Three tied at the top in the 2025 Mongrel Recruit of the Year Award. Who saw that coming after Round Nine?
Well, I kind of did, because it was close after Round Eight, as well. But you didn’t, did ya, blindy?
Anyway, the top four, maybe top five if you factor in that Gold Coast are a game behind the other teams, have made a nice little break on the field, and assuming they continue playing every week, will be tough to catch.
How does it all work?
Well, it’s simply, really… much like me.
Each week, players are assessed a score out of ten for their performance. This ensures we are rewarding consistency as much as we are big one-off games. A player scoring four consistent 7/10 games will be ahead of the one that has two massive weeks, and scores 8.5 in both, then disappears for a couple of weeks and returns three and fours. I like it – it works for me.
I suppose the only downfall is that if a player is going particularly well, and then cops an injury or suspension, the pack catches him very quickly.
As Ned Kelly, and more famously, Ben Cousins said… such is life.
Previous winners of The Mongrel’s Recruit of the Year as follows.
2022 – Will Brodie
2023 – Tim Taranto
2024 – Brodie Grundy
Let’s jump into the leaderboard, and a bit of analysis after Round Nine.
Positions after Round Seven in parentheses
=1 – JACK MACRAE – 63.0 (=1)
=1 – JOSH BATTLE – 63.0 (=1)
=1 – MATT KENNEDY – 63.0 (3)
4 – BAILEY SMITH – 61.0 (4)
5 – JOHN NOBLE – 55.5 (6)
=6 – ALEX NEAL-BULLEN – 54.5 (=7)
=6 – HARRY PERRYMAN – 54.5 (9)
=8 – LIAM BAKER – 54.0 (NA)
=8 – LUKE PARKER – 54.0 (10)
=10 – SHAI BOLTON – 53.5 (NA)
=10 – CALEB DANIEL – 53.5 (=7)
ANALYSIS
So, what kind of a difference does it make if a player misses a week?
Let’s look at Tom Barrass to find out.
After Round Seven, Barrass was sitting pretty… or as pretty as a bloke like him is gonna get, I suppose, in fifth position. The Hawks decided to rest him, given the fact they want to make sure he is right for the whole season, and that Melbourne doesn’t have a key forward worthy of his time – savage, but true.
As such, he scored a zero this week, and a whole bunch of players scooted past him, leaving Big Tom in 13th place, overall.
I suppose that shines a light on how good the others in the top ten have been who have also missed a game. Bailey Smith missed a game early in the season, but he has been amazing for the Cats, and sits just two points adrift of the lead, despite picking up that zero earlier this season.
John Noble had his Round Zero game cancelled, and won’t make that game up until after Round 24, but he is within one good game of the leaders. And Shai Bolton has now entered the top ten overall, too, after missing earlier in the season.
Some may think the penalty is too large for missing a game, but as stated, this award will reward consistency, and when you look at the three blokes leading, consistency has been the key for them.
Macrae has broken records at St Kilda (most contested possessions in a game), whilst Battle has been immense for the Hawks both in a lockdown role when required, as well as a stellar rebounding option, and Matt Kennedy has been a revelation at the Dogs, winning the hard footy, and hitting the scoreboard.
Those three deserve the lead, but if you were to pick one to usurp the throne right now, it would be Smith.
Caleb Daniel was my early pick to win this, but he seems to be a little unsure of his role, at the moment, and his confidence looks to have taken a bit of a hit. There was a time he was so in-control with the footy in his mitts. Now, there is an element of doubt when he disposes of the footy, and I reckon he second-guesses himself a lot more as a Kangaroo.
I hear the term “glue guy” thrown around in US Sports, when referring to a player that may not be the biggest name, or return the largest numbers, stats-wise, and I relate that term to both Harry Perryman and Alex Neal-Bullen.
I know that people at the Dees were devastated to lose ANB, and there are little moments in just about every Adelaide game now, that you understand why. He does the stuff that doesn’t get headlines, but damn it, he does it effectively.
Ditto for Perryman, who I would not have picked as being a better recruit at this stage of the season than Dan Houston, but just like the last ride of Arthur Morgan… that’s just the way it is, people.
So, I was planning on updating this once per fortnight, as it is an easy column to do. However, I cocked that up by waiting an extra week after Round Six, so hopefully now, I will be back on track. And given it is such a… ummm… prestigious honour, I am sure all involved will appreciate the effort.
There we go. Agree or disagree with the rankings? I’m all ears. Not that I have big ears – I like to think they are proportionate to the rest of my head. Maybe my head is big, too?
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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