Drew Petrie could come under friendly fire this week after naming his Top 10 defenders, but making some glaring omissions.  Speaking to AFL.com.au, the Kangaroo forward has controversially left Shinboner of the Century Glenn Archer and North coach Brad Scott off the list.

See his rankings and comments here and leave your thoughts on Drew’s countdown in the comments section below.

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10. Luke McPharlin

“I highly regard him and highly regard him as a defender and he’s certainly terrorized me a lot over the last few years and every time we come up and play against Fremantle I know I’m in for a tough day…”

9. Mick Martyn

“He was one of the old school big bulls at full back and he certainly had some great tussles with players like Tony Lockett, Gary Ablett…I think he put a lot of fear into the forwards…”

8. Brian Lake

“What makes him, I suppose, one of the new age full backs was the ability to mark the ball in a contest as well.  Not only did he try and beat his opponent by spoiling it, but he would be very offensive minded and try and mark the footy.  Sometimes when the ball was coming inside fifty, you’d almost be worried about him marking it…”

7. Tom Harley

“His spoiling ability, he had really good closing speed as well and getting a fist in to nullify his opponent…”

6. Glen Jakovich

“Any player who can keep Wayne Carey quiet on a football field deserves to be in the top ten…He was certainly very strong in the one on one contest but moved up the ground also.”

5. Harry Taylor

“He doesn’t give you an inch, he’s got good pace all over the ground, he uses the ball really well which is what a lot of defenders are becoming good at these days.”

4. Darren Glass

“He still shuts down key defenders by smart use of his body…his positioning with his body, he’s got really good core strength and he’s able to push players under the footy and off the line of the ball…”

3. Dustin Fletcher

“His marking ability, his kicking ability on the rebound he’s got great pace, he plays on the big full forward and plays on the small guys as well so anybody who can do that and play for as long as he has, deserves to be (number) three.

2. Steven Silvagni

“The slightly under-sized key defender  for the era that he played in but he certainly matched the big full forwards of the competition with his agility and just his closing speed…”

1. Matthew Scarlett

“His pace is really good, he’s got good courage but really good footy smarts…”

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