Rightly or wrongly, midfielders have a monopoly on just about every major individual award in our game, similar to an NFL quarterback.
It makes sense to a degree, they are situated where the ball resides for the majority of the contest - in the middle - but must also cover the entire field to find the footy wherever required.
In turn, they typically clock in the most kms, accumulate the most touches and fill up the stat sheet more than any other typer of player on the ground.
They play a variety of roles - in & under the contest feeding the outside runners, exploding out of packs with strength, speed and agility, plus using the ball skilfully and efficiently by hand or foot.
Some are suited to a particular role more than others, making it hard to definitively rank one player over another using stats or achievements. Patrick Cripps and Nick Daicos both fall under the midfielder category but carry a 12cm & 15kg size difference and dominate in vastly different ways on the ground.
We must look beyond just the numbers which may favour a Tom Green, or the eye-test which may favour a Jordan De Goey to decide on number one.
Instead, we need a rich tapestry of impact, stats, moments, value, performance and pedigree to judge who holds the crown as the league's best midfielder.
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3. Christian Petracca
This guy embodies the inside mid mantra of strength, power and explosion.
Few players dominate a midfield contest the way Petracca does with his ability to get inside to outside in one move, or deliver a clean handball to the advantage of a teammate with multiple opponents hanging off him.
This ability gives him an immense presence around stoppages; almost always looking the most likely to get first hands on the ball or win the clearance.
Add that to his ability to sit forward and win a large majority of his one-on-one contests and hit the scoreboard each week, there are few players you would pick to start a team from scratch over Petracca.
He couldn't reach the lofty heights of his 2021 Norm Smith-winning peak with Melbourne this year, but he has been the driving force in their ongoing premiership window alongside Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver and Steven May.
His poor efficiency by foot holds him back from topping this list, but gives him the solution for how he can take his game to untouched territory.
