Universal Love Sandilands retires

Nov 6, 2002
23,186
6,188
End of the Earth.
AFL Club
Fremantle
The first few years his taps went straight to his feet but boy once his co-ordination developed...

Only because that's where he was told to put them.

He did actually win a rising star nomination in his first season against the all conquering Brisbane at the time

 
Sep 27, 2018
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Sandis first ever game was my first ever game.
Being a country kid didnt go to perth all that often but dad was adamant that we needed to go watch brisbanes all conquering team play freo,
my only memory was being amazed by the ground and the players running onto the ground
But ive gone for freo ever since so it must have left an impression.

gutted hey.
 
Feb 5, 2009
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West Coast
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captain-sparrow-quotes-the-worlds-still-the-same.jpg
 
Jul 1, 2013
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This tap:


When we could defend a ~2 goal lead late! :think:

Absolutely incredible career - thank you Sandi! Help revolutionise the modern ruckman and as you said, the important 1%ers, that the next crop (Grundy, Gawn etc.) have taken as an essential part of their role.
 

Funkster

Rookie
Sep 24, 2006
28
33
AFL Club
Fremantle
Can't say we didn't see it coming, but now its here, just feels like the end of an era. Never been a player quite like him and I think we've missed him more than we know with his long injuries and will do now he's hanging up the boots for good.

Well done on a great career. Being tall helped, but there's been lots of tall players that never got close to AFL let alone the dominance Sandi had at his peak.
 

Schauermann

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 27, 2011
7,308
5,005
Hamburg
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Fremantle
The top 20 for hitouts in a game by a Freo player:

Aaron Sandilands 70
Aaron Sandilands 69
Aaron Sandilands 58
Aaron Sandilands 55
Matthew Burton 54
Aaron Sandilands 54
Aaron Sandilands 54
Aaron Sandilands 53
Aaron Sandilands 53
Aaron Sandilands 53
Aaron Sandilands 53
Aaron Sandilands 52
Aaron Sandilands 52
Aaron Sandilands 51
Aaron Sandilands 51
Aaron Sandilands 51
Aaron Sandilands 50
Aaron Sandilands 50
Aaron Sandilands 50
Aaron Sandilands 49
 

Dockerjonz

Club Legend
May 27, 2012
1,602
902
Perth
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Never has a players arms been chopped so often in every marking contest - and never a free kick!!!!!
Man mountain, giant of a team mate and a gentleman.
Hope you get the gig cutting the grass at George Kailis oval.

yep got chopped,slapped,butchered, molested,even opposition clambered up the man to construct treehouses yet very rarely complained or flopped about,how a player should be.
sad to see him go but all the best to Sandi
 
Sep 27, 2005
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Congrats on the great career Sandi, good big men are hard to find, something that the West manages to produce regularly. To play the length of time he has with all the travel and the constant battering he has taken during games is a testament to the quality of the man.
 
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knew this was coming but still sad to see Sandi go.

first time I saw him live was vs Carlton at Princes Park in 2004. he took a mark in the goal square over the top of a defender without having to jump up off the ground to do so!

all the best big fella, football's loss is landscaping's gain
 
Jul 15, 2007
9,634
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Too far from my bed
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For me, Sandi's retirement represents the closing of our most successful era in terms of key players. Pav, Sandi and McPharlin is the best three anchors you could hope for to build a team around. They deserved a flag. That said, no denying they had decent success and big part of that was the emergence of Sandi. He took a bit of time to find his potential, as you'd expect being so freakin tall, but once he got those first few seasons out of the way, and when not injured, he was simply impossible for oppo teams to overcome.

As others have said, he could play too. His work rate was underestimated and knew where to go on a footy field to be effective. In an era when the game became faster and faster and mobile rucks became all the rage, it is a testament that his comparative lack of mobility was never enough of a detriment to make him anything other than a star of the game.
 

SHill Shall

Club Legend
Aug 22, 2009
2,842
4,590
Melbourne
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Fremantle
Sandi will probably be chaired off by Fyfe and Mundy unless McPharlin and Pavlich can get into town, but the thought of Ballas and Walters chairing Sandi off the ground with his feet dragging on the floor would be a moment in AFL history.

Reckon Sandi being chaired off by a Ballas/Darcy combo would be worth watching!
 
Jul 15, 2007
9,634
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Never has a players arms been chopped so often in every marking contest - and never a free kick!!!!!
Man mountain, giant of a team mate and a gentleman.
Hope you get the gig cutting the grass at George Kailis oval.

Sandi will probably be chaired off by Fyfe and Mundy unless McPharlin and Pavlich can get into town, but the thought of Ballas and Walters chairing Sandi off the ground with his feet dragging on the floor would be a moment in AFL history.


Reckon the umpires can be the ones to risk putting their backs out and chair him off - least they could do after refusing to call the 10 thousand free kicks he is owed.

.
 
Just like we did with Pav, I think we should all change our avatars to a pic of big Sandi to celebrate his great career.
Done.
 

Freo Blood

All Australian
Sep 21, 2006
919
225
South
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Fremantle
Gutted, one of my all time favourites. He was alot better on the ground than people gave him credit for and got plenty of his own clearances. For sheer longevity take a look at the list of Freo players drafted since he was in 2001, some famous, infamous and mostly forgettable - but not Sandi, he's made it so far.

Graham Polak
Andrew Browne
Paul Medhurst
Luke Webster
Josh Head
Aaron Sandilands
Byron Schammer
Greg Edgcumbe
Ryan Crowley
Brett Doswell
Ricky Mott
Ben Colreavy
Daniel Gilmore
Steven Dodd
Ryley Dunn
Ryan Murphy
David Mundy
Adam Campbell
Brett Peake
Paul Duffield
Dylan Smith
Michael Warren
Ben Colreavy
Michael Johnson
Benet Copping
Toby Stribling
Daniel Haines
Josh Krieger
Jack Juniper
Ryan Crowley
Jarrad Schofield
Marcus Drum
Garrick Ibbotson
Robert Warnock
Paul Duffield
Toby Stribling
Clayton Collard
Brock O'Brien
Calib Mourish
Chris Smith
Andrew Foster
Darren Rumble
Benet Copping
Rhys Palmer
Clayton Hinkley
Chris Mayne
Mark Johnson
Kepler Bradley
Brent Connelly
Luke Pratt
Calib Mourish
Ryley Dunn
Josh Head
Stephen Hill
Hayden Ballantyne
Nick Suban
Zac Clarke
Michael Walters
Ben Bucovaz
Tim Ruffles
Chris Hall
Casey Sibosado
Matt de Boer
Hamish Shepheard
Clancee Pearce
Jay Van Berlo
Greg Broughton
Anthony Morabito
Nat Fyfe
Joel Houghton
Jesse Crichton
Dylan Roberton
Greg Broughton
Michael Barlow
Alex Silvagni
Adam McPhee
Jayden Pitt
Viv Michie
Josh Mellington
Michael Barlow
Matt de Boer
Alex Silvagni
Gavin Roberts
Nick Lower
Ben Bucovaz
Tim Ruffles
Jack Anthony
Tommy Sheridan
Hayden Crozier
Alex Forster
Lachie Neale
Cam Sutcliffe
Nick Lower
Lee Spurr
Haiden Schloithe
Sam Menegola
Jordan Wilson-King
Clancee Pearce
Zac Dawson
Josh Simpson
Tanner Smith
Max Duffy
Clancee Pearce
Lee Spurr
Matt Taberner
Alex Howson
Craig Moller
Jack Hannath
Jesse Crichton
Michael Apeness
Alex Pearce
Brady Grey
Matt Taberner
Michael Wood
Tom Vandeleur
Jacob Ballard
Lachie Weller
Connor Blakely
Ed Langdon
Josh Deluca
Ethan Hughes
Tanner Smith
Sean Hurley
Darcy Tucker
Harley Balic
Sam Collins
Shane Yarran
Matthew Uebergang
Ryan Nyhuis
Griffin Logue
Sean Darcy
Brennan Cox
Luke Ryan
Taylin Duman
Luke Strnadica
Andy Brayshaw
Adam Cerra
Hugh Dixon
Mitch Crowden
Tom North
Lloyd Meek
Sam Switkowski
Scott Jones
Bailey Banfield
Stefan Giro
 
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