AFL.com.au have looked into who is leading our midfield brigade.

Players used 23 Bombers have attended a centre bounce in 2018.

RUCKMEN
2018 ruck attendances (top two): Tom Bellchambers (437), Shaun McKernan (53) 
Centre square hit-outs per game (minimum five games): Tom Bellchambers (11.2)
Centre square hit-outs to advantage differential (team): +0.8 (fifth)

ONBALLERS
Most common ruck-rover combination: Tom Bellchambers-Dyson Heppell (38)
Most used midfielder (midfielder who attends most centre bounces): Dyson Heppell (329)
Centre clearances won (team differential): +0.1 (fifth)
Centre clearance king (minimum five games): David Myers (2.6)

ANALYSIS
Perhaps the Bombers should be using Jake Stringer through the middle more often. Of the eight players to attend more than 100 centre bounces for Essendon this year, Stringer's positive clearance differential of 20.9 per cent is far and away the best at the club. It's also among the best in the competition. Tom Bellchambers has the most centre bounce attendances of anyone at Essendon with 437 for the year, while Dyson Heppell has the most out of the club's pure midfielders with 329. Stringer has attended 134, the seventh-most at the Bombers, but maybe it's where he should be starting more frequently in 2019.