Weird Hills to die on (main board edition)

[STFU Donnie]

1) The Geelong, Collingwood and St Kilda teams of 2008-2011 were the best AFL teams ever and would have won in any era.

2) Chris Judd is the biggest "what if" in the AFL. Completely different player at Carlton than he was at West Coast due to injuries. If he retained his explosiveness and paired it with increased experience and game awareness, he'd have been the consensus greatest player of all time.

3) Robbo is more likable than Gerard Whately. There's something charming about Robbo simply being a footy nuffie who adores the game, even if he comes across as a slurring drunk at times. Gerard is a sanctimonious nerd who loves nothing more than jumping on his high horse regarding the issue of the day.

One of them didn't even win in its own era.

 

[Sheepey]

One of them didn't even win in its own era.

My point is I believe that St Kilda team would have beaten any other team, including the Hawks and Tigers dynasties.

 

[PP34]

Bryce Gibbs was developed horribly by Carlton and we never saw the best of him as a result.

Always used to cop s**t for being soft but I think Carlton did him a massive disservice early.

Gun junior midfielder who Carlton thought it was easy to throw down back playing loose because of Judd and Murphy. Totally ignoring the need for midfield depth.

Always thought if they played him in the guts from day one he would have been far more instinctive in the guts.

 

[Blackhawk42]

By far the most boring grand final in my lifetime.

2019?

 

[Purple Suit]

He wouldn’t have overturned 2013. He had 35 goals in 38 games from 2011-13. He was a much better player in ‘14 and ‘15, but no I don’t see how one promising young forward finding another club changes Hawthorn’s fortunes. They win a bunch of flags with or without expansion

If there are no expansion teams, maybe Tom Lynch is already at the Dee’s and Mitch Clark makes it to Freo as the 2nd tall and missing piece.

Terrible weather was one of the key factors in Freo losing. Very windy, swirly breeze and no experience on the G. Hawks were nearly as shell shocked as Freo at the time but some strange umpiring & multiple Freo players choking before half time steadied them.

The Hill I will die on is that Mitchell was not a decoy, he got tagged out of the game and I don’t care what anybody from Hawthorn says. Never seen a gun negate a tagger before or since.

 

[megadeth86]

I guess I continue to believe that West Coast destroyed the WAFL although logically I know that's a very weak theory and Emuboy on here a few years back showed me how the Eagles can mean a huge amount to expatriate West Aussies. So I do realize my view is too emotional and romanticised as well as being far from a proper and detailed appraisal of a complex reality. I still do enjoy their WAFL team being beaten by traditional WAFL clubs though.

 

[Billy ray]

The SUNS could win a flag and people will still want us to fold/move to Tassie. These people are flogs.

 

[deck]

2019?

I've seen plenty of thrashings over the years but they had at least great game play. 2013 and 1999 wasn't far behind were those games where one team set control from the start and played safe for the entire game. The opposition never really looked like threatening to change momentum.

I find these games the most boring when a team jumps to a early lead and then controls the game without the opposition changing any momentum. The leading teams just holds that lead without doing anything of risk. There might have been a 5 or 10 minute patch in the 3rd where Freo looked like they might turn the game but outside of that Hawthorn controlled the game.

 

[Bald]

The SUNS could win a flag and people will still want us to fold/move to Tassie. These people are flogs.

Nobody wants Gold Coast to move to Tasmania.

 

[KermitJagger]

My point is I believe that St Kilda team would have beaten any other team, including the Hawks and Tigers dynasties.

They couldn't even beat the Hawks of that era and that team wasn't anywhere near as good as the 2013-2015 team.

 

[PrinceCharles]

1) The Geelong, Collingwood and St Kilda teams of 2008-2011 were the best AFL teams ever and would have won in any era.

Seeing as the Saints finished 4th in 08 and 6th in 11, I think you're being very generous. Essendon 00 would have had the edge over all three imo.

 

[CrowToon]

Fremantle song is good. It's one of those things that have become popular to hate because one person started it as an ironic joke and others joined in.

 

[KermitJagger]

Seeing as the Saints finished 4th in 08 and 6th in 11, I think you're being very generous. Essendon 00 would have had the edge over all three imo.

Essendon in 00 was an absolute freakshow, that team should have won more than one flag. In hindsight it's probably a situation where the team was good enough to coach itself and it probably papered over the fact that Sheedy was losing his edge as a coach even then.

 

[KermitJagger]

My weird hill to die on is that the Hawks wouldn't have won 3 in a row and we'd be in a worse position if we'd kept Franklin on a huge contract.

 

[Purple Suit]

The SUNS could win a flag and people will still want us to fold/move to Tassie. These people are flogs.

I don’t know why a flag becomes a beacon of success for expansion teams, especially if it is earned through unfair concessions not available to other teams. Brisbane won three in a row yet the fans disappeared straight afterwards. I think growing the grass roots & actual long term attendance increases regardless of ladder position should be the metrics they are judged upon.

 

[Sky]

Agree. Judd at his best is probably in the best 3 players I've seen. Dusty, Fyfe, Ablett Jnr are not.

Who are the other two? Snr and Lethal?

 

[TwiggleyFanClub]

Geelong had Thompson, Dank, The Weapon and a much better paper shredder than Essendon.

Also didn't have Tania Hird and her "excellent" advice.

 

[Wallaby]

Who are the other two? Snr and Lethal?

Snr
Plugger

Then one from a group depending on the day - Sometimes Matthews, sometimes KB, Sometimes Diesel, sometimes Judd. Those are the best mids I've seen.

 

[PhatBoy]

Essendon in 00 was an absolute freakshow, that team should have won more than one flag. In hindsight it's probably a situation where the team was good enough to coach itself and it probably papered over the fact that Sheedy was losing his edge as a coach even then.

Look that’s fair enough they lost a single game all year by 3 points and won the flag. I believe the cats of round 6 2007-Grand final day 2008 were just as good, though, even if they were mathematically inferior

 

[PrinceCharles]

Look that’s fair enough they lost a single game all year by 3 points and won the flag. I believe the cats of round 6 2007-Grand final day 2008 were just as good, though, even if they were mathematically inferior

Either way, both teams were superior to the Saints' peak.

 

[Philth]

Ben Cousins is the best Eagles player in their history.
Easily.
This is my hill to die on, campaigners.

 

[Hubnester]

1) The Geelong, Collingwood and St Kilda teams of 2008-2011 were the best AFL teams ever and would have won in any era.

Don't think this one is that weird, I've heard this expressed a fair bit.

Just look at some of the teams playing off in grand finals in the 10 years since then. Very fortunate timing to peak in this decade I think.

 

[Mantastic]

Talking about how strong the teams of that 07-11 period are, I reckon if you dropped that Cats team into literally any other 5 year period, they probably win all 5 cups. That Geelong team is very well respected now (maybe not by Hawks and Tigers supporters, fair enough) but if from any other 5 year period, it would be unanimous. Hall of Famer's on every line, and playing attacking footy with defenders launching attacks through the corridor.

And they still probably aren't the most fun Cats team to watch in my lifetime.

I also don't think Clarko gets enough credit on here for those GF wins. Lots of talk about expansion teams weakening the comp, which is true, but he adapted to that better than anyone, by a mile.

 

[Beer n Skittles]

Talking about how strong the teams of that 07-11 period are, I reckon if you dropped that Cats team into literally any other 5 year period, they probably win all 5 cups. That Geelong team is very well respected now (maybe not by Hawks and Tigers supporters, fair enough) but if from any other 5 year period, it would be unanimous. Hall of Famer's on every line, and playing attacking footy with defenders launching attacks through the corridor.

And they still probably aren't the most fun Cats team to watch in my lifetime.

I also don't think Clarko gets enough credit on here for those GF wins. Lots of talk about expansion teams weakening the comp, which is true, but he adapted to that better than anyone, by a mile.

Clarko does get a large share of the credit for those wins, that's why he's generally rated as the GOAT coach

 

[Mantastic]

Clarko does get a large share of the credit for those wins, that's why he's generally rated as the GOAT coach

He does external to BF but on here, I don't think he gets enough credit.