Amixture of bewilderment and sheer disgust was plastered on the face of an ESPN colleague after I had casually noted Richmond livewire Shai Bolton was not a top three player in the AFL.
“You’re crazy,” he snapped, while furiously tapping away at his keyboard in search of stats that would substantiate his argument.
On Monday mornings at ESPN Australia headquarters, football debates and hypotheticals provide as much energy as the 9:30 a.m. coffee run. We question, we discuss, we wonder, and, most enjoyably, we debate; doing so as if our lives are at stake.
After Bolton’s epic four-goal, five-behind, 17-disposal match-winning performance against Port Adelaide in Round 21 last year, opinions and hot takes were flying around the office. It seemed everyone had already crowned him the next … well, insert literally any AFL legend!
But I dug my heels in, refusing to be a prisoner of…