IT is the opening turn of the long TAC Cup season, but after three rounds, AFL Draft Central takes a look at those players who are already lighting up the stats sheet. From disposals and marks, to kicking efficiency and contested rate, there are a number of players already standing out. Today’s early look just investigates the six Metro teams, with the six Country ones to come.

Noah Anderson is leading the way with disposals, four clear of Northern’s Tom McKenzie, however McKenzie tops the charts in the clearances, three clear of the next highest player having notched up 20 in his three games thus far.

Alastair Richards has been impressive in his first few games for Sandringham, racking up 71 disposals and 20 marks – the latter ranked at number one from the Metro sides. Looking at those with plenty of defensive pressure, Eastern’s Lachlan Stapleton leads all comers by some way, laying 29 tackles in three games well ahead of his nearest rivals with 22.

Despite playing the one game, Max King is the club house leader in the goal kicking stakes. His eight goals against Oakleigh Chargers was enough to see the potential top five pick leading the Metro players after three rounds. His brother Ben has also been eye-catching in defence with some stints forward, ranked third overall in kicking efficiency – four out of five kicks have found their target so far.

The King brothers’ teammate Sam Forbes is just ahead of Ben with 83.9 per cent of his kicks being declared efficient, while Bombers fans would be smiling knowing potential father-son recruit and key defender Mason Fletcher is the most efficient kick of the Metro players (25 or more kicks) with an impressive 89.3 per cent hitting the mark.

Northern’s Sam Philp is the most contested player from the Metro sides with 40 or more touches so far this season, leading Western’s Jaden Rice and Eastern’s Ben Cardamone. Other players that have impressed across multiple statistical categories are Western pair Connor Thar and Zak Butters, Northern pair Braedyn Gillard and Josh D’Intinosante, and Calder co-captain Mitch Podhajski.

Disposals:

1 Noah Anderson (Oakleigh) 77
2 Tom McKenzie (Northern) 73
3 Alastair Richards (Sandringham) 71
3 Connor Thar (Western) 71
5 Mitch Podhajski (Calder) 65
6 Kye Quirk (Eastern) 63
6 Adrian Kalcovski (Eastern) 63
8 Matt Rowell (Oakleigh) 60
9 Zak Butters (Western) 58
10 Xavier O’Neill (Oakleigh) 57

Marks:

1 Alastair Richards (Sandringham) 20
2 Lachlan Sholl (Calder) 18
3 Kai Owen (Sandringham) 17
3 Jack Evans (Calder) 17
3 Sam Forbes (Sandringham) 17
6 Tye Browning (Calder) 16
6 Steven Kyriazis (Western) 16
6 Ben Silvagni (Oakleigh) 16
9 Mitch Podhajski (Calder) 14
9 Lucas Cavallaro (Calder) 14
9 Mason Fletcher (Calder) 14

Tackles:

1 Lachlan Stapleton (Eastern) 29
2 Jack Watkins (Western) 22
2 Jonte Duffy (Eastern) 22
2 Nathan Croft (Calder) 22
5 Josh D’Intinosante (Northern) 18
6 Kye Quirk (Eastern) 17
6 Jaden Rice (Western) 17
6 Liam Stocker (Sandringham) 17
9 Dawit McNeish (Sandringham) 16
9 Cody Hirst (Eastern) 16
9 Ben Cardamone (Eastern) 16
9 Zak Butters (Western) 16

Clearances:

1 Tom McKenzie (Northern) 20
2 James Rowbottom (Oakleigh) 17
2 Xavier O’Halloran (Western) 17
4 Braedyn Gillard (Northern) 15
4 Zak Butters (Western) 15
6 Connor Thar(Western) 14
6 Noah Anderson (Oakleigh) 14
8 Liam Stocker (Sandringham) 13
9 Dawit McNeish (Sandringham) 12
9 Bailey Smith (Sandringham) 12

Goals:

1 Max King (Sandringham) 8
2 Mitch Podhajski (Calder) 6
2 Josh D’Intinosante (Northern) 6
2 James Rendell (Sandringham) 6
2 Patrik Della Rocca (Northern) 6
2 Steven Kyriazis (Western) 6
7 Aaron Clarke (Western) 5
7 Daniel Scala (Oakleigh) 5
9 Curtis Taylor (Calder) 4
9 Will Kennedy (Sandringham) 4
9 Ben Silvagni (Oakleigh) 4
9 Josh Honey (Western) 4

Kicking Efficiency: (At least 25 kicks)

1 Mason Fletcher (Calder) 89.3%
2 Sam Forbes (Sandringham) 83.9%
3 Ben King (Sandringham) 80%
3 Xavier Fry (Eastern) 80%
5 Angus Hanrahan (Sandringham) 77.4%
6 Jack Papachatzakis (Western) 76.9%
7 Lucas Cavallaro (Calder) 75.8%
8 Ryan Gardner (Northern) 75.7%
9 Lachlan Sholl (Calder) 70.6%
10 Trent Bianco (Oakleigh) 67.9%

Contested Percentage: (At least 40 disposals)

1 Sam Philp (Northern) 66.7%
2 Jaden Rice (Western) 60%
3 Ben Cardamone (Eastern) 58.7%
4 Zac Hart (Oakleigh) 58.1%
5 Zak Butters (Western) 55.9%
6 Atu Bosenavualagi (Oakleigh) 55%
7 Liam Stocker (Sandringham) 51.9%
8 Joel Burleigh (Eastern) 50%
8 Jack Watkins (Western) 50%
8 Josh D’Intinosante (Northern) 50%