Revisiting the Richmond Team of the Century

[guruisatiger]

like father and son there should be a 100 game requirement

 

[brahj]

They should keep that list but have a new list called Team of the Century AFL-era 1990 onwards.

Wouldn’t mind seeing that list tbh, just the right amounts of recency bias and hat tipping to good players in our shit years.

 

[Walt Kowalski]

1990 onwards (off the top of my head)

Grimes - Rance - Bowden
Kellaway - Gaspar - Houli
Deledio - Prestia - Vlaustin
Martin - Richardson - Lambert
Riewoldt - Lynch - Edwards

Ottens - Knights - Cotchin

Broderick - Gale - Bolton - Newman

I probably forgot someone obvious

 

[Hoos]

1990 onwards (off the top of my head)

Grimes - Rance - Bowden
Kellaway - Gaspar - Houli
Deledio - Prestia - Vlaustin
Martin - Richardson - Lambert
Riewoldt - Lynch - Edwards

Ottens - Knights - Cotchin

Broderick - Gale - Bolton - Newman

I probably forgot someone obvious

Vlastuin on a wing? No Nank?

 

[Bojangles17]

Didn’t realise sheedy was Ess board member , he comes out we don’t need to be clutching to make up the numbers like Haw did with salmon , sheedy and Raines are OUT to start

 

[Monjike]

Vlastuin on a wing? No Nank?

Richo to the wing, Vlastuin for Newman...

 

[Bojangles17]

1990 onwards (off the top of my head)

Grimes - Rance - Bowden
Kellaway - Gaspar - Houli
Deledio - Prestia - Vlaustin
Martin - Richardson - Lambert
Riewoldt - Lynch - Edwards

Ottens - Knights - Cotchin

Broderick - Gale - Bolton - Newman

I probably forgot someone obvious

Ottens ,,,, are we so shit we need to acclaim players for what they achieved elsewhere ,,,,

modsssssss delete this thoughtless post andreplace with triple premiership nank

 

[Hoos]

Richo to the wing, Vlastuin for Newman...

Definitely Vlastuin for Newman.

Richo to the wing? Nah. He only played there for one season and I like players being selected in the position they actually played in. Richo can only be chosen in one of three positions in my opinion; full forward, centre half forward (best spot) or bench.

If it's an all time best team I don't think Richo makes it. Post 1990 yes, but not all time.

 

[SunshineBoy]

the team of the century was just that century, the team of this century , I’d like to see that

 

[pins and needles]

I think Rance would be in for Michael Green.

D Martin for Des Rowe.

And Cotchin for Stewart based on body of work.

Those would be the most obvious ones imo.

Others would be interesting like Vlastuin v Merv Keane for example. Still a bit to play out for Lynch and Prestia as well.

Riewoldt is very stiff but maybe no place for him versus Titus, Hart and Richardson.

Green stays in, 4 flags and KB reckons it would be 5 if he was there in 72.

 

[Wallaby]

Depends on which era you are playing. Back in the 50s-80s every side played with 3 ruckmen, no interchange and only 2 subs.

 

[pins and needles]

Dick Harris 196 games 548 goals , 2 flags how he’ll does he miss out ,,,,then played 37g for willy 141 goals, he was a rover pressure forward

I agree, 7 in a winning GF too

 

[Monjike]

Definitely Vlastuin for Newman.

Richo to the wing? Nah. He only played there for one season and I like players being selected in the position they actually played in. Richo can only be chosen in one of three positions in my opinion; full forward, centre half forward (best spot) or bench.

If it's an all time best team I don't think Richo makes it. Post 1990 yes, but not all time.

Richo was picked in the team of the century, and you reckon he was better post 1990 but not all time? He nearly won the Brownlow on the wing.

 

[Hoos]

Richo was picked in the team of the century, and you reckon he was better post 1990 but not all time? He nearly won the Brownlow on the wing.

If it's all time then Hart and Riewoldt take the key forward posts. Titus and Harris would be in the pockets and Dusty most likely on a flank. Richo could be named at half forward I guess or on the bench. Yes he nearly won a Brownlow on a wing but I can't see him getting picked there on the strength of one great season.

 

[BF Tiger]

I don't know who goes out but Cotchin, Martin, Rance and Jack are the obvious ones who might force their way in.

And if he keeps on going the way he is then we have to find room for Shai Bolton

29

Shai Bolton

Age

25

Ht

176cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.3

3star

K

6.9

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

12.7

3star

K

9.2

4star

HB

3.5

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.7

4star

CL

1.8

4star

D

9.2

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

4.6

4star

M

2.0

3star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.0

1star

some time before the decade is finished.

 

[sandeano]

Back S. Turner S. Turner S. Turner
Half Back S. Turner S. Turner S. Turner
Centre S. Turner S. Turner S. Turner
Half Forward S. Turner S. Turner S. Turner
Forward S. Turner S. Turner S. Turner
Followers S. Turner S. Turner S. Turner
Interchange S. Turner S. Turner A Goodwin

 

[STRUGGLETOWN EST1885]

It's that age old raging debate trying to compare the past with the present. I would say a fair few of us would have agreed on our team of the century prior to 2017 and then the last 5 years have spoilt us all giving a conundrum of who comes in. My only non negotiables are Dusty, Cotch, Jack and Rancey. But who goes out ?

 

[Monjike]

If it's all time then Hart and Riewoldt take the key forward posts. Titus and Harris would be in the pockets and Dusty most likely on a flank. Richo could be named at half forward I guess or on the bench. Yes he nearly won a Brownlow on a wing but I can't see him getting picked there on the strength of one great season.

Thank you.

 

[Hoos]

Thank you.

 

[BF Tiger]

Just as an aside... I feel quite sad for Jack Titus. Played 294 games and kicked 970 goals. Fell half a season short of two widely celebrated milestones, and I think if they knew then what we do now about how these things are celebrated, particulary 1000 goals, the club probably would have given him the opportunity to achieve both. Half a chance he could have kicked goal number 1000 in game number 300.

After leaving Richmond he played in the VFA in 1945, kicking 119 goals.

 

[Wooden Robot]

Depends on which era you are playing. Back in the 50s-80s every side played with 3 ruckmen, no interchange and only 2 subs.

One ruckman has given way to the inclusion of one necessary space guarder in 2022.
Vale three ruckmen.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

The changes I would make are Knighter and Raines out for Dusty and Cotchin in. Would then look at maybe putting Barrot on the bench for one of them (which would cause my old man to disown me).

Didn't really agree with Knights being in there when it was announced to be honest. Good player in a very average generation who gave his all, but stands out like a sore thumb in terms of quality.

Raines was a brilliant centreman but the way he left and the fact he was instrumental in 80 but had been displaced by Rioli in 82 immediately puts him on the chopping block for mine.

Richo v Riewoldt and Thorp v Rance are others I'd consider pretty closely.

In Rance, Martin, Cotchin & Riewoldt.
Rance gets in easily.
Out Raines,Rowe, Thorpe and Keane.

It is unthinkable to even contemplate leaving Vic Thorp out of the greatest Richmond team ever. He retired a VFL games record holder above 260 games, was unrivalled in the competition in his position at Full Back for at least 10 seasons, and he is rightly one of only 8 Richmond immortals along with Bartlett, Dyer, Hafey, Bourke, Dean, Titus, and Hart.

Thorp from what I can make out was considered in the best handful of players in the competition for many years. I agree that Rance should be in the team, but not at Thorp’s expense.

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

It is unthinkable to even contemplate leaving Vic Thorp out of the greatest Richmond team ever. He retired a VFL games record holder above 260 games, was unrivalled in the competition in his position at Full Back for at least 10 seasons, and he is rightly one of only 8 Richmond legends along with Bartlett, Dyer, Hafey, Bourke, Dean, Titus, and Hart.

Thorp from what I can make out was considered in the best handful of players in the competition for many years. I agree that Rance should be in the team, but not at Thorp’s expense.

Rance is the greatest full back of all time according to many experts so he has Thorpe covered.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Rance is the greatest full back of all time according to many experts so he has Thorpe covered.

In my opinion Thorp is the greatest full back of all time, there has not been another full back ever that was clearly the best in the competition for over 10 seasons, which Thorp was. People considering Rance the best Full Back ever would almost to a person not have even thought about Thorp or Jack Regan, both of whom would have at least as strong claims to the title as any player we have seen in our lifetime. Thorp, like all players of his era suffers from the fact that when the best ever teams come to be selected, none of the selectors had ever seen them play.

According to AFL Team of the Century selectors the competition commenced from 1931 when Bunton and Dyer started playing. And only those two and Dick Reynolds who started playing in 1933 were worthy of selection from the first 50 years of the competition. But in the last 50 years of the century suddenly there are 18 players who were relatively so much better than the other players of their day that they warranted selection.

Anyway it is pointless quoting "according to many experts" about this because if they are largely ignoring such a huge chunk of the league’s history because it is too hard for them to work out how good the players of the early eras were, then they are clearly not experts, are they?

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

In my opinion Thorp is the greatest full back of all time, there has not been another full back ever that was clearly the best in the competition for over 10 seasons, which Thorp was. People considering Rance the best Full Back ever would almost to a person not have even thought about Thorp or Jack Regan, both of whom would have at least as strong claims to the title as any player we have seen in our lifetime. Thorp, like all players of his era suffers from the fact that when the best ever teams come to be selected, none of the selectors had ever seen them play.

According to AFL Team of the Century selectors the competition commenced from 1931 when Bunton and Dyer started playing. And only those two and Dick Reynolds who started playing in 1933 were worthy of selection from the first 50 years of the competition. But in the last 50 years of he century suddenly there are 18 players who were relatively so much better than the other players of their day that they warranted selection.

Anyway it is pointless quoting "according to many experts" about this because if they are largely ignoring such a huge chunk of the league’s history because it is too hard for them to work out how good the players of the early eras were, then they are clearly not experts, are they?

I think you're underating Rance and how he changed the game.
He saw where the ball was going before all other players and could therefore play on multiple players at once.
I don't know much about Thorpe but Rance should be picked at full back in any team.