The young midfielders have stood out in a tough season that has the Pies winless at the bottom of the BFNL table.

In Saturday's loss to Eaglehawk at Canterbury Park they, statistically, produced their best games of the season.

Hare cracked the half-century for possessions for the first time - 25 kicks and 25 handballs.

Of his 50 possessions, 29 were contested, while he took eight marks, had 12 clearances and kicked two goals for a total of 219 ranking points.

Latch wasn't far behind. He collected 49 possessions, 25 of which were contested, had eight marks, 10 clearances and one goal for a total of 170 ranking points.

Overall, Hare and Latch are first and second in the BFNL for total possessions and contested possessions through 14 rounds.

Consistency has been their strength, with both players collecting more than 30 possessions in 10 of 14 games.

While you could mount an argument that it's easier to rack up big numbers when you're the best players in a midfield group that doesn't bat deep, you can't question their work ethic and commitment in a situation where it would be tough to stay motivated when your team is copping heavy defeats most weeks.

They play much in the same mould as their skipper Coby Perry.

Hare has more ground ball gets and hard ball gets than any player in the competition, while Latch is inside the top five in both areas - that's as much about effort and desire as anything else.

That effort relates to when the Pies don't have the ball as well. Hare leads the league in tackles 141 - 24 more than the second-ranked player - Kyneton's Hamish Yunghanns.

Yes, Latch and Hare lead the league in turnovers, but that's a product of the huge amount of footy they get, combined with the lack of forwards the Pies have to kick to, rather than a lack of skill.

The Magpies have a long road ahead of them, but in Hare and Latch they have two young players that any club in the BFNL would love to build a midfield around.

RANKING POINTS

Aidan Hare (Mb) 219

Dillon Williams (Eh) 173

Michael Herlihy (SB) 170

Liam Latch (Mb) 170

Billy Evans (Eh) 162

Pat McKenna (Gis) 153

Flynn Lakey (Gis) 141

Tom Gardam (Mb) 139

Cal McCarty (SS) 136

Jake Thrum (GS) 135

DISPOSALS

Aidan Hare (Mb) 50

Liam Latch (Mb) 49

Billy Evans (Eh) 43

Nathan Horbury (SB) 39

Coby Perry (Mb) 39

Michael Herlihy (SB) 38

Dillon Williams (Eh) 37

Cal McCarty (SS) 37

Jake Thrum (GS) 36

Tom Gardam (Mb) 34

CONTESTED DISPOSALS

Aidan Hare (Mb) 29

Liam Latch (Mb) 25

Coby Perry (Mb) 24

Flynn Lakey (Gis) 20

Ricky Monti (GS) 17

Jack Geary (GS) 15

Billy Evans (Eh) 14

Bo Alexander (SS) 13

Tom Gardam (Mb) 12

Seb Bell-Bartels (Gis) 12

MARKS

Cal McCarty (SS) 11

Pat McKenna (Gis) 11

Tanner Nally (Sh) 11

Nathan Horbury (SB) 10

Cooper Leon (SB) 10

Zac Denahy (Cm) 10

Tom Gardam (Mb) 10

Brodie Montague (Sh) 10

Jack Geary (GS) 10

Jayden Burke (GS) 10

CLEARANCES

Flynn Lakey (Gis) 13

Aidan Hare (Mb) 12

Liam Latch (Mb) 10

Dillon Williams (Eh) 10

Billy Evans (Eh) 9

Cal McCarty (Eh) 9

Michael Herlihy (SB) 8

Tommy Horne (Cm) 8

Sam Graham (Gis) 8

Ben Eales (Gis) 7

LOOSE BALL GETS

Dillon Williams (Eh) 11

Jake Thrum (GS) 11

Jack Hickman (GS) 11

Brayden Torpey (SB) 10

Tom Cain (Cm) 10

Joel Wharton (Sh) 10

Michael Herlihy (SB) 9

Billy Evans (Eh) 9

Liam Latch (Mb) 9

Aidan Hare (Mb) 9

HARD BALL GETS

Aidan Hare (Mb) 10

Billy Evans (Eh) 8

Nathan Horbury (SB) 7

Dillon Williams (Eh) 7

Seb Bell-Bartels (Gis) 7

Bo Alexander (Gis) 7

Flynn Lakey (Gis) 7

Ricky Monti (GS) 6

Terry Reeves (GS) 6

Liam Latch (Mb) 5

TACKLES

Daniel Clohesy (SS) 14

Dillon Williams (Eh) 13

Bo Alexander (SS) 10

Ricky Monti (GS) 10

Aidan Hare (Mb) 9

Zac Pallpratt (Sh) 9

Nick Doolan (Gis) 8

Flynn Lakey (Gis) 8

Jack Hickman (GS) 8

Cal McCarty (SS) 7

SCORE INVOLVEMENTS

Brock Harvey (SB) 10

Pat McKenna (Gis) 9

Michael Herlihy (SB) 8

Luke Ellings (Gis) 8

Brayden Torpey (SB) 7

Billy Evans (Eh) 7

Ben Thompson (Eh) 7

Lachlan Sharp (SS) 7

Jake Hall (SS) 7

Caleb Sheahan (SS) 7

SPOILS

Kya Lanfranchi (Mb) 7

Mitchell Hallinan (SS) 7

Zack Shelton (GS) 7

Jack Merrin (GS) 7

Mitch McClure (Mb) 5

Isaac Ruff (Sh) 5

Liam Murphy (Mb) 4

Jack Reaper (Gis) 4

Zac Vescovi (Gis) 4

Matt Compston (GS) 4

HIT-OUTS

Matt Compston (GS) 53

Braidon Blake (Gis) 44

Jack Lawton (Eh) 37

Brodie Browne-Kerr (Cm) 28

Ben Eales (Gis) 24

Will Allen (SB) 19

Brady Neill (Mb) 19

Connor Sexton (Sh) 19

Joseph Mayes (SS) 17

James Worme (Sh) 17

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