Adelaide Crows: Daniel Talia
Even if you do not think the Adelaide Crows are fully-fledged flag contenders, it’s hard to deny that they’re certainly in the race, so long as their forward guns continue firing. There is no problem up the front of the park, but those down back will need to lift in order to challenge the better teams in the league come finals time. Of all top eight teams, Adelaide’s defence is the worst, conceding 1,230 points in the opening 15 rounds, and their best key defender, Daniel Talia, will be looked at to lift his game and play some career best footy in order for the Crows to make a legitimate dent in September.
Geelong Cats: Mitch Duncan
As good as the Cats’ midfield has been this year, there is no doubt Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood are carrying it. Players such as Mark Blicavs and Steven Motlop will need to step up in order maintain superiority through the middle come finals time, which is largely where the game is won and lost. Mitch Duncan also has the ability to have a huge impact on matches at his best. If he can rediscover late 2015 Mitch Duncan, Geelong’s case as premiership favourite gets a lot stronger.
Greater Western Sydney Giants: Nick Haynes
Did anyone have the Greater Western Sydney Giants competing for a flag this soon? I sure didn’t. If they want to remain contenders for this season at least, they will have to keep their key defenders on the park. Aidan Corr, Caleb Marchbank and Tim Mohr have all missed games, but perhaps most prominently, Nick Haynes has only played in nine of Greater Western Sydney’s 14 games so far this year, meaning he has only played around two thirds of the season. Given that their defence is currently ranked fifth, imagine how it will rise with the return of some height down back. Can the GWS monster possibly get scarier?
Hawthorn Hawks: Luke Breust
To say Luke Breust is in poor form would be wrong, but the fact remains that he is not as efficient in front of goal as he was last year. As a consequence, the Hawks are not hitting the scoreboard as profoundly, which becomes more of an issue with key man Jarryd Roughead to miss the rest of the year. They are still well within range to go back to back to back to back, but having not been as good as in years past, Hawthorn will need a special season out of players like Bruest in order to win a fourth flag in a row.
North Melbourne Kangaroos: Daniel Wells
Daniel Wells is obviously enjoying a better year than he had last year, but for the Kangaroos to keep pace with the rest of the competition, he needs to stay on the park and miss very few, if any games for the rest of the year. This becomes more of an issue given quality ball users Shaun Higgins, Luke McDonald and Sam Wright are set to miss extended periods of time through injury. When it comes to North Melbourne’s midfield, Wells is as classy and important as they come. A meaningful finals campaign will largely hinge on the fitness of the 31-year-old.
Sydney Swans: Kurt Tippett
It is hard to label an injured player as one of the Swans’ most important in the run home, but that is the case in the harbour city with Kurt Tippett. Tippett was in brilliant form before succumbing to injury, as he enjoyed 29.3 hitouts per game. Sydney are not exactly scoring at a great pace, sitting at ninth in the competition and second last of all top eight teams. The only of those teams below them are the Western Bulldogs, who beat them at home on the weekend. Getting Tippett’s dual forward and ruck talents back will be important for a run at the flag, and ideally, the Swans will want to get a few games into him before finals time.
West Coast Eagles: Nic Naitanui
Club champion Chris Judd was brought in to speak about elite preparation and professionalism last week, which is what a lot of mid-tier West Coast Eagles will need to improve upon. But again, an injured player is at the centre of importance for West Coast, as the club sweats on Nic Naitanui’s healthy return to footy over the next month. A highlight of the Eagles’ play is their ruck dominance, and to maintain that, Naitanui will obviously have to be at his brilliant best. But the ruck is not where his value begins and ends – quality game breakers such as Nic Nat can be the difference come finals time, through a special piece of play that others simply cannot do. If the Eagles want to replicate last season’s efforts, number nine is the key.
Western Bulldogs: Luke Dahlhaus
As mentioned earlier, the Western Bulldogs have hit the scoreboard the least out of all top eight clubs (1,229 points for, ranked 10th in the competition for points scored) and it is in part due to the Jake Stringer solo act down forward. As brilliant as it may be, there are 21 other men in a footy team, and more of his teammates will need to up their scoring later on in the season. Stringer has kicked 29 goals this season, with Jack Redpath the next best with 16. One name that comes to mind is Luke Dahlhaus. With only 7.6 for the year, perhaps throwing him forward a bit more to spend time resting in the front third may be the key to a more formidable Bulldogs outfit heading towards the finals. They have done well thus far to win low scoring games, but adding more scoreboard pressure will definitely help their chances come September.