What Brereton's problem. 6 Age experts Dermie, Rohan Connolly, Rodney Eade, Robert Walls, Tim Watson and Caroline Wilson today rated the best players since Leigh Mathews retired in 1985. All bar Dermie had Gary Ablett Snr. in the top 4. Connolly, Walls and Watson had him as #1.Brereton had him as 10.Come on players like Platten, Dunstall and Harvey before him is just some sort of inbuilt bias he has against Geelong. Carey was rated as #1 overall and GA came in equal 2nd with Michael Voss. The result in the end was reasonable but 10th.
GET REAL DERBRAIN
My rating would have been
1, Voss- I never would have thought I could have said this but to my mind this bloke is better than GA, purely because of the total package he gives you. Plays fair, Plays hard, Ball player with a tough edge. He Inspires, is a leader of men, a great representative off and on the field for his club. Can play multiple positions, on-ball and as Small Forward. Plays well when it has mattered and even when he hasn’t been fully fit. The player of his like I look at and wish enviously that we had in our line up through the 1990's
2,Ablett – No need to dwell, probably the most freakishly gifted player ever seen. The only thing he did badly was the mundane. Training, off field away from the game was his only area of weakness. Imagine his talent and Cameron Lings work rate. There would have been no stopping him and we would have had a flag. Still he was the most consistently amazing jaw-drop inducing player who I've had the privilege to see play in or out of the hoops
3,Carey – The man to my mind did things in the hardest position on the ground He'd make it seem like he owned the turf, probably earning him his nick name "The King" Played in a slightly less spectacular way than Ablett but gave the impression he was impenetrable almost bullet proof, that when the time arrived would deem "my team wins" and it usually would. 4,Hird- The man who seems to control time for he always seems to have plenty. Would rank him as high as Voss but the difference between the two is the physicality of their play. Totally fair and never a more worthy player a Fairest and Best Award but probably lacks that bit of mongrel to be in my mind the best. Un paralleled ability to read the play and be were the ball will be and brave to a fault.
5,Lockett- The best Full-Forward I've seen, no doubt and seen a couple good'uns. At his height he could single handed beat teams through the unstoppability of his one on ones. Excellent kick for goal, that made opponents pay and could be quite a handy mark. His weakness was probably he had a bit to much mongrel and could go over the top but opponents would always tread the line at their own peril. Simply awesome to watch at his best
6,Williams- A master of the assist, could find a fellow teammate in the heaviest traffic. The man who would rack the stats in era when they meant something and would always repay a backhand with one in kind. Makes me cry to think we had this guy and for what ever reason let him go, imagine him playing for us right through his career, imagine how many more goals our forwards might have have got with his passes.
7,Harvey – Dynamic player who eludes like he's made of soap. Probably could run most taggers into the ground through his fitness. His goal kicking would be his major weakness.
8,Dunstall – Probably like Borg in tennis, a player who could dominate through sheer concentration, could beat you and never look fazed.Like a machine Mark , goal, Mark goal but always played in better sides than Lockett so had the best delivery.
9,Silvagni – A player who could play at both ends but did his best work at Full Back. Relied on all the backman tricks yet rarely got penalized
10,Jackovich – probably the only player who could consistently compete with Carey at his best. Strong, solid backman who drove the ball thru the centre who made most around him run tall.
TC
GET REAL DERBRAIN
My rating would have been
1, Voss- I never would have thought I could have said this but to my mind this bloke is better than GA, purely because of the total package he gives you. Plays fair, Plays hard, Ball player with a tough edge. He Inspires, is a leader of men, a great representative off and on the field for his club. Can play multiple positions, on-ball and as Small Forward. Plays well when it has mattered and even when he hasn’t been fully fit. The player of his like I look at and wish enviously that we had in our line up through the 1990's
2,Ablett – No need to dwell, probably the most freakishly gifted player ever seen. The only thing he did badly was the mundane. Training, off field away from the game was his only area of weakness. Imagine his talent and Cameron Lings work rate. There would have been no stopping him and we would have had a flag. Still he was the most consistently amazing jaw-drop inducing player who I've had the privilege to see play in or out of the hoops
3,Carey – The man to my mind did things in the hardest position on the ground He'd make it seem like he owned the turf, probably earning him his nick name "The King" Played in a slightly less spectacular way than Ablett but gave the impression he was impenetrable almost bullet proof, that when the time arrived would deem "my team wins" and it usually would. 4,Hird- The man who seems to control time for he always seems to have plenty. Would rank him as high as Voss but the difference between the two is the physicality of their play. Totally fair and never a more worthy player a Fairest and Best Award but probably lacks that bit of mongrel to be in my mind the best. Un paralleled ability to read the play and be were the ball will be and brave to a fault.
5,Lockett- The best Full-Forward I've seen, no doubt and seen a couple good'uns. At his height he could single handed beat teams through the unstoppability of his one on ones. Excellent kick for goal, that made opponents pay and could be quite a handy mark. His weakness was probably he had a bit to much mongrel and could go over the top but opponents would always tread the line at their own peril. Simply awesome to watch at his best
6,Williams- A master of the assist, could find a fellow teammate in the heaviest traffic. The man who would rack the stats in era when they meant something and would always repay a backhand with one in kind. Makes me cry to think we had this guy and for what ever reason let him go, imagine him playing for us right through his career, imagine how many more goals our forwards might have have got with his passes.
7,Harvey – Dynamic player who eludes like he's made of soap. Probably could run most taggers into the ground through his fitness. His goal kicking would be his major weakness.
8,Dunstall – Probably like Borg in tennis, a player who could dominate through sheer concentration, could beat you and never look fazed.Like a machine Mark , goal, Mark goal but always played in better sides than Lockett so had the best delivery.
9,Silvagni – A player who could play at both ends but did his best work at Full Back. Relied on all the backman tricks yet rarely got penalized
10,Jackovich – probably the only player who could consistently compete with Carey at his best. Strong, solid backman who drove the ball thru the centre who made most around him run tall.
TC
