Rate a Season # 31 Brett Kirk

[AnnieH]

Rate away ...

[Chilcott]

Haven't respected a footballer as much since Paul Kelly.

[ScottH]

Foot Skills 5.
Hand Skills 8
Heart 10.
Bravery 10.
Leadership 10.

What Chilcott said.

[reigning premier]

Will never have the skills of an Ablett, Cousins, Black, Cooney or McLeod. But by @@@@ does he make up for it with his ticker.

9. Was only a bees dick away from a 10. Well done son.

[Triple B]

8.

Heart and soul of the place. Wonderful over achiever.

[liz]

Encouraging as it is to see a relative youngster win the BS medal, Kirky was robbed of it this year.

If you read the Sheehan profiles of his top 30 draftees in the upcoming draft, Kirk gets as many citations as "player you model yourself on and/or admire" as anyone other than Cox (who seems to be the model of everyone over 200cm tall).

[573v30]

9/10

Another great, consistent year (with the exception of a couple of games), lead the way in the midfield and is an insipirational captain for the Bloods. As RP has mentioned, he'll never possess the flashy skills as Gary Ablett or Chris Judd but he's a hard worker in the midfield that can win clearances and exert tackling pressure on his direct opponent.

In terms of statistics, he's been pretty consistent when compared to 2007. His disposals have barely changed (avg. 22.5 in 2008 vs. 22.4 in 2007), but his marks (3.0 vs. 3.5) and tackles (6.3 vs. 6.5) are slightly down. But then again, he's a great on-baller like Judd, so marks aren't exactly a big factor in his playing style. His tackling is a big part of his game that he laid the most tackles compared to any other player and rated 2nd in tackles per game.

He played every game of the season and was generally consistent good to very good, with a few exceptions eg. 10 disposals against Brisbane, 14 against St. Kilda. He managed to get under 20 disposals on only 6 occasions and lay under 5 tackles on only 4 occasions.

Examples of his great performances include against Port Adelaide (31 disposals, 1 goal and 5 tackles), Collingwood (29 disposals, 7 marks and 9 tackles), Essendon (29 disposals, 1 goal and 5 tackles), Hawthorn (29 disposals and 6 tackles), Melbourne (27 disposals, 5 marks and 8 tackles), Adelaide (27 disposals and 4 tackles) and St. Kilda (26 disposals and 8 tackles). He laid 9 tackles on 3 occasions, 8 tackles on 4 occasions and 7 tackles on 3 occasions.

He's had many great games this year and during his career, in which he lifts whenever the team is behind and as a result the whole team lifts. A good example is the Elimination Final against North Melbourne, with his clearances and tackling pressure to turn the game around in the 2nd half to give us the win. A great player and a great captain. Let's hope 2009 is another great year for arguably our best player in the side.

[Primmy]

9 from me. Here is a bloke who has got the most out of himself with no apologies, and knows his limitations, so works on how to get around them.

I wuv the man, and I hold him up to anyone as a role model, pure and simple. Even for myself.

[2005]

Rating : 9

Legend & Champion.
He describes himself week in week out.