Who would you rate as the strongest premiership side in the AFL era?

[VineyToClark]

The talk in recent times about the standard of the game declining and recent premiers being labelled weak has got me thinking about the strongest premiers of the AFL era.

Which team would you rate as the absolute strongest and why?

 

[Jedi Tiger]

Hawthorn. 3-peat. Shut it down.

 

[Power Raid]

That one hit wonder 2000 side was the best I've seen. It's truly stunning they didn't win more flags but that year was better than any other performance.

The hawks were wonderful but achieved it in a unique window. Same said with the cats. Nevertheless, they did it which makes them pretty special.

I'd rank it

Dons
Lions
Hawks
Cats

 

[TonaldDrump]

Carlton 2087

 

[SwampCreature]

Hawthorn. 3-peat. Shut it down.

Generally considered the weakest multi-premier side of all time.

Compromised comp. As soon as the draft concessions went through we went back to single-year premiers.

 

[kane249]

Lions three peat better than the Hawks three peat for mine

End of the day it comes down to if you think the COLA concessions was more advantageous than the MCG home ground advantage the Hawks had

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Hawthorn. 3-peat. Shut it down.

Not fit to lick Brisbane 2001-04's dirty a-hole

 

[Lsta062]

Geelong in 2007-2011 were on some other stuff. I wasn’t following footy when Essendon’s 2000 era happened, but the Geelong side of 2007-2011 were the scariest side that I have seen in the AFL era.

Man, I miss having a standout strong side in the competition. Hasn’t really happened since St Kilda 2009 (even though they did not win the Premiership). I like seeing a side dominate the competition because it is enjoyable watching the skills of a strong side when dismantling others.

 

[Jedi Tiger]

Hawthorn. 3-peat. Shut it down.

Generally considered the weakest multi-premier side of all time.

Compromised comp. As soon as the draft concessions went through we went back to single-year premiers.

Not fit to lick Brisbane 2001-04's dirty a-hole

My shitful memory and, by extent, I have brought great shame to myself, my family name, and the greater footballing world. Vote changed. Go Lions.

 

[telsor]

Carlton 2087

They'll have closed down the football team by then to focus on their main business...pokies.

 

[Macpotata]

The '' Best '' one off season. Essendon. Phenomenal. In terms of PERFORMANCE.
The best of the lot in terms of success - Hawthorn. 3 straight flags in this day and age is unheard of. Crazy s**t. With all the sports science and data etc. To hold off everyone else 3 times and just falling short before that is ridiculously good.
Who do I think is the '' best '' team of all mentioned. From head to head talent, the season, their performance on Grand Final day?


Carlton 1995. Won 16 straight games, lost only two all season. Mauled us on the big stage and had champions the ilk of Kernahan, Bradley, Diesel, Ratten, Silvagni, Christou, Madden, Dean, Kouta, Hanna and many more. Kouta, Clape, Camporeale and Peace really emerged that year. SOS imo and in many others is the greatest Full Back ever to grace our game. Held '' GOD '' Goalless on Grand Final day. Greg Williams is an all time great and won two Brownlow medals, one the year before and claimed the Norm Smith snagging 5 majors. Earl Spalding was another handy forward. Pearce, Clape and Sticks were formidable that year.


******* crazy lineup. IMO, that 95 team is the strongest, best lineup of all time. Dons 2000 after them.

 

[M Malice]

Lions, won 3 on the trot against teams who were playing on their home ground.

 

[Nobu]

None of the teams listed would beat Richmond in 2017 if they brought that pressure again. Unplayable.

 

[Ocha905]

The '' Best '' one off season. Essendon. Phenomenal. In terms of PERFORMANCE.
The best of the lot in terms of success - Hawthorn. 3 straight flags in this day and age is unheard of. Crazy s**t. With all the sports science and data etc. To hold off everyone else 3 times and just falling short before that is ridiculously good.
Who do I think is the '' best '' team of all mentioned. From head to head talent, the season, their performance on Grand Final day?


Carlton 1995. Won 16 straight games, lost only two all season. Mauled us on the big stage and had champions the ilk of Kernahan, Bradley, Diesel, Ratten, Silvagni, Christou, Madden, Dean, Kouta, Hanna and many more. Kouta, Clape, Camporeale and Peace really emerged that year. SOS imo and in many others is the greatest Full Back ever to grace our game. Held '' GOD '' Goalless on Grand Final day. Greg Williams is an all time great and won two Brownlow medals, one the year before and claimed the Norm Smith snagging 5 majors. Earl Spalding was another handy forward. Pearce, Clape and Sticks were formidable that year.


******* crazy lineup. IMO, that 95 team is the strongest, best lineup of all time. Dons 2000 after them.

Always wondered why the Blues didn't kick on considering their dominance (wasn't a coherent human being at the time). They were smashed twice in finals in '96 by the Eagles and Bears and missed finals altogether in '97 and '98. Injuries? Player departures? Other teams just got better?

 

[Danger in Texas]

Fair bit of recency bias I think. Richmond 2017 with the 4th most votes, ahead of the 2000 Bombers? Dogs 2016 got votes? Really confusing

 

[SwampCreature]

Dogs 2016 got votes? Really confusing

Umm

Literally nobody has ever had a better finals series, ever

Sure, maybe not best if the best, but part of the argument

 

[Baird]

Not fit to lick Brisbane 2001-04's dirty a-hole

Charming

 

[Danger in Texas]

Umm

Literally nobody has ever had a better finals series, ever

Sure, maybe not best if the best, but part of the argument

By that argument, the Crows of 97 are up there, which they definitely aren’t on talent

Put it this way - would the voteless ‘10 Pies beat the Dogs? How about the 1 vote ‘95 Blues? IMO they both beat the ‘16 Dogs easily

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Geelong in 2007-2011 were on some other stuff. I wasn’t following footy when Essendon’s 2000 era happened, but the Geelong side of 2007-2011 were the scariest side that I have seen in the AFL era.

Man, I miss having a standout strong side in the competition. Hasn’t really happened since St Kilda 2009 (even though they did not win the Premiership). I like seeing a side dominate the competition because it is enjoyable watching the skills of a strong side when dismantling others.

Except Collingwood 2011 were more dominant than tha St Kilda side on basically every single measure?

Geelong 2011 the most impressive premier of the last ten years, because they got over the line in a competition with dominant Collingwood and Hawthorn teams. Rate Essendon 2000 slightly ahead because that is probably the most sublime season you’ll ever see. They made all other comers look second rate.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Umm

Literally nobody has ever had a better finals series, ever

Sure, maybe not best if the best, but part of the argument

Yeah Geelong 2007 belted two sides by over 100 points, but the Dogs scraping home in their final two finals must be better...

 

[TJASTA]

Pfff Brisbane only won three because they were weak years.

 

[Lsta062]

Except Collingwood 2011 were more dominant than tha St Kilda side on basically every single measure?

Geelong 2011 the most impressive premier of the last ten years, because they got over the line in a competition with dominant Collingwood and Hawthorn teams. Rate Essendon 2000 slightly ahead because that is probably the most sublime season you’ll ever see. They made all other comers look second rate.

Well in 2011 Collingwood were 1st on 20 wins, Geelong 2nd on 19 wins, Hawthorn 3rd on 18 wins and West Coast 4th on 17 wins. That is a strong top 4, but there were 3 wins between Collingwood and 4th-places West Coast whereas there were 5 wins between St Kilda at 1st place (20 wins) and 3rd-placed Western Bulldogs (15 wins). Geelong at 2nd were 2 wins behind them on 18 wins, but were almost 30% behind them whereas 2nd-placed Geelong were approximately 10% behind Collingwood in 2011.

While I do miss the days of a fierce top 4 like 2011 too, I was specifically talking about seasons where a team sets themselves apart from the rest of the competition like Carlton in 1995, Essendon in 2000, Geelong in 2007 and St Kilda in 2009 (even though they did not end up winning the Premiership). Collingwood in 2011 were a top side of course, but were not separated by much in terms of win-loss and percentage over the next best even though they had a better percentage than St Kilda In 2009.

 

[HTT]

By that argument, the Crows of 97 are up there, which they definitely aren’t on talent

Put it this way - would the voteless ‘10 Pies beat the Dogs? How about the 1 vote ‘95 Blues? IMO they both beat the ‘16 Dogs easily

That’s the wrong way of looking at it. If we are simply playing these sides with their tactics against each other, West Coast 18 would beat Richmond 17 in most of the ‘Grand Finals’, and WB 16 & Hawthorn 13-15 would round out the semi finalists. Tactics are always progressing quickly in the modern game - if you don’t progress, you will go backwards quickly.

But that’s unfair on teams of the past. Everything modern teams do is only possible due to the knowledge developed by past teams. Past teams couldn’t use this knowledge to develop their own tactics. By discussing a hypothetical match between two sides it encourages comparison between tactics, which is, clearly, unfair.
I think the best way to look at it is simple dominance over the competition - it’s how good you are relative to teams essentially on a level playing field to you. In this, I think it’s really down to 2. Essendon 00 and Geelong 07 - smashing teams like they did in finals is simply ludicrous.
Though the way the OP has set the poll adds a dynamic. It is far more difficult to back up year on year with a target on your back, and come out on top each time. Using that logic, it’s down to the Hawks and Lions 3 peats.

 

[SizeMatters]

Lions list had stars on every line. Absolutely packed midfield, arguably the best defensive six ever assembled and probably the weakest area was the forwardline... which consisted of Lynch, Brown, Bradshaw, and McRae all were very good footballers.

 

[Dadda Dave]

None of the teams listed would beat Richmond in 2017 if they brought that pressure again. Unplayable.