{"id":61484,"date":"2024-03-20T08:38:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T22:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=61484"},"modified":"2024-03-20T08:48:51","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T22:48:51","slug":"afl-watchability-rankings-round-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2024\/03\/afl-watchability-rankings-round-2\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Watchability Rankings: Round 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

The competition runs through New South Wales. Indeed, it runs through the northern states but I wrote about Gold Coast last week<\/a> so we\u2019re focusing on the Sydney teams, particularly GWS.<\/p>\n

Last year few would have argued that Collingwood was the best list in football, but they were the best team.<\/p>\n

Early in the season, it looks like GWS is both, and if it\u2019s not GWS, it might be Sydney.<\/p>\n

Do yourself a favour and look through GWS\u2019 list and ask yourself how many players on that team are arguably in the top 15 players at their position?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve done the work for you: Coniglio, Greene, Whitefield, Green, Bedford, Taylor, Daniels, Kelly, Hogan, Idun, Buckley.<\/p>\n

GWS is stacked with elite talent but have exceptional supporting talent to prop up the stars.<\/p>\n

Look at the GWS forward line for instance.<\/p>\n

Obviously, the alphas are Toby Greene and Jesse Hogan, while Bedford is among the best forward pressure players in football. But the real value is in the depth.<\/p>\n

Through two games, Callum Brown is going at double the rating points that he averaged last season and has already kicked 7 goals, but more than anything quantifiable, his size and athleticism is petrifying for defences.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Jake Ricciardi who has slotted nicely into a Jon Bernthal type of role. Early in the North game he was the leading man and did it reasonably well, like Bernthal in We Own This City.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s best as a sugar rush type, like Bernthal in The Bear or The Wolf of Wall Street, Ricciardi reverted when GWS put a target on Toby Pink, kicking it to whoever that poor bastard was playing on.<\/p>\n

At points it felt like a kid killing ants with his magnifying glass.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Aaron Cadman, who had among the worst first years in recent football history.<\/p>\n

This year, he looks like he\u2019s seen the inside of a gym for the first time in his AFL career and he\u2019s reaping the benefits.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s an exceptional athlete and a straight kick who looks set to be a wonderful complimentary player this season and might very well be a superstar in the near future.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re built like a wide receiver corps in the way that complement each other\u2019s skill sets.<\/p>\n

San Francisco 49ers\u2019 coach Kyle Shanahan has long maintained that he wants his receiver rooms to look like a basketball team, and that\u2019s how the GWS forward line looks as well.<\/p>\n

If the stars don\u2019t fire, it doesn\u2019t matter for GWS, they have so much depth and so many effective complementary pieces.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the list, it\u2019s the game style.<\/p>\n

GWS are the competition\u2019s leading crowd pleaser along with being the competition\u2019s best team.<\/p>\n

Typically, the two are mutually exclusive but not here, they\u2019re like the Canelo Alvarez or The Godfather of the AFL, simultaneously the best and the most entertaining.<\/p>\n

They play kamikaze football under Kingsley, and it wasn\u2019t just because they were playing North.<\/p>\n

As a matter of course they back their stars, especially Tom Green, to win the ball in contested situations and the outside midfielders are more than willing to cheat forward to get The Orange Tsunami rolling.<\/p>\n

While it has worked so far against Collingwood and North Melbourne, both of whom were overwhelmed by GWS skill, run, and carry, it will be interesting to see how they go against more stout defensive sides, or even sides who fight fire with fire and cheat the other way.<\/p>\n

GWS play gash or be gashed football.<\/p>\n

Part of me wonders if they\u2019re so willing to play that high risk\/high reward game style because their defence is so exceptionally balanced and so talent laden.<\/p>\n

In a sense, they might view it as medium risk\/high reward.<\/p>\n

Maybe they\u2019re right. Time will tell. I can\u2019t wait to find out.<\/p>\n

Onto the rankings.<\/p>\n

1. St Kilda v Collingwood<\/strong><\/h1>\n

It\u2019s a Collingwood dynasty in the watchability rankings!<\/p>\n

More than can be said on the field.<\/p>\n

You have Collingwood slumping to 0-2 after their first two games.<\/p>\n

Then you have the Saints, off a game where they scored explosively and ran forward ferociously for a rare time in Ross Lyon\u2019s tenure as Saints coach, looking to even the ledger.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f "I really admire how we never gave up…but we walk away frustrated with our performance."<\/p>\n

More from Ross \ud83d\udc47<\/p>\n

— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) March 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n