AFL 2021: Tom Liberatore set for massive pay day as stellar season rolls on
How many Brownlow votes does Tom Liberatore have from the past five years? The astonishingly low number may shock you - but it could all change this year.
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Quick quiz: How many votes has Tom Liberatore polled in the Brownlow Medal in the past five years?
Answer: Three.
It’s an astonishingly low number when you consider contested ball and clearance are key indicators in a team’s result and Liberatore is a master at both.
The quiz came about because, when asked last weekend who could be a smoky for this year’s Brownlow Medal, I suggested “Libba”.
He’s playing excellent footy in a very good team and, true, the possibility of having father-son Brownlow Medal winners – his dad Tony won the medal in 1990 – was an added romance.
Clearly, the votes will be shared at the Bulldogs.
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And Libba can’t be – or shouldn’t be – ignored
He leads the league in clearances and is third for winning the contested ball. At 29 – his birthday was this week – Liberatore could well be having a career-best year.
Even umpire Ray Chamberlain, in an interview with Gerard Whateley on Wednesday, recognised Liberatore’s impact this year.
Chamberlain said he watched the first quarter of last week’s match between the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide, before, he said with a laugh, opting to watch a Denzel Washington movie.
“How good is he?’’ Chamberlain said.
“What an unbelievable player.’’
Champion Data this week poo-pooed my Libba for the Brownlow suggestion.
Champion Data, of course, judges performance but also notes a player’s history of voting in the Brownlow.
At this point of the season, its Brownlow Medal tracker has Liberatore ranked 104th with one vote, although it has to be noted the coaches gave him the maximum 10 votes against Port Adelaide.
Champion Data’s Brownlow leaders after Round 9 are Liberatore’s teammates Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli, Geelong’s Cam Guthrie and Melbourne pair Max Gawn and Clayton Oliver, all on 10 votes.
How high you rate Liberatore depends on how high you rate a player who wins the ball in traffic and distributes to the playmakers.
At the Dogs, Liberatore makes the vote winners like Macrae, Bontempelli and Adam Treloar far better players.
His courage to win the ball, to apply repeated efforts in the one contest and then, having won the ball, find a teammate who is confidently running into space, is more than uncanny. As Ross Lyon would say, he’s quite brilliant.
So, why doesn’t he get more recognition?
Leigh Matthews is a fan.
“The ability of players to find the ball among the legs and to keep an eye on the ball … and get hands on the ball and then in congestion be able to flick it to people …. yeah, he’s doing a marvellous job,’’ Matthews said on 3AW.
Liberatore is out of contract at the end of this season and early discussions have been had between his manager James Pitcher and the Bulldogs.
Pitcher is chasing a two-year deal, although a one-year extension was mentioned in passing by the Bulldogs.
There’s no major conflict between the two parties, although a salary has yet to be discussed.
Another question: What is Liberatore worth?
He’s had minor behavioural issues with the Dogs over his career and those issues, combined with a couple of serious injuries, have probably held his salary back.
But let’s look at the numbers.
Liberatore is ranked equal fourth of current players with an average of 5.8 clearances a game.
Carlton’s Patrick Cripps leads in the table with an average of 7.1 a game. He’s probably an $800,000 a year player.
Sydney’s Josh Kennedy is next with 6.5 clearances per game. He’s roughly a $750,000 a year player, maybe more.
Then comes Oliver who is maybe a $700,000-plus player on his new contract and Lachie Neale, who is a $900,000-plus player.
Liberatore is paid an estimated $500,000, at least $200,000 less per season than his clearance-winning contemporaries.
Fox Footy commentator David King expects a massive payday for the bloke he calls the “Extractor”.
“So, Libba gets the best out of Bontempelli, (Lachie) Hunter, Macrae and Treloar, whoever those first-receive players are and they are only first-receive players because of the fire starter,’’ King said.
“If you want to lose Libba and have the other blokes play hard-nosed roles and lose their polish, then let him go. Then the whole dynamic of your footy changes.
“What’s the net worth to what he provides and what he produces? His net worth allows Bontempelli to be the million-dollar player on the outside.
“If he’s not worth $650,000 plus I’ll go he. There’s a lot of players on $650,000-plus that don’t operate at the shoelaces like Libba does. That’s the Libba zone. How many players can do that?
“If you want to be a stoppage and handball team, which the Dogs want to be, this bloke is crucial to the whole operation.’’
The Dogs and Libba will probably get to a two-year deal, but that won’t stop, say, Essendon offering a four–year contract at $750,000 per season, which is probably near enough the money Jake Stringer is chasing.
“Essendon is last in clearances and last in contested possession,’’ King said. “If Libba went to Essendon, what’s he worth?
“If you look at the history of contested-possession players, if you look at Patrick Dangerfield going to Geelong, Lachie Neale going to Brisbane, they can correct a contested-possession profile with one player.’’
Libba’s goes beyond performance.
He’s a unique individual, a scallywag, a player who provides substance to the team’s psyche and battle march. Think Lenny Hayes or Elliot Yeo or Jack Viney.
“Libba’s a flawed connector,’’ King said. “He’s made mistakes in the past and that’s why people love him. He doesn’t pretend to be something he’s not. They all talk to him, they all love his company. You can’t lose those blokes.’’
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Originally published as AFL 2021: Tom Liberatore set for massive pay day as stellar season rolls on
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