A couple of mates & I were discussing late last year who the Most Valuable player in the game was. Not the best, not the player who was most valuable to his own team, but instead the player who would be untradeable in any 1 for 1 deal.
Now obviously if BrisVegas came to Freo and said "we want Pav", we'd laugh at them. However, what if they said, "we want Pav and we'll give you John Brown"? We'd all THINK about it at the very least. Whether we'd pull the trigger is the interesting argument.
Being a list guy, I gout out the pad and we ranked the players that came to mind. The rules were pretty simple. Contract sizes and salary caps didn't matter. Team needs didn't matter. All that did matter was whether the guy on the list would be available for the guys above him on the list, the player's ability, age, future potential and current performance.
Player number 1 would not be available for any single player. Player 4 would not be swapped for anyone below him but would get swapped for anyone above. Confused? Sorry.
So here is my list, in order, of the 20 most valuable AFL players.
1 - Buddy Franklin: Already possibly the most dangerous forward in the comp and still with plenty of development in him. Number 1 is rarified air, but I think he's there because of his unique mix (for this list) of future potential combined with current output.
2 - Chris Judd: We've seen his best, and it is at least as good as anyone else before him. He will be a footy immortal if he can play at that level for the coming seasons. West Coast may have torched him, but I don't think so.
3 - John Brown: Scary good and sometimes just plain scary. He's a physical presence who can win you a game on his own by the lift he provides those around him. Injuries have stopped him from already becoming a legend. The years he has ahead will address that. He won't improve a lot, but he doesn't need too.
4 - Dean Cox: Generally guys in the midfield are devalued a bit in my mind because they spend only about 66% of the game on the field nowadays. Not Cox. He's a dominant big man who stays on the park and is more mobile than many midgets. He's 1 of only 3 Eagles I'd want in purple.
5 - Matt Pavlich: Young, dominant, versatile, still effective despite playing on 2-3 guys every week. He's probably more highly skilled than any of the bigger guys on the list but just behind those above him for physicality and performance. An awesome talent.
6 - Adam Goodes: If they haven't alreadsy, let the arguments begin. He should be higher due to his Premiership & Chaz medals. He should be lower due to the his lack of a true position and his occasional form lapses. I agree with all those points, and I just can't raise him or drop him from here.
7 - Chad Cornes: I know, I feel that way too. I had to shower 3 times just for being the guy who bought him up. You can imagine how dirty I feel actually putting him at 7. All bias aside though, he belongs at least this high. Versatile, effective, durable, dangerous at either end...let's just move on before I throw up in my mouth again.
8 - Matthew Scarlett: Here is where our arguments got heated. A fullback ahead of the rest of the game's best middies? Well my reckoning is that the most valuable people so far are almost all bigguns. They're the blokes that win you games. They play on 2 people most of the time. A bloke who can let you go 1 on 1 with them is huge value.
9 - Daniel Kerr: A world class tool by anyone's standards but he can play. I've thought for a while now he was almost equal to Judd and better than his other dearly departed mate. This year will provide key insight as to whether that is true.
10 - James Bartell: Want to know why GAblett is so dangerous? Look no further than this guy. Remember when he and Haze were the same player? Not anymore. Bartell has evolved in to a truly great player. Can he keep it up?
11 - Gary Ablett Jnr: I used to think he was soft and over rated. Not anymore, certainly not on the over rated anyway. I saw him live 5 times last year, he's stellar in his work rate and the absolute fits he causes the other team. He is over hyped, but not over rated.
12 - Darren Glass: Same argument as Scarlett, just not as good as the Cat boy is at hurting you going the other way. He used to be the hugely fragile Glass, now he is almost a rock.
13 - Cane Cornes: The only middie in the game who can kill you by getting the ball or by stopping your main guy from getting it, or doing both at the same time. As with Chad, let's move on quickly...
14 - Nick Riewoldt: Has all the tools barring accuracy by foot. The fact that he should be going nose to nose with Brown, Pav, Goodes etc higher up the list indicates he's in danger of falling short of his potential. Like Haze & Bartell, remember when there was some discussion as to who you'd want out of Pav & Vitey? Only Saints fans wonder now.
15 - Simon Black: For some reason people have stopped talking about him. I for 1 don't see why. Starting to age but still the 2nd biggest reason Brisbane scare people. Awesome balance and skills on either side.
16 - Barry Hall: Ageing and possibly waning, but still a great player. To be as effective as he is on those Sydney grounds and with the style they play is testament to his ability. Needs a bounce back year after last years injuries. I wouldn't bet against him.
17 - Sam Mitchell: Gets the ball himself, uses the ball well, make's others better. That's a great package.
18 - Brad Johnson: Quick, skillful, an awesome mark for his size and as annoying as a radio with the dial stuck on 882. Top shelf talent and tougher than he is given credit for being.
19 - Hamish McIntosh: Where did he come from last year? Has all the tools a ruckman needs. Forget Scott Thornton's miss, the real reason we lost to North was his sublime snap from deep in the RH pocket at the Subi end. Only he and Cox are ruckmen capable of that.
20 - Luke Hodge: Forever in a shadow after being drafted at #1 ahead of Judd Judy, but this guy has become a top drawer player. Still with improvement in him too which is frightening for his opponents.
On the cusp in no order: Power (B), Cloke (Coll), Lucas (Ess), McClean (Melb), Hahn (WB), Sandilands (F), Hansen (WC), Dal Santo (StK), Koschitski (StK).
Not enough footy left in them: Bell (F), Lade (PA), McCleod (A), West (WB).
Couldn't believe these names got mentioned at all: Lynch & Embley (WC). I didn't say my mates were sharp.
I'm sure you disagree completely with the above. That's what we enjoyed when having the discussion. As always, disagreeing with me doesn't make you a bad person, it just makes you wrong.