Every AFL club’s midfield ranked: Part I

The midfield is arguably the most important positional group in footy, as they're tasked with being present at most contests and all stoppages while serving as the link between their defence and offence.

Without a strong ensemble of onballers, teams are destined to fall apart as middling play in this area results in catastrophic consequences to the outcome of a contest on a given day.

Not all midfields are alike, as some prioritise a physical ball-winning style, while others emphasise a run-and-gun outside game, while there are sides that prefer a healthy balance of the two.

Each club has its own formula for constructing the ideal midfield but every side's engine room can perform at the highest level.

With this in mind, let's have a look at the league's best midfield groups heading into 2022, starting from 18-13.

(18) Hawthorn

Hawthorn possesses the most underwhelming midfield in the AFL.

They're led by Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell, who is better at stuffing the stat-sheet than he is at hurting the opposition (perhaps Nathan Buckley's statements toward the former weren't so blasphemous after all).

The Hawks then field the formidable duo of Jaegar O'Meara and Josh Worpel, who are both good players but are still leaving the Hawks to want more. Wingers Jarman Impey and Tom Phillips can be dangerous when they're firing but can easily be unimpactful throughout games.

What solidifies Hawthorn's woes in the centre is that they were ranked second for uncontested possessions per game but 16th for inside 50's, which highlights a tentative style of play not conducive to winning football.

Skipper Ben McEvoy continues to produce at a high level but the acquisition of former Pies big man Max Lynch should diversify their ruck stocks and help improve their clearance game, where Hawthorn ranked 13th in 2021.

In terms of young talent, the Hawks took the skilful Josh Ward at Pick 6 in the 2021 draft, who should be able to breathe some creativity into their midfield if given the chance.

Ultimately the Waverly-based side has the weakest midfield in the AFL due to their limited potential for improvement with their current list.

(17) Collingwood

Collingwood's engine room is currently made up of unproven commodities, rotating players from their half-forward/back lines and Taylor Adams.

The Pies midfield isn't the juggernaut it was several years ago but does have the assets to once again boast an elite on-balling group pending the development of their current crop (apparently this Nick Daicos bloke is a star).

Given the pedigree of established talent tasked with rolling through the middle (Patrick Lipinski, Jack Crisp, Brayden Maynard, Jamie Elliot and Jordan De Goey), in conjunction with Craig McRae's new gameplan revamping their decade-old system, Collingwood has tremendous upside moving into 2022 and beyond.

Despite this constant sprinkling of veterans in the centre, Collingwood's midfield remains very average as they need to pump games into their assortment of recent draftees, given they need to stamp their experience card at the AFL level before any serious progressions can be made.

Similar to Hawthorn, the Magpies were ranked first in uncontested possessions per game but 18th for inside 50s, which highlights their inability to effectively transition the ball forward. Compounding these areas of concern was that they also ranked 17th in total clearances, which is extremely worrying since they boast one of the league's premier ruckmen in Brodie Grundy.

The Pies may rank higher on this list in a year from now but it's difficult to currently place them above any side that has their best midfield set in stone.

(16) St Kilda

If Jack Steele wasn't a member of the St Kilda football club you can best believe that they would rank dead last on this list.

The Saints midfielders, outside of Steele have dramatically underdelivered to date. Zak Jones is still hoping to see his best in the red, white and black, while Seb Ross, Bradley Hill and Daniel Hannebery are clearly past their primes and are depreciating assets at this point who are taking spots in the best 22 away from some youngsters pushing for a crack at the top flight.

Adding to St Kilda's woes is that the departure of inside midfielder Luke Dunstan, which costs them a formidable ball-winner and leaves Brad Crouch as the Robin to Steele's Batman. The major concern is that while Crouch can get his mitts on the footy he is quick to dish the hands instead of taking the game on, likely due to his subpar kicking efficiency as he went at an abysmal 50% by foot in 2021.

The Saints ranked 17th for centre clearances and 15th in rebound 50's, which communicates their over-reliance on Steele to win the ball and their lack of ability to win the footy when he's being targeted at stoppages. Additionally, St Kilda's mids have a laissez-faire work rate when it comes to hustling down the field on counter-attacks, which handicaps their offensive opportunities. Essentially, they're lazy.

While Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera should add some dash on the wing, St Kilda's current crop of onballers doesn't present much room for improvement. Furthermore, their ruck stocks in Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall are hampered with injuries, which only furthers their troubles if no one else can step up.

(15) North Melbourne

North Melbourne's engine room has a very young core with a lot of potential to develop under the guidance of senior coach David Noble.

The acquisition of Hugh Greenwood from Gold Coast will definitely bolster North's tackling stocks (17th in 2021) as this man is an opponent-wrapping machine. He will combine well with veteran inside-mid Ben Cunnington and hard-nut Jy Simpkin as these Roos can play bully in the centre, with Luke Davies-Uniacke and Tarryn Thomas to give their highly-touted teens time to grow into the AFL.

Despite the Kangaroos' upside, they do have an array of concerns that will stunt their development if not immediately addressed, these being that they're ranked 18th in contested possessions, 17th in inside 50's and 16th in total clearances.

This implies is that the Kangaroos' young onballers get bullied around the contests and lack the physical capabilities to effectively execute second efforts to win the ball back in these instances, something that will no doubt improve with a full season of their aforementioned inside players.

Furthermore, North struggles to execute forward entries while under pressure and often fails to generate effective offence if they can't win the ball immediately from stoppages, especially in the centre.

With another year of games and their recent addition of Jason Horne-Francis, the Roos are constructing a balanced side made up of ball-winners and silky users that look likely to ascend up these ranks with more development.

(14) Adelaide

Adelaide has an interesting midfield.

Not the youngest, not the oldest but also with no one currently in their prime aside from Rory Laird.

The likes of Ben Keays, Jordan Dawson, Matt Crouch and Reilly O'Brien are poised to reach their apex years coming into 2022 but others like Rory Sloane and Paul Seedsman are now the elder statesmen of the Crows' engine room.

Adelaide has some red flags despite their obvious talent, mainly being ranked 17th in disposals and uncontested possessions. This communicates that the Crows struggle to get their hands on the footy, especially with time and space.

Conversely, Adelaide ranked third for rebound 50's per game last season, seeing that when they finally did get possession they were very daring with their ball movement, as evident with their big victories over Geelong and eventual premiers Melbourne in 2021.

In order for the Crows to continue ascending, they must become more aggressive in their pursuit of the footy and win more contested balls, essentially relying less on Sloane and Laird, as this will complement their already formidable outside game.

While Adelaide has room to improve, they likely won't ascend into the upper echelon of midfield groups with their current crop.

(13) Gold Coast

The Gold Coast Suns are set to struggle once again, however they happen to boast a stacked midfield with elite talent on the wings, in the guts and in the ruck.

They're led by newly appointed co-skipper and 2021 All-Australian Touk Miller, who is ferocious in his pursuit of the footy while simultaneously being an effective kick and tremendous decision-maker.

The Suns then field best mates and former top two draftees Matthew Rowell and Noah Anderson, who aren't shy when it comes to finding inside balls and facilitating to others. The duo are likely to continue their ascension heading into 2022, especially Rowell who will look to put his injury issues aside and reclaim the early-career form that had him hyped as an all-timer.

Then add in the likes of the silky Jack Lukosius who can both thump one lace out and sell some candy, while the stoic Jarrod Witts isn't shy about throwing his weight around at stoppages and typically gives others a fair crack with his hit-outs.

The Suns ranked first in rebound 50's per game and second in tackles per game, which highlights their effort in spite of their obvious shortcomings. Yet these metrics are likely to take a dip in the wake of the boneheaded error that resulted in Hugh Greenwood's departure.

Some key areas for concern are that Gold Coast ranked 14th in total clearances per game and 16th in inside 50's per game, nonetheless with Witts' impending return and Rowell's full bill of health, improvement seems imminent as this impressive nucleus continues to grow.