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Scorpus
Moderator
- Apr 16, 2014
- 60,722
- 161,721
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Moderator
- #826
I would say based on this that a premiership team makeup MUST have a top tier midfielder. If a team chooses to skimp on the forward line, the midfield must be even stronger than average. Defense is non-negotiable, but the midfield cannot be weaker than the defense. And if defense is stronger than the forward line, the midfield must be (again) stronger than average. Rucks are irrelevant
Here's where we currently stand
Defense - Smith (1xAA)
Midfield & Mid-Forward - Laird* (2xAA), Dawson (1xAA), Sloane (1xAA), Crouch (1xAA)
Forward - Walker (1xAA)
*won both of his AAs as a defender
Currently we fall short on all three lines in terms of awards to this point. So we'd need:
- One midfielder in our squad to become multiple AA quality (Dawson?), ideally two (who is the other?)
- More quality in defense, especially if Laird continues as a mid. Who is the next multiple-AA defender in our squad?
- More strength in the forward line, otherwise we need more quality in the midfield. Do we have enough All Australian level forwards to offset the mids? We'd need Fogarty, Thilthorpe, Rankine to all become AA level players, otherwise the midfield requirements rise
- Not one flag won without at least one midfielder that is multiple All Australian quality
- Five of the seven teams had two or more multiple All Australian midfielders
- Four of the seven teams had three or more All Australian midfielders
- Four of the seven teams had at least one multiple All Australian forward
- Three teams had zero or one AA forwards, suggesting it's possible to win a flag with no forward line. However all three sides had at least 8 All Australian jumpers awarded to the midfield
- Every side had at least one AA defender. Six of the seven teams had multiple AA defenders.
- Only one team had more AA jumpers awarded to defenders than to the midfield
- However four teams had more AA jumpers awarded to defenders than to forwards. All four of these sides had at least one midfielder with a minimum of four AA jumpers
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