SA Footy

I thought this might be an interesting exercise to rank in order some of the greats of the AFL/VFL of the last 20 years. Initially i was going to list 10, but that would have resulted in some champions missing out, then i was going to limit it to 15, but likewise, so i finished up with a list of 20.

My list:

1.....Wayne Carey
2.....Gary Ablett Snr
3.....Tony Lockett
4.....James Hird
5.....Jason Dunstall
6.....Robert Harvey
7.....Dermott Brereton
8.....Michael Voss
9.....John Platten
10...Greg Williams
11...Nathan Buckley
12...Paul Roos
13...Chris Grant
14...Glen Jakovich
15...Stephen Silvagni
16...Craig Bradley
17...Darren Jarman
18...Peter Matera
19...Gavin Wanganeen
20...Guy Mckenna

Just missing out (in no particular order) - Paul Kelly, Gerard Healy, Andrew McLeod, Ben Cousins, Mark Ricciuto, Jonathon Brown, Dale Weightman, Chris Judd, Alastair Lynch, Gary Buckenara, Scott West and Matthew Lloyd.

No doubt i would have missed some players out, but thats what i came up with.

Maybe other people could provide a list, top 5 or 10, if 20 is too many to list..


NOTE: Sorry mal, no room for Aaron Keating.

Judd and Simon Black in, Jarman & McKenna out.
Voss should be ranked higher.

Glen Archer would have to be close, he would be one of the first picked in a team playing for your life, not to mention 2 flags, AA, Norm Smith and officially honoured as the best NM player ever...)

Mr66 wrote:Judd and Simon Black in, Jarman & McKenna out.
Voss should be ranked higher.

You are joking, right?

Dutchy wrote:Glen Archer would have to be close, he would be one of the first picked in a team playing for your life, not to mention 2 flags, AA, Norm Smith and officially honoured as the best NM player ever...)

Great player, but wasn't he voted as the best "Shinboner" ever ie player that embodied the shinboner spirit. Realistically, Carey, Schimmelbusch, and Blight would definitely be held in higher regard as a Kangaroos player, as good a player that Archer is/was.

Mr66 wrote:Judd and Simon Black in, Jarman & McKenna out.
Voss should be ranked higher.

Judd is a champion, but the players on my list have generally played for at least 10/15 years. In 5 years time, Judd will probably be top 3 of the last 25 years, but he has to perform for a bit longer yet before being up there with elite company.

Black great player as well, but certainly not up there with those i've listed. Would probably rank about 40/50.

GWW wrote:

Mr66 wrote:Judd and Simon Black in, Jarman & McKenna out.
Voss should be ranked higher.

Judd is a champion, but the players on my list have generally played for at least 10/15 years. In 5 years time, Judd will probably be top 3 of the last 25 years, but he has to perform for a bit longer yet before being up there with elite company.

Black great player as well, but certainly not up there with those i've listed. Would probably rank about 40/50.

Has a Brownlow AND Norm Smith. That's a small club.
Jarman didn't produce often enough and only did when fat,lazy,gutless St.Kilda fullbacks played on him.

Scott West would be in my ttop 20

Roo would have to be in top 20

All Australian, 7 times I think, All Australian Capt twice, Brownlow Medalist, Premiership Player, Dual club B&F.

He would make my top 20 before a reciever like Bradley

Mr66 wrote:Jarman didn't produce often enough and only did when fat,lazy,gutless St.Kilda fullbacks played on him.

If that's all you can recall of D Jarman, then either you didn't watch much football, or your not much of a judge.

J Dunstall contributes a lot of his goals to D Jarman, the delivery was on a plate

Punk Rooster wrote:

Mr66 wrote:Jarman didn't produce often enough and only did when fat,lazy,gutless St.Kilda fullbacks played on him.

If that's all you can recall of D Jarman, then either you didn't watch much football, or your not much of a judge.

Nup, just blind hatred.

sydney-dog wrote:J Dunstall contributes a lot of his goals to D Jarman, the delivery was on a plate

I love the story that he told about tapping his chest and the ball would hit there everytime.

Mr66 wrote:

GWW wrote:

Mr66 wrote:Judd and Simon Black in, Jarman & McKenna out.
Voss should be ranked higher.

Judd is a champion, but the players on my list have generally played for at least 10/15 years. In 5 years time, Judd will probably be top 3 of the last 25 years, but he has to perform for a bit longer yet before being up there with elite company.

Black great player as well, but certainly not up there with those i've listed. Would probably rank about 40/50.

Has a Brownlow AND Norm Smith. That's a small club.
Jarman didn't produce often enough and only did when fat,lazy,gutless St.Kilda fullbacks played on him.

He also produced when it mattered the previous week against those fat, lazy, gutless Bulldog fullbacks and the next year against those fat,lazy gutless North Melbourne fullbacks. A lot of fat, lazy, gutless fullbacks in teams that made the finals in the late 90's.

Nice list by the way GWW. Hard to argue against any of the 20 although I'd rate Matera higher.

Mr66 wrote: Jarman didn't produce often enough and only did when fat,lazy,gutless St.Kilda fullbacks played on him.

Don't forget the Bulldog hack from the '97 preliminary and the Kangaroo hack from the '98 Grand Final.
For mine, that left footed goal he kicked to the city end (right of screen) in the first quarter of the '98 Grand Final is one of the best goals I've ever seen.

Great list GWW and great post.
I would put JUDD in for MCKENNA but the other 19 were good.

AARON KEATING was stiff to miss out as well!

Also I wonder if Peter Motley would have made this
list if his career was not ended prematurely.
Personally I think he would have made it.

GWW who would be the best coach in the last 20 years?
I reckon MATTHEWS for his 3 flags in a row when he took
on a struggling outfit and for his effort to get the Colliwobblers
to a flag as well.

mal wrote:Great list GWW and great post.
I would put JUDD in for MCKENNA but the other 19 were good.

AARON KEATING was stiff to miss out as well!

Also I wonder if Peter Motley would have made this
list if his career was not ended prematurely.
Personally I think he would have made it.

GWW who would be the best coach in the last 20 years?
I reckon MATTHEWS for his 3 flags in a row when he took
on a struggling outfit and for his effort to get the Colliwobblers
to a flag as well.

Yeah i guess Guy Mckenna is a favourite of mine, the best half back flanker/small defender i've ever seen. Didn't think anyone would agree with me there, but we all have favourites i guess..

It was certainly a tragedy what happened to Motley, as far as his personal injuries/health were concerned....and also from a football perspective that footy fans never saw him play for an extended period in the AFL/VFL. Its hard to say how he would have gone but he certainly had the skills/flexibility to succeed in the "big league", how well is only open to speculation though unfortunately.

Best coach - i guess there would be a few contenders, maybe Allan Jeans, Matthews (although hes not a favourite of mine, and he benefitted through generosity directed towards the Lions from the AFL, but i wont go into that too much here ). If Pagan could be judged solely on his Kangaroos performance, i'd almost select him, but his Carlton days (alebeit with a skeleton playing list) would count against him. After Schimmelbusch was sacked in the early 90's, Pagan transferred the Roos into a super side in a very short period of time.

Oh, also maybe Robert Shaw, Damian Drum and Norm Dare would have to be considered as well i guess..

ORDoubleBlues wrote:

Mr66 wrote: Jarman didn't produce often enough and only did when fat,lazy,gutless St.Kilda fullbacks played on him.

the Kangaroo hack from the '98 Grand Final.
For mine, that left footed goal he kicked to the city end (right of screen) in the first quarter of the '98 Grand Final is one of the best goals I've ever seen.

any player that plays over 300 games is no hack

Haven't you blokes heard of Stephen Kernahan? One of the greatest blues of his generation. Buckley shouldn't be on that list either. Good player but hugely overrated.

regards,

REB