After a couple of weeks off to allow the byes to pass, we’re back with the Recruit of the Year update.
It seems as though, apart from the occasional anomaly, we’re seeing the same names bobbing up as the best performers each week. And with people touting Tim Taranto as a possible starter in the All-Australian team at this stage, there are no prizes for guessing that he is a part of the leading group.
However, there remain two who can definitely catch him and pass him.
It only takes one slip-up.
That may ring hollow, but we’re seeing it in the Defensive Player of the Year rankings, and we saw it in 2022 with the Wingman of the Year rankings. You might view it as me tooting my horn to maintain interest, but I have seen it and am seeing it again. One slip up. That’s all it takes. Trust me.
Here at The Mongrel Punt, I’ve always liked keeping tabs on the recruits throughout the year. I find it is a great way to gauge who is contributing most on a consistent basis, as opposed to seeing someone play once and forming your opinion of them for the year based on that one game.
As such, every week we will be rating the performances of the players wearing new colours on a scale of 1-10 to discover who is playing the best footy most often. It’s The Mongrel’s Recruit of the Year, and it is as close as you are going to get in terms of having an overview of how those big off-season moves are playing out.
Let’s jump into the Top 15 recruits of the year thus far, how they impacted their teams and the structure, and what they could mean going forward.
Oh, what the hell? A Mongrel paywall? Yep, I believe my work is worth twenty cents per day. If you don’t, that’s fine. Want to join us and access the members’ game reviews, as well as columns like the Wingman of the Year, Recruit of the Year, and other nonsensical stuff HB comes up with each week?
