The Next Step: Brisbane’s classiest midfielder Hugh McCluggage ready to put talent on show

With SuperCoach Team Picker coming soon, The Phantom’s Next Step series looks at some of the young stars of the AFL: Is Hugh McCluggage the AFL’s new Rolls-Royce?

In the lead-up to the launch of the SuperCoach Team Picker, The Phantom looks at a number of young stars ready to take the next step in 2019.

The Next Step: Hugh McCluggage

At The Gabba in Round 20 this year, Hugh McCluggage sent the football world a message.

The 20-year-old tallied 26 disposals, 11 contested possessions, seven marks, five tackles, three goals and two goal assists.

The sublimely skilled McCluggage earned the first Brownlow Medal vote of his career after recording 140 SuperCoach points in the narrow loss to the Kangaroos.

It was numbers like these which saw the classy midfielder taken at pick No. 3 at the 2016 national draft.

In 12 TAC Cup games during his draft year, McCluggage was dominant through the midfield and forward of centre, averaging 28 disposals and two goals — a combination of numbers Champion Data had never seen at any level during their time covering the game prior to this.

Averages of 13 contested possessions, six clearances and nine score involvements per game made McCluggage the complete midfielder.

And, while he was used predominantly as a half-forward in his debut season, McCluggage began to show the all-round nature of his game at AFL level in 2018.

McCluggage, who often appears to have more time with the ball — in the mould of a Scott Pendlebury or Josh Kelly — doubled his contested possession count this year and won 28 more clearances than he did in 2017.

The game against the Kangaroos wasn’t the only big day the young Lion enjoyed in his sophomore year.

Hugh McCluggage chases down Tom Mitchell in Round 17, 2018.

After recording 20 disposals just once in 2017, McCluggage, who finished seventh in Brisbane’s best-and-fairest this season, tallied 26 disposals or more on five occasions, with a career-high of 29 coming against Hawthorn in Round 17.

He prefers to kick — and for good reason, given his elite foot skills — but in the game against the Hawks, which resulted in 113 SuperCoach points, McCluggage recorded 21 handballs and 14 contested possessions, highlighting the strength of his inside game.

Despite the three big SuperCoach tons, McCluggage struggled with consistency, recording nine scores of 66 or less in his 22 games for the season.

While many young players struggle for consistency early in their careers, not many possess the skill and talent of McCluggage.

After another pre-season, The Phantom thinks we will see it on show on a more consistent basis in 2019.

And he won’t be sitting on the single Brownlow vote for long, either.

Hugh McCluggage

2019 position: Midfield

Estimated price: $425,000

The Phantom’s predicted 2019 average: 94

2017

Disposals (ave): 15

SuperCoach (ave): 54

Contested possession (ave): 4

Goal assists: 7

2018

Disposals: 19

SuperCoach: 77

Contested possession: 7

Goal assists: 16