Best player of the 21st century?

[FlowersByIrene]

You just can't take anything Richmond did seriously in that premiership window, and Dusty gets inflated because of it. Yes he won 3 Norm's which is impressive in isolation, but if you watched any of those games (and weren't a biased Richmond fan), you'd know that they're effectively gifted to him as soon as the Tiges won because the rest of Richmond's side are a bunch of VFL level scrappers who rabidly pressure, tap, push and infringe their way to victory. Of course Dusty gets the accolades because he was the only one with a touch of class and the only one out there who don't look they were trying to **** a doorknob. I don't respect Dusty because of that reason and he's not in the top 5 players this century.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Montagna last night said his Mt. Rushmore since 2000 is Ablett, Franklin, and Sir. Patrick F. DANGERFIELD.

That's only 3 players.

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

You just can't take anything Richmond did seriously in that premiership window, and Dusty gets inflated because of it. Yes he won 3 Norm's which is impressive in isolation, but if you watched any of those games (and weren't a biased Richmond fan), you'd know that they're effectively gifted to him as soon as the Tiges won because the rest of Richmond's side are a bunch of VFL level scrappers who rabidly pressure, tap, push and infringe their way to victory. Of course Dusty gets the accolades because he was the only one with a touch of class and the only one out there who don't look they were trying to **** a doorknob. I don't respect Dusty because of that reason and he's not in the top 5 players this century.

What

 

[Corkintheocean]

Martin didnt always turn up. Had a number of dud finals like everyone else despite playing nearly all of them in his prime unlike all the other gun players who played plenty out of their primes.

The period when he was arguably best player in the game was also a lot smaller then other guns.

GAJ not my cup of tea, so I'll never have him number 1.

 

[Fadge]

People should just name who their best player is and not downgrade anyone else is it that hard?

Try getting that through to THIS guy....

Something about Pendlebury has played 19 of the best 32 seasons between he and Dusty and Pendlebury despite being Collingwood's least successful of their last 3 captains was a great captain or something and this puts him ahead of Dusty. Oddly enough, he doesn't argue that Nick Daicos won't become the GOAT due to Patrick Dangerfield being the least successful of the last 3 Geelong skippers. Fadge will also inform this court that the AFL suddenly got really bad for 4 years while Dusty dominated, but recovered just in time for the 30 something highest rated player in 2025, Master Daicos, to be on track to be the GOAT.

 

[Daka]

What

See what I mean every thread there are people like that, they just can't name their best players of the 21st century & move on.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

You just can't take anything Richmond did seriously in that premiership window, and Dusty gets inflated because of it. Yes he won 3 Norm's which is impressive in isolation, but if you watched any of those games (and weren't a biased Richmond fan), you'd know that they're effectively gifted to him as soon as the Tiges won because the rest of Richmond's side are a bunch of VFL level scrappers who rabidly pressure, tap, push and infringe their way to victory. Of course Dusty gets the accolades because he was the only one with a touch of class and the only one out there who don't look they were trying to **** a doorknob. I don't respect Dusty because of that reason and he's not in the top 5 players this century.

You are right, we should take what Carlton were doing at the same time much more seriously than we take Richmond's three flags.

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

The hate Dusty gets stems from jealousy. The guys a legend.

 

[Daka]

I'll name by Top 5 players of the 21st century no bias.

Gary Ablett Jr
Lance Franklin
Dustin Martin
Patrick Dangerfield
Chris Judd

I want to put Bontempelli above Judd because I think he would have surpassed Judd by the time his career is over but as it stands for now that's my top 5.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Who would have guessed that a thread like this would have turned into a group of desperate Richmond supporting Martin fanbois craving relevance.

Seems it's time to pull out the data to show how far Pendlebury is ahead of Martin when I have more time later in the day...

Please do, we could all use a good laugh to lighten the mood. Oh and be sure to attach the one name list of players who weren't defenders to play 30+ finals without kicking 10 goals, that list is very exclusive.

And while you are at it give us the full Fadge explainer as to why Dusty is not in the top 15 players this century or the top 50 all-time. People will find that fascinating Fadge.

 

[Pistol Night]

What was Dusty doing at 22?

Year 3 maths

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Year 3 maths

Seemed to do his maths ok when he had to calculate how to get the ball through the goals in finals...what was it, a run of 19.2? From all sorts of angles with players hanging off him etc. Spatial genius at its finest.

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

 Kempo

What

 

[kid_a]

Whilst I think Gaz, and maybe a couple of other are ahead of dusty over all. There is no denying he's the greatest GF performer, maybe ever, and certainly in the AFL era.

That alone is a psycho achievement.

 

[Humblebob]

GAJ could have legitimately been the all time GOAT if he stayed at Geelong i feel, what Franklin did will likely never be seen again. They are 1 and 2, Judd and Martin next up.

Fyfe, Danger, Bont throw a blanket over at the moment.

 

[bobs head soup]

So many ways to measure it. Reckon we favour the spectacular over those who provide elite service week after week, year after year.

The coaches award provides a pretty good basis for comparison. It coincidentally started in 2000.

There are 9 players who have 700+ career votes. Reckon they are the best of the best for the 21st century:

1. G.Ablett 984
2. P.Dangerfield 924
3. S.Pendlebury 895
4. J.Selwood 803
5. M.Bontempelli 760
6. D.Martin 741
7. L.Neale 728
8. S.Mitchell 721
9. L.Franklin 705

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

Bont shlukd of had a brownlow in 2023 Neale was lucky imo.

 

[MagpieExcalibur]

Pendlebury Mr Consistent

 

[MagpieExcalibur]

GAJ probably equal to Pendles brilliant

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

Gordon Gatti

What about Arturo.

 

[Sirlemsip]

GAJ probably equal to Pendles brilliant

Pendles is a great player, but only the nuffiest of Pies supporters would put him above GAJ or Buddy.

 

[Mr Meow]

So many ways to measure it. Reckon we favour the spectacular over those who provide elite service week after week, year after year.

The coaches award provides a pretty good basis for comparison. It coincidentally started in 2000.

There are 9 players who have 700+ career votes. Reckon they are the best of the best for the 21st century:

1. G.Ablett 984
2. P.Dangerfield 924
3. S.Pendlebury 895
4. J.Selwood 803
5. M.Bontempelli 760
6. D.Martin 741
7. L.Neale 728
8. S.Mitchell 721
9. L.Franklin 705

Ablett has 1010. They seem to have added the 2004 and 2005 tallies now.

Judd has 689 recorded, but 2003 is not included. I know this because there are no votes for Simon Black in 2003. So Judd would have over 700. My best estimate is around 720, using Bartel 2004 as a guide (who in 2004 received about the same amount of Brownlow votes as Judd 2003, and he received 30 coaches votes that season).

Anyway I'd put him on the list.

 

[Ross]

I thought there were 4 heads on Mt. Rushmore?

Yeah but have you seen the size of Danger's head?

 

[Mr Meow]

So many ways to measure it. Reckon we favour the spectacular over those who provide elite service week after week, year after year.

The coaches award provides a pretty good basis for comparison. It coincidentally started in 2000.

There are 9 players who have 700+ career votes. Reckon they are the best of the best for the 21st century:

1. G.Ablett 984
2. P.Dangerfield 924
3. S.Pendlebury 895
4. J.Selwood 803
5. M.Bontempelli 760
6. D.Martin 741
7. L.Neale 728
8. S.Mitchell 721
9. L.Franklin 705

PS Dangerfield has 966.

Bontempelli 778.

Neale 782.

Pendlebury 914.

 

[Fadge]

For those astounded that someone could rate Pendlebury ahead of Martin, here are some raw facts for you to consider.

Let's start with who has performed best across a full season more regularly. Here is the list ranking the best individual seasons for the players:



So in summary, Pendlebury has 2 of the best 3 seasons, 3 of the best 5, and 12 of the best 20 seasons. Martin has 3 of the worst 4 seasons completed across the respective players' careers.

An remember, the above list considers finals performances.

On Finals performances, there is no doubt Martin produced one of the most amazing stretches of finals performances across a 4 year period. Let's now look at a ranking of the top performances in finals games across the respective players' careers, remembering Martin's best finals were played as a 26 to 29 year old (Pendlebury didn't play in a single final as a 26 to 29 year old):



People are sometimes amazed to learn that great players have great finals catalogues - that's what makes them great. If we look at the above list, we can see that despite Martin regularly being lauded as the best finals player of the 21st century, Pendlebury's catalogue isn't too bad either, and stacks up to be very competitive with Martin's catalogue (despite Martin playing 12 finals at the peak age of 26 to 29, compared to Pendlebury's 0 finals at the same peak age.

We can then consider AA's and Club Best and Fairests - and guess who has the upper hand on that front?

9 occasions

So Martin 9 x top 3 for a club that finished top 4 on four occasions; Pendlebury 13 x top 3 for a club that has finished top 4 on 9 occasions.

Pendlebury was playing elite footy well before Martin debuted, and remains as one of his club's most important players long after Martin last influenced games of football.

If people don't rate Pendlebury higher than Martin based on all the data above, what more does Pendlebury have to do before his career is done to overtake him? Or have you stopped counting, and Pendlebury can't do anything to overtake him, just because?!?