Mark Robinson names his top 50 players ahead of 2023 season

One of the biggest talking points in this year’s top 50 was the No.1 — Charlie Curnow. Robbo explains why the Coleman medallist will be 2023’s best player. HAVE YOUR SAY.

It was in July, 2017, when a sanguine Dermott Brereton announced Charlie Curnow.

“Charlie Curnow, in two years’ time, will be the best player in the comp,” the five-time premiership winner said.

“The way he can launch at the footy and his athleticism at the moment … this kid may take a bit of trial and error, but he is going to brain it.”

Six years on, an injury-free Curnow, now 26, has the competition at his feet.

The Carlton key forward is this season’s predictive No. 1, the player who by the end of the 2023 season will be the most influential player in the game.

He heads a host of midfielders, such as Petracca, Bontempelli and Cripps, which is rare recognition when midfielders virtually win every award.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ROBBO’S TOP 50 PLAYERS FOR 2023

Brereton says he’s not surprised Curnow is No.1.

“The guys who are the huge-ticket items are those up the front half who make goals happen, that’s Buddy Franklin, Jeremy Cameron, and Charlie is one of them,’’ Brereton said.

“He’s capable of kicking 70 or 80 goals and more so than that, he’s capable of tearing teams apart.

“It doesn’t have to be a goal tally. One of the great misnomers of our sport is, it’s such a definable metric goals kicked, but it’s about how you create them for your team.

“Put it this way, if Carlton makes the top four it will be because he’s been dominant, him and Harry McKay.”

When Brereton spoke in 2017, he believed Curnow had the athleticism to play midfield as well as forward, but injuries curtailed that potential trajectory.

Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow is No. 1 in Robbo’s top 50 for 2023.

“He’s basically become the player who circulates just in the forward line,’’ Brereton said.

“Most players who get the kudos as best in the comp are midfielders who get a stack of the ball. It is said they are the most important, but not necessarily.

“I think the most important players are those who win the games for their club.”

Curnow is Anthony Koutoufides’ size.

He is 192m and 96kg and Kouta was 191cm and roughly 98kg.

He played 15 games in three years ahead of the 2022 season, when he won the Coleman Medal.

An uninterrupted preparation ahead of this season has Curnow physically and mentally confident.

“No doubt he is,’’ Brereton said.

“The great players are just so difficult to deal with. They throw physical capabilities against the opposition and the opposition can’t deal with.

“His is able to mark the ball high off the ground, yeah he’s quite big, but he’s also fast and agile.’’

Two key forwards are in the Top 10 – Curnow and Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron – and the midfielders, plus Dustin Martin, fill the remaining positions.

Overall, there are nine defenders, two ruckmen, 10 forwards and the rest are midfielders slash midfield-forwards.

Martin (No.7) is perhaps the most curious player in the comp.

If he finds his best he could easily be No.1. If he finds 80 per cent, he’s still comfortably a top 10 player.

The bolter in the top bracket is Sydney’s Chad Warner.

Just 21, last year was his breakout year – 547 disposals and 20 goals and a gallant Grand Final – and he can only improve.

The mid-forwards are getting the love. As Nathan Buckley says in the Fox Footy promo, there are plenty of possessions won in games but not enough impact with them.

Petracca, Bontempelli, Cripps, Warner, Martin and Dangerfield are capable of kicking 20-goals, while Neale and Oliver win plenty of contested ball and are the most lethal exponents of handball in traffic.

Expectation is high on many players. Nick Daicos (No. 33), Rowan Marshall (35), Connor Rozee (14), Jordan De Goey (16) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (37) are five players capable of standout seasons.

Countless players are unlucky, such as Tim Kelly, Jack Steele, Nathan Fyfe, Scott Pendlebury, Jack Crisp, Jy Simpkin, Aliir Aliir, Tom Liberatore and Tyson Stengle.

The two million-dollar men at the Giants, Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio, also missed, and while this list has its winners and losers, the proof will be in the performance.