Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Who is the best young key forward in the AFL?
Triple premiership star and Fox Footy expert Alastair Lynch believes that title goes to Bulldog Aaron Naughton.
The Brisbane Lions great explains to Jon Ralph who he rates as the best 10 key forwards 21-and-under on their future potential, with Gold Coast boasting the game’s second best prospect.
See his full list below.
ALASTAIR LYNCH’S TOP 10 KEY FORWARDS AGED 21 AND UNDER
1. AARON NAUGHTON (20, Western Bulldogs)
Lynch says: “He can take contested grabs and he has got such power. He is absolutely the one I would pick to build a forward line around.”
2. BEN KING (19, Gold Coast)
Lynch says: “He has more exposed form than his brother and has taken genuine one-on-one contested marks against great defenders without good delivery. 11 goals in his last five games last year.”
3. NICK BLAKEY (20, Sydney)
Lynch says: “His dad John was best man at my wedding but this isn’t about favouritism. He is so explosive and can get up into the midfield to lose his man. He uses the ball so well and loves the big moments. He is the pick of these guys as a player who could play wing or midfield.”
4. MAX KING (19, St Kilda)
Lynch says: “Haven’t seen a lot of him yet but a No.4 pick who should be a star for a long time. Took some great marks against Darcy Moore in the pre-season and has the perfect junior pedigree.”
5. NICK LARKEY (21, North Melbourne)
Lynch says: “Kicked 26 goals in 17 games last year and will add some more power to his game and fill out. Can’t wait to see him and Ben Brown play together for the next five years, with Cam Zuurhar as the mid-sized forward.”
6. MITCH LEWIS (21, Hawthorn)
Lynch says: “Really impressed with his development as a late pick (No.76). He moves well and marks the ball really strongly above his head. Kicked 20 goals from 12 games last year but also took 27 marks. I was surprised he was dropped at times.”
7. OSCAR ALLEN (21, West Coast)
Lynch says: “He has shown plenty given the limited opportunities because of the forwards in front of him. Also pinch-hits in the ruck and played 21 games in a great side last year. The perfect successor to Josh Kennedy when he does retire and just does a lot right.”
8. TODD MARSHALL (21, Port Adelaide)
Lynch says: “Only 10 goals from 10 games last year but he’s going to develop into a really high-class forward. He moves well in the forward line, he isn’t one-dimensional and he uses it well. He has had enormous family challenges in the first part of his career but he will settle down into a high-class player.”
9. ESAVA RATUGOLEA (21, Geelong)
Lynch says: “Love his raw athleticism and power. He looks like he will perfectly compliment Tom Hawkins and then eventually succeed him. 15 goals from 20 games last year and some ruck work. He has had to overcome some injuries and will develop some consistency but he’s only been playing since he was 13 so he has real upside.”
10. TOM McCARTIN (20, Sydney)
Lynch says: “He has a massive tank to get up and down the SCG and they are going to settle him down as a forward after he played forward and back last year. A perfect forward line to develop in alongside Lance Franklin and Nick Blakey.”
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Darcy Fogarty (Adelaide), Cam Zuurhar (North Melbourne), Elliott Himmelberg (Adelaide).
Re: Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Thats why it would be hard to move Naughton away from the forward line now
Re: Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GVGjr
Thats why it would be hard to move Naughton away from the forward line now
Yep - it can't happen now.
If anything we need to focus on developing, drafting or trading for KPD quality. Keath is a nice start but he's not top shelf or great at one on one defending. I like Young but he's a younger version of Keath.
Re: Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
Yep - it can't happen now.
If anything we need to focus on developing, drafting or trading for KPD quality. Keath is a nice start but he's not top shelf or great at one on one defending. I like Young but he's a younger version of Keath.
Putting aside corona issues, we have the best underage KPF talent in the country about to join our list.
We also happen to have the best under 21 key defender on our list. Yes, he also happens to be a very promising key forward but a) we have Bruce to handle the load for now until Marra develops and a mixture of Schache/English/Dale/others to handle the 2nd/3rd tall role b) Naughton is a better defender than he is forward and our defense is dire without him. In fact, if we swapped Cordy and Naughton, we'd be a 5 goal better side overall.
Alistair Lynch - who is an intellectual lightweight - rating Naughton as the best young forward in the league makes me think he should be a defender even more now.
Re: Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GVGjr
Thats why it would be hard to move Naughton away from the forward line now
Over the years of following footy, I have found, the hardest role to fill is a key forward. We have a beauty in Aaron, and that is where I would keep him.
Re: Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Quote:
Originally Posted by
comrade
Putting aside corona issues, we have the best underage KPF talent in the country about to join our list.
We also happen to have the best under 21 key defender on our list. Yes, he also happens to be a very promising key forward but a) we have Bruce to handle the load for now until Marra develops and a mixture of Schache/English/Dale/others to handle the 2nd/3rd tall role b) Naughton is a better defender than he is forward and our defense is dire without him. In fact, if we swapped Cordy and Naughton, we'd be a 5 goal better side overall.
Alistair Lynch - who is an intellectual lightweight - rating Naughton as the best young forward in the league makes me think he should be a defender even more now.
I'm leaning towards this thinking as well, especially if we have a midfield that is prone to leaving our defenders highly exposed from time to time over the long term, and generate a high percentage of our scoring from defence.
If that's what we've got then you need to have your elite talent where you're most exposed. The game against the Pies showed that it doesn't matter who you have forward of centre if you're not moving the ball forward of centre efficiently, and if your midfield is being trounced and you're unable to command the air in defence to allow for quick exits on the back of clean possession.
Having Naughton being able to play both the role of elite one on one defender and elite aerial interceptor gives us a huge amount, and I think right now we have more cover forward with Schache, Bruce and possibly Cordy than what we do back with Cordy, Keith and Trengove.
Re: Revealed: AFL's 10 best young key forwards
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jeemak
I'm leaning towards this thinking as well, especially if we have a midfield that is prone to leaving our defenders highly exposed from time to time over the long term, and generate a high percentage of our scoring from defence.
If that's what we've got then you need to have your elite talent where you're most exposed. The game against the Pies showed that it doesn't matter who you have forward of centre if you're not moving the ball forward of centre efficiently, and if your midfield is being trounced and you're unable to command the air in defence to allow for quick exits on the back of clean possession.
Having Naughton being able to play both the role of elite one on one defender and elite aerial interceptor gives us a huge amount, and I think right now we have more cover forward with Schache, Bruce and possibly Cordy than what we do back with Cordy, Keith and Trengove.
Bingo bango.
