ELITE MIDFIELDERS 2013
- Thread starter Hamshamiltonhocking
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lmach
Naitanui2Yeo
Decent list but you've left out a lot.
Only Ablett is the elite mid in the comp. Everyone else is just second rate.
Forgot about Selwood, would put him in that group.
And 5 years? I know he hasn't been his best the last two years but up until 2011 he was top 2 for me. For me players become elite after years of excelling, so even though Judd isn't as good as he was, I still think of him as elite.
Senatorguesty
Cancelled
Maybe due to Judds pre-2008 being so good I consider anything less not elite, but your right.
Midfielders don't have to kick goals it will always depend on the teams balance of Forwards.. Mitchell is more likely to fire a handball out of the forward 50 to one of our smalls or flankers...
Sydney are a perfect example, Kennedy, Jack, Hannebery, Jetta, McVeigh have to be their avenues to goal as you are not going to get much out of Reid, McGlynn... hell I am struggling to name a genuine forward that plays for the Swans... It's because they all get up the ground and they score from spread from stoppages and turnovers from forward pressure.
Does this mean they are better midfielders than Mitchell??
I personally rate Mitchell for clearance work shooting a handball out of packs of players , same as Jobe Watson of 4-5 years ago with clearance work but now Jobe has learnt to push forward and kick atleast 1 goal a game. Mitchell is clearly an A grade Midfielder and would love him at Essendon but he will never be elite as he lacks in 1-2 areas where the elite ones don't . . .
McVeigh this season and last is on fire , he is a very underrated midfielder with great middle work and slotting goals . . .
Jobe wouldn't have to go forward and kick a goal a game if you had our forward line instead of forwards that don't hit the scoreboard like Crameri, Hurley etc.
Crameri has kicked 16 in 6 games = 2.66 goals a game . . .
How is your million dollar "star" forward buddy doing , oh that's right 18 in 7 games = 2.57 goals a game. . .
By those stats which mean's nothing in this thread about midfielders is that essendons leading goal kicker kicks more goals per a game than buddy aswell as Jobe going forward and assisting on the scoreboard makes him a huge step above Mitchell which this whole thread is about . . . No one here is denying Mitchell isn't a great player but he will never reach "elite" in the eyes of the league . . .
Crameri has kicked 10 against Melbourne and GWS and 6 in 5 games against half decent teams....
Mitchell is the best dual sided player in the comp and I would take that over a goal per game any day particularly when we have forwards to kick goals..
It means they are different / playing in a different structure, which is really what you're trying to point out.
I think the concept of trying to nominate elite players based on seven games of a single season is flawed. For me, a player's right to the title "elite" is built up over a considerable period of time. These are the players who have good to great seasons year after year.
Another common characteristic is the ability to turn a tight game with a dynamic quarter or half, when otherwise they have been fairly well held. And in the really key moments, they are the players who nearly always make the right decision.
Mitchell is most definitely "elite" in my eyes. Many pundits seem to require some element of explosiveness or a long highlight reel of spectacular plays before they deem a player to be elite. I reckon just as important a factor is just doing the "right thing" with the ball over and over again throughout a career, and the ability to see options at a speed that is beyond most players. Few would deny Simon Black as being an elite player over his career (regardless of whether he is still able to play at that level). Mitchell is similar in that he may not have a spectacular highlight reel but he's been a brilliant midfield contributor over a very long period of time.
Scott Thompson (the Adelaide version) is another who frequently gets overlooked in discussions of "eliteness". He may not be at the level of Voss/Buckley/Hird/Ablett but he certainly truly belongs at the next level down.
PatrickBateman
Norm Smith Medallist
Don't agree. Mitchell to me is arguably the most underrated. He's unstoppable at his best. Watson is a good player but Mitchell has done it for a lot longer at a very high level. Winning the Brownlow in a rubbish team is no great honour either, Mitchell has come extremely close multiple times in one of the best sides of the last 5 years, with healthy competition from high class team mates. Not that I give a rats about the medal. Easily the most overrated award in sport that I know of.
Mitchell will never be a good forward as he's small and not quick. In the middle though, Mitchell has the chocolates over Watson ATM. Watson has to perform at his current level for at least another 3-4 years. To say that Mitchell has never been elite is ridiculous.
I don't think anyone underrates him but he does have flaws like all players (bar super freak Ablett) but he has more of them . . . I agree Mitchell has been playing his best for longer than Jobe but whats the age differents? Jobe just turned 28 and Mitchell is 31 at the end of the year . . . so 3 years different so naturally he has been doing it for longer so thats a silly comment an older player has been playing better long durrrrrrr really ?!?!?!? never would have guessed
Whats with all this medal jabbrish your spewing on about , that has never came in discussion so stop trying to derail this thread . . . the brownlow is garbage so what's your point ?
Mitchell not quick eh , oh that's right I always hear everyone commenting how quick Jobe is just like Lewis Jetta . . . Jobe is a slug but he has managed that flaw well and still slot goals . . .
Mitchell is a star but will not be remembered as elite , the word elite gets thrown around to easy and for jobe to be REMEMBERED as elite he has to keep his current form up for atleast 3 years
