Top 10 Players Since 2000

[Lunchtime]

Interesting article, have a read:

The top ten AFL players since 2000: Where does Dustin Martin sit on the eve of his 300th game?

The lead-up to Dustin Martin’s 300th game has begged the question: where does he sit in the pantheon of modern AFL greats? Below are…

www.google.com

When assessing players, one of the first things I use is the Eye Test, plus statistics and along with the Eye Test I like to see how much of an inpact a player has had in games.

Therefore, in my opinion my top 4:

1. Gary Ablett Jnr: For sheer overall consistent output, GazJnr gets the nod at number 1. Outstanding career with many achievements. Ultra consistent and with inpact too.

2x Premiership player
2x Brownlow medal
5x AFLPA MVP (Leigh Matthews Trophy)
3x AFLCA Champion Player of the Year
8x All Australian
6x club B & F (2x Geelong, 4x Gold Coast)
3x Leading Goal Kicker (1x Geelong, 2x Gold Coast)

2. Chris Judd - not easy to split GazJnr or Judd (or even the player at number 3) in terms of impact but Judd gets the number 2 spot. Once again his output and consistency was excellent and his career achievements were very good.

1x Premiership player
2x Brownlow medal
1x Norm Smith medal
2x AFLPA MVP (Leigh Matthews Trophy)
6x All Australian
5x Club B & F (2x West Coast, 3 x Carlton)
1x AFLPA Best First Year Player
1x AFL Goal of the Year

3. Dustin Martin - His Home & Away record is still good but probably isn't as good in terms of consistency as GazJnr and Judd but where he makes up ground is his record in Finals Footy - when it truly matters most, and when you combine his Finals record with his Home & Away record...it shows he "burnt the candle at both ends" so for me he goes in at number 3, in my opinion. The perfect player for the big stage and he delivered more often than not - to me that gives serious weight when assessing a player.

3x Premiership player
1x Brownlow medal
1x AFLPA MVP (Leigh Matthews Trophy)
1x AFLCA Champion Player of the Year
4x All Australian
2x Club B & F
3x AFLCA Player of the Finals
3x Norm Smith medal
2x AFLPA Under 22 Team

4. Lance Franklin - For a player to kick 1000+ goals in the modern era, seriously that's a great achievement and that's what Franklin did (1066). He is also the most recent player to kick 100 goals in a season - 113 (2008). He's certainly the best Key Position Forward since 2000. His record speaks for itself

2x Premiership player
8x All Australian
4x Coleman medal
1x Club B & F
13x Club Leading Goal Kicker (6x Hawthorn & 7x Sydney)
2x AFL Goal of the Year

I decided to do a top 4, purely because I like horse racing and did the "Quartet"

Anyway, that's my top 4. So what's yours? Maybe you have a top 5? Do you agree/disagree with the article in terms of the ranking (top 10).

 

[Cleansweep17]

I’ll just do 5 because it’s honestly a raffle after that

1. Dusty

2. Judd

3. GAJ

4. Buddy

5. Dangerfield

Top 2 imo had the highest peaks this century and were great/the greatest finals players. Both won at least 1 NS medal as well as their Brownlow(s) which is an extremely rare achievement.

GAJ, Buddy, Danger had mostly poor GF records 0/12 BOGs between the 3 of them. That to me is a big deal and why I can’t bring myself to put them higher than the other two despite being arguably better H&A players. I don’t believe any other sport has a “greatest” player who had average/poor GF records like that.

So simply put Dusty/Judd got it done in H&A and dominated when it mattered most. The other 3 didn’t, just like countless others.

 

[Lunchtime]

Dusty and Juddy the only players from that article link in my initial post to win a Brownlow and Norm Smith medal. It's some achievement - to win those two medals....a famous double.

Dusty - total: 4
1x Brownlow medal
3x Norm Smith medal

Judd - total: 3
2x Brownlow medal
1x Norm Smith medal

Seriously, Judd was an absolute gun. Great player.

 

[Sirlemsip]

Dusty's peak (2017) was probably higher than anybody else in the modern era. His performances in big matches speak for themselves.

If I was picking a player for a single Grand Final, Dusty would probably be the player I would pick.

However, if I was building a side for long term success, I would take the consistency and longevity of GAJ and Judd, and the irreplaceable Franklin over Dusty.

 

[Walshawk]

If you weren’t allowed to vote for a player from your team, I wonder whether anyone would have Dusty at No.1?

Top 2 is GAJ & Buddy
Next 2 are Juddy and Dusty.
Then Danger.

Norm Smiths are not everything. Gary Ayres was in Hawthorn’s best in 84 and 91 GFs. If he had four Norms, would that make him the greatest player ever?

 

[AnEmptyChair]

1. Franklin
2. Judd
3. Dusty
4. Ablett
5. Riewoldt

Then 5 of Buckley, Hird, Voss, Goodes, Pendlebury, Mitchell, Hodge, Scarlett after that I'd say.

 

[Lunchtime]

If you weren’t allowed to vote for a player from your team, I wonder whether anyone would have Dusty at No.1?

Top 2 is GAJ & Buddy
Next 2 are Juddy and Dusty.
Then Danger.

Norm Smiths are not everything. Gary Ayres was in Hawthorn’s best in 84 and 91 GFs. If he had four Norms, would that make him the greatest player ever?

You're right, Norm Smith's aren't everything but if you're adding Norm Smith medals to a players career who was also good in Home & Away footy then it does add serious weight when assessing a players legacy.

 

[RUNVS]

You're right, Norm Smith's aren't everything but if you're adding Norm Smith medals to a players career who was also good in Home & Away footy then it does add serious weight when assessing a players legacy.

Except he only got 4 All Australians so he wasn't that good for that long. 4 top quality seasons in a full career is not great.

 

[Lunchtime]

Except he only got 4 All Australians so he wasn't that good for that long. 4 top quality seasons in a full career is not great.

You need to combine that with his record in Finals football - when it truly matters most. We aren't talking about a player who JUST performed in Finals. How many times do we hear it from footy fans on here/social media/general conversation, they'll say it in general terms "Finals footy matters most" or from the media "Finals footy is the business end/matters most" and clubs also echo this line of thinking as well. We are talking about a player who has performed in Home & Away footy + Finals footy, in horse racing terms - Dusty burnt both ends of the candle. When you add all of that up as a whole package, there's a pretty strong case that he's up there in the top 5 players since 2000. Sure, there are players who have better Home & Away records and the awards they earnt reflect that, but Martin has been able to do it during both periods of an AFL season...that is during Home & Away and Finals footy.

 

[Cleansweep17]

If you weren’t allowed to vote for a player from your team, I wonder whether anyone would have Dusty at No.1?

Top 2 is GAJ & Buddy
Next 2 are Juddy and Dusty.
Then Danger.

Norm Smiths are not everything. Gary Ayres was in Hawthorn’s best in 84 and 91 GFs. If he had four Norms, would that make him the greatest player ever?

Most people just seem to focus on the Norms and not realise he got 3 Finals MVPs as well.

In Richmond’s 3 flags years he got 8/10 BOGs in finals games as per coaches and NS votes.

In 2017 he got record Brownlow votes and coaches votes.

He also got record BOGs in H&A with 11 I think. SO HALF A SEASON HE WAS BOG.

So including that record H&A season he followed up with BOG, BOG, BOG in the 3 2017 finals.

Also the only person to win a Brownlow, NS and flag all in the same year.


This is all insane. It’s literally perfect. People seem to forget or deliberately leave it out because they know it’s good.

For those saying he isn’t consistent enough he is 8th all time career Brownlow votes.

4AAs + 4 AA squads.

I believe he is also top 5 all time for BOG games as per the Brownlow votes.

It’s funny people say he is overrated. I believe he is underrated. We won’t see a record like this again and people don’t see to care/realise it.

 

[Cleansweep17]

Except he only got 4 All Australians so he wasn't that good for that long. 4 top quality seasons in a full career is not great.

+ 4 AA squads mate.

He wasn’t a dud and very good across 8 seasons.

 

[jakson68]

Another Dusty thread, oh the joy.

Yes Dusty would be in the top ten from the year 2000.
But he wouldn't be on the podium.
Four AA and only 2 B&F in 14 years, means he wasn't overly impressive for most of his career.

If not for a purple patch in a good team for a short period of time, he really would be just another player, with a half decent highlight reel.
A Player like Buddy - 8AA, 13 leading goalkicker, 4 Colemans and also 2 B&Fs was way better.
Players like GAJ - 8AA and 6B&F (even though 4 were at GC) and Judd - 6AA and 5 B&F were better.
Even Pendles has 6AA, 5 B&F's, 2 flags and a NS.

 

[Cleansweep17]

Another Dusty thread, oh the joy.

Yes Dusty would be in the top ten from the year 2000.
But he wouldn't be on the podium.
Four AA and only 2 B&F in 14 years, means he wasn't overly impressive for most of his career.

If not for a purple patch in a good team for a short period of time, he really would be just another player, with a half decent highlight reel.
A Player like Buddy - 8AA, 13 leading goalkicker, 4 Colemans and also 2 B&Fs was way better.
Players like GAJ - 8AA and 6B&F (even though 4 were at GC) and Judd - 6AA and 5 B&F were better.
Even Pendles has 6AA, 5 B&F's, 2 flags and a NS.

So you cherry pick 2 things, ignore all his other records and AA squad selections. Nice.

By the way GAS only got 1 B&F and 4 AAs. Bet you rate him pretty highly.

 

[RUNVS]

+ 4 AA squads mate.

He wasn’t a dud and very good across 8 seasons.

A lot of pretty dodgy players make the AA squad. All Martin needed to be was a top 3 midfielder at Richmond to make the AA squad.

 

[Cleansweep17]

A lot of pretty dodgy players make the AA squad. All Martin needed to be was a top 3 midfielder at Richmond to make the AA squad.

Dusty got the raw end of the deal 4 times of those 50/50 selections (Dusty embarrassed the AA selectors in 2019 after that). Whereas players like Pendles get those 50/50 selections on the bench like 3-4 times and you think he’s unreal.

This is the problem with AAs.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Massive midfielder bias and recency bias in that article. If we're just talking onfield performance then from a Geelong perspective I'm taking Scarlett miles ahead of either Danger or Selwood.

 

[jakson68]

So you cherry pick 2 things, ignore all his other records and AA squad selections. Nice.

By the way GAS only got 1 B&F and 4 AAs. Bet you rate him pretty highly.

Go to the 27 other dusty threads started by his 5 fanclub members and go your hardest.

The last thing we want is for you to copy and paste the same frivolous stats that have been posted already on countless threads.

Well done Dustbin on reaching 300 games , now please take your praise for him to the Richmond boards.

It is better than a thinly veiled attempt of relevance by starting yet another thread, to try and push a narrative.

 

[RUNVS]

Of course everyone knows this thread is just a very veiled attempt for Richmond fans to talk about Martin.

 

[Stax on the mill]

Of course everyone knows this thread is just a very veiled attempt for Richmond fans to talk about Martin.

It’s never happened before.

 

[Jukesy85]

1. Gary Ablett Jr
2. Chris Judd
Judd's peak was incredible but Ablett's consistency as one of, if not the best in the game for over a decade (and a very handy player either side of it - could've been a HoF small forward if he never went into the middle) gives him the edge - but I do have the two closer than most would.
3. Lance Franklin
4. Nick Riewoldt
Best FF and CHF next up, such important positions and these guys during their peaks were night and day better than what we have now.
5. Adam Goodes
6. Matthew Pavlich

Matthew Pavlich

Age

42

Ht

192cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.5

4star

K

11.3

4star

HB

6.3

4star

M

5.6

5star

T

2.6

4star

G

2.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

16.8

4star

K

12.8

5star

HB

4.0

3star

M

8.8

5star

T

1.2

3star

G

3.4

5star

Versatility supreme. Two Brownlows and a flag for Goodes gives him the edge, but Pav carried those Freo teams most of his career - deserved a flag.
7. Dustin Martin
LOL at people who even have him top 5, let alone higher. If you take the top dozen seasons between Ablett and Dusty you have 2017 Martin and 11 from GAJ.
8. Matthew Lloyd
I'm bias because he was my favourite player as a kid, and I initially excluded him for playing too much footy pre-2000, but he still had almost 700 goals this century - and it would've been much more if it wasn't for the impact of Matthew Knights

Matthew Knights

Age

53

Ht

178cm

Wt

79kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

12.0

4star

HB

9.3

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.2

4star

No current season stats available

D

18.4

5star

K

10.8

4star

HB

7.6

5star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.6

4star

and that 2006 hamstring. But hey, at least I'm not bias enough to put my favourite player first above some of the greatest of all time.
9. Joel Selwood
10. Matthew Scarlett

Matthew Scarlett

Age

45

Ht

192cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.8

4star

K

9.5

4star

HB

5.3

4star

M

5.0

5star

T

1.5

3star

No current season stats available

D

3.8

1star

K

3.2

2star

HB

0.6

1star

M

2.0

3star

T

0.8

3star

I swear I haven't been having two similar players/stories consecutively on purpose! Decorated Geelong guns, Selwood deserved a couple of Brownlows imho. Scarlett the best defender of his generation.
Cox, Cousins, Hodge, Fyfe, Pendlebury, Black, Fevola, Brown, Sandilands, Tredrea, Brown, Mitchell, Jack Riewoldt, Dangerfield, Gawn next up - had the first five in my top 10 at some point editing this. Wouldn't argue with any of them being in the latter half of somebody's top 10.

Hird, Bucks, McLeod, Voss, Richo etc are in that top 10 on quality but played too much pre-2000 for my liking.

 

[Lunchtime]

Massive midfielder bias and recency bias in that article. If we're just talking onfield performance then from a Geelong perspective I'm taking Scarlett miles ahead of either Danger or Selwood.

Scarlett and Rance in my opinion are the best two back men since 2000, in my opinion. But as we know, the backline players get forgotton about.

 

[Lunchtime]

Of course everyone knows this thread is just a very veiled attempt for Richmond fans to talk about Martin.

You're wrong actually, because it was me who created this thread and what you just said certainly did not enter my mind when creating the thread.

 

[Gough]

Are votes for Jack Watts counted?

 

[RUNVS]

You're wrong actually, because it was me who created this thread and what you just said certainly did not enter my mind when creating the thread.

and yet you rated Martin of all people above Buddy. Clearly showing quite a lot of bias.

 

[Lunchtime]

and yet you rated Martin of all people above Buddy. Clearly showing quite a lot of bias.

Why are you trying to read my mind? You're not doing a good job at it.