Pick 1: John Platten v Shane Crawford

[Davo-27]

i think Crawford was more consistent and was just unlucky to be in ordinary teams because of the era he played in, after the financial issues and near merger situation of the 90's and then was a part of the rise in early 2000's, Platten played with the best and was a warrior, but i would give it to Crawf

 

[Ordovician]

Crawf and the Rat were magnificent players in different eras however one memorable game made it easy for me to chose John Platten. In the extra time 1994 QF aged 31 and playing his 200th game Platts had 37 possessions and his work rate was off the planet. Norf would have been 10 goals up at full time if it wasn't for Platts and the exquisite Darren Jarman who had 39 possessions.
Plus I'll throw in the steak knives. After Platts had signed to play for us, Carlton gave him a new car to entice him to break his contract. Bless his big heart, Platts played 258 games for the Hawks and kept the car.
T4P wrote "His ability to bury himself at the bottom of those packs gave him the nick name rat." That wasn't the only reason he was called the rat .

I always thought that the moniker was related to the the drain pipe simile, Both current and prevalent at the time.

Crawford was always overlooked by the media vis a vis the other great mids of his era like Harvey, FIGJAM, and Turd. I always thought this was due to the twin facts that he was not reliably elite in his kicking and that he played for Hawthorn. But as a runner in the running game era, he had no peer.

In a great team like the 80s he would have been better suited to a wing rather than in the middle. As a ruck rover/tagger/rover/wing/small forward, Crawford was more far more versatile than Plats who was purely a first rover who was a very good resting forward pocket which was an integral part of the first rover role. As such Plats was just about the last true to breed rover to play the game. These days there are no rovers just generic mids, who often double up as utilities, the classic example being Hodge.

 

[Dinsdale]

I've had both of them on my team at 2 sports trivia nights so I'll pick Platten as he didnt cost so much in the auctions.

 

[Flamin Joe]

Loved Crawf but it has to be Platten by this much.....

 

[luciien]

Platten easily. Sorry Shane. The rat was the best rover in the league, bar none. Crawf was among the best, but not ackowledged as the undisputed no.1.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Platts. Brereton puts him as the best Hawk he ever played with, which is no mean feat.

 

[Ordovician]

Yeah I remember him saying he’d peg his contact negotiation claim to a certain proportion (presumably, say 70 or 80%, as he did not volunteer this figure) of whatever they were paying Da Rat, as Platts was our best and most important player. I suppose that’s why Dermy got rubbed out so often protecting Platts or merely giving a reminder to the gutless thug taggers of the day, to ease up on the dog acts that were their stock in trade.

 

[Chubberson]

Platten for me. Better inside game, but, Crawf was an amazing runner and on baller too.

 

[Brant]

Is there Disposal Efficiency or game-day stats from players back in the 80's?

Clearance numbers; score involvements... or anything like that?

No need for stats to answer this one, but I'd love to know how the previous eras of players stack up numerically with those of today.

*Edit: some stats on his Wikipedia page. The stats you'd expect (goals, behinds, marks, tackles etc.).

 

[dermott]

I loved both of them but the Rat was an absolute standout in that era.

 

[killerspud]

Both such great players -

nah * it, I'm having them both

youse can get stuffed

BUT if I had to choose just one.....

John Platten - god damn awesome

 

[grumbleguts]

There is a stat that isn't collected, but one of the most important in their respective positions.

I think you would find if you were to collect the stat over the history of the game, Platten would hold the record for the highest number of times a player handed the ball to an umpire before a ball up.

Always on the bottom of the pack winning the hard ball. This places him above anyone else, this is the reason your TEAM has more possessions than the opposition.

 

[Noneedforaname]

There is a stat that isn't collected, but one of the most important in their respective positions.

I think you would find if you were to collect the stat over the history of the game, Platten would hold the record for the highest number of times a player handed the ball to an umpire before a ball up.

Always on the bottom of the pack winning the hard ball. This places him above anyone else, this is the reason your TEAM has more possessions than the opposition.

It's a fair point. I'd add his kamikaze like attack on the ball, just diving into packs like he did, puts him amongt the bravest I've seen. He paid for it, and continues to pay, and for that I can only hold him in the greatest esteem.
Of course, times have changed. That unrecorded stat you mentioned would today, probably translate into most penalised player in the game. Probably to the point where his playing style would have suffered. Toss bag taggers would have hung off him all day and with his ball winning style, I reckon he'd have been penalised outta the game.

It ruins the game on one level, because we want to see that hunger, and the player first to the ball rewarded. Some of today's rules, while they lessen the spectacle and detract from what was the game, they do protect players from themselves.
It's a delicate topic, but Platts may have been one of the main beneficiaries of some of today's rules.

I'd have Platts ahead of Crawf as a pure player, but for Crawfs leadership, and being the heartbeat and face of the club for a decade, I'd reverse their positions of importance to us.
As close as they are, both are top 10, all time legends of the Hawks.

 

[SC fish]

I choose Plattford

 

[A Diakos]

platten

 

[LMGjr]

Hello all,

Another edition, this time between 2 brilliant (albeit different) midfielders, one who got to play in an awesome side, the other less so...

John Platten
258 games, 228 goals
4 x premiership
Brownlow
4 x AA
2 x B&F

Shane Crawford
305 games, 224 goals
Premiership
Brownlow
MVP
4 x AA
4 x B&F

Who do you pick and why?

I'm not going to compare the two, but I am going to highlight how many goals they kicked as pure mids........Can we please find another one somewhere?