Champion Data has released their annual player ranking list ahead of the 2022 AFL season with the Cats sharing the podium with two other clubs for the highest number of players in the top two categories.
The number is based on Champion Data’s official player rankings for the 2021 season.
To be rated elite, a player must rank in the top 10% of their position and must have played at least 10 games, of which three Cats, Tom Hawkins, Sam Menegola, and reigning Carji medallist Tom Stewart ticked all the boxes.
While the AFL’s official number crunchers formula for anointing the games' best holds all the mystery of the Colonel's herbs and spices, casting a wider lens tells a fuller story, with Geelong, along with Port Adelaide and Brisbane having the most players in the two highest categories; elite and above average.
To be rated above average, a player must rank between in the top 11-35% of their position, of which 10 Cats fit the bill: Patrick Dangerfield, Mark Blicavs, Zach Tuohy, Brad Close, Gary Rohan, Jack Henry, Jeremy Cameron, Mitch Duncan Issac Smith, and Jonathan Ceglar.
While names like Dangerfield, Duncan, and Cameron are regular place getters, it’s the emergence of players like Jack Henry and in particular, Brad Close that will most please Cats fans going into the new AFL season.
The 23-year-old Close at times felt like the club’s best-kept secret throughout 2021, sneaking up on the competition with the kind of closing speed that regularly saw him drag down an unsuspecting opposition ball carrier.
He played 22 of 25 possible games, kicked 15 goals, averaged 13 touches per game, and he might top the list of players who’ll benefit most from assistant coach Eddie Betts’ arrival at the Cattery over the summer.
