Mike Sheahan picks his best teams of the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's & 2000's

[orks]

No Modra is a travesty.

 

[JackFlash]

He wasn't charged with anything, doesn't mean he didn't do copious amount of blow and his actions contributed to the death of a star struck groupie.

If Shehan wants to take the moral high ground with Cousins that's fine, but apply it to Ablett, Carey, Stewart, Nicholls as well as you said, otherwise he just looks like a massive hypocrite.

Then do a personal profile on all of them and you will find a lot more than those mentioned...c'mon, Cousins has been given chance after chance after chance and BLEW it every time! Who knows what he was up too while playing? Both Cousins and Kerr have tainted the Eagles of 2006, there is no getting away from that.

 

[kane249]

Then do a personal profile on all of them and you will find a lot more than those mentioned...c'mon, Cousins has been given chance after chance after chance and BLEW it every time! Who knows what he was up too while playing? Both Cousins and Kerr have tainted the Eagles of 2006, there is no getting away from that.

So why only single out one player and blatantly turn a blind eye to everything else?

Like I said, if you want to take a moral high ground that's fine, but apply the same criteria to everyone otherwise you only end up looking like a fool.

 

[half_back_flank]

are you failing to be funny or do you know SFA?

Pisser.

Either you've tried to shoehorn Richo into a discussion of the 80's team selection, despite him being 15 years old when the decade ended. Otherwise you've included Richo's goals for his ENTIRE career, failing to comprehend that it's a team of the decade. Take your pick, either way you've ****ed up. Tell you what, you can be a real superstar and take both options.

 

[JackFlash]

So why only single out one player and blatantly turn a blind eye to everything else?

Like I said, if you want to take a moral high ground that's fine, but apply the same criteria to everyone otherwise you only end up looking like a fool.

The AFL is full of fools and many of them are on Sheahan's list....that's life. Perhaps we shouldn't celebrate our past greats at all just in case their personal lives don't match their football prowess? Cousins case is a higher profile due to the current 'drug' problem and the amount of coverage he has received in recent years. Dale Lewis let the cat out of the bag in 2002 and nobody wanted to believe him. Cousins made his own bed...

 

[Happy Mastenator]

The AFL is full of fools and many of them are on Sheahan's list....that's life. Perhaps we shouldn't celebrate our past greats at all just in case their personal lives don't match their football prowess? Cousins case is a higher profile due to the current 'drug' problem and the amount of coverage he has received in recent years. Dale Lewis let the cat out of the bag in 2002 and nobody wanted to believe him. Cousins made his own bed...

Last I checked Cousins wasn't involved in the death of a young girl. You shouldn't throw stones if you live in glass houses.

 

[kane249]

The AFL is full of fools and many of them are on Sheahan's list....that's life. Perhaps we shouldn't celebrate our past greats at all just in case their personal lives don't match their football prowess? Cousins case is a higher profile due to the current 'drug' problem and the amount of coverage he has received in recent years. Dale Lewis let the cat out of the bag in 2002 and nobody wanted to believe him. Cousins made his own bed...

As above, worry about your own clubs history dealing with players on drugs first before you worry about others. In particular do some research on Ezra Bray and how the Cats let him down very badly. More concerning was the fact he shared a house with team mates who went on to be premiership players.

 

[RolandF1]

No Modra is a travesty.

Dunstall over Modra surely?

 

[AFLOnline]

Milne?

 

[AFLOnline]

Pisser.

Either you've tried to shoehorn Richo into a discussion of the 80's team selection, despite him being 15 years old when the decade ended. Otherwise you've included Richo's goals for his ENTIRE career, failing to comprehend that it's a team of the decade. Take your pick, either way you've stuffed up. Tell you what, you can be a real superstar and take both options.

Rekt rofl

 

[jc12]

shehan rates crawford and b johnson way too high , richo should be in

 

[JackFlash]

As above, worry about your own clubs history dealing with players on drugs first before you worry about others. In particular do some research on Ezra Bray and how the Cats let him down very badly. More concerning was the fact he shared a house with team mates who went on to be premiership players.

Huh? What's that go to do with Sheahan's all time best of the decade list? Geelong's track record is pretty good overall and like ALL AFL clubs went through a learning process dealing with young indigenous players.. Ezra Bray was a sad story.
Geelong chief executive Brian Cook had been at the club for not quite a year when Bray arrived in late 1999. Cook remembers his talent and promise but allegedly did not argue when the Cats' football manager, Garry Davidson, recommended the club delist Bray because he believed his substance problems — including at the time petrol and ecstasy — already had caused too much damage. He was picked up by Carlton in the 2002 Rookie draft in the second round at selection number 27. He played in the 2002 preseason game against Richmond at Etihad and scored a goal, after playing 10 games for Carlton VFL side, he went 'walkabout' and was delisted during the 2002 season. He continued to fail to turn up to training. manager Liam Pickering said he found out too late that Bray was playing truant and eventually gave up when the footballer repeatedly failed to return his calls. "Had he been a regular member of the senior group, things might have been different," Pickering recalled in 2007. "He was a great kid and when I took him on I had no idea of what else was going on in his life. I must say clubs — every club — has done a full U-turn in how they manage these player issues now but even five years ago, it was not always the case." The criticism comes from the father who blames Geelong for his wayward son, when Bray was taken by Geelong with its second pick in the first national draft under the club's new coach Mark Thompson, Joel Corey was the Cats' first pick and after Bray came Paul Chapman (No. 31) and Cameron Ling (No. 38) — all three are premiership players. Brendon Gale sums it up "There's still a lot of blaming and a lot of finger-pointing going on here," he said. "There's a lot of, 'He did this and you should have done that'. But having said that, there comes a point where an individual has to take responsibility for his own actions." Ben Cousins was in the senior playing group, he was a high profile champion footballer with far more advantages than Ezra Bray. He stuffed up!

 

[De Iulio2Wiggins]

Richo 800 goals.

In the 1980s? Richo's pretty good, but he can't time travel.

 

[Monkey King]

That 90s team is ludicrously good.

They're all pretty impressive. The 70's team is freaking good too. That forward line and defense is just wow.

 

[kane249]

Huh? What's that go to do with Sheahan's all time best of the decade list? <Snip>

Ok let's keep this on topic then, explain to me again why Cousins is tainted and doesn't deserve a spot because of this when you have:

Ablett: Drug user, contributed to the death of another individual
Carey: Drug user, sexually assaulted a female, assaulted police officers, domestic abuse on his wife, cheated on his wife with a team mates wife and left the club in disgrace
Nicholls: Convicted felon and spent time in jail

Explain to me how using the Mike Morality guide, any of those careers are less tainted? Ablett for being responsible for a death and Carey in particular who has a litany of transgressions, made the cut as being good guys, but Cousins failed.

 

[Monkey King]

Having said that only 9 of his 1990's team are Victorians, the decade when for the first time, all the best players played in the one league. Pretty much dispels the troglodytes who still hold onto the VFL = AFL in standard arguments.

Such a boring argument. I think the 70's team has something like 6 non-Victorians too. Most of the best players were coming to the VFL from interstate.

 

[JackFlash]

Ok let's keep this on topic then, explain to me again why Cousins is tainted and doesn't deserve a spot because of this when you have:

Ablett: Drug user, contributed to the death of another individual
Carey: Drug user, sexually assaulted a female, assaulted police officers, domestic abuse on his wife, cheated on his wife with a team mates wife and left the club in disgrace
Nicholls: Convicted felon and spent time in jail

Explain to me how using the Mike Morality guide, any of those careers are less tainted? Ablett for being responsible for a death and Carey in particular who has a litany of transgressions, made the cut as being good guys, but Cousins failed.

Cousins problem is a drug related one and it's evident he was using while playing, (he confessed to beginning in 96/97), Malthouse claims he didn't know as coach? “But I don’t know if all the players knew that and if they did no one was talking.” So who did know and how much did the club know and hide it because he was such a good player? My guess is Sheahan would know a lot more about it than me, personally i would include Cousins on football ability. This is the problem these days, every single thing a player does is heavily scrutinsed, Cousins whole life has been laid out to bare, maybe we just don't do these lists anymore?

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Sheahan had Cousins in his top 50 players of all time when he published it in the book The Australian Game of Football in 2008, but he's somehow not in the team of the 2000's?

 

[Damon_3388]

Really, how did Barry Hall not make the 2000s team? Was a 161 mark/61 goal per year player (on average, over a 22 game season) from 2000-2009 (7.31 marks and 2.77 goals per game over 198 games during this period), and through his prime (2002-2006, 25-29 years of age), he was a 170 mark/67 goal per year player (7.71 marks and 3.03 goals per game over 116 games during this period), was probably the best key forward in the game from 2004-2006 (All-Australian in each of those years), and was also a Premiership Captain. Criminally underrated.

 

[Damon_3388]

I think Sheehan was right not to include Cousins in his 2000s team. Not because of drug use, but because he wasn't a better footballer from 2000-2009 than the other midfielders listed. I feel like Cousins has become supremely overrated since retirement.

 

[The Blue Baggers]

It's one persons opinion BUT

Not to sure how the Blues won 3 premierships in the 80s with only one player good enough to make the team

Wayne Johnston stiff ??

 

[Scotland]

I think Sheehan was right not to include Cousins in his 2000s team. Not because of drug use, but because he wasn't a better footballer from 2000-2009 than the other midfielders listed. I feel like Cousins has become supremely overrated since retirement.

Wut?

4 time All Australian
Brownlow Medalist
4 time B&F winner
Leigh Matthews Trophy winner

Cousins from 2000-2009 was a lot better than Crawford, and I'd have him over Brent Harvey too.

 

[fidstar]

I'm not sure why there are so many interchange for his pre 2000s teams.

 

[Damon_3388]

It's one persons opinion BUT

Not to sure how the Blues won 3 premierships in the 80s with only one player good enough to make the team

Wayne Johnston stiff ??

They did so with a lot of good players who didn't play the full decade in the VFL. The '80s were the height of Carlton's "buy a Premiership" era. Those 1981-1982 Premiership teams were totally different to the 1987 Premiership team, too, with just three common players between them - David Glascott, Ken Hunter, and Wayne Johnston.

Players who played at least 100 games for Carlton between 1980-1989:

- Tom Alvin
- Rod Ashman
- Jim Buckley
- Bruce Doull
- Des English
- David Glascott
- Wayne Harmes
- Ken Hunter
- Wayne Johnston
- Mark MacLure
- Alex Marcou
- Peter McConville
- Paul Meldrum
- Fraser Murphy

Not too much "Team of the '80s" material there.

 

[AG]

Really, how did Barry Hall not make the 2000s team? Was a 161 mark/61 goal per year player (on average, over a 22 game season) from 2000-2009 (7.31 marks and 2.77 goals per game over 198 games during this period), and through his prime (2002-2006, 25-29 years of age), he was a 170 mark/67 goal per year player (7.71 marks and 3.03 goals per game over 116 games during this period), was probably the best key forward in the game from 2004-2006 (All-Australian in each of those years), and was also a Premiership Captain. Criminally underrated.

Underrated but still borderline for the team. Tredrea, Riewoldt and Lloyd would be my starting key forwards for the 00's team.

Pav looks fine on the bench. So that leaves Brown, Hall, Richo and Fev if we pick another key forward on the bench.

Other than 2008, Richo played his best football in the 90's. Fev was more one dimensional than Brown and Hall, so I would have those two fighting it out.

I think Sheehan was right not to include Cousins in his 2000s team. Not because of drug use, but because he wasn't a better footballer from 2000-2009 than the other midfielders listed. I feel like Cousins has become supremely overrated since retirement.

Nah, he was a gun. Should be in the starting midfueld. A lot of footballers are drop kicks, so I never understand why we would use off field criteria for ranking players.