Opinion Best team "on paper" of Geelong footballers YOU have seen play

[Hamingja]

I feel for the emergencies particularly in Team A. Not good enough to be in the best 22 and ineligible for Team B

Otherwise known as the Paul Reiffel when the selectors picked him as 12th man for the Australian side so he couldn't play against them in the tri series finals for Australia A.

 

[Drunkcat]

Shows the age of some posters this post

 

[Sttew]

Here’s my best team of maligned Geelong footballers:

B: Jed Bews, Darcy, McCrabb
HB Murdoch, Schulze, Thurlow
C: Parsons, Motlop, Tenace
HF: Bizzell, Mensch, Smedts
F: Varcoe, Kingsley, Stanley
R: Mark Blake, Cam Guthrie, Spriggs
I/C: GHS, Zach Guthrie, Byrnes, Henderson

 

[Sttew]

Shows the CLASS of some posters this post

EFA

 

[Spazz Cat]

Here’s my best team of maligned Geelong footballers:

B: Jed Bews, Darcy, McCrabb
HB Murdoch, Schulze, Thurlow
C: Parsons, Motlop, Tenace
HF: Bizzell, Mensch, Smedts
F: Varcoe, Kingsley, Stanley
R: Mark Blake, Cam Guthrie, Spriggs
I/C: GHS, Zach Guthrie, Byrnes, Henderson

That's a very good maligned team. My throat feels sore from booing just looking at it.
You forgot Clarke though. Has to be in there. Same with Billy. He was bagged so so much. Even when he was good actually.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Privileged to have seen the best of Polly and the champions of the 60's.
Makes it pleasantly tough. Leaving out any triple premiership immortal feels sacreligious.
I can seriously say, I loved every one of these players.
Hence,
Team A
FB: Ian Nankervis , Ben Graham, Matt Scarlett
HB: Denis Marshall, Peter Walker, Mark Bos
C: Mike Turner , Greg Williams, Jimmy Bartel
HF: Steve Johnson, Cam Mooney, John Sharrock
FF: Gary Ablett jnr , Doug Wade, Paul Chapman
R: Polly Farmer, Garry Hocking, Billy Goggin
I/C John Newman, Cameron Ling, Neville Bruns, Bruce Nankervis

Emer: Peter Featherby, Paul Lynch, Ken Newland, Mark Bairstow



Team B
FB: Tom Stewart, Gary Malarkey, Tom Harley
HB: Andre Mackie, Harry Taylor, Corey Enright
C: Joel Corey, Paul Couch, Peter Riccardi
HF: David Clarke, Barry Stoneham, Bruce Lindner
FF: Billy Brownless, Gary Ablett snr, Andrew Bews
R: Brad Ottens, Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood
I/C: Darren Milburn, David Wojcinski, Tom Hawkins, James Kelly

Emerg: Bill Ryan, Tony Polinelli, Ronnie Burns, Mark Blicavs

Which team wins?

I'd go team A Dubya. Easy. Unbeatable and very well balanced midfield with 2 brilliant ruckman feeding it to them.
No need to look at the defense as the ball would never get down there.
Williams would get 40 handballs alone, firing them out at lightning speed to Turner running on the outside or to Buddha delivering kicks forward with precision.
And then there's Goggin too!
Jnr, Bartel & Johnson could alternate forward.
& you threw a 2 way runner in Ling in there too just in case.
Unbeatable.

 

[Vdubs]

I'd go team A Dubya. Easy. Unbeatable and very well balanced midfield with 2 brilliant ruckman feeding it to them.
No need to look at the defense as the ball would never get down there.
Williams would get 40 handballs alone, firing them out at lightning speed to Turner running on the outside or to Buddha delivering kicks forward with precision.
And then there's Goggin too!
Jnr, Bartel & Johnson could alternate forward.
& you threw a 2 way runner in Ling in there too just in case.
Unbeatable.

Team B with Danger, Senior, Lindner, Billy, Ottens, Couchy, Joel- pretty formidable too.
Just shows how blessed we have been.
And as Fred said, where does Hinkley belong?

 

[Spazz Cat]

Team B with Danger, Senior, Lindner, Billy, Ottens, Couchy, Joel- pretty formidable too.
Just shows how blessed we have been.
And as Fred said, where does Hinkley belong?

Yeah I loved Kenny. Was my favourite player for a while as a kid.
And bloody oath they are all unbelievable players.
I just like the balance of the A mids. Great dynamic of grunt, ball winning ability, speed and kicking skill.
Not to mention the rucks!

 

[Sttew]

That's a very good maligned team. My throat feels sore from booing just looking at it.
You forgot Clarke though. Has to be in there. Same with Billy. He was bagged so so much. Even when he was good actually.

Brownless? Until the QF win against the Bulldogs.

 

[Vdubs]

Yeah I loved Kenny. Was my favourite player for a while as a kid.
And bloody oath they are all unbelievable players.
I just like the balance of the A mids. Great dynamic of grunt, ball winning ability, speed and kicking skill.
Not to mention the rucks!

Couch, Riccardi, Clarke- some of the best MF kicks we've had.
Otto- 3x Premiership ruck.
Pity we could never see these teams lineup .
But any team with Danger + Ablett snr + Selwood + Brownless + Clarke + Bewsy is going to score very heavily.
Then again, GAJ, Chappy, SJ, Sharrock, Moons, Wadey, and don't forget, Sammy Newman was also a formidable CHF for a while there, as was Benny Graham.

 

[Sttew]

Privileged to have seen the best of Polly and the champions of the 60's.
Makes it pleasantly tough. Leaving out any triple premiership immortal feels sacreligious.
I can seriously say, I loved every one of these players.
Hence,
Team A
FB: Ian Nankervis , Ben Graham, Matt Scarlett
HB: Denis Marshall, Peter Walker, Mark Bos
C: Mike Turner , Greg Williams, Jimmy Bartel
HF: Steve Johnson, Cam Mooney, John Sharrock
FF: Gary Ablett jnr , Doug Wade, Paul Chapman
R: Polly Farmer, Garry Hocking, Billy Goggin
I/C John Newman, Cameron Ling, Neville Bruns, Bruce Nankervis

Emer: Peter Featherby, Paul Lynch, Ken Newland, Mark Bairstow



Team B
FB: Tom Stewart, Gary Malarkey, Tom Harley
HB: Andre Mackie, Harry Taylor, Corey Enright
C: Joel Corey, Paul Couch, Peter Riccardi
HF: David Clarke, Barry Stoneham, Bruce Lindner
FF: Billy Brownless, Gary Ablett snr, Andrew Bews
R: Brad Ottens, Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood
I/C: Darren Milburn, David Wojcinski, Tom Hawkins, James Kelly

Emerg: Bill Ryan, Tony Polinelli, Ronnie Burns, Mark Blicavs

Which team wins?

And the $64,000 question. Who’d coach Teams A and B? Bomber would be a shoe in for one team, but the pickings of coaches we have seen is slim for The other team. Bobby Davis, Malcolm Blight, Chris Scott, Peter Pianto??

 

[Spazz Cat]

Brownless? Until the QF win against the Bulldogs.

Yeah. Even during that game he was getting bagged. Even after he managed to turn it on in the first qr. Everyone was stunned for a while. He even took a mark without even meaning it.
But from the 2nd till the very end of the game he was copping it.

 

[Vdubs]

And the $64,000 question. Who’d coach Teams A and B? Bomber would be a shoe in for one team, but the pickings of coaches we have seen is slim for The other team. Bobby Davis, Malcolm Blight, Chris Scott, Peter Pianto??

A - Bobby Davis with CS assistant
B - Bomber with Blighty assistant

 

[Spazz Cat]

Couch, Riccardi, Clarke- some of the best MF kicks we've had.
Otto- 3x Premiership ruck.
Pity we could never see these teams lineup .
But any team with Danger + Ablett snr + Selwood + Brownless + Clarke + Bewsy is going to score very heavily.
Then again, GAJ, Chappy, SJ, Sharrock, Moons, Wadey, and don't forget, Sammy Newman was also a formidable CHF for a while there, as was Benny Graham.

Yeah it's hard to argue with that. Gotta say a thing ive really liked about this thread is most putting Gaz snr at half forward.
Good to see that people remember him when was at his very best.

 

[Vdubs]

Yeah it's hard to argue with that. Gotta say a thing ive really liked about this thread is most putting Gaz snr at half forward.
Good to see that people remember him when was at his very best.

He kicked 120 goals + in 3 consecutive seasons, and that highlights package of his 93 season will never be beaten. He averaged 7 goals a game that year.

 

[Spazz Cat]

He kicked 120 goals + in 3 consecutive seasons, and that highlights package of his 93 season will never be beaten. He averaged 7 goals a game that year.

I know. Thats how good he was. Greatest player you'd ever see from 2/3's into his career. But probably even greater when he was younger IMO. That's how good he was!
Gotta say too our midfield then was probably the most attacking and prolific in history. And nearly everything went through him.

 

[steady2]

Mods, not sure if this has been done before or in recent years? I have penned a hypothetical best Geelong team based on footballers I have actually seen over the years. I was fortunate enough as a kid to see Polly Farmer play but have no memory of him on the field so could not include him.

Only criteria is that (a) the individuals must have played for Geelong and (b) you must have seen them (Reg Hickey is therefore out for 99.9% of posters)

Here's my team:

B: Ian Nankervis - Matthew Scarlett - Gary Malarkey
HB: Corey Enright - Jack Hawkins - Mark Bos
C: Mick Turner - Greg Williams - Gary Hocking
HF: Gary Ablett Snr - John Newman - Steve Johnson
F: Paul Chapman - Doug Wade - Gary Ablett Jnr
R: Brad Ottens - Patrick Dangerfield - Joel Selwood
I/C: Jimmy Bartel, Paul Couch, David Clarke, Harry Taylor

Emerg: Cameron Ling, Peter Riccardi, Joel Corey

Unlucky: Tom Stewart (probably needs a few more seasons); Tom Hawkins; Peter Featherby (prolific ball winner but has stiff competition)

Greg Williams is contentious. A strong argument could be mounted that Paul Couch be selected in the middle with Williams on the bench. My view is that in his two seasons at Geelong Williams was a dynamo in the middle. He dominated both seasons and left Geelong as reigning B&F.

That is a damn good team. We are probably the same generation. I honestly can't see much controversy. Although I would pick Tom Hawkins in front of Sam and I'd probably go for Taylor in front of Jumping Jack.

 

[Vdubs]

What a great interview.



He is a lot more articulate and thoughtful than many would believe.
The presenter was the lovely Jill Singer who lived down the corridor from me at a Monash Uni residential college.

 

[Spazz Cat]

What a great interview.

He had to go into Channel 7 for that Today Tonight thing. All the crew introduced themselves and told him their job etc.
Jill Singer introduced herself and he went Hi Jill, so what do you do here?
He didn't watch TV.

 

[Tony Barber]

Struth. Toughest bit is remembering the players.



FB: Ian Nankervis , Matt Scarlett, S Hocking
HB: corey Enright, Harry Taylor, Joel Corey
C: Mike Turner , Jimmy Bartel, Greg Williams
HF: Steve Johnson, John Newman, Terry Bright
FF: Gary Ablett jnr , Gaz Snr, Paul Chapman
R: Brad Ottens, Garry Hocking, P Dangerfield
I/C Joel Selwood, Cameron Ling, Paul Couch, Gary Malarkey

 

[Vdubs]

Here’s my best team of maligned Geelong footballers:

B: Jed Bews, Darcy, McCrabb
HB Murdoch, Schulze, Thurlow
C: Parsons, Motlop, Tenace
HF: Bizzell, Mensch, Smedts
F: Varcoe, Kingsley, Stanley
R: Mark Blake, Cam Guthrie, Spriggs
I/C: GHS, Zach Guthrie, Byrnes, Henderson

Who is your captain? And coach?
May I suggest
-Guthrie?
-Ayres?

 

[FredLeDeux]

A - Bobby Davis with CS assistant
B - Bomber with Blighty assistant

Of (relatively) modern coaches, Pianto has the best winning % record after Scott; but he also had the great list of the mid to late 60s, even if it was coming to an end.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Who is your captain? And coach?
May I suggest
-Guthrie?
-Ayres?

Peake
or Colbert

though John Yeates used to get a bit of rubbishing back in the day

And, of course, there's daylight 2nd for the most maligned coach after Scott

 

[Vdubs]

Peake
or Colbert

though John Yeates used to get a bit of rubbishing back in the day

And, of course, there's daylight 2nd for the most maligned coach after Scott

Was Colbert maligned while he played for us?
Was referring to Sttew's team .
You think CS is more maligned than Ayres?
He probably is if that thread of his is any indication.

 

[Catsmaninamerica]

B: Makarkey, Scarlett, I Nankervis
HB: Enright, Taylor, Bos
C: M Turner, Williams, D Clarke Snr
HF: Bartel, Stoneham, Ablett Snr
FF: Brownless, T Hawkins, S Johnson
R: Ottens, Ablett JNR, G Hocking
IB: Couch, J Selwood, Dangerfield,
Chapman,