Most talented hawk of all time (not best or most decorated pure talent)

[TazHawk15]

Huddo
Buddy
Cyril
Jarman

Good luck separating them.

 

[MadMaxx]

I knew Jarman was special, when he was 30 metes clear streaking down the flank at Waverley, and he did a blind turn to no one at full pace before delivering it on Dunstalls chest.

 

[peetoo]

I knew Jarman was special, when he was 30 metes clear streaking down the flank at Waverley, and he did a blind turn to no one at full pace before delivering it on Dunstalls chest.

If jars was doing that and dunstall was one on one, you were practically marking down the goal anyway

 

[BlueWaterHawk]

The streets will never forget

They also won't forget his screamer in the 2001 PF being denied. I'm still furious about it

A shame he only played a few seasons

Definitely a massive coulda-been. Physical talent can only take you so far.

 

[KermitJagger]

Not denying Jarman's ability at all by saying this, but for all the highlights and recorded games of his I've seen I don't think I saw him do anything by foot that Cyril didn't do with less time and space, and more congestion.

 

[MisterBean]

All those players on that list were incredibly talented offensively.
You could make the argument that any one of those players were equal to Cyril with football in hand and looking to score.

However no one in the history of football who has been as good as Cyril when it came to playmaking or scoring has come close to the level of skill Cyril regularly displayed when it came to the defensive side of the game.

Sometimes the defensive side of the game can be more about mindset for very talented players. The thing is, Cyril chose to become an all time great defensive threat in all the games he played.

We would have all excused him if he was a downhill skier and scored five goals a game.

Conversely, even if he never scored, his defensive work and assist work made him a top 10 player in premiership teams.

Cyril was a supremely talented player who had the most balanced, well-rounded game of any footballer I have ever witnessed.

There are only two attributes where others had a clear advantage: height and durability.

Lack of height was rarely a factor for Cyril, because he could leap like very few.

I wish he hadn't been injured so often during his prime. I was watching a Hawthorn game with a friend who didn't watch much Aussie Rules. Cyril tore from the half-back line to half-forward to setup a teammate. Even for Cyril, this was an incredibly fast run. My friend remarked how Cyril could be so much faster than all the players around him. Unfortunately Cyril tore his hamstring in that game. This was the only frustrating thing about watching Cyril from the mid-point of his career onwards. He would get injured just when he was about to reach a personal peak.

I sometimes wish he hadn't put so much dedication into applying defensive pressure. It might have meant he wasn't injured as much. I also realise that the intensity with which he applied defensive pressure is what elevated him above other highly talented players who may have been considered his equals.

Cyril's all-round application and display of talent in all facets of the game, is what sets him apart as not just Hawthorn's most talented footballer, but the most talented footballer to ever play the game for any club.

Not many great, talented, goal-scoring freaks of nature did this with such regularity, we just came to expect it:
A Cyril Chase

 

[KermitJagger]

All those players on that list were incredibly talented offensively.
You could make the argument that any one of those players were equal to Cyril with football in hand and looking to score.

However no one in the history of football who has been as good as Cyril when it came to playmaking or scoring has come close to the level of skill Cyril regularly displayed when it came to the defensive side of the game.

Sometimes the defensive side of the game can be more about mindset for very talented players. The thing is, Cyril chose to become an all time great defensive threat in all the games he played.

We would have all excused him if he was a downhill skier and scored five goals a game.

Conversely, even if he never scored, his defensive work and assist work made him a top 10 player in premiership teams.

Cyril was a supremely talented player who had the most balanced, well-rounded game of any footballer I have ever witnessed.

There are only two attributes where others had a clear advantage: height and durability.

Lack of height was rarely a factor for Cyril, because he could leap like very few.

I wish he hadn't been injured so often during his prime. I was watching a Hawthorn game with a friend who didn't watch much Aussie Rules. Cyril tore from the half-back line to half-forward to setup a teammate. Even for Cyril, this was an incredibly fast run. My friend remarked how Cyril could be so much faster than all the players around him. Unfortunately Cyril tore his hamstring in that game. This was the only frustrating thing about watching Cyril from the mid-point of his career onwards. He would get injured just when he was about to reach a personal peak.

I sometimes wish he hadn't put so much dedication into applying defensive pressure. It might have meant he wasn't injured as much. I also realise that the intensity with which he applied defensive pressure is what elevated him above other highly talented players who may have been considered his equals.

Cyril's all-round application and display of talent in all facets of the game, is what sets him apart as not just Hawthorn's most talented footballer, but the most talented footballer to ever play the game for any club.

Not many great, talented, goal-scoring freaks of nature did this with such regularity, we just came to expect it:
A Cyril Chase

Yes, this is pretty much how I saw this question.

Being an AFL footballer involves a number of skills, and I can think of players who were better than Cyril at certain things - but I can't think of a player who is better than Cyril was at everything.