Universal Love Name your top 3

[TheGrizz]

*Mods if there is a thread like this somewhere please feel free to do as you will*

I was having a conversation with a mate (via text of course - social distance everyone!) and it somehow got to a topic of our top 3 favourite players of all time.

Mine?

1. Dustin Fletcher (seeing i am an essendon fan and played fullback during all my junior footy, i naturally gravitated to him)

2. Scott Lucas (Im a left footer, say no more? Nah but seriously can you think of many better sights than this guy roosting a 58m set shot for goal?)

3. Michael Hurley (see reasons for Dusty)

It provided me with a little distraction whilst thinking about it with everything going on, so thought it could be fun to see what everyone elses was.

So list your three favourites of all time. No parameters, elite or role player, old or young, bomber or another teams player, whatever. But tell us why!

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Tough question, just 3...

Mine are pretty boring

Fletch - just for how he stayed relevant throughout such changes to the game.

Hird - just... how can a player have all the time in the world in the middle of a footy field? Only current player who somewhat resembles him is Pendlebury.

Jobe - an amazing leader in impossible circumstances. Had to lead through times that no football captain has ever faced.

 

[Darealrath]

1. Darren Bewick. Reckon every kick I attempted in primary school was a snap or from the pocket. Loved him.

2. Mark Harvey. Tough as nails, old school footy player that was a link to the 80s era that I was too young to experience but heard so much about. Seemed like a great bloke and acted that way when an awe struck 10 yo me met him and couldn't get a word out.

3. Joe Misiti. Smokin' Joe. Nothing too flashy but there was something about him that was so likeable and he played bloody well in some big games. Remember checking the stats every Sunday morning to see where in the top 10 he was for disposals.

Hird, Mercs, Fletch, Rioli, Hardwick, JJ, Lucas, Lloyd, Jobe v honourable mentions.

Ablett Senior too. Freeeaaak and the absolute most exciting to hear play when you just had the radio.

 

[Schnitzengruben]

1. Matthew Lloyd. Just loved how good he was in front of goal, strong mark etc. Also was lucky enough to meet him when I was a youngster at a Qantas club. He took time out of his day to get a pic with me and have a chat to my Dad. It meant a lot to a young me.

2. Dustin Fletcher. Not a month goes by where I don't watch a Dustin Torp compilation package on Youtube. Such a stalwart of our club and he had an awesome career.

3. David Zaharakis Devon Smith. I'm going way early on this, I know. But I'm in love. Dev just plays with so much farking grunt that I haven't seen in Red and Black for such a long time. He's always the first player rubbing someone's face into the dirt, piling onto a scrap or giving a cheeky elbow in a drive-by. I love it. I tune in to watch this campaigner play. That's not even mentioning his skills which are awesome, he's deadly in front of goal and overall criminally underrated for mine.

Some of my other favourites include Hird, Smokin' Joe, Joe Daniher, Michael Long and Jason Johnson.

 

[Squeaky]

I will do mine - good fun!
Mercuri & Misiti (I'm going to cheat & put them together) And why not - they used to wax the footy anyway.
Didn't realise it at the time but we were blessed to have a couple of jets start their careers together.
Mercs was silk and it was almost cheeky the way he glided across the ground & cut teams to shreds with his pin point disposal. What a player.
The other guy Misiti grew on me over the course of the year - churning out good games. The night he got my attention was when Sheedy threw him forward (FF I reckon) vs North Melbourne in that 1993 cracker on a Friday Night. In the third quarter he marked twice on the lead & cool as a cucumber went back & slotted em. Everyone else was missing!

Solomon - I will leave this comment with a quote from Gerard Healy after he went back into a pack & took the mark getting cleaned up in the process:
"Most players go to the medical room after a match; Solomon goes to the panel beaters"
Was a better kick than he got credit for too.

Salmon - this is going right back to early memories but in 1983 he kicked bags. Bags & bags of goals - what a tragedy that ended up to be.
His 1993 year was fantastic - even when he was frustrating missing some sitters late in the season.
But come finals his kicking boot was back on track & he played splendidly.

Extensive list of apologies:
Hird, Wanganeen, Fletcher, Hardwick, Baker, Vander, Boris, Madden, TD, Jobe, The Johnsons, Harvey, Thompson - watch the 93 prelim again, Gary O'Donnell was Mr Consistency, Adam McPhee in 2003/04, Lloyd, Lucas, Zerrett, Raz, Joe D, Stringer, Hurley & Hooker................... and on & on & on.

 

[biglaycock]

1. Simon Madden, simply the best ruckman I have seen. Mr dependable all around the ground, marked everything and kicked 500 odd goals.

2- Hird, the best Essendon player I’ve seen.

3- Bewick, doesn’t get anywhere near enough love when discussing the games best small forwards, awesome kick, goal sense unbelievable and a yappy little bugger too which tends to be a prerequisite for all good small forwards.

Apologies- Wanganeen, Fish, Hardwick, M Johnson

 

[rumply]

Harves, too much courage for his own good.

Long, when he was on, none better, loved those 1%ers.

Lloyd, teared up when he retired so must have loved him

 

[Runk]

Oh my god...

1) Jimmy

2) Timmy

3) Longy

So many....

 

[BomberTime]

Hird: Best player I have seen. Match winner and could do it all. Loved hearing the crowd when he was about to mark or near it.

Lloyd: What a gun, such a reliable mark and kick for goal.

Jobe: Love him, carried himself with such class and worked on his game so much. Star.

 

[Run and carry]

Kickett: Him and Anderson kicking torps from outside 50 throughout 1990 (and his bullet handpasses).

Watson : Just a powerhouse who rarely played a bad game.

Antrobus : More about the glimpses of what he could have been.

 

[eth-dog]

Mark Mercuri: So smooth. So classy. Just a star.

Matthew Lloyd: He kicked the goals

Orazio Fantasia: So similar to Mercs, please stay Raz.

 

[bombre-boy]

Hird - Best Player i have seen in an Essendon jumper.
Mercuri - Simply silk
Tim Watson - Was excellent from when he started as a teenager.

Apologies - Gavin Wanganeen, TD, Simon Madden, Darren Bewick and if he had have had a few more years Jake Stringer.

 

[Blind Turn]

1/ Simon Madden - My 1981 Scanlens footy card of him is possibly the most worn card you’ll ever see. I still have it at home somewhere. I’ll post it here if I find it.

2/ Tim Watson - The talismanic player in one of our greatest eras.

3/ Mercuri - Footy pr0n when at his best.

Not sure how I left Hirdy out but I think he’ll get enough recognition on here somehow.

 

[Pweter]

Simon Madden - As a kid I just worshipped him.

1/ Simon Madden - My 1981 Scanlens footy card of him is possibly the most worn card you’ll ever see. I still have it at home somewhere. I’ll post it here if I find it.

2/ Tim Watson - The talismanic player in one of our greatest eras.

3/ Mercuri - Footy pr0n when at his best.

Not sure how I left Hirdy out but I think he’ll get enough recognition on here somehow.

100% for numbers 1 and 2 though I couldn't nail down who to put as number 3.

If he were a career Don I would have Wanganeen there, he's very close as it stands. Then there's Hird, Mercuri, Long, Fletcher, Bewick, TD, Van Der Haar, Hooker plus others for reasons that differ from player to player.

 

[SydneyBomber]

Hird
Fletch
TD / Tim (can't split em)

 

[BrunoV]

Mercuri, Wanganeen and then I can't really split Lloyd, Hird and Salmon.

 

[JT_the_Man]

Fletcher
Lloyd
Jobe

 

[Sockeye]

1. Terry Daniher - Great leader - lead by example with courage, will to win and toughness. Premiership Captain.
2. Bomber Thompson - Great Leader - lead by example with courage, will to win and toughness. Premiership Captain.
3. James Hird - Great leader - lead by example with courage, will to win and ability. Premiership Captain.

Honourable mentions - Michael Long - sensational in 1993.
Tippa - amazing success story, great player to watch and gave us something to look forward to during the down years.

Favourite non Essendon player - Luke Hodge.

 

[thaibomber]

T.D, Simon Madden, Fletch... so many others on par though.... Blethyn, fraser, Moss, Hird, Johnson, Roger Merret, L.Baker, Vanders, bewick, ezard, foulds.... on and on.

 

[monty1104]

1. Steve Alessio. Ripper bloke. Used to host a trivia night at Windy Hill. Hilarious. Also came and sat and had a coffee with my folks and I when we went to eat at his restaurant.

2. Gavin Wanganeen. He was probably the reason I barrack first Essendon. Just such a great player. I wish he stuck around but I can’t blame him for leaving.

3. Dean Rioli. The silky keg on legs. Would tear the opposition apart with 15 touches. Just incredible some of the stuff he could do with the ball.

 

[ant555]

Simon Madden. Midway through 1975 I was allowed to get a duffel coat. At that stage Simon had played 15 odd games and started to get a regular game so I thought the number 27 was a good choice as he was an up and coming player. Turned out to be a really good choice indeed.

Jason Johnson. Loved the way he played and good bloke as well.

Dustin Fletcher. Hard not to like a bloke who could hit a player on the chest from 60 meters away.

 

[yaco55]

Simon Madden. Midway through 1975 I was allowed to get a duffel coat. At that stage Simon had played 15 odd games and started to get a regular game so I thought the number 27 was a good choice as he was an up and coming player. Turned out to be a really good choice indeed.

Jason Johnson. Loved the way he played and good bloke as well.

Dustin Fletcher. Hard not to like a bloke who could hit a player on the chest from 60 meters away.

1) Tim Watson - Could do everything that Hird could but was a better kick
2) S.Madden - Great ruck but gee he kicked 574 goals
3) J.Hird - Read T.Watson.

 

[DERO]

3 Josh Green
2 Peter Cransberg
1 Courtney Johns

 

[raskolnikov]

Sean Wellman
Gavin Wanganeen
Billy Duckworth

 

[Seb78]

1. James Hird - Absolute genius, what he lacked in skill he made up for in heart. Best reader of the play/game i've seen at Essendon. Could play anywhere and do just about anything

2. Dean Rioli - Talk about silk. Smooth moving Deano was one of my faves to watch. Always seemed to be going in slow motion, I don't ever remember him getting caught. Shame his body couldn't hold up. Super player!

3. Dustin Fletcher - Could play on talls and smalls. I'll never forget that chase down of Garlett!!! Just wow!
Super player who's longevity in the game alone is a testament to the bloke.

HM. M Lloyd, M Mercuri, J Misti, B Caracella S Madden, J Watson, T Watson, P Van Der Haar