Old time greats , still great today ?

Turbocat

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Little discussion at the water cooler today. The point of conjecture was -
old time players , champions even , where would they fit in todays footy?

For instance one of our greatest , the best #5 to ever come from WA , The Great Polly. Looking at his stats he was around 191cm mark, now even if had huge leap I'd say he would struggle to play as a ruck/follower today. The restrictions of the current ruck rules and the plethera of bean pole ruckman would make it difficult to play his old time position , I felt. This made me wonder where he would fit, having not seen him was he mobile enough to play elsewhere?

My counterpart being a tad older than myself had memories of the man and he had no doubt that he could play and dominate in todays footy. He thought there were tall rucks in Pollys time that he beat , and he would be even more effective around the ground in todays footy with the general fitness of runners to offer many more options for his handpassing, the general cleanness of the game would only help him and if he struggled in the ruck he could have , with a little bit of a knee tidyup , been a great KPP player

I suppose it started me thinking , which champions from the past would be the most and least adaptable to todays footy . The problem I suppose is a lack of evidence to make rational judgements but could players who were deemed good enough to be in our Hall of Fame or Team of the Century struggle today? Could Edward "Carji" Greeves at 175 cmm play today let alone be as good as he once was?
 

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I think the Carji may have lost a yard or two of pace, possibly more since his halcyon days. Polly might do his hip as well if he were to play.

Actually you could ask the same things about todays players playing back then, would they be able to handle the heavy tracks, the very physical intimidation, the complete lack of physio etc.
 

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the science of sport has changed the way the game is played. All said and done, players from days gone by would probably have more trouble fitting into teams of today than vice versa - only difference is, there would be far less players making it to 200 games due to the lack of treatment options for serious injuries. arthroscopy and keyhole surgery is doing wonders for fast rehabilitation and reduced invasiveness.
 

chapmanmagic35

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#4
The game has changed so much from those days that it would be very hard to tell. The modern game is much more quicker and revolves around a strong fitness base, so it's hard to compare.

Rest assured, those names such as Farmer and Greeves are legendary and will go down in GFC history as some of the greatest players to play the game.
 

Adrian Shelton

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#5
Who knows, with his skills and the fitness levels of today Polly may have been the scariest tall midfielder in the history of the universe!!! Still wonder what would have happened if Neil Kerley had become a Cat back then(the next choice behind Farmer) I know one thing, the handbag tag would have never existed, imagine, Sammy and Knuckles as the following division????
 
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#6
Jim Boy said:
Actually you could ask the same things about todays players playing back then, would they be able to handle the heavy tracks, the very physical intimidation, the complete lack of physio etc.
Great point.

Imagine the players of today working full time during the week, drinking 20 beers the night before, playing in mud and being punched in the guts or the head every time you went near the ball.

Maybe this would be a good idea for part of heritage week !!!
 

WestCat

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#7
Turbocat said:
Little discussion at the water cooler today. The point of conjecture was -
old time players , champions even , where would they fit in todays footy?

For instance one of our greatest , the best #5 to ever come from WA , The Great Polly. Looking at his stats he was around 191cm mark, now even if had huge leap I'd say he would struggle to play as a ruck/follower today. The restrictions of the current ruck rules and the plethera of bean pole ruckman would make it difficult to play his old time position , I felt. This made me wonder where he would fit, having not seen him was he mobile enough to play elsewhere?

My counterpart being a tad older than myself had memories of the man and he had no doubt that he could play and dominate in todays footy. He thought there were tall rucks in Pollys time that he beat , and he would be even more effective around the ground in todays footy with the general fitness of runners to offer many more options for his handpassing, the general cleanness of the game would only help him and if he struggled in the ruck he could have , with a little bit of a knee tidyup , been a great KPP player

I suppose it started me thinking , which champions from the past would be the most and least adaptable to todays footy . The problem I suppose is a lack of evidence to make rational judgements but could players who were deemed good enough to be in our Hall of Fame or Team of the Century struggle today? Could Edward "Carji" Greeves at 175 cmm play today let alone be as good as he once was?

I've only seen about 20 mins of footage of Polly (last qtr of the 63 grand final) on video and he blew me away with how talented and good he was. There's no doubt that players with that much talent would've made it today. Not sure about Polly in the ruck at 191cm, but perhaps at FF or CHF.
 

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#8
Jack Packenham- I like your style!!!! dufflecoats and slabs into the ground too!!! and all the suburb grounds for the week(Inc. Lions at the Junction!!!)
 

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#9
Turbocat said:
I suppose it started me thinking , which champions from the past would be the most and least adaptable to todays footy . The problem I suppose is a lack of evidence to make rational judgements but could players who were deemed good enough to be in our Hall of Fame or Team of the Century struggle today? Could Edward "Carji" Greeves at 175 cmm play today let alone be as good as he once was?
I think they could. Every elite sportsmen I believe has to possess 3 ingredients - talent, heart and brain. You need talent to get there in the first place obviously, to have the required skill to be selected your chosen sport. You need heart for when obstacles are encountered and you have to dig deep to overcome them. It could be physically, mentally, the will to overcome injuries, train at 5am, whatever. Finally you need a brain to calculate how to overcome troubles - how to read an opponent, how to diagnose a weakness in an opposing batsmen etc. Also intelligence to work out your training methods aren't enough and you must improve them. These 3 qualities I think all great sportsmen have, and if you have them you'll flourish - whether it's 1900 or 2000.

Without a doubt fitness, training, diet, preparation for most sports (especially footy) has changed beyond recognition, but that is part of the environment the players grow up in. I'd argue if you took an 18 year old Haydn Bunton or ******** Reynolds or Bob Davis, put them through a year of training at current AFL level they would still turn out to be superstars.
 
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