Opinion Geelong's era of dominance over

[Former Decathlete]

I have heard similar.
I think The Western Bulldogs are about to have the most talented midfield group in VFL/AFL history. Bontempelli, Butters would be arguably the best combo we have seen since Judd & Cousins. You then throw in Liberatore, Richards, Sanders and a host of depth (depth players whom would be walk up starters at teams like Geelong or Essendon).
It will be a nightmare proposition for even teams like Brisbane and Gold Coast.

Agree Richards Butters Bont is decent but Libba won't play in 2027.

Rowell Anderson Petracca isn't shabby.

 

[Robroy22]

I was actually referring to the two awards voted by players and coaches:

Player's MVP:
Voss - 2
Bontempelli - 3

Coach's MVP:
Voss - 0
Bontempelli - 1

To be fair the Coach's award only started in 2003, so didn't cover all of Voss' career. But for longevity I'd be picking Bont every day.

And if we use these measures Nick Daicos has won a Players and a Coaches MVP in four seasons.....

And I'd be the first to admit that Nick's not even the best player in his own family YET.....A premium Voss would destroy today's Mids

 

[Pencil case]

The only "awards" that Bont would match Voss in would be media awards. Put the pill in between them and Voss is gonna get it. Bont's a smooth mover for sure (he's all class) but in finals and big games....those mongrels like Voss are gonna get blokes like Bont 9 times outta ten.

Bont would match up with Simon Black and Richards maybe with Aker....but Libba as hard as he'd try...he's not getting anywhere near those top 3-4 Lions.

Now adding Butters would even it up a bit more, but I still reckon the Lion's mids of that era would just find a way, especially with their big hard hitting rucks belting the living daylights out of Timmy English.

Comparing Voss to Bont is honestly insulting, Voss was one of the best of his time, Bont is one of the best ever.

 

[raspberry5]

Never replaced Hawkins.
Can't replace Dangerfield or Cameron.

They are in a position where they desperately need a player like Butters to nominate them to keep finishing finals. Doggies are the better choice though because they have the better youth.

 

[Partridge]

What irks footy fans more than anything these past 20 years is Geelong's continuing competitiveness and it gives opposition fans the sh*ts. They have always defied the odds, but this season feels different, we've already seen the Grand Finalists play and there really is only the Lions, Suns, Giants, Dogs and Swans in it. I can't see any other team realistically challenging them. Geelong certainly won't be...

It's important to recognise the big trades that Geelong did augmented already strong lists. It was never the case that we had a weak squad and one star changed everything (those days are long gone).

When Ottens arrived we'd just reached a Prelim final so we already had a promising and still relatively young list. Thankfully it all clicked in 2007. Dangerfield was traded after we missed the finals in 2015 and a few veterans had either gone or were finishing up (Corey finished in 2013, Johnson and Kelly in 2015, Johnson in 2016). But we still had a prime Hawkins and a prime Selwood. Then when Cameron was brought in Hawkins, Selwood, and now Dangerfield were still around. We had Hawkins and Selwood as the cornerstones of the team for a long, long time.

Now for the first time both are gone and the core quality veterans are Cameron, Dangerfield, and Stewart, and only Cameron is still producing consistently. So it's more of an unknown than it has been for a while. To me it isn't about the stars (or so called stars) and how they go, it's going to be the second tier - Atkins, Close, Miers, Mannagh - how they go, and how much Holmes and Smith can do in midfield. If they all perform well we'll be fine. If not, it might be interesting.

 

[PhatBoy]

It's important to recognise the big trades that Geelong did augmented already strong lists. It was never the case that we had a weak squad and one star changed everything (those days are long gone).

When Ottens arrived we'd just reached a Prelim final so we already had a promising and still relatively young list. Thankfully it all clicked in 2007. Dangerfield was traded after we missed the finals in 2015 and a few veterans had either gone or were finishing up (Corey finished in 2013, Johnson and Kelly in 2015, Johnson in 2016). But we still had a prime Hawkins and a prime Selwood. Then when Cameron was brought in Hawkins, Selwood, and now Dangerfield were still around. We had Hawkins and Selwood as the cornerstones of the team for a long, long time.

Now for the first time both are gone and the core quality veterans are Cameron, Dangerfield, and Stewart, and only Cameron is still producing consistently. So it's more of an unknown than it has been for a while. To me it isn't about the stars (or so called stars) and how they go, it's going to be the second tier - Atkins, Close, Miers, Mannagh - how they go, and how much Holmes and Smith can do in midfield. If they all perform well we'll be fine. If not, it might be interesting.

Yeah I don’t see one trade instantly - if we were to fall down the ladder this year - bringing us back up it. Neale would have to become a consistent 50 goal forward and the jury is out on whether that is possible. O’Sullivan would need to become a dependable lynchpin at the back which I do think is a likelihood but might be a while away. Dempsey needs to be a little bit more of a game breaker rather than a game finisher. There’s probably enough decent pieces there but a little bit more would have to go right than just ‘getting so and so in.’

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Yeah I don’t see one trade instantly - if we were to fall down the ladder this year - bringing us back up it. Neale would have to become a consistent 50 goal forward and the jury is out on whether that is possible. O’Sullivan would need to become a dependable lynchpin at the back which I do think is a likelihood but might be a while away. Dempsey needs to be a little bit more of a game breaker rather than a game finisher. There’s probably enough decent pieces there but a little bit more would have to go right than just ‘getting so and so in.’

Agree. If we were to fall this year, I'd see us more as a side with a couple of down years before potentially jumping up again.

We'd probably have to wait for the likes of Holmes, Smith, Neale, Humphries, Dempsey, Neale, Bruhn, SDK, O'Sullivan etc to all be in that 23-28 range, while simultaneously ensuring a few of the younger guys/draftees get 50 games under their belt.

It's the balancing act of trying to connect two eras. If the older era falls off, you might need a gap year (or three) before the younger era can take the reigns completely themselves.

It's all just guesswork at this point, but on nothing but one game, that's probably where I'd see it going if it was to occur.