Fittest player ever?

[Bunk Moreland]

In terms of running, endurance.

Mark Blicavs?

 

[Likedagreen]

Craig Bradley
Near 500 games of senior footy that's endurance

 

[The Swert]

Depends on what measure.

Guys like Ricciuto and Gehrig could bench press jumbo jets.

I know Shane Crawford and Simon Black were elite 800m runners as juniors and regularly clocked 16+km per game.

Robert Harvey was clocked at 19.6km for a game in 2000.

Does Billy Hartung still hold the beep test record from draft camp?

 

[SSrixon]

Crawford, Robert Harvey and Shaun Hart were the first that came to mind during my time watching the game. Blicavs is a good nomination for current players.

 

[Hawker55]

Crawf was up there, as was Robert Harvey.

I remember a story late on in his career that it turned out Crawford had some issue with his lungs so he never had full aerobic capacity through his prime years.

Also that he'd routinely ride/run to and from training - upwards of 40km extra on top of the training itself.

 

[AFDogs]

There would be a lot of 18/19/20 year olds who don't get regular games that would be extremely fit.

I remember hearing Steele Sidebottom had elite running endurance and fitness for a long period of time.

Hunter and Macrae seem the fittest of the best 22 at the Dogs.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Crawf and Scully

 

[Captain_Bender]

Of all coaches to have ever coached the game Tom Hafey would be right up there probably would've been fitter than some players today near the end of his life too

 

[Milanista28]

Didn't Scully play 99% game time on the wing one day?

 

[donbooger]

Probably Blicavs but its no impressive feat. He would be far less fit now then when he was when training to be an olympian.

Our bodies can only take so much and Blicavs needed to bulk, that takes away from his endurance training and recovery. Its a balancing act. Most of the umpires could probably out last all the football players on a track, hip and shoulder one though and they are going down hard.

 

[gavaniacono]

What about Michael Tuck. 7 flags aside, he was renowned in his day for running all 4 quarters and I recall they measured him covering 15kms a game, when that feat was rare. Not sure how this was measured though. His longevity is well known.

There was a time when the Hawks boasted Scott, Matthews and Tuck as the regular onballers, those 3 had most of skill sets covered I would have thought, and wonder if they were one of the best ruck ruckrover rover combos ever.

 

[Scotland]

Crawf was up there, as was Robert Harvey.

I remember a story late on in his career that it turned out Crawford had some issue with his lungs so he never had full aerobic capacity through his prime years.

Also that he'd routinely ride/run to and from training - upwards of 40km extra on top of the training itself.

Is it true that he once played a night game and was so annoyed with his own performance/the result that he ran home?

 

[Scotland]

Guys like Gaff, Whitfield, Scully, Isaac Smith just run all day and cover heaps of k's at a pretty steady pace. They don't drop off and run less in the last quarter or run at a slower pace.

Someone like Nick Riewoldt or Matthew Richardson as big forwards would make repeat 100m leads up and down the ground and blow up key defenders.

Dangerfield, Yeo, Judd - these guys are explosive. They have core strength and speed off the mark and will make repeat efforts throughout the game whereas most normal people (who aren't quick to start with) are wrecked after a couple of sprint efforts.

 

[PAFC_1870]

Kane Cornes was easily our fittest.

Dominated every pre season. Hardly missed a game too.

 

[Dazb86]

Relton

 

[wadistance]

Tim Clarke. End discussion

Blitz was very good mind you, held his own in senior men’s national fields


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Shadow89]

Gotta be Blicavs right now:

Round 1: 97% TOG
Round 2: 95% TOG
Round 3: 96% TOG
Round 4: 99% TOG
Round 5: 93% TOG
Round 6: 89% TOG

(Round 6 an anomaly due to the fact we had the game won at half time, haha)

Seriously though, the guy is an absolute machine. Tom Scully would be second (considering current players)

 

[Engimal v3]

Sam Gibson could run all day. Shame he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Tim Clarke. End discussion

Blitz was very good mind you, held his own in senior men’s national fields


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tim Clarke was a freak. Probably should of pursued running instead and got into the Olympics. Gutsy player but just woeful skills.

 

[WWSD]

Adam Goodes

 

[KissKiss]

Was it Joel Wilkenson or something from Gold Coast who had some amazing strength and speed records? Like bench pressed huge numbers, really high sprint speeds and stuff

 

[Malifice]

Craig Bradley
Near 500 games of senior footy that's endurance

Decent cricketer too.

Still a machine as well.

 

[chunkylover53]

Buckley, Cousins.

Mark Bliclavs ran his 2km in 5:45 didn't he? That's very quick.

 

[TheFVK]

Gotta be Blicavs right now:

Round 1: 97% TOG
Round 2: 95% TOG
Round 3: 96% TOG
Round 4: 99% TOG
Round 5: 93% TOG
Round 6: 89% TOG

(Round 6 an anomaly due to the fact we had the game won at half time, haha)

Seriously though, the guy is an absolute machine. Tom Scully would be second (considering current players)

Out of all the stats to illustrate you pick that one? Those TOGs are standard for key backmen.

 

[Blind Turn]

Stanton and Ambrose for recent Essendon history.

Cousins must be up there. That’s if you rate the mental fitness of running until you spew.

I think Robert Harvey has all endurance bases covered though. He just didn’t stop.