If the Tasmanian AFL team was coming into the league in 2022 and you could pick the best 10 players in the competition to join the expansion side, who would you take?
Richmond vice-captain Jack Riewoldt has made his picks, headlined by Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli and GWS forward Toby Greene.
In a tough list to narrow to 10, the likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins, Sam Walsh, Ollie Wines and Jack Steele missed out.
See Riewoldt’s list below:
1. Marcus Bontempelli
“I think that when he is up and about, which he has been for most of the year, and I know a lot of people have bagged him over the back-end of the season, but he hasn’t been as bad as people have said.”
“He could be that far ahead in the Brownlow this year that they can’t chase him down.”
2. Toby Greene
“Pound for pound he is, in terms of possessions, the role they play, the forward line he plays in and the team he plays for, he has the most impact of anyone in the AFL when he gets the ball.”
3. Dustin Martin
“I’ve got Dustin at three. I’m a big one on score involvements, he’s in just for that.”
“We know he’s the champ, clearly injured in the back-end of the season and interesting to see how he comes through that just with the way it happened and the contact.
“He just has impact on games and big games and I’m weighting that, his impact in finals.”
4. Max Gawn
“How good was that goal on the run last week? The value of having a ruckman like that, and we have seen very few ruckmen like that, it’s so important.”
“He will be a massive, massive reason if he plays well next week, he might be the reason Melbourne wins it.”
5. Christian Petracca
“He fits into that Dustin Martin and Toby Greene mould. Toby’s more forward than midfield and Dustin’s more forward than midfield, but Petracca is more midfield than forward and I think he’s learned how to use his body.”
“The ability to break through stoppage allows him to be cleaner (by foot).”
6. Clayton Oliver
“His sparring partner Oliver I’ve got at six. Best hands in the business. I love what he does in terms of getting it out to guys like Petracca.”
7. Lance Franklin
“His back-half of the year, when he’s up and going, he’s still unstoppable. He’s still the best forward in the competition when he’s up and going isn’t he?”
8. Tom Stewart
“Best defender in the competition, I think – and clearly. The Geelong result in the first and third weeks of finals showed how much they really did miss him.”
9. Jack Macrae
“The one thing with Macrae which I think is underrated is that his ball-use is elite. I think it’s just because he’s a left footer and maybe he kicks around the corner a little bit and people maybe think he’s a bit of a scrubby kick, but he’s an elite ball-user.”
10. Nathan Fyfe
“I’ve snuck Fyfe in at 10. He’s a two-time Brownlow Medallist. When he’s up and going he can hurt you in the air, hurt you on the ground.”
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