Amazing teams that could have been...

Hawk_francais

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With Bulldogs moving on Stringer and now Dahlhaus, Port Adelaide moving on players like Jake Neade, Jared Polec and possibly even Chad Wingard - it actually disappoints me a little that we don't get to see the fulfilled potential of Port 2014, Dogs 2016. Both flashes in the pan it seems. I also think sometimes about the Cats' potential for success in '12 '13 '14 when Gary was winning brownlows playing for the wrong club.

I'm sure that every fan has a 'what if' story from their club, I'm curious what it is..

In response to the first three comments:

1. Yes, I think Polec is a good player
2. Yes, it's true that the Dogs won a flag, but they never found that form again.
3. No, it's not off-season
 

Ron The Bear

Up yer arse, AFL
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Richmond 1980. Indeed The Herald's headline declared it "Tiger Time - Richmond set to dominate the 80's".

Michael Roach, leading goalkicker (112) @21
Mark Lee, season's dominant ruck @21
Dale Weightman, future HoF'er and already acknowledged by South coach Ian Stewart as "the most creative player in the game" @20
Geoff Raines, three-time b&f @24
stars David Cloke, Jim Jess & Robert Wiley @25
triple premiership wingman Bryan Wood @26
star veterans Bartlett, Bourke, Rowlings & Keane all going around next year
handy players Malthouse, Dunne, Strachan, Tempany, Landy all 27 & under

plus
Mark Jackson, century goalkicker in the Reserves @21
Peter Lane, century goalkicker in the U19's @19
Brian Taylor, just the one game @18
Maurice Rioli, teed up (arrived 1982)
Michael Aish, signed to a Form Four (never came)

The only downer was skipper Bruce Monteath returning to WA @25.

How did we screw it up?
 
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Carlton in 2000. Kouta, the best player in the competition, does his knee vs Essendon in Round 20 early on in front of the biggest crowd in H&A history for a Carlton v Essendon game. His knee clashed with Jason Johnson's during a ruck contest. The two teams were pretty much neck and neck until the final quarter where Essendon kicked away after Bradley did his hamstring, so Carlton were two down on the bench. The next week, the Bulldogs beat them. Carlton didn't resort to flooding tactics though and had were even stevens with them for most of the game. Kouta IMO would've made the difference at the end, they were the only team in the competition that had the class and ability to thwart an Essendon flag but it all came undone with injuries to some very important players Losing Kouta at full flight hurt - a lot - there wasn't a thing Essendon could've done to stop him at full flight.

I have no doubt we would have made Essendon s**t their pants in the GF with a fully fit team with Koutoufides, anything could've happened on that day. Just look at Geelong in 2008 as a great case example of how a seemingly invincible team can be beaten (at that point Geelong had a greater dominant year than Essendon's 2000 until the Hawks spoiled it) It would've been a hell of a lot more competitive than what Melbourne dished up. Memories of him single-handedly taking the PF away from them would've been on their minds I'm sure. I remember the year after in 2001 they deliberately tanked the Richmond game in Round 22 so we wouldn't finish top 4 and face them. In fact, The Old Dark Navy's made an epic thread about that as it happened... remember it from such a long time ago.
 
Richmond 1995 team. Had players like Richo, Knights, Broderick, Gale, Gasper and a heap of others. But, off field dramas and egos at board level saw Swooper Northey go to Brisbane and the Tigers bring in Robert Walls. The rest is history.


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I wonder if we didn’t sack Ratten and kept all those players post 2013 (except Grigg and Jacobs) if we would have pushed for a flag.
Shaun Grigg (premiership ruckman)

How do you like them apples
 

raskolnikov

Cancelled
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Carlton in 2000. Kouta, the best player in the competition, does his knee vs Essendon in Round 20 early on in front of the biggest crowd in H&A history for a Carlton v Essendon game. His knee clashed with Jason Johnson's during a ruck contest. The two teams were pretty much neck and neck until the final quarter where Essendon kicked away after Bradley did his hamstring, so Carlton were two down on the bench. The next week, the Bulldogs beat them. Carlton didn't resort to flooding tactics though and had were even stevens with them for most of the game. Kouta IMO would've made the difference at the end, they were the only team in the competition that had the class and ability to thwart an Essendon flag but it all came undone with injuries to some very important players Losing Kouta at full flight hurt - a lot - there wasn't a thing Essendon could've done to stop him at full flight.

I have no doubt we would have made Essendon s**t their pants in the GF with a fully fit team with Koutoufides, anything could've happened on that day. Just look at Geelong in 2008 as a great case example of how a seemingly invincible team can be beaten (at that point Geelong had a greater dominant year than Essendon's 2000 until the Hawks spoiled it) It would've been a hell of a lot more competitive than what Melbourne dished up. Memories of him single-handedly taking the PF away from them would've been on their minds I'm sure. I remember the year after in 2001 they deliberately tanked the Richmond game in Round 22 so we wouldn't finish top 4 and face them. In fact, The Old Dark Navy's made an epic thread about that as it happened... remember it from such a long time ago.

Yeah. Nah.
 
Carlton in 2000. Kouta, the best player in the competition, does his knee vs Essendon in Round 20 early on in front of the biggest crowd in H&A history for a Carlton v Essendon game. His knee clashed with Jason Johnson's during a ruck contest. The two teams were pretty much neck and neck until the final quarter where Essendon kicked away after Bradley did his hamstring, so Carlton were two down on the bench. The next week, the Bulldogs beat them. Carlton didn't resort to flooding tactics though and had were even stevens with them for most of the game. Kouta IMO would've made the difference at the end, they were the only team in the competition that had the class and ability to thwart an Essendon flag but it all came undone with injuries to some very important players Losing Kouta at full flight hurt - a lot - there wasn't a thing Essendon could've done to stop him at full flight.

I have no doubt we would have made Essendon s**t their pants in the GF with a fully fit team with Koutoufides, anything could've happened on that day. Just look at Geelong in 2008 as a great case example of how a seemingly invincible team can be beaten (at that point Geelong had a greater dominant year than Essendon's 2000 until the Hawks spoiled it) It would've been a hell of a lot more competitive than what Melbourne dished up. Memories of him single-handedly taking the PF away from them would've been on their minds I'm sure. I remember the year after in 2001 they deliberately tanked the Richmond game in Round 22 so we wouldn't finish top 4 and face them. In fact, The Old Dark Navy's made an epic thread about that as it happened... remember it from such a long time ago.

Irrelevant as your club was cheating by paying players illegally at the time.

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Aug 27, 2014
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there are no other teams worthy
Richmond 1980. Indeed The Herald's headline declared it "Tiger Time - Richmond set to dominate the 80's".

Michael Roach, leading goalkicker (112) @21
Mark Lee, season's dominant ruck @21
Dale Weightman, future HoF'er and already acknowledged by South coach Ian Stewart as "the most creative player in the game" @20
Geoff Raines, three-time b&f @24
stars David Cloke, Jim Jess & Robert Wiley @25
triple premiership wingman Bryan Wood @26
star veterans Bartlett, Bourke, Rowlings & Keane all going around next year
handy players Malthouse, Dunne, Strachan, Tempany, Landy all 27 & under

plus
Mark Jackson, century goalkicker in the Reserves @21
Peter Lane, century goalkicker in the U19's @19
Brian Taylor, just the one game @18
Maurice Rioli, teed up (arrived 1982)
Michael Aish, signed to a Form Four (never came)

The only downer was skipper Bruce Monteath returning to WA @25.

How did we screw it up?

Just not good enough. There were better teams around and could not keep up. Reckon if Jezza had not have left at end of 1979 your boys would not have even won it 1980. We missed winning 4 flags in a row because of the 1980 gap year. 1983 for mine was one of most open seasons of the 80's. Any of top five had enough weapons to win. North went out in straight sets after finishing on top of ladder but had a super list. Should have done more. We may have won from Elimination Final if not for important suspensions and key injuries. Fitzroy also could have easily done better that year. In the end Hawks and Essendon played off in the grand final.
 

Pykie

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A North Melbourne side merged side with Fitzroy.

You would of had a young Jonathan Brown in the same side as Wayne Carey.

Buckley honoring his pre-contract with North.

Buckley in the 90's North side would of been absolutely devastating, he might of won 2-3 Brownlows imo.

Instead he went to a bottom 3 side (Spoon in 1999) in his most dynamic years through the mid-late 90's.


McKernan doing his shoulder at the start of the 1997 prelim.
 

The Swert

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Always thought that the Saints side in 2004 looked great on paper.

Harvey, Hayes, Dal Santo, Montagna, Goddard, Ball, Thompson and Aussie Jones in the midfield.

Gehrig, Hamill, Kosi, Riewoldt, Hudghton, Baker, Milne and Guerra at either end.

Won 10 straight but couldn't match Port.
 
A North Melbourne side merged side with Fitzroy.

You would of had a young Jonathan Brown in the same side as Wayne Carey.

Buckley honoring his pre-contract with North.

Buckley in the 90's North side would of been absolutely devastating, he might of won 2-3 Brownlows imo.

Instead he went to a bottom 3 side (Spoon in 1999) in his most dynamic years through the mid-late 90's.


McKernan doing his shoulder at the start of the 1997 prelim.
Would Carey still have banged his best mates mrs?

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Fitzroy also could have easily done better that year. In the end Hawks and Essendon played off in the grand final.

1983 was one that got away from Fitzroy.

A dubious free kick against Michael Nettlefold for deliberate out of bounds resulted in a four point loss to eventual Premiers Hawthorn in the Qualifying Final turned into a straight sets exit via Essendon in the First Semi Final. Whereas had the Lions been winners in that nailbiter against Hawthorn they would have gone into a Second Semi Final against top placed North Melbourne. Fitzroy had thumped North by 45 points in Round 2, and then humiliated them by 150 points in Round 13 and they were all that stood in the way of a Fitzroy Grand Final that would have been its first since 1944.
 
Aug 27, 2014
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there are no other teams worthy
Richmond 1995 team.
Got flogged by Geelong in preliminary by 16 goals, whom in turn were only the second best team of that year being 4 wins between first and second on ladder. Carlton then flogged Cats and were 85 points up in grand final before easing up to let Cats kick last 4 goals of grand final as we celebrated. Tigers 1995 team were a mile off...
 
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