1985 Phantom Draft

[footyfan1978]

This is the eleventh in a series of retrospective draft pools I've posted here starting with players turning 18 during the year 1975 and each subsequent year the next batch of 18 year olds. This is just a fun task to look back in the time that I been watching football in this league and wondering the quality of players that can be found retrospectively, as if drafts were done the same as they are now. Obviously in the past, drafts as we know them now, did not exist. The late 1970's and 80's before the league expanded progressively from 12 to 16 clubs there were clubs having under 19's and no real restriction on ages to play seniors and later the early drafts of league had different rules regarding birth date eligibility to be in some draft pools. This series is to look back at each batch of players from same birth year and wonder whom would be the top draft picks and how deep in quality each yearly draft pool could have been.

If you watched football in the league from late 80's and during the 90's feel free to add your own thoughts on players you felt would have been number 1 in such retro-drafts.
This particular one of players born in 1967 has some serious depth in key position quality. Country lads and larrikins such as Gary Lyon and Billy Brownless and Stephen Silvagni were quality key forwards in the Teal Cup for youngsters of their time. Craig Starcevich, Jamie Shanahan, Ron McKeown and Tony Campbell would turn out ok players in their time too as key defender players. SOS in time would turn himself into a champion key defender. Will the same happen for his son Jack in the future ?
Of the midfielders of this pool, Darren Bewick, Mick McGuane. Gilbert McAdam and Adrian Gleeson probably the ones to pick from early. Darren Jarman the stand out class high half forward type of his time would be a serious chance for pick one if not wanting the key position types. Would you go for a key position type first or these mids, Jarman or maybe medium size players Gavin Brown, Mark Bayes or Dean Laidley. An interesting bunch of players to pick from and getting to the last players of a generation before real drafts became the normal mode of recruited to clubs in the league.

Here is the retrospective draft pool of 18 year olds in year 1985:

1967 Born players (retrospective 1985 Draft)
Sholl, Craig
McGuane, Mick
Menegola, Todd
Condon, Anthony
Shanahan, Jamie
Ogg, David
Collins, Darren
Solomon, Jonathan
Athorn, Mark
Thompson, Robert
Bolzon, Robert
Schache, Laurence
Laffy, Michael
Taylor, Kain
Ryan, Des
Fell, Shane
Brown, Gavin
Livingstone, Tim
Tuddenham, Paul
Lyon, Garry
Lesiputty, Frank
Ingleton, Ben
Bewick, Darren
Sparks, Bradley
Brown, David
Campbell, Tony
Begovich, Tony
Pickering, Justin
Anderson, Dean
Cransberg, Peter
Brindley, Neil
Howlett, Andrew
Underwood, Andrew
Caprioli, Robert
ODonoghue, Mark
Buckley, Ben
Hamilton, Paul
Jackson, Ricky
Holmes, Dale
Ryan, Matthew
Silvagni, Stephen
Bartlett, Allan
Starcevich, Craig
Aitken, Ian
Noble, David
McKeown, Ron
Carlson, Darren
Dyson, Kevin
Craven, Danny
Gleeson, Adrian
Teal, Robert
Starbuck, Paul
Hose, Simon
Simpson, Matthew
Seow, Dannie
Hynes, David
McCarthy, John
McAdam, Gilbert
Verbeek, Simon
Laidley, Dean
Eishold, Simon
Crocker, Darren
Kerr, Robert
Dilena, Carl
Bayes, Mark
Bassett, Adrian
Hosking, Scott
Armstrong, Matt
Clark, Simon
Kennedy, Michael
Edgar, Stephen
Owen, Rod
Jarman, Darren
Brownless, Bill
Smith, Craig
Quirk, Peter
Lounder, Richard
Bailey, Dean
Fitzpatrick, Lynton
McKellar, Allan
McIntyre, Peter


Previous Retro-Draft Polls
1975 retro-draft
1976 retro-draft
1977 retro-draft
1978 retro-draft
1979 retro-draft
1980 retro-draft
1981 retro-draft
1982 retro-draft
1983 retro-draft
1984 retro-draft

 

[bradrowe#32]

1. Stephen Silvagni
2. Darren Jarman
3. Gavin Brown
4. Garry Lyon
5. Mick McGuane
6. Bill Brownless
7. Darren Bewick
8. Mark Bayes
9. Craig Starcevich
10. Gilbert McAdam
11. Dean Laidley
12. Craig Sholl
13. Adrian Gleeson
14. Anthony Condon
15. Ron McKeown
16. Darren Crocker
17. Rod Owen
18. Dean Anderson
19. Jamie Shanahan
20. Paul Hamilton

 

[Procrastinator35]

Jarman....Easily.

Silvagni voted full back of the century would have to be the biggest joke of the century.

All of Southby, Dench & Moore were far better players....All he did was hold-on, scrag, scratch & bite.

An old man named Peter Knights kicked 9 on him in his final season....Nuff said!

 

[topdog69]

Brad Hardie. Allen Daniel

 

[footyfan1978]

Silvagni
All of Southby, Dench & Moore were far better players....All he did was hold-on, scrag, scratch & bite.

An old man named Peter Knights kicked 9 on him in his final season....Nuff said!

Given Southby, Dench and Moore were not in this pool, you kind of gone off topic on your anti- SOS rant.
Having said that it is interesting you suggest a champion key position player only could hold, scrag and bite as a skill set. This is the same player that I saw take mark of year in 1988, third in Brownlow around 1990 when he played mainly centre half back, saw kick bags of goals such as 10 once and 8 twice in a few times he played most of game forward. Pretty interesting how a player could do that from scragging only. All this and won best on ground as goal keeper in a few international rules games too and was a key member for state of origin games for many years. Not bad for someone you are suggesting would bite players too. Interesting to look up this supposed game Knights kicked all his 9 goals on Silvagni. I had a look on when that might have been and the only thing I can find was a game in June 1985, a few days after a skinny young SOS just turned 18 and playing against a champion in his 257th game of his career. I think you will find in early games SOS never played in the one position so unlikely he played a full game on such a champ at that age when players now would still be playing under 18's. It seems like SOS took 8 marks and 16 disposals in his 4th match so I suspect he played a bit on the great Knights in that game but 8 marks suggest unlikely they were on each other much. I think we'll just put this down to a rant of a player you did not like. Would have been better to look for the merits of Darren Jarman. He was a talented player in his own right and I struggled to decide between Lyon, Silvagni and Jarman in this poll. All would have been great number one picks. Jarman was a great kick and like Lyon and SOS a competitive beast at state of origin games. Gavin Brown was a damn good player too from this batch of players born in 1967.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Given Southby, Dench and Moore were not in this pool, you kind of gone off topic on your anti- SOS rant.
Having said that it is interesting you suggest a champion key position player only could hold, scrag and bite as a skill set. This is the same player that I saw take mark of year in 1988, third in Brownlow around 1990 when he played mainly centre half back, saw kick bags of goals such as 10 once and 8 twice in a few times he played most of game forward. Pretty interesting how a player could do that from scragging only. All this and won best on ground as goal keeper in a few international rules games too and was a key member for state of origin games for many years. Not bad for someone you are suggesting would bite players too. Interesting to look up this supposed game Knights kicked all his 9 goals on Silvagni. I had a look on when that might have been and the only thing I can find was a game in June 1985, a few days after a skinny young SOS just turned 18 and playing against a champion in his 257th game of his career. I think you will find in early games SOS never played in the one position so unlikely he played a full game on such a champ at that age when players now would still be playing under 18's. It seems like SOS took 8 marks and 16 disposals in his 4th match so I suspect he played a bit on the great Knights in that game but 8 marks suggest unlikely they were on each other much. I think we'll just put this down to a rant of a player you did not like. Would have been better to look for the merits of Darren Jarman. He was a talented player in his own right and I struggled to decide between Lyon, Silvagni and Jarman in this poll. All would have been great number one picks. Jarman was a great kick and like Lyon and SOS a competitive beast at state of origin games. Gavin Brown was a damn good player too from this batch of players born in 1967.

That's a passionate defense there & I enjoyed it....But we'll agree to disagree.

Yes, it was 1985 when Knights kicked 9 on him....All 9.

My perspective of Silvagni is somewhat colored by the fact he always played on Dunstall when I saw him....Mostly his entire time during those games would be standing 2 feet in front of Dunstall face to face, with not one eye for the ball....All he would do is impede, hold down, pull Dunstall's jumper....Anything to stop him & most of the time it was fully illegal.

The latitude given him by umpires was oftentimes dumbfounding.

Ask Lockett/Dunstall/Ablett their opinions of him as a footballer....It aint flattering!

 

[Monkey King]

Ask Lockett/Dunstall/Ablett their opinions of him as a footballer....It aint flattering!

Interesting point. Dunstall named SOS in his best 5 footballers he's ever seen and Lockett named him the best FB he ever played against.

 

[footyfan1978]

we'll agree to disagree.
My perspective of Silvagni is somewhat colored

Ask Lockett/Dunstall/Ablett their opinions of him as a footballer....It aint flattering!

Don't have to ask.
I've heard quite a few of these players at various times talk of SOS and never heard anything other than their respect of how good a footballer he was.
Yeah, your perspective clearly coloured in green.
I'll agree with one thing and that is we'll agree to disagree.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Interesting point. Dunstall named SOS in his best 5 footballers he's ever seen and Lockett named him the best FB he ever played against.

I Seriously doubt that.

 

[Monkey King]

I Seriously doubt that.

I'm sure you do given how at odds with reality your statements about Silvagni are, but I must adjust the claim though; it was Dunstall's 5 best players of the AFL era. To put that in perspective, he rated SOS more highly as a footballer than James Hird for example. Still, I'd say that's rather flattering, wouldn't you?