Besides GAblett...

[Stan The Caddy]

I said, by the time he is finished. You look at all the greats, what were they like at 26? Had they played their 200th game by that stage?

If he continues on his current course, he will be in the conversation.

If we're going by that criteria, Joel Selwood would be ahead of him ATM in any case....

 

[TropperFarquhar]

If we're going by that criteria, Joel Selwood would be ahead of him ATM in any case....

No. 9/10 neutrals would have SP ahead.

 

[Taylor]

You have to remember that the longer time goes by since they were playing the more legendary these players become.

Gary Jnr will have gotten 40 touches and 3 goals a game.

Fyfe would have 15 clearances a match with eight hangers.

Franklin will kick five a game bombing freak goals from 75m out.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

No. 9/10 neutrals would have SP ahead.

Now you're just clearly trolling....

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Burgoyne is an interesting one - a superstar at 2 clubs - silky skills - still got his pace - and is clever - maybe not top 10 of all time - of all those current star Hawthorn players - him and Mitchell are the 2 most important by a mile

It will be interesting if and when Hawthorn pick/update next their greatest ever team - then i think Burgoyne should be in it - hes better than Buckenara in my opinion

 

[dickballsack]

My view.
Scarlett changed the way full backs now play the game ( out marking, playing metres in front, being part of teams link up out of defence, etc). Will rightly always be talked about for generations when comparing great backs.
Jiphoc stating judd was great in his early years then slowly went down hill. No, he was a level above the comp for the first half of his career (read that again, a level above all the other elite players in the afl). Yes he went downhill from there but only slightly and downhill from a level above anyone else. Won a Brownlow in 2010 and a B&f in 2011. Should always be regarded as one of the greats. Ditto Cox.
Pendleton will never be considered in discussions of best ever. Unbelievable player with ridiculous skills but to be considered best ever you need to have something unique or be a game changer.
Lastly, Buddy will be talked about as one of the greats IMO when he's done. Again a game changer of a player that captures people's imagination.

 

[Vdubs]

Can't believe the engine room of the 3- peaters not mentioned.
Mitchell is a freak of a player.
Unstoppable, untaggable, super effective.

 

[Taylor]

I think if Scott Pendlebury were average at the start of his career to now and then had two years playing at his current level he would get noticed more, both brownlow count and his placing on impact.

When you're consistently good playing an average game seems like a bad one.

 

[Masqualero]

Now you're just clearly trolling....

Selwood is good but Pendlebury is clearly better IMO.

 

[hairy biker]

Anyone playing today likely to be a top 10 of all time?

Most punters would include names like Matthews, Carey, Dunstall, GAblett x 2, Scarlett, Enright, Roo x 2, Harvey x 2, Judd, Goodes, Diesel, Hird, SOS, Voss...

Fyfe is a good chance, maybe Buddy for mine...

Anyone else?

I'm not having a go at you, but one of the problems with all-time great threads and the like is the relative 'short-termism' of posters.

The original AFL HOF had an intake including 12 Legends;
Barassi, H.Bunton snr, Cazaly, Coleman, Dyer, Polly Farmer, Leigh Mathews, Nicholls, Pratt, Reynolds, Skilton & Whitten.

I'm tipping the vast majority of people on here have not seen those guys play, with the most likely exception of Mathews.

In certain sports there may be measures to help align greatness (eg majors or gold medals won) but I'd suggest that doesn't really doesn't exist, to the same extent, in Aussie rules.
Even measures such as Brownlows & B&Fs don't necessarily paint a true picture.
For example Ted Whitten snr, never won a Brownlow and his 5 B&Fs rank him only 3rd in the list for Footscray/Bulldogs, but old-timers will tell you he sits comfortably in the Legends category.

Also I believe you can't judge a player until he retires.
To use an example from elsewhere; Tiger Woods seemed on track to beat Nicklaus' majors record, then his wife's 5 iron and his injury problems have him now ranked at 414 in the World.

If Ablett jnr for example goes onto win another Brownlow, then clearly his standing increases, but if he plays out his career hampered by injury then it drops.

So after all that late night musing, I guess my roundabout point is don't forget history and don't judge players too soon.

tl;dr; nice bottle of red wine.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Can't believe the engine room of the 3- peaters not mentioned.
Mitchell is a freak of a player.
Unstoppable, untaggable, super effective.

When Mitchell and Burgoyne retire - the Hawks will start playing the Cats again down at "Lonnie"

 

[Vdubs]

When Mitchell and Burgoyne retire - the Hawks will start playing the Cats again down at "Lonnie"

Your points before about Burgoyne are spot-on. Not sure why he is not more highly thought of, or is he? 4 x premiership players are rare, and he is still as effective as he was at Port.

 

[nicko74]

Scarlett wouldn't even in be in the top 5 full backs of all time.

Not sure if serious. Scarlett was a freak. As far as full backs go he is right up there

 

[Bulldog1954]

I think some people are seriously underestimating how good you need to be, to be top ten of all time.

 

[Severe]

Robert Murphy. Great player. Great haircut. Great daschund.

 

[PetrikDngerfild]

Rolli

 

[Suma Magic]

Fyfe has a chance if he keeps playing like the first half of this year.

That's it probably of the older (24+) players.

 

[SSSSSS]

Your points before about Burgoyne are spot-on. Not sure why he is not more highly thought of, or is he? 4 x premiership players are rare, and he is still as effective as he was at Port.

Was stiff not to win a Brownlow at Port IMO.

 

[hawkman]

Can't believe the engine room of the 3- peaters not mentioned.
Mitchell is a freak of a player.
Unstoppable, untaggable, super effective.

Mitchell would be close to being in the top 5 Hawks of all time. Top 5 at a club would only put you in the top 40-60 of all time.

To be in the top 10, the player would need to the greatest or possibly the 2nd best player the club has ever had

 

[H2F]

If we're talking top ten players of all time then I wouldn't rate Ablett that high myself.
Absolute gun but when I think about the top ten he's not there for me.
Fyfe is so good that he could make it. Buddy was on track until he had a few ordinary seasons at the Hawks.
Buddy could, Fyfe could, Ablett as good as he is doesn't have the brute force leadership to influence games like Fyfe and Buddy.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Buddy is seriously over rated, yes has the talent, yes he does some amazing things but put simply he does not produce often enough. You can't rate players historically on their best games only, you must rate them on their career. He stars once every 5 games at best.
He is being paid to be the absolute best player on the ground weekly, he does not get close to that performance.
Luv the guy, super talent but simply put he produces his best about once in 6 games. Thus us not someone who is in the top 100 players to have ever played the game.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

Scarlett wouldn't even in be in the top 5 full backs of all time.

He's the best full back that I've ever seen play by a mile. This dates back to the early 1990's. Anything before that, I can't base an opinion on.

I remember in the early 2000's we played a game against the Saints (my Father barracks for them) and before the siren even sounded he lined up on Spider Everitt. I remember thinking to myself that he was going to get killed that day just due to Everitt's size and strength. Boy was I surprised. He owned him.

From that day on I was a believer. Scarlett was something special, he really was. And this was before he began to build an attacking game....

 

[TwentyNine]

Top 10 of all time? No, don't think so. Judd retired this year and even still I don't know if he'd make it. A few of the young guys have the potential but potential is rarely fully realised... Fyfe and Hogan are two who maybe have the capacity to be absolutely ridiculously good. Most others I would have to say no, when you consider we're talking about more than 100 years of football here.

Buddy in the top 10 of all time is laughable unless he absolutely blitzkriegs what is left of his career. At this stage he would not even be in the top 10 kpfs of all time - not even close - let alone the top 10 in any position.

 

[Nutsngum]

The issue also is that top 10 is arbitrarily a useless restriction considering the completely different eras and closeness in ability.

I mean, who exactly are the 100% absolute locks that cant be argued with? Leigh Matthews, Gablett snr and Plugger might be the only I can think of that no one is going to disagree with at all. Others might be "just as good" but will cop some debate.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

My view.
Scarlett changed the way full backs now play the game ( out marking, playing metres in front, being part of teams link up out of defence, etc). Will rightly always be talked about for generations when comparing great backs.
Jiphoc stating judd was great in his early years then slowly went down hill. No, he was a level above the comp for the first half of his career (read that again, a level above all the other elite players in the afl). Yes he went downhill from there but only slightly and downhill from a level above anyone else. Won a Brownlow in 2010 and a B&f in 2011. Should always be regarded as one of the greats. Ditto Cox.
Pendleton will never be considered in discussions of best ever. Unbelievable player with ridiculous skills but to be considered best ever you need to have something unique or be a game changer.
Lastly, Buddy will be talked about as one of the greats IMO when he's done. Again a game changer of a player that captures people's imagination.

This is actually a great post. Honestly, it is.