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Opinion Top 10 players from 1987 to now?

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Gunnar Longshanks

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May 9, 2005
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Drummoyne Dirty Reds
1. Gary Ablett
2. Wayne Carey
3. Michael Voss
4. Tony Lockett
5. Nathan Buckley
6. James Hird
7. Jason Dunstall
8. Mark Ricciuto
9. Robert Harvey
10. Greg Williams

Really struggling with that last spot.

Initially I went with Judd, but Williams' longevity swayed me.

Who else?

Roos? Silvagni? Archer? Jakovich?
 
1 - Greg Williams
2 - Gary Ablett, Snr.
3 - Nathan Buckley
4 - Jason Dunstall
5 - Wayne Carey
6 - Tony Lockett
7 - James Hird
8 - Robert Harvey
9 - Michael Voss
10 - Paul Kelly

Honorable Mentions:

- Andrew Jarman, because I think he is massively underrated historically, and was better than his brother :D
- Chris McDermott, because he was up there with the best players in the country for a few years in the early '90s. He still holds the record for disposals in a season, and was All-Australian Captain in 1992, despite his team not making the finals.
- Garry Hocking, because he is historically very underrated IMO.
- Simon Black, because he will go down as one of the all-time greats of his era.
- Ben Cousins, because if Judd is getting mentioned, then he should be too.
- Matthew Lloyd, because he's been just such a prolific goalkicker.
- Stephen Kernahan, because he's one of the great leaders of all time, and definitely among the best forwards of this era. State of Origin star too.
- Mark Riccuito, because he was just so good for so long - All-Australian as a 19-year old in 1994.
- Shane Crawford, because he was also just so good for so long.
- Craig Bradley, beacause he just kept on going at such a high standard for so very long.
 

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Gunnar Longshanks said:
1. Gary Ablett
2. Wayne Carey
3. Michael Voss
4. Tony Lockett
5. Nathan Buckley
6. James Hird
7. Jason Dunstall
8. Mark Ricciuto
9. Robert Harvey
10. Chris Judd

Really struggling with that last spot.

Judd probably hasn't played enough games to be an automatic selection.

Who's more deserving?

Paul Roos? Or Silvagni? Or Archer? Or Jakovich?
Click to expand...

Where is Greg Williams? Way ahead of Harvey, Riccuito, Buckley (All Champions BTW) - from there you can argue about the rest. The guy was an absolute freak. For someone with slow leg speed he was incredibly creative. Should have won 3 Brownlows- the most natural football brain I have ever seen.
 
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outabounds said:
Where is Greg Williams? Way ahead of Harvey, Riccuito, Buckley (All Champions BTW) - from there you can argue about the rest. The guy was an absolute freak. For someone with slow leg speed he was incredibly creative. Should have won 3 Brownlows- the most natural football brain I have ever seen.
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I could probably slot him in at 10, but to say he was "way ahead of Harvey, Buckley and Ricciuto" is ridiculous.

He was slow, didn't penetrate by foot, and wasn't a goal-kicker. Very creative in traffic and is probably unsurpassed in the way he used handball to bring other players into the game, but I reckon his shortcomings count against him.
 
1. Wayne Carey
2. Robert Harvey
3. Gary Ablett Snr
4. Tony Lockett
5. Greg Williams
6. Jason Dunstall
7. Gary Ablett Jnr
8. James Hird
9. Michael Voss
=10. Shane Crawford, Nathan Buckley & Mark Riccuito
 
Gunnar Longshanks said:
Greg Williams the best player of the past 20-odd years?

Knock me down with a feather.
Click to expand...

Gunnar Longshanks said:
I could probably slot him in at 10, but to say he was "way ahead of Harvey, Buckley and Ricciuto" is ridiculous.

He was slow, didn't penetrate by foot, and wasn't a goal-kicker. Very creative in traffic and is probably unsurpassed in the way he used handball to bring other players into the game, but I reckon his shortcomings count against him.
Click to expand...

Maybe I rate him higher than some, but I really don't think some people realise or remember just how good Williams was in his prime.

Despite being the target of the opposition players' firepower (tagging and scragging) and fan's hate for much of his career, he averaged 28 possesions per game between 1986 and 1994 (couldn't find stats earlier), in an era where 30 possessions was still a great individual game, as teams usually only had around 300 possessions a game. He also revolutionised the use of the handball as an attacking weapon like nobody since Polly Farmer, showing vision, poise, balance and execution of skills by hand or foot that was elite in any era. His feet might have been slow, and he might not have had the freak factor of Ablett, or the high marking and goal kicking of Carey, and you'd probably be hard pressed to make a genuinely exciting highlights package of his work to rival those players. But what he lacked in flash, he made up for in spades in awesome effectiveness. His football brain and skills were among the best to have ever played the game, and he is the prototype for an effective inside ball winner in the last 20 years IMO.

Despite not being well-liked by the umpires (he was a bit of a difficult character), he still averaged better than a vote every two matches for his entire career, was a two time Brownlow Medalist (1986, 1994), and was unlucky IMO not to at least be a 4-time winner (1985, 1993), as well as being de-railed by suspension and injury in two other years when he was polling well (1989, 1990). He kicked goals at the same rate Chris Judd has throughout his career (a little less than a goal a game on average), still occasionally bobbing up with multiples.

All pretty good for a fat, slow 176cm rover I reckon :D
 

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Gary Ablett Snr
James Hird (yes he was better than buckley and voss ... debateable which of the three were better captains)
Tony Lockett
Wayne Carey
Nathan Buckley
Michael Voss
Stephen Silvagni
Jason Dunstall
Robert Harvey
Greg Williams
Mark Riuciotto

tempted to say Lloyd, but probably just outside the top 10

other close omissions ... Bradley, Hocking (of the buddha variety), Jackovich, Lynch, Salmon, Primus

edit*: actually 11 names up there
 
The Swert said:
I too believe Hird was a better 'player' than Buckley or Voss but got injured too often to be a top 5 candidate.
Click to expand...
he was injured a lot, and played 22 games across 3 seasons after he won the brownlow in 1996 ...

but he still played 253 games which is enough to earn qualification into the top 10
 

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In And Under Tiger said:
As someone who mentioned Archer in this thread you don't get the right to comment on other peoples selections.
Click to expand...
Everyone has every right to comment on other people's selections.

Who are you to suggest otherwise?

If you have a particular disregard for Glenn Archer, then that's your deal. He played 300+ games, won a Norm Smith, and is generally regarded as the most courageous payer of this era. It's not like I mentioned Laurie Belotti.
 
Yeah he was a courageous but there are probably more than 20 players running around today better than him. He never ever won a best and fairest and was only twice all australian. Surely does not warrant being one of the best players of the last 20 years.
 
In And Under Tiger said:
Yeah he was a courageous but there are probably more than 20 players running around today better than him. He never ever won a best and fairest and was only twice all australian. Surely does not warrant being one of the best players of the last 20 years.
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You're just repeating yourself without actually demonstrating anything.

300+ games, a Norm Smith, and widely regarded as the most courageous players of this era. He's absolutely in the mix.

I don't think he's top 10, but it's not some huge joke that he gets mentioned.
 
Gunnar Longshanks said:
You're just repeating yourself without actually demonstrating anything.

300+ games, a Norm Smith, and widely regarded as the most courageous players of this era. He's absolutely in the mix.

I don't think he's top 10, but it's not some huge joke that he gets mentioned.
Click to expand...

I see you do this in every thread. You make ridiculous statements and then when people tell you they are stupid you use you arguing techniques saying things like "you are repeating yourself".

Seriously mate if you mention Glenn Archer in threads like this you are only making a fool of yourself. I think even North supporters would agree that while he was a solid player for 15 years he was never a star.

Since when has being courageous been enough to make you a star player. Why don't we just include Jake King in the top 10.

As for being a Norm Smith medalist one game doesn't make you a great player. I seem to remember LRT playing a blinder of a grand final.

Please get back to me when you have a valid argument and some statistics to back up Archer being even close to the top 10 players of the last 20 years. Oh, and a made up award such as Shinboner of the century doesn't count.
 

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Opinion Top 10 players from 1987 to now?

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