Taken at No.44 in the rookie draft, West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern has soared – literally – to become a deadly defensive weapon. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Footyology has become some kind of West Coast appreciation society in the last couple of days.
After running through the incredible bargains the Eagles picked up in the 1989 draft yesterday, it’s going to be a similar story today as we revise the 2010 AFL draft top 10.
Twenty-one years after West Coast struck gold with Dean Kemp, Ashley McIntosh and Brett Heady, using picks in the 90s and 100s, they did it again by picking up arguably the game’s best defender Jeremy McGovern with pick No.44 in the rookie draft – which was essentially pick 162!
Three All-Australians and a premiership medal later and McGovern now sits comfortably at the top of the revised 2010 top 10.
Probably the best contested mark in the competition as we speak, McGovern’s ability to not only beat his direct opponent but read the play so well has turned him into one of the AFL’s deadliest weapons in defence.
His huge performance on grand final day this year, as he contended with coughing up blood while battling hip and rib issues, capped off what has so far been a meteoric rise from chubby speculative rookie selection to elite key defender.
Coming in at No.2 is another bargain. Not quite as big a bargain as McGovern, but a bargain nonetheless. Sydney must still be chuckling to itself at how Luke Parker slipped through to pick 40.
One of the game’s best midfielders, he is also capable of going forward to have a huge impact thanks to his incredibly strong marking capabilities and goalkicking prowess.
He has averaged 23 disposals over his 173-game career and has also booted 142 goals. It doesn’t come as a surprise, then, that he is a premiership player, two-time best-and-fairest winner and one-time All-Australian.
Parker just edges out West Coast star Andrew Gaff who finds himself third in the revised order after initially being taken at pick four.
While the most recent chapter of his career has been overshadowed by a brain fade which saw him break Fremantle youngster Andrew Brayshaw’s jaw, it shouldn’t be forgotten that he is a sublime footballer.
Gaff would be a walk-up start in any team’s midfield as his average of 26 disposals across 175 games would indicate. His blistering pace and superb ball use would keep opposition coaches awake at night. The 26-year-old already has two All-Australian nods and a best-and-fairest to his credit.
Speaking of speed, triple premiership Hawk Isaac Smith gets an upgrade from pick 19 to No.4. What a great story he has been. Taken as a mature-age recruit from North Ballarat, Smith made an instant impact with the Hawks and had one of the most blessed starts to a career imaginable with three flags, four grand finals and five preliminary finals in his first five years at AFL level.
There’s still plenty to look forward to for Hawks fans, too, with Smith putting together arguably his best year so far in 2018.
Rounding out the top five is Essendon skipper Dyson Heppell who also gets a mini promotion from No.8. Heppell burst onto the scene in 2011, winning the Rising Star, and has hardly put a foot wrong since as he made a seamless transition from defence to midfield, picking up an All-Australian and best-and-fairest before being made captain in 2017.
In seven seasons at senior level with the Bombers, Heppell has finished top three in the best and fairest on no fewer than six occasions.
Key forwards Jack Darling (West Coast) and Tom Lynch (now Richmond) come in at six and seven respectively, while Hawthorn’s triple premiership goalsneak Paul Puopolo has climbed from pick No.66 all the way up to eight.
Vastly-improved Melbourne spearhead Tom McDonald also gets a huge upgrade from 53 to nine, while Richmond forward Josh Caddy’s last two seasons have seen him hang on to a top 10 spot after originally being taken at No.7 by the Suns.
This revised top 10 was a very hard one to put together when you consider that the likes of Jeremy Howe, Luke Dahlhaus, Michael Hibberd, Jason Johannisen, David Swallow, Dion Prestia, Tom Liberatore, Josh Jenkins, Sam Menegola, Tom Jonas, Jamie Cripps and Jared Polec all missed out.
However, there is plenty of footy still left in the class of 2010, so the ink is far from dry on this revision. It’s very much a fluid situation and there are spots still up for grabs over the next seven or eight years if those who missed out want them badly enough!
Gaff, Heppell and Caddy are the only ones to have remained in the top 10 upon revision.
