal assists and score involvements back this up) but every bit as good at the contested stuff. Few can say that.

 

[Red Black and Blue]

He was the best. 4th all time for average and he's played injured and forward rotation for huge chunks of his career.

 

[JackFlash]

Danger and Fyfe, you wouldn't want your name called to go one on one at training with either one of those two...

 

[Vassp]

I think Voss for me, Dangerfield is a star at it his will to get the ball is inspirational.
Guys like Cripps, Wines deserve a mention.
Also one of my all time favourite Cats- Garry Hocking.

GARRY HOCKING MUCH BETTER THAN DANGER, as in who id rather watch playing football.

as in contested, i wouldn't know.

 

[Grrr]

He was the best. 4th all time for average and he's played injured and forward rotation for huge chunks of his career.

At his peak he was right up there, but for injuries which curtailed his output.

 

[Lingsface]

Dean Kemp had a crack, also Matt Priddis.

Tom Mitchell, Jude Bolton

Jude Bolton

Age

44

Ht

181cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.9

4star

K

9.6

4star

HB

8.4

5star

M

3.1

3star

T

4.6

5star

CL

3.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

11.8

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

4.6

4star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.6

4star

.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

When you look at all time contested possession stats there is a huge correlation between the statistic and brownlow medals.. a lot between this list:

Contested Possessions
Player​	TM	Years	#	GM	Ave.	Player​	TM	Years	#	GM	Ave.
Patrick Dangerfield	AD/GE​	2008-2024​	4407​	336​	13.12​	Callan Ward	WB/GW​	2008-2024​	3081​	315​	9.78​
Scott Pendlebury	CW​	2006-2024​	4167​	403​	10.34​	Patrick Cripps	CA​	2014-2024​	3043​	207​	14.70​
Josh Kennedy	HW/SY​	2008-2022​	4007​	290​	13.82​	Scott Thompson	ME/AD​	2001-2017​	3000​	308​	9.74​
Gary Ablett	GE/GC​	2002-2020​	4000​	357​	11.20​	Ollie Wines	PA​	2013-2024​	2977​	252​	11.81​
Joel Selwood	GE​	2007-2022​	3983​	355​	11.22​	Dustin Martin	RI​	2010-2024​	2943​	302​	9.75​
Travis Boak	PA​	2007-2024​	3625​	370​	9.80​	Shaun Burgoyne	PA/HW​	2002-2021​	2905​	407​	7.14​
Lachie Neale	FR/BL​	2012-2024​	3544​	270​	13.13​	Ben Cunnington	NM​	2010-2023​	2880​	238​	12.10​
Simon Black	BL​	1998-2013​	3523​	313​	11.26​	Rory Sloane	AD​	2009-2023​	2876​	255​	11.28​
David Mundy	FR​	2005-2022​	3418​	376​	9.09​	Tom Liberatore	WB​	2011-2024​	2875​	234​	12.29​
Sam Mitchell	HW/WC​	2002-2017​	3400​	329​	10.33​	Jude Bolton	SY​	1999-2013​	2859​	325​	8.80​
Luke Parker	SY​	2011-2024​	3317​	291​	11.40​	Nick Dal Santo	SK/NM​	2002-2016​	2829​	322​	8.79​
Chris Judd	WC/CA​	2002-2015​	3276​	279​	11.74​	Brent Harvey	NM​	1996-2016​	2802​	391​	7.17​
Trent Cotchin	RI​	2008-2023​	3262​	306​	10.66​	Adam Goodes	SY​	1999-2015​	2783​	372​	7.48​
Nat Fyfe	FR​	2010-2024​	3187​	240​	13.28​	Marc Murphy	CA​	2006-2021​	2767​	300​	9.22​
Matt Priddis	WC​	2006-2017​	3177​	240​	13.24​	Clayton Oliver	ME​	2016-2024​	2755​	183​	15.05​

[Top]

12 brownlows from the top encholon of that list alone won.

 

[MF]

Kennedy is a great nomination.

Not as skilled or damaging as Dangerfield (goals, goal assists and score involvements back this up) but every bit as good at the contested stuff. Few can say that.

Yeah I think Dangerfield has him covered as a player, but when it came to contested ball I don't think there's a player you could say was better than Kennedy.

Selwood probably worth a mention in this thread as well.

 

[RonnieRaven]

Kennedy Fyfe Danger guns
All 96-97kg all 6ft 2+
Fyfe 2 inches taller at 6’4
All moved so fluent for their size