With the last chapter of the home and away season about to close, the discussions of which players have delivered the best looking season start to circle.

According to AFL Journalist Adam McNicol, the most improved player this year is Geelong defender Jared Rivers.   

“I think he’s made a massive difference in the backline this year,” McNicol told Cats TV.

Last year, Rivers spent the majority of his first season at Geelong stuck on the bench nursing a problematic knee. However, this year the experienced defender from Melbourne, who has only missed two games all season, has continued to produce formidable work in the Cats backline.

Not only is he currently placed fifth in the AFL for not losing a one-on-one contest with his opponent, but he is also ranked 12th for the highest number of spoils taken per game, with a game average of 6.5.   

“I suspect a few Geelong fans after last season were wondering ‘why have we got this Rivers bloke?’ but it’s fair to say he took some time to adapt to the Geelong way, plus he had a few injuries last year and that always holds you back,” McNicol explained.

“But I’m going to go with Jared Rivers, he’s had an exceptional season this year.”

Another defender to impress McNicol this year is Tom Lonergan.

He might not be the most obvious Cat to pick when it comes to choosing the most consistent player, however, McNicol says it becomes a lot clearer once you look at his opponents statistics instead of his.  

Champion Data have recently revealed that Lonergan has only allowed his key opponent to score an average of one goal per game. This year the valuable veteran has kept Matthew Pavlich and Travis Cloke goalless, whilst limiting Jack Gunston, Drew Petrie and Jay Schulz all to one goal.

McNicol admits that this specific statistic is frequently overlooked when reviewing the game.   

“Often when you’re writing match reports after Geelong games you forget Tommy Lonergan, he sort of goes under the radar because he just gets the job done very efficiently,” McNicol said.

“He plays on all the great forwards like Buddy (Lance Franklin), he played on (Jack) Gunston against Hawthorn and he really took him out of the game, he only conceded one goal and Lonergan got more possessions than Gunston.

“So I think Lonergan at the age of 30 has had an exceptional year.”

Click on the video above to catch more from this week's episode of Argue the Toss.