Why North Melbourne star Ben Cunnington deserves to be considered one of the AFL’s elite midfielders

He shuns the spotlight and is $101 for the Brownlow, but the stats say this unassuming player ranks among the AFL’s premier midfielders. Not that he’d tell anyone.

Ben Cunnington of the Kangaroos.

Ben Cunnington may be a $101 Brownlow Medal rank outsider, but North Melbourne’s unassuming midfielder has quietly leapt into the AFL’s elite bracket.

Only four onballers have averaged more ranking points than the Kangaroos’ contested bull (114) this year — Josh Kelly (125), Lachie Neale (125), Nat Fyfe (120) and Patrick Cripps (117).

Yet three of those four players lead the running in TAB’s Brownlow Medal betting - Carlton co-captain Cripps ($4 favourite) ahead of Fyfe, Geelong’s Tim Kelly and Neale ($5).

Cunnington has outranked more recognised stars such as Marcus Bontempelli, Zach Merrett, Scott Pendlebury and Clayton Oliver, announcing himself as one of the AFL’s premier centre-square players.

“The thing is, a lot of people just see him this year,” Roos champion and AFL games record-holder Brent Harvey said.

“Ben has been a good player now for about six years, I reckon. A really good player.

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“He’s in the elite category now in some of the things he can do.

“His efficiency would be pretty good by hand, he’s very hard to tackle and he’s a tackling machine as well.

“He’s been elite for a little bit now and people are just starting to give him the accolades he deserves.”

Ben Cunnington ranks eighth in the AFL for disposals this year.

Cunnington’s 29 disposals per game average to Round 12 ranked ahead of Cripps (27), Stephen Coniglio (27.8), Tim Kelly (26.1) and Rory Sloane (25.5).

The 27-year-old is considered an elite clearance and contested-possession player by Champion Data and above average for disposals, kicking and scoreboard impact.

“He does the work that doesn’t get acknowledged outside the football club,” Harvey said. “Other people see the goalkickers, they don’t see the tough stuff that Ben is doing. If you watch the games closely, gee, he is going well.

“He might have got more accolades on an outside basis if he played for a bigger club but we are pretty happy with him at North Melbourne.”

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Cunnington has featured in discussions about the players with trade currency on North Melbourne’s list, amid likely changes after the departure of coach Brad Scott after 10 years.

Hawthorn champion Dermott Brereton said it would take a godfather offer to prise “heart and soul” Shinboner Cunnington from Arden St.

“Even if they throw the world at you, they’d have to give you reincarnated Chris Judd to get him out of there,” Brereton said on SEN.

“He’s worth that much to the team in the way he not just plays, but who he is in that team.

“He’s a heart and soul player, that’s the fabric.”

Ben Cunnington gets past Bulldog Toby McLean.

So desperate has Cunnington been to avoid the spotlight, he slipped past journalists and through a construction site during an open media call before this year’s Good Friday game.

If he maintains his rich vein of form under interim coach Rhyce Shaw, the hard-nosed midfielder will only be able to dodge attention from journalists — and opposition — for so long.

“I reckon Ben is pretty happy doing what he’s doing with no accolades,” Harvey said.

“It’s about time he does get some.”

CUNNINGTON V CRIPPS

Statistics in 2019 (Source: Champion Data).

Disposals

Cunnington: 29

Cripps: 27

Kicking efficiency

Cunnington: 60.9 per cent

Cripps: 55.1 per cent

Contested possessions

Cunnington: 57.1 per cent

Cripps: 62.9 per cent

Clearances

Cunnington: 8

Cripps: 8.3

Score involvements

Cunnington: 5.9

Cripps 5.5

Brownlow Medal odds (with TAB)

Cunnington: $101

Cripps: $4 (favourite)