Herald Sun top 25 players of the past 50 years

[Frank Bunn]

Mick Malthouse, Dermott Brereton, Mark Robinson, Jon Anderson, Glenn McFarlane, Jon Ralph, Scott Gullan and Sam Edmund — each selected their best 25 players over the past 50 years. The combined results were as follows.

1 LEIGH MATTHEWS
2 WAYNE CAREY
3 TONY LOCKETT
4 GARY ABLETT Sr
5 JASON DUNSTALL
6 GARY ABLETT Jr
7 PETER HUDSON
8 SIMON MADDEN
9 KEVIN BARTLETT
10 GREG WILLIAMS
11 CHRIS JUDD
12 MICHAEL VOSS
13 ROYCE HART
14 IAN STEWART
15 JAMES HIRD
16 LANCE FRANKLIN
17 STEPHEN SILVAGNI
18 BRUCE DOULL
19 GLEN JAKOVICH
20 ALEX JESAULENKO
21 MALCOLM BLIGHT
22 SAM MITCHELL
23 ADAM GOODES
24 MATTHEW SCARLETT
25 NATHAN BUCKLEY

Whilst there was a lot of consensus, Mick Malthouse's selections were out of kilter with the other selectors. For example, he was the only one who did not name Gary Ablett snr, Gary Ablett jnr or Kevin Bartlett. He was the only one to name Francis Bourke (7th on his list), Guy McKenna and Dane Swan.

Who would you have in your top 25?

 

[adammania9]

Greg Williams top 5 - absolute machine. Nathan Buckley is pretty underrated I think - I'd have him somewhere from 10-20.

 

[RUNVS]

Not a bad list. Still rate Goodes over Judd though, he is/was better than Sam Mitchell as well.

 

[wally funk]

Pretty reasonable list. Hard to argue any of their collective 25 shouldn't at least be thereabouts.

 

[RUNVS]

Pretty reasonable list. Hard to argue any of their collective 25 shouldn't at least be thereabouts.

Agreed. There is plenty to argue with over the order of players, but those 25 seem to be about right.

 

[Roadto2018]

Franklin underrated IMO, when they do one after he's done he'll be top 5, will kick over 1000 goals and is the best player of this generation a feather ahead Ablett Jnr,
Ricciuto Underrated as well would have him ahead of the likes of Sam Mitchell.

 

[A Swallow]

A team of 22 Goodes would smash either a team of 22 Judd's or a team of 22 Mitchell's.

What a ridiculous way to compare three players.

 

[A Swallow]

Franklin underrated IMO, when they do one after he's done he'll be top 5, will kick over 1000 goals and is the best player of this generation a feather ahead Ablett Jnr,
Ricciuto Underrated as well would have him ahead of the likes of Sam Mitchell.

Can't agree with Franklin being the best player of this generation ahead of Ablett Jnr. I think that might be just to do with Ablett missing most of the last two seasons. It's not a ridiculous claim by any stretch though.

 

[Frank Bunn]

Not a bad list. Still rate Goodes over Judd though, he is/was better than Sam Mitchell as well.

It's all about personal opinion which is why we spend time here.

I suppose 'top 25' is slightly arbitrary but if you take out Malthouse's votes, Goodes drops out of the 25 and Kernahan comes in.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Jakovich and Scarlett are the kind of feel-good selections that conveniently help circumvent criticisms which plague some of the most notable awards in the game. I know I'd take Peter Matera or Jimmy Bartel over either of them.

 

[Bokonon_]

I think Doull paid the price of being a defender and not a key position player. Top 5 for me.
Would have Ablett Jnr above his dad. At his best he dokinated a footy field in a way his dad didn't in my view. Mathews certainly did and maybe the nearest comparison.

 

[Kerleys Ghost]

Roo stiff.

Definitely superior to Buckley at least.

 

[two up]

Malthouse has lost the plot. If he's going to have Swan, Ablett Jr at least has to be there

 

[Altum Volantes]

Just from an Eagles stand point...Matera over Jakovich.

Good list, bit full forward heavy at the top for mine but the order beyond the first couple is pretty up for debate.

I'll be damned if Lockett was a better player than both Ablett and Dunstall though..

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Roo stiff.

Definitely superior to Buckley at least.

Please remove your hand from it.

 

[Plugger35]

Roo stiff.

Definitely superior to Buckley at least.

If by Roo you mean Nick Riewoldt then I agree.

 

[Kerleys Ghost]

Not to mention Jarman, Modra, Hart...

Now that I think about it, all 25 selections should've been Crows players.

 

[The 747]

I think the top 6 are pretty unanimous, order varies but looks right to me. The further down you go the more debatable it gets.

 

[Groucho]

Far too many from the last 25 years. Farmer, Cable,Knights,Dench all changed the way the game is played.

 

[Plugger35]

Far too many from the last 25 years. Farmer, Cable,Knights,Dench all changed the way the game is played.

If it was the past 60 years then Polly Farmer should definitely be included but his VFL career was from 1962-1967 so not enough of it to count for this list.

I never saw him play other than some old highlights but when you have a freeway named after you in Perth you must have been a bloody good player.

 

[RUNVS]

Just from an Eagles stand point...Matera over Jakovich.

Good list, bit full forward heavy at the top for mine but the order beyond the first couple is pretty up for debate.

I'll be damned if Lockett was a better player than both Ablett and Dunstall though..

Also lining them all up, all of the above 25 are 18 years old, I would probably take Lockett, maybe Ablett but I would not take Leigh Matthews first. That isn't saying he isn't the best one on the list, I don't know as I did not see him play, but key forwards are more valuable.

 

[nineteen eighty]

Robert Harvey would be in my top 25 ahead of Ricciuto and Buckley. Both Harvey and Ricciuto criminally underrated.

 

[Bloods]

Most of those blokes weren't alive 50 years ago. Last 30 years would be a more sensible discussion.

 

[Plugger35]

Lockett is definitely a better player than Dunstall, Lockett played the majority of his career in a struggling Saints side while Dunstall benefitted from playing in a very strong Hawks side for a lot of his career.

I'd probably pick Lockett ahead of Ablett Snr too but that is up for debate as they were both freakishly talented full forwards in their own way.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Surely Dermie wrote his own name down at 1.