It's not exactly breaking news, but possessing an above average to elite midfield is a pre-requisite for success in today’s AFL. 

While sure, preventing goals at one end, and making sure you keep the scoreboard ticking at the other are vital, non-negotiable ingredients, it’s the midfield that’s bringing home the bacon and giving your club any kind of hope. Last season the league’s 7 best disposal differential teams all made finals while the league’s 4 preliminary finalists in 2021 all ranked top 5 from an inside-50 differential point of view. 

While a ‘rankings list’ is always very much subjective, we’ve today decided to take a stab at identifying the league’s five worst midfields leaning on an array of stats while also calling upon our own in-house player ratings too. 

Without further ado, let’s get to it. 

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West Coast 

There’s obviously a few caveats about the Eagles when assessing their midfield, largely owing to team’s start to 2022 being ravaged by Covid and injuries. With that said, West Coast’s midfield is both underperforming and light on emerging talent- a fact largely driven by the club bringing in just two first-round picks through the door over the past 5 drafts. 

This season the Eagles rank dead last for total disposals, inside 50s and metres gained while they also lead the AFL in total turnovers. To make matters worse they’ve just one midfielder in our Player Ratings top 50 mids and that’s Tim Kelly who comes in at 47 and who’s played just one game this year.

On the plus side... They still have Nic Natanui. At 31, 'Nic Nat' is still one of the league’s most productive and damaging ruckmen with the reigning All-Australian and Eagles’ Best and Fairest winner topping the league with a 89.6% contested disposal win percentage, while his 53% hit-out win rate is the league’s 4th best figure. 

Punters- At TopSport, the Eagles are paying $5.5 to play finals football in 2022.

Adelaide 

The Crows have lost 35 of their last 46 games for a reason with an underperforming midfield playing a huge role in their now 4-year slump. When they made the grand final in 2017 they were the league’s pre-eminent metres gained outfit, generated the league’s second most inside 50’s and used their brilliant midfield to propel an attack which scored the most points in the competition. In 2022 it’s an entirely different story which the club ranked 14th and 15th where metres gained and inside 50s are concerned. 

On the plus side... They’ve developed Ben Keays into an All-Australian candidate, showed their willingness to improve in the midfield department by trading for Jordan Dawson last off-season while 5 of the 7 Crows averaging at least 20 disposals per game in 2022 are 26-years of age or under.

Punters- At TopSport, 2021 first-round pick Josh Rachele is 3rd favourite for the Rising Star award and is paying $8.50. 

Essendon

In Darcy Parish and the injured Zach Merrett there’s a couple of legitimate stars here and whom are both graded as top ten midfielders according to our player ratings. With that said, this midfield is one that’s largely only interested in working one way, a reality that’s been consistently exploited by quality opponents across the AFL in recent seasons, evidenced by the club going 2-19 against top-8 teams since the start of 2020.

Through 4 rounds Essendon’s -18 contested possession differential easily ranks last in the league while they sit 17th for total tackles and metres gained differential. This lack of pressure has meant opponents have produced the 2nd most amount of inside 50’s resulting in the Bombers easily surrendering the most amount of points so far.

On the plus side... The Bombers have used a couple of top-20 picks in recent drafts to introduce some premium midfield talent in both Ben Hobbs and Archie Perkins. In addition they also parted with a couple of second rounders last off-season to gain the services of former Giant Jy Caldwell who was initially taken with pick #11 overall. 

Punters- At TopSport, the Bombers are paying $3.1 to play finals for a second-straight season. 

North Melbourne 

The reigning wooden spooners have had a rough start to 2022 banking just the one win so far while routinely being spanked in the engine room. Their -544 metres gained differential is the worst in the AFL and which has proven a significant factor in the club bleeding the second most amount of points behind only Essendon. They’ve so far applied the least amount of pressure acts in the league and are rarely able to get on the outside of opponents with only West Coast and Gold Coast averaging less than North’s 204 uncontested possessions per game. 

On the plus side... There’s been a concerted effort to inject a load of young talent into the squad with the Roos loading up on no less than 10 top-40 picks over the last three drafts. The lion's share of their selections have been midfield oriented and led by last years’s #1 overall Jason Horne-Francis with the South Australian already ranking top five at North for total disposals, score involvements and pressure acts. 

Punters- At TopSport, Jason Horne-Francis is paying $3.50 to be the club’s first Rising Star winner since Byron Pickett in 1998. 

Hawthorn

The Hawks have made a largely positive start under Sam Mitchell winning a couple of matches and running the 3-1 Blues mightily close, however their midfield has so far exhibited a tendency to be overwhelmed in matches. Through four games they rank 17th and 14th for clearance and tackle differential respectively, two factors that are preventing the team from getting their hands on the ball and a big reason why they sit just 13th for total disposals and 17th for inside 50’s.

On the plus side... Mitchell has his team playing a much more adventurous brand of footy jumping from 18th to 12th where kick-to-handball ratio is concerned while also leaping from dead-last to 5th from a play-on perspective. The Hawks have also used the draft to help bolster their midfield stocks using the bulk of their 7 top 30 picks since 2019 on midfield talent. 

Punters- At TopSport, Hawthorn is paying $3 to play finals football in 2022.

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