Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney has named his top five players of season 2018, with a few surprising calls.
“I’ve picked my top five players from season 2017 and had a look at them last night, there’s a new bunch of sheriffs in town,” Cooney told SEN Afternoons.
"There is not one player from the top five last year that is in this year as of this stage."
Cooney's top five players of 2018 are as follows:
1. Ben Brown (North Melbourne)
2. Max Gawn (Melbourne)
3. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood)
4. Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
5. Shaun Higgins (North Melbourne)
Kangaroos full forward Ben Brown tops the list, who has booted 42 goals so far this season, the most of any player in the competition and seven majors clear of four-time Coleman Medal winner Buddy Franklin, who sits second.
All-Australian ruckman contenders Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy round out the top three, who are nearly impossible to split at the moment. Both are worthy of earning an AA cap at season's end, but Cooney currently has Gawn slightly ahead of Grundy.
Brownlow Medal fancy Patrick Cripps comes in fourth, who was fought admirably all season as the stand-in captain for the bottom placed Blues, smashing and burrowing into packs to lead the league in contested possessions.
Kangaroos veteran Shaun Higgins rounds out the list, who may be the silkiest, smartest midfielder in the competition right now.
