Would have thought 4x B&F, 2x AA, Captain and Hall of Famer Wayne Campbell would be a lock.Locks:
Cotchin: 2x Premiership captain, Brownlow Medal Winner, 1x AA
Martin: 2x Premiership player, Brownlow Medal Winner, 2x Normsith Medal Winner, 2x BnF winner, 3x AA team
Riewoldt: 2x Permiership player, 3x Coleman Medal Winner, 9x leading goal kicker, 3x AA team
Rance: Premiership player, 5x AA (including one time captain), BnF winner
Richardson: 8x leading goal kicker, BnF winner, 1x AA team
Deledio: 2x BnF winner, Rising Star, 2x AA team
Prestia: 2x Premiership player, 1x BnF winner
Houli: 2x Premiership player, 1x AA team most consistant RFC AFL finals performer this century
Edwards: 2x Premiership player, 1x AA team
Grimes: 2x Premiership player, 1x AA team
Vlastuin: 2x Premiership player
Bowden: 2x BnF winner, 2x AA team
So only have Richardson, Deledio and Bowden as my own non-premiership team locks. That is 12 players.Recency bias for sure but that is where we have had success.
I think similarly there are players you could discard pretty easily.
Locks to miss out:
Pettifer: Handy medium forward but not much else outside two solid seasons
Rogers: similar to above plus most of his career was in the 90s
Chaffey: like him but we have a wealth of medium defender options
Tivendale: a solider but we have better options in that role
Stafford: a few tiers below Richo, Ottens, Riewoldt as a forward and Simmonds, Maric and Nank as a fu**
Cameron: was awesome in the 2001 campaign but his best football was at the Dogs.
These leaves 22 players for 10 spots and a team that looks like this:
FB: Grimes Rance Bowden
HB: Vlastuin Houli
C: Deledio Martin
HF: Edwards Richardson
FF: Riewoldt
Ruck: Cotchin Prestia
Inter:
Position: Ruck
Comparison: Simmonds vs Maric vs Nankervis
All similar players. Simmonds played the most games and kicked the most goals (93 and 66 respectively). Maric was a cult hero and had was everyones favourite. But Nankervis was a key cog in 2x premierships esspecially as the lone hand in his first season in 2017 so he gets by nod.
Result: Nankervis
Position: Key Defender
Comparison: Kellaway vs Gasper vs Astbury
The team still needs one more key defender. Kellaway is a personal favourite of mine winning the 2000 BnF and AA the same year. However I think Grimes and Bowden have already taken his spots as the hybrid "third tall". So it comes down to Gasper vs Astbury. Gasper was our best player in 2000/2001 imo but the rest of his 2000's were spent often injured. Astbury was a late bloomer but his last 4 years have been integral. Recency bias again, but I go with Astbury. Probably the closest pick.
Result: Astbury
Position: Midfield (3 spots)
Comparison: Foley vs Coughlan vs Tuck vs Campbell vs Johnson vs Jackson vs Grigg vs Ellis
Some serious talent here. Coughlan could have been the best but was cut down by injury after his excellent 2003 so is probably the easiest to eliminate. Campbell and Johnson were both captains in tough times but I think Campbell had the greater impact, even though some of that was in 90s so he makes it. Foley, Tuck and Jackson were our mid 2005-2012 midfield. I think Foley was a greater offensive weapon with his speed and clearance work than the other two so I have him on the bench. These leves the two genuine wings in Grigg and Ellis. Ellis was much maligned but will end up a two time premiership player. I still think however Grigg had the greater impact so he gets the spot. Plus you know, back up ruck.
Result: Campbell, Foley, Grigg
Forwards: (3 spots)
Comparison: Brown vs Caddy vs Castagna vs Krakouer vs Ottens vs Rioli vs Simmonds vs Lambert
Brown is in despite his injuries. He still ended up kicking 143 goals in 82 games and would be a tier ahead of the rest of the competition here. As far as specialist small forwards go Castagna has Rioli covered. He makes alot more mistakes but he is a goal a game player and is more active around the ground. In saying this, Krakouer did what Castagna and Rioli have done but for longer so he gets the spot in the pocket. Last spot goes to Lambert who I believe is an elite mid-forward. Simmonds was a better ruck than forward, Ottens was up and down with most of his success coming at Geelong and Caddy has only put in one really quality season.
Result: Brown, Krakouer, Lambert
This leaves two bench spots which I'm giving to Newman who I think was an excellent captain and helped shape the culture that we see today, and Jackson who was a ferocious compitor and BnF winner
FB: Grimes Astbury Bowden
HB: Vlastuin Rance Houli
C: Deledio Martin Grigg
HF: Edwards Richardson Lambert
FF: Brown Riewoldt Krakouer
Ruck: Nankervis Cotchin Prestia
Inter: Campbell Foley Newman Jackson