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Important SN update for SouthlandClean hands, set shot, intercept mark, one on one: Who would you take?
SEN • July 3rd, 2025 3:15 pm
Which AFL players would you take when it comes to specific skill areas?
That is what Kane Cornes was pondering on the weekend when watching Gold Coast midfielder Touk Miller who he rates as the best gut-runner in the league.
It had Cornes thinking about a range of other specific skills categories and who he rates on top.
“I thought about this because I was just watching Touk Miller and his ability to cover the ground offensively and defensively," Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“For me, he's the best gut-runner in football.
“Then I thought, who's the best at every aspect of our game?
“We’ll break it down - clean hands, gut-running, set shot and shot on the run, field kick, contested mark, tackler, intercept mark and a one on one for your life."
See the nominations for each category from both Cornes and Dwayne Russell below:
Clean hands
Cornes: “Lachie Neale, for me, has the cleanest hands in football.
“There's a few coming hard for him in that space. I think Will Ashcroft's pretty clean. Zak Butters is pretty clean.
“But for me right now, Neale is the cleanest.”
Gut-runner
Cornes: “I’ve got Touk Miller as the gut-runner.
“You could say Bailey Smith, you could say Max Holmes, there'd be a couple of others that would be in that category, but I think Touk Miller both ways is the best gut-runner.”
Set shot
Cornes: “I think it is Jamie Elliott. From any angle, he’s really good from around 45 out.
“He's got good distance for a smaller player, so I would take Jamie Elliott in that space.”
Russell: “I’ll take Darcy Fogarty in the first half of a quarter, but I'm taking Jamie Elliott in the last half.
“Darcy Fogarty gets it done pretty much all the time, but for some reason Jamie Elliott gets it done late in games when the game's on the line.
“So I’m taking Jamie Elliott in the last half of any quarter, well, any last quarter especially, because he just keeps delivering on that front, especially from pockets.”
Shot on the run
Cornes: “Now, Gary Ablett Junior was the best shot I've ever seen on the run.
“Just head down and he would bury you from anywhere on the run, he was an extraordinary shot at goal on the run.
“I think today it's Nick Daicos. If he has the footy and he's running inside forward 50, you're marking it down in your AFL Record.
“Very rarely does he miss on the run.”
Russell: “I reckon Willie Rioli rarely misses as well when he's got it on the run.
“He’s a low-possession, high-impact player at times. If Willie's got it in space on the move, I'm probably going for Willie.
“But you're right about Nick Daicos. He draws traffic as well. Has Nick ever had a shot without any pressure on it?”
Field kick
Cornes: “The best field kick is Dan Houston for me.
“I think Dan Houston's touch across multiple distances and just feel with his field kicking has him on top.”
Russell: “There's some good forwards, like Charlie Curnow's actually a pretty good inside 50 kick.
“He puts it into good spots, can drop it in a bucket.
“I’ve got to go for Errol Gulden, I reckon.
“In terms of 45-metre field kicks - there's a lot of field kicks that can hit a target 30 or 40 away, but his low trajectory kicks…
“They don't go high, they go fast, low, and they get to the target and they don't allow you to intercept mark.”
Contested mark
Cornes: “I’m taking Jesse Hogan.”
Russell: Max Gawn
Tackler
Cornes: “We're both with Tom Atkins as the best tackler in the game.”
Russell: “Well, you have to, because according to the numbers Tom Atkins has tackled 141 times this year.
“The next best is 24 away from him, Matt Rowell.”
Intercept mark
Cornes: “The intercept mark, I'm taking Sam Taylor.”
One on one for your life
Cornes: “The one on one for your life - the best I've ever seen, and he's still playing, is Patrick Dangerfield.
“If the footy is there and there is a 50-50 or a two on one, who's going to win it? I’d back in Dangerfield every day of the week.
“I’m still taking Patrick Dangerfield for that one on one for your life.”
Russell: “If it's a ground ball I'm taking Zak Butters.
“He looks like a kind of guy who'd bite your hand off if you dare take his feet away from him. I like that about a player.”
