Western Bulldogs | Midfielder. Grundy is a phenomenon – it’s only a question of to what degree.Heading into last year, I viewed Patrick Cripps as the most laughably overrated player in the competition.
He’s not the same force he was in 2016 and 2017 when he was, across the two years, the best player in the game, but he’s still relentless and still capable of physically overwhelming a game in the clinches in a way that no other player can.For a small, confusing period of time, there was the hushed concern that Marcus Bontempelli might not have another gear.
What he deserves more than anything, though, is the chance to do what he does on the biggest stage again, and rise above September packs.After a down year when he was only maybe the third or fourth best player on the planet, Martin ascended again last season and confirmed his place as the most influential player in the game.He is as close to a perfect footballer as exists – strong, quick, stupidly skilled, and a genius in how he sees the game. How valuable can his tap work be (or, perhaps, tap work in general) if Collingwood ranked 13th in clearance differential last season despite his dominance?This is nit-picking greatness, though. Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? There is something about the combination of speed and brute strength that is much more frightening than profound skill or vision.
Become a member to join in Australia's biggest sporting debate, submit articles, receive updates straight to your inbox and keep up with your favourite teams and authors.Oops! His career was at an unexpected crossroads heading into last season, coming off consecutive seasons where he failed to break 46 goals – incomprehensible for a player with his gifts.Last year, the gifts had a sharp edge again. His stats soared and his team went with him.With the Bulldogs a popular choice to take a further leap this year, Bontempelli’s ability to find another level still and become the best player in the competition – which felt like his destiny in 2016 – will be key.The game’s most impressive athlete might be considered its best player if he could just get a little help. He hits the scoreboard, though he’s an oddly inaccurate kick for goal.All Kelly lacks is an iconic run where the league becomes his. For a small, confusing period of time, there was the hushed concern that… He’s yet to have the defining, dominant stretch that the top players on this list have had – until then, he’ll have to settle for being a superstar.Like Kelly, Jeremy Cameron also lacks a special moment. He has all the grace in the world but does the tough stuff too, winning clearances and putting on punishing tackles. You must provide an email address to create a Roar accountWhen using Facebook to create or log in to an account, you need to grant The Roar permission to see your email addressBy joining The Roar you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & ConditionsOops! He can devour games, like he did against the Bulldogs last year.Still, questions remain. Then I watched what he did to Brisbane at Etihad Stadium, and realised the joker was me.Cripps is unfair. Josh Kelly moves exactly like you’d imagine that a perfect footballer would move. Anyone can contribute to The Roar and have their work Expert That is why, perhaps, players like Kelly and Patrick Dangerfield often feel more overwhelming than a Scott Pendlebury or Marcus Bontempelli.The bookends to Kelly’s season were monstrous – best on ground in Round 1 against Collingwood, then nearly ending Richmond himself in the preliminary final – and a sign that he is here in the league as a champion and here to stay. He’s added a scoreboard menace to his game, with 39 goals the past two years. Anyone can contribute to The Roar and have their work Coniglio isn’t as ethereal as Kelly or Cameron, but he’s the heartbeat of the Giants along with Callan Ward, and the player most emblematic of the mixture of skill and toughness that has come to define GWS’s talent.Coniglio accumulates and does so with purpose, like Kelly so often a part of game-altering chains.
He looks like a bigger-bodied, broader-shouldered, crouching Chris Judd at times, the way he scavenges the ball off the deck then accelerates through traffic with ease. From MSG in New York to the MCG in Melbourne, Jay has spent his adult life travelling the world, indulging in sport and approaching it from the angle of history and pop culture. He was still the same player – the same effortlessly aware, powerful athlete capable of jaw-dropping elegance – but now came in a bigger box.
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