Plucked from the relative obscurity of the local league, Tom Stewart has been a revelation for Geelong. Photo: AFL MEDIA
The 2016 AFL Redraft has the potential to leave a lot of egg on this writer’s face in the years to come.
By far one of the most challenging revisions undertaken in the Footyology Redraft series, this talent-laden list of players will almost certainly continue to change order frequently over the next 10-15 years.
In fact, year-to-year alterations will probably take place from here on – that’s just how logjammed things are with this particular crop.
But after much agonising and handwringing, one player stood out above the rest after a five-year body of work, and that is star Geelong defender Tom Stewart.
What a bargain this bloke was. Plucked from the relative obscurity of the local Geelong league, and having played for the Cats’ VFL team, Stewart has been a revelation down back.
After being selected at pick 40 as a mature-ager at 23 years old, Stewart has earned three All-Australian jumpers in five years to cement himself as one of the league’s preeminent backmen.
His ability to not only read the ball, leave his man and take an intercept mark but also use the ball cleanly has quickly seen him become a mainstay down back for the Cats.
Illustrating just how much he means to the Cats, he won his first best-and-fairest award this year, despite missing the last five games due to a foot injury.
Deciding the revised No.1 pick was actually probably the easiest part of this process. But then came the tricky part: deciding positions 2-10.
It was really tough to split the chasing pack, but ultimately Richmond excitement machine Shai Bolton came in at No.2
Bolton made a slow start to his career with just nine games in his first two seasons at Punt Road, but boy, has he made up for lost time in his last three years, quickly becoming arguably the Tigers’ best player behind the one and only Dustin Martin.
The rapid development of the 22-year-old, who was taken at pick 29, and also wears No.29, has been quite sensational.
The kid has become a matchwinner in one of the most successful teams of all time.
A two-time premiership player, Bolton has gone from strength to strength since the start of 2019, and his abundant x-factor was evident when he was awarded Mark of the Year this season in what was one of the most hotly-contested competitions of its type in many, many years.
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Whether coach Damien Hardwick puts him up forward, or in the midfield, you just know Bolton is going to have a significant impact, and to already have developed that reputation after just 67 games is quite an achievement. His potential presently has no obvious ceiling, and it’s going to be hard work to drag him out of the top two in the ensuing years.
“Where is Hugh McCluggage?” I hear the Brisbane fans asking. And they have every right to feel aggrieved that their outstanding youngster failed to crack the top two.
But if it’s any consolation, he maintains his ranking of No.3 – and deservedly so.
This future superstar made an instant impact in the Lions’ midfield in his first year, and has not looked back.
A tireless runner, a hard worker and an influential playmaker, McCluggage averages 21 touches a game over his 106-game career and continues to improve with each passing season. In fact, he racked up a career-high 600 touches in season 2021.
The only knock on him at this stage is his goalkicking (64.81), but if he can fix up his radar, he certainly has the potentially to become a top-five player in the league.
Ever so slightly behind McCluggage is Greater Western Sydney’s Tim Taranto, who slides from pick two to four, and the 2016 No.1 draft pick Andrew McGrath drops down to five.
If you thought deciding the revised top five was tough, take a look at the next five places.
In sixth position, St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall rockets 87 spots up the charts after originally being taken at No.10 in the rookie draft, and just behind him in seventh spot is clever Sydney goalkicker Will Hayward who gets a 14-spot upgrade from 21.
Rounding out the top 10 is another bargain in rock solid Fremantle defender Luke Ryan, who was snapped up with the 66th pick overall, brilliant Essendon backman Jordan Ridley and emerging North Melbourne on-baller Jy Simpkin.
And when you take into consideration that the likes of Geelong duo Brandan Parfitt and Jack Henry, dual Richmond premiership Jack Graham, giant Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy, Kangaroos pair Cam Zurhaar and Nick Larkey, Lions Oscar McInerney and Jarrod Berry, Bulldogs grand final player Tim English, Ridley’s teammate Sam Draper, Port Adelaide trio Todd Marshall, Sam Powell-Pepper and Willem Drew as well as Hayward’s fellow Sydney young gun Oliver Florent all missed the cut, the potential for the revised top 10 undergoing a dramatic rejigging in the future becomes apparent.
It will be interesting to see how this revision evolves over the years, and might just be one we have to revisit in about five years’ time to see how things might’ve changed.
Incredibly, after just five years, only three original top-10 players avoided dropping out – McGrath, McCluggage and Taranto.
*Redrafts only consider the first time a player was drafted.
