Midfield bulls draw cross-competition comparison

Both were considered “wrecking balls’’ at junior level and have carried that reputation through their careers, with Rowell now rated among the AFL’s most combative players.

Atley carries a similar mantle with Rochester in the Goulburn Valley League.

Rowell reminded everyone just how good he is on Saturday night in Darwin when he had 29 disposals and 16 clearances in the upset win against the Western Bulldogs.

Atley returned full-time to the Tigers this season after playing four games last year while on break from his captaincy duties with Essendon’s VFL team, where he won the team’s best-and-fairest award last year.

Ironically Atley’s last AFL appearance (one of only four with the Power before he was delisted at the end of the 2020 season) was against the Gold Coast Suns in round four of 2019.

It was a typically “in and under’’ performance from the now-24-year-old.

All but six of his 19 disposals were considered “contested’’ and his four tackles were matched by four clearances. The Power won by 28 points as Atley played in a midfield that included first-year players Zak Butters and Connor Rozee.

The Power, who selected Atley with their third selection (32nd overall) at the 2016 national draft, now has its own “midfield bull’’ in the form of another former number one draft pick, Jason Horne-Francis.

Horne-Francis is an above-average-ranked stoppage player (19th in the league) who has been compared this season to Rowell and the other midfield bulls of the competition.

Rowell has returned to the headlines this season after bursting on to the scene with nine Brownlow Medal votes in his first four games.

He was the first choice of the Gold Coast Suns at the 2019 draft, but played just five games in his first season (2020). Fast forward to 2023 and he is now repaying the faith of the Suns recruiters.

Rowell is ranked number one in the AFL for pressure acts, a statistic taken from chasing, corralling, physical acts and closing, while he is also streaks ahead as the league’s most prolific tackler, equal to Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli with the most stoppage clearances, and also top 10 for contested possessions.

Other than his physicality Atley has a lot in common with the Gold Coast Suns “hard nut’’, but is yet to be spotted eating the grass on Moon Oval.

Atley and Rowell have similarities in several statistical categories, in particular with their elite ranking in both the clearance and tackling category.

For Atley it has been a delicate balancing act to provide the physical pressure required for his team to be competitive in the Goulburn Valley League, but also offer the outside run and meterage to instigate scoring opportunities.

Atley is ahead of Rowell in regard to total disposals (second only to Euroa’s Will Hayes after seven rounds) and is also number one in regard to contested possessions in the GVL.

He has elite status in no less than 10 categories in the GVL, averaging 29.3 disposals a week and almost five inside-50 entries alongside nine ground-ball gets and five intercept possessions on a weekly basis.

Atley’s contribution to Rochester as an attacking entity has probably allowed Rowell to have a significant edge in regard to pressure acts.

Rowell is ahead of Josh Dunkley, Tom Liberatore, Tom Atkins and Tim Taranto as the number one-ranked player for pressure acts in the AFL.

Atley will be a key in four winnable games for the one-win-Tigers against Benalla (also only with one win and ranked 12th) June 3, Shepparton United (also one win, in eighth position) June 17, the following round against Shepparton Swans (one win, 10th) and Shepparton (ranked ninth, also with one win) in round 13 on July 15.

His match-up with another of the competition’s renowned ball-winners, Benalla’s 2014 Morrison Medallist Will Martinello will be a highlight of the contest between the teams that currently occupy the bottom two rungs of the ladder