The Goulburn Valley Football League is a third of the way into its season, so which players have impressed the most during the opening six rounds of football?
Well, here at The News, we have crunched the numbers provided by our good friends at GVL Data and have come up with the definitive ranking of the best six players from the first third of the season.
#6 Mark Marriott (Benalla)
Sneaking his way into the top six performers in the Goulburn Valley Football League this season is the big and bustling Benalla ruckman, Mark Marriott.
Now, Marriott’s selection in the top six could be deemed controversial, given Benalla has struggled so far in its 2024 campaign, with the Saints’ best result coming in the form of a draw against Shepparton United.
However, Marriott’s influence on the Saints can’t be overstated, as he has performed valiantly and consistently during the first six matches.
The Saints ruckman has averaged 19 touches, 14 contested possessions, 38.7 hit-outs, 6.7 hit-outs to advantage, 5.5 tackles, 5.8 score involvements and 132.8 ranking points per game.
#5 Daniel Johnston (Mooroopna)
Mooroopna’s contested marking beast Daniel Johnston has had an impressive start to the season, booting a league-high 26 goals across five matches.
Johnston’s first third of the season for the Cats has also been noticed by his VFL overlords, Coburg, with the Lions calling Johnston up to play twice this season, including last weekend against Port Melbourne.
The 195cm full-forward has dominated the Cats’ attacking 50, averaging three contested marks, 5.8 marks inside 50, 9.6 score involvements, 6.6 goal involvements and 5.2 goals per match.
The one game Johnston missed (due to his VFL commitments) was Mooroopna’s loss to Rochester.
The Cats only kicked nine goals for the match, which in part indicates Johnston’s importance to Mooroopna’s finals, or premiership, aspirations.
#4 Nathan Beattie (Seymour)
Despite Seymour’s slow start to the season, midfield ace Nathan Beattie has been on fire for the Lions.
The young star has been busy through the midfield, averaging 35.4 disposals, 12.4 contested possessions, 8.6 marks, 5.2 clearances, 9.2 ground-ball gets, 5.4 intercept possessions, five tackles and four goal involvements per match.
The midfield bull averages the fourth most ranking points (for more than one match played) with an impressive 145.4 per game, with Beattie also clean with his disposals, going at 73 per cent efficiency.
After reaching the preliminary final last season, Seymour has only secured one win from five matches so far in 2024, and if the Lions are looking for a source of inspiration, they need not look any further than their young gun, Beattie.
#3 Bradley Ryan (Tatura)
Apart from an inspiring round one after-the-siren victory over Seymour (courtesy of Chaz Sargeant), Tatura’s season has been disappointing.
A mix of injuries and heavy losses has left the Bulldogs in 11th place on the ladder with a percentage of 54.98. But through the darkness, a gleaming light in the form of Brad Ryan has shone.
The Bulldogs defender has worked tirelessly for Tatura’s under-siege backline and has been among the best players in four of his six matches.
Ryan has averaged 29 disposals (75 per cent efficiency), 7.8 marks, 12.2 rebound-50s, 8.5 intercept possessions, 6.8 one-per-centers and five spoils per game in 2024.
A third of the way into the home-and-away season, Tatura has a mountain to climb if it wants to push for finals, but if Sargeant’s soldiers can look to Ryan’s performance for inspiration, the Bulldogs’ season may come roaring back to life.
#2 Adam Decicco (Shepparton)
He’s a key cog in the Shepparton midfield machine that has driven the Bears to a 6-0 start to the season.
Adam Decicco has been a workhorse through the middle of the ground and has become one of the premier players in the Goulburn Valley Football League despite the Bears having a stacked midfield with the likes of Xavier Stevenson and Luke Smith, alongside ruckman Ash Holland.
The Bears’ co-captain has averaged 29.8 touches, 8.5 marks, 6.7 clearances, 7.3 inside-50s, 7.2 tackles, 1.7 goal assists and 7.8 score involvements per game.
Decicco also averages elite numbers in other key statistics, but the stats above prove his capabilities as both a defensive and attacking midfielder.
If Shepparton is going to push for its first flag since 2018 this season, the Bears will need their co-captain in this vein of form come finals.
Honourable mentions - Harry and Brett Mahoney (Mansfield)
These two players are an integral part of Mansfield’s finals and flag aspirations, and so far this season, the cousins Brett and Harry Mahoney have been on fire.
Brett, as his coach Jack Hutchins recently said, “is ageing like a fine wine” and has been key to the Eagles’ recent run of form, as he has averaged 24.3 disposals (74 per cent efficiency), 4.6 clearances, 5.6 inside-50s, 6.7 score involvements and one goal per match.
Meanwhile, Harry has been equally impressive, averaging 27.4 touches (76 per cent efficiency), 9.7 contested possessions, 1.3 goals, 6.6 score involvements and 5.3 intercept possessions per game.
Both players have been brilliant in Eagles’ colours this season and were stiff omissions (along with a long line of others) not to make the top six.
But plenty of time remains in the season for this order to change.
#1 Luke Smith (Shepparton)
In his first season back at Shepparton since 2018, Luke Smith hasn’t put a foot out of order as the gun midfielder has demonstrated his ability to hurt teams both on the scoreboard and in the contest.
In back-to-back weeks, Smith showed his versatility.
In one match (against Seymour), Smith had 40 disposals, eight goals, 19 score involvements and 10 clearances.
One week later, the Bears’ midfielder showed his physicality against Euroa, finishing the match with 23 touches (18 of which were contested), seven intercept possessions and 12 tackles while still hitting the scoreboard with two goals.
Smith is one of the key reasons behind Shepparton’s 2024 resurgence and has been named in the best in five out of his six matches, while the midfielder also sits in tied sixth for the league goal-kicking with 17.
The Bears’ light-footed gun has been prolific across the board this season and is rated elite in too many categories to count.
If the Morrison Medal was awarded in May, Smith would be ahead by the length of the Flemington straight.
This week, One FM will be broadcasting the Echuca versus Shepparton Swans match from 1.30pm on Saturday, and Sunday’s Kyabram District League clash between Dookie United and Rushworth from 2pm.