Wreck It Ralph: The 12 uncontracted interceptors your club could try to secure for 2023
Heading into the season, North Melbourne’s Ben McKay was one of the most sought after names in footy. Now with the fullback extremely out of form, what should the Kangaroos do?
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Everyone wants an interceptor.
Every premiership must have one to build a wall against their opposition’s attacking thrusts.
Think Tom Stewart, Norm Smith Medallist Brian Lake, Jake Lever and Steven May on one leg in 2021, Matthew Scarlett and Jeremy McGovern starting the flag-winning thrust in 2017
Collingwood is sitting pretty with Darcy Moore and his bucket-like hands, while Harris Andrews is back in a big way now that Jack Payne is releasing him to fly for his marks again.
Liam Jones is an All Australian lock playing for somewhere around the competition’s average salary.
But across the competition there are so many clubs desperate to find their own dominant defender.
In a competition where teams are desperate to play a front half game — bring the ball to ground, lock it in, build a zone across half forward — interceptors have never been more important.
And of the AFL’s top 50 interceptors at least a dozen of them who are uncontracted and very attainable.
A word of warning - some of them have warts, some of them are wildly inconsistent.
But here are the most attainable intercept markers on the open market this season.
1. Mason Redman (Essendon)
His price rises by the weekend. The restricted free agent is having a whale of a time kicking goals, kicking arse and taking scalps.
Redman is elite for intercept marks (2.2 a game), ninth for metres gained of all general defenders (487 metres) and averaging an excellent half a goal a game.
All the while developing a cult following with his Hellboy goal celebration.
Everyone loves a good celebrator, but Brad Scott would love his strong defensive game just as much.
No one has really got hold of him despite a team that is still a work in progress defending in transition.
He kept Luke Breust to a goal in round 1, Brad Hill goalless in round 3, Ollie Henry goalless in round 7 and Linc McCarthy goalless in round 9.
All the while kicking at 81 per cent efficiency and averaging 23.4 disposals
The boy is going to get rich this year.
2. Esava Ratugolea (Geelong)
The Cats just point-blank refused to trade him to Port Adelaide last year and now we can see why.
He is eighth in the competition for intercepts and across the past month is sixth for intercept marks, despite being hamstrung halfway through the loss to GWS.
He wins 36 per cent of his one-on-one contests - in the top 20 in the comp, he averages 6.6 spoils and he kicks it well (81 per cent).
And he’s 24 years of age.
He says he wants to stay at Geelong and why wouldn’t he given there is now an identifiable role for him?
But surely Port Adelaide will come hard again if they miss on Ben McKay, at least driving his price up.
He’s a $700,000 a year player if he can continue that form when he returns from his hamstring strain.
3. Harry Himmelberg (GWS)
Jack Riewoldt’s recent struggles with a banged-up body playing on the best defender show the Tigers will urgently have to find a replacement for 2023 to play alongside Tom Lynch.
So the Tigers will come hard for Himmelberg to play him as a key forward while also assessing other options.
This year Himmelberg has played mostly forward – 65 per cent in attack (10 goals from 10 games), 22 per cent ruck, 13 per cent back.
But take a sample of his games last year playing key back under Mark McVeigh.
Round 18 v Brisbane: 132 SuperCoach points, 29 possessions, 709 metres gained, four intercept marks, 10 intercepts.
Round 19 v Carlton: 130 SuperCoach points, 25 possessions, 631 metres gained, three intercept marks, 10 intercepts.
There is a reason Sydney are chasing him so hard to shore up their defensive stocks while GWS holds out hope he might stay.
4. Miles Bergman (Port Adelaide)
Bergman has at least three very serious Victorian suitors while the Power hopes he remains at a club that has maximised his talent and has a huge role for him in a winning side.
But as Power footy boss Chris Davies said recently, the club will do all it can to re-sign Mitch Georgiades and Bergman aware it has hunted SA talents and can’t begrudge players leaving for their home states.
Bergman played forward and back against Richmond on Sunday.
But from rounds 7-10 he was No.1 in the comp for intercept possessions of all general defenders (which excludes key defenders) and fifth for all players.
Ditto for intercept marks in that time _ No.1 of all general defenders and fourth in the comp.
Port Adelaide would ask for a first-round pick if a player picked at No.14 in the 2019 national draft wanted out.
But at a guess they could offer four years — through to free agency — on excellent money if he did want to stay.
5. Ben McKay (North Melbourne)
Oh Ben, what does North Melbourne do with you?
McKay was injured at the worst possible time on the eve of the season and just hasn’t made an impact on his return.
You see it with your eyes when he failed to body-line Will Hoskin-Elliott or spoil the ball in a one-on-one contest on Sunday.
You see it in the stats which state that in one-on-one contests this year he has lost them 42 per cent of the time — the second-worst record in the comp only to Brandon Zerk-Thatcher.
Against Collingwood he conceded two goals to Brody Mihocek and two to Mason Cox.
And yet his best is blindingly good.
North Melbourne would need someone to pay $800,000 a season for him over five years to be sure of securing first-round compensation which would currently secure them the No.3 overall pick.
But at 25 years of age someone will believe they can plug him into an elite system and fix a body that has allowed him only 60 AFL games.
Does he want a fresh start?
Consider his year — seven games, seven losses, averaging less than 10 possessions a game.
Consider his career — across seven and a half seasons he has played in seven total victories.
In Joel Selwood’s first eight seasons he played in 147 victories.
Maybe it‘s time for a fresh start that helps both parties.
6. Nathan Broad (Richmond)
He is just so damned versatile.
His list of scalps includes Jeremy Cameron this year and yet with his role tweaked slightly on the weekend he won 24 possessions, had 655 metres gained, six intercept possessions, two intercept marks and kicked at 78 per cent efficiency.
He wants a three-year deal and Richmond list boss Blair Hartley knows it.
He isn’t being shopped around but rivals will come for him if the Tigers let his contract situation drag on into the back half of the season.
7. Jeremy McGovern (West Coast)
He has agreed to terms on a new two-year deal that means he gives up his unrestricted free agency.
He is exceptionally loyal, has taken another big pay cut, and wants to be a one-club player.
Yet from a pure list built point of view it is close to pointless for him to play out his career at a rebuilding club when he is such a valuable asset.
Surely clubs in the premiership mode will at least ask the question about a trade that could give West Coast another high pick in a November draft where they must take five or six early selections.
At 31, he still has three dominant seasons left.
8. Mitch McGovern (Carlton)
Mitch McGovern’s worst moments, his enormous contract ($800,000 a season but expiring this year) and his inconsistency make him catnip for bulletin boards and angry Carlton fans.
But Michael Voss’s decision to retain him ahead of Lewis Young against Sydney is another reminder that his best is very good.
As a general defender he is elite for intercept marks, averages 16 possessions and kicks at an elite 82.9 per cent.
He hasn’t taken the big key forwards this year but hasn’t been badly beaten either - he kept Will Hayward to a goal on Friday, kept Jamarra Ugle-Hagan to a goal in round 9, kept Lincoln McCarthy to a goal in their direct match-up in round 8.
The problem is his consistency — 21 possessions, six intercept marks in round 1 against Richmond but a string of games where he has been a non-factor this year.
Michael Voss loves him, but the Blues can’t afford to pay up for everyone.
So if they keep Tom De Koning and he is pushed out someone will pay him over $500,000 a season elsewhere, even if that seems an eye-watering sum for his career output.
9. Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (Essendon)
Zerk-Thatcher remains unsigned, averages 2.1 intercept marks a game and showed his improvement as recently as Dreamtime at the ‘G when he kept Jack Riewoldt goalless.
But he has lost 43 per cent of his one-on-ones, the worst of the top 50 players.
How much of that stat do we attribute to Essendon’s developing defence, as he plays out of his weight category, and how much are his deficiencies as the Dons attempt to assess his worth?
Playing on the big dogs, some have got hold of him. Oscar Allan kicked three of his goals on Zerk-Thatcher on Saturday, he kept Riewoldt goalless, he kept Charlie Dixon to two goals, Tom Hawkins kicked six on him in round 7 but he kept Brody Mihocek goalless on Anzac Day.
10. Tom Doedee (Adelaide)
Intercepting was Doedee’s strong suit he averaged 2.8 a game in 2020 and 2.9 a game in 2021 — but this year he has locked down on targets.
The Victorian still rates above average for intercept marks and possessions as a restricted free agent who is putting off contract talks.
He is a very handy player but maybe not the dominant interceptor he once was.
But he held Jack Gunston goalless on Sunday (Gunston was subbed off late), kept Ollie Henry goalless in round 8, kept Jack Silvagni goalless in round 5, kept Dustin Martin to one goal in round 2.
Toby Greene kicked three goals on him in round 1, but Toby is a freak.
So Adelaide will be desperate to re-sign him — he seems in no hurry — while also adding another interceptor like Mason Redman.
11. Brodie Kemp (Carlton)
How do Carlton maximise Brodie Kemp given the Blues were so keen to secure him in the 2019 national draft after giving up pick 11 to secure multiple picks that got them Kemp (pick 17) and Sam Philp (pick 20)?
Kemp has played only three games this year but his numbers are very tidy.
He averages 2.7 intercept marks, five intercepts, an elite 17.3 disposals for his position and had seven marks, three intercept marks and five tackles as he conceded two goals to Hayden McLean.
He is out of contract at a club where Lewis Young, McGovern and Jacob Weitering normally play ahead of him, with Caleb Marchbank back playing VFL footy.
Rival list managers would be crazy not to at least ask the question about the 22-year old.
12. Dylan Williams (Port Adelaide)
Williams was a former No.23 draft pick from 2019 who just didn’t get fit.
The Power delisted him then put him back onto their list, which now makes him an unrestricted free agent.
He isn’t a pure intercept marker — only averaging 1.1 intercept marks a game — but in eight games he has been highly effective as a quality ball user averaging 15.9 possessions and six intercept possessions.
The Power will be keen to keep him but his free agency does give him some options to maximise his worth even if he doesn’t consider leaving.
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