Opinion Greatest Docker of All Time - Pav or Fyfe?

Has Fyfe surpassed Pav?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Still Too Early To Tell


Results are only viewable after voting.

Arkhitect

Bleeding Purple
Jun 11, 2013
576
2,424
AFL Club
Fremantle
MadMundy asked a great question in the Brownlow thread. Given Fyfe has now won 2x Brownlows, has he surpassed Pav as the greatest Docker of all time?

It's crazy to think he's still got quite a few more years left at his peak!
 
Apr 7, 2010
32,008
41,700
West
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Brewers
Pav's status and place in Freo lore isn't really something that can be quantified by personal achievements, stats or media tributes. It's not even a mark against Fyfey, Pav just did it all first. He is The Beatles to Fyfe's Rolling Stones

That's my purely emotional and irrational take on it
 

Arkhitect

Bleeding Purple
Jun 11, 2013
576
2,424
AFL Club
Fremantle
There's lots of parallels to draw from.

Pav was the glue that held the club together during those dark years of the early 2000's. Setting aside the fact that we currently have no CEO, no Head Coach, and it looks like we're going to lose 1 or 2 important structural players during the trade period, I'd argue that the club is in better shape now than it was during those days of Pav's era. Yet here's Fyfe, trying his guts out to lead us out of a slump of sorts that we've been in since 2016.

Some award & key stat comparisons between the two below.

Fyfe:
173 Games
174 Brownlow votes
2487 Contested possessions (avg. 14.38 per game)
2x Brownlow Medals
3x All-Australian
2x Doig Medals
1x AFLCA award
2x AFL MVP

Pav:
353 Games
126 Brownlow votes
700 Goals (avg. 1.98 per game)
6x All-Australian
6x Doig Medals
8x Fremantle leading goalkicker
3x Ross Glendinning Medal winner
 
Last edited:

Arkhitect

Bleeding Purple
Jun 11, 2013
576
2,424
AFL Club
Fremantle
A lot of it will come down to sentiment as well which is completely understandable. Older supporters will probably associate Pav with the number 1 tag until Fyfe can either bring home our first cup, or he wins another Brownlow or two.

Until tonight I would have had Pav as outright number 1 based on individual honours. It's a huge shame that he never won a Coleman during his time in the AFL, let alone a flag.
 

Arkhitect

Bleeding Purple
Jun 11, 2013
576
2,424
AFL Club
Fremantle
Pav's status and place in Freo lore isn't really something that can be quantified by personal achievements, stats or media tributes. It's not even a mark against Fyfey, Pav just did it all first. He is The Beatles to Fyfe's Rolling Stones

That's my purely emotional and irrational take on it
Makes sense to me. I can respect those views. :thumbsu:
 

tacopavlich

Premiership Player
Oct 19, 2010
3,271
2,480
perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
The legacy Pavlich left behind meant more than just his skills as a player. I think if you proposed this question to any neutral they would say Fyfe > Pavlich without a doubt but Pavlich gave hope and excitement to fans during long periods where there was almost none. He didn't overpower his opponents with brute strength like Brown, or run them down with athleticism like Reiwoldt, he was a pure footballer that beat his opponents just by being smarter and better. It's hard to quantify how great and amazing he was to watch.

Fyfe will go down as our best player but Pavlich will always mean as much or more to me with the memories I have as an angsty teenager at the footy screaming his name.
 

AAACockburn

Premiership Player
Mar 30, 2013
3,048
4,523
Inside Wayne Carey's pain relief Ziplock.
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
VFL
Hold my beer!

752041
 

Sully90

Premiership Player
Dec 24, 2011
3,297
7,237
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Arsenal
If Fyfe doesn't win achieve anything else for the rest of his career then I'd say he still finished about on par with the Great One, maybe a bit behind. If he leads us to a premiership then it's no contest.

On another note, imagine how grim things could be for us if Richmond didn't * things up twice and picked Fyfe and Pavlich over Griffiths and Fiora.
 
No. I said a few months ago when the question was asked that Pav is still a long way ahead of Fyfe and that remains the case. People seem to forget just how bloody good Pav was, and that for probably a decade he carried this damn club on his shoulders. Fyfe may end up with the personal accolades, but he is nowhere near the caliber of Pav, nor has he had to carry this club through the s**t times for anywhere near as long as Pav did. By the time he retires, he may be on Pav's level, but I doubt he will ever surpass him- even if he captains us to our first flag.

Maybe I am just sentimental because I grew up with Pav, but I can't see how anyone can make the case for Fyfe being better than Pav because he has won 2 Brownlows.
 

Ysaye

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 10, 2005
5,146
6,599
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Fremantle
This is the problem with society (particularly those huddled around the internet); they feel the need to quantify every stupid thing and compare/rank and identify fully any inequality of any kind and place in a freaking normal distribution curve. Then they will spend their time growing envious of one another and trying to make rules to make things "more equal" through equally stupid means (In the case of the AFL - drafting, salary caps etc.).

The only thing it shows is that we just don't see clearly our errors of perception and hold too close our flawed mathematical descriptions. Stop staring at the shadows upon the wall, face the fire, break thy chains and ascend to the world above.
 

Bring back Drum

Mundy4Hundy
Jul 8, 2019
3,380
10,231
AFL Club
Fremantle
This is the problem with society (particularly those huddled around the internet); they feel the need to quantify every stupid thing and compare/rank and identify fully any inequality of any kind and place in a freaking normal distribution curve. Then they will spend their time growing envious of one another and trying to make rules to make things "more equal" through equally stupid means (In the case of the AFL - drafting, salary caps etc.).

The only thing it shows is that we just don't see clearly our errors of perception and hold too close our flawed mathematical descriptions. Stop staring at the shadows upon the wall, face the fire, break thy chains and ascend to the world above.
So we’ll put you down for too early to tell then?
 
Back