Analysis Who is the AFL GOAT - AFL Era?

[Virtuoso]

Maybe watch the 89 finals series at get back to us, Geelong didn't have a decent key position backmen, Darcy was a half back flanker, having to play on arguably the second best ever full forward in Dunstall.

In the 1980 finals series when we won it all KB kicked 21 in 3 games, how many did Ablett get during that failed '89 campaign in his 4 finals (at full forward)? Let's not forget that in the GF of '89 some Hawthorn players were almost dead on their feet and that's when Snr really got going. He's known for primarily feasting on rabbles and bar one, stinking it up in GF's.

Unlucky
Gary senior- played his best footy in the 80s, one great year in 93 can't get him in

Didn't he win 2 more Colemans '94 & '95?

 

[Virtuoso]

It's not even Richmond bias, look, who would you guys rather take into a GF, Kernahan or Gary Snr?

In my opinion only a person with manure for brains would consider Gary Snr

 

[Corn Cobbers]

To the OP, SplintWhisky - great idea for a thread, and I reckon to make it even greater, we all vote for our Top 5, with votes accumulated to arrive at a conclusion.

So for the list I've previously posted, I'd have:

5 - Ablett Snr
4 - Carey
3 - Lockett
2 - Ablett Jnr
1 - Franklin

Thoughts?

5 - Ablett snr
4 - Carey
3 - Judd (WC version)
2 - Lockett
1 - Ablett jnr

 

[JackOutback]

The duck, by an absolute mile 93-2000 he was the king, no one could stop him.

Glenn Jakovich could

 

[timokane]

Ill say Pendlebury but no where near the most decorated far from it.

Ill say Pendlebury as the best to play the game but unlucky to not been part of any premierships

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

In the 1980 finals series when we won it all KB kicked 21 in 3 games, how many did Ablett get during that failed '89 campaign in his 4 finals (at full forward)? Let's not forget that in the GF of '89 some Hawthorn players were almost dead on their feet and that's when Snr really got going. He's known for primarily feasting on rabbles and bar one, stinking it up in GF's.

Didn't he win 2 more Colemans '94 & '95?

Maybe watch the prelim final, he played the whole series as a floating half forward, he kicked 3 when we thumped first week, 7 against Melbourne, 8 in the best game you'll see against Essendon and 9 in the grand final. Started with macguiness then Langford moved onto him in the third, maybe look at his goal out of the ruck, you don't play full forward doing that, the best goal ever seen in a grand final mind you.

He was also one of geelongs best in 92. 94 and 95 he was well past his prime, with poor delivery and against quality full backs in Brennan and sos.

Maybe also look at his record in state games, plucked from obscurity and kicked 8 in 84.

He did win the Coleman in 94 and 95 but was past his best, 93 was unbelievable though, his first year at full forward.

 

[Fadge]

Ill say Pendlebury as the best to play the game but unlucky to not been part of any premierships

Except the premiership he won, when he also claimed the Norm Smith Medal...

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

Glenn Jakovich could

Only when duck wanted wrestle, as soon as the duck got on the move he had Jacko covered, but one on one jacko was stronger, it's also easier to punch then mark it

 

[King_Steele]

B McLeod
C Ablett
R Goodes
F Franklin

 

[Dirty Bird]

So it appears the Dusty thread about him potentially being GOAT has legs like you wouldn't believe.

However, one of the things I noticed is that every player that gets brought up in the GOAT conversation is always Ablett Jnr & Snr, Judd, Fyfe (who personally I have no idea how he is included but that could just be me being in Victoria), and Dusty. They are all midfielders, yeah mids get the medals and all that malarkey but I want to put forth other options. Screw mids

• Scarlett - Arguably the greatest backman of the AFL era.
• Rance - Is the other side of the greatest backman argument.
• Franklin - Possibly the last ever player to reach 1000 goals in their career. Also the last player to kick 100 goals in a season. Should be well and truly in the conversation for GOAT. He has kicked all those goals in an era of the Paul Roos Flood and the Clarko Web defences.
• Lockett - Greatest Goal Kicker
• Dunstall - Second greatest goal kicker
• Mcleod - Fantastic dashing Half Back Flanker and a 2 time Norm Smith medalist

These are the ones of the top of my head who should be added to the list. I would also say the criteria should be that they played at least 10 AFL Games over their career (a player could of played 150 VFL/WAFL/SANFL/QAFL games and then 20 AFL games when the league switched over and be in contention. Basically it is a requirement to try and keep it to proper AFL era)

Was Rance even the best KPD in his era?

I for one would've taken Talia ahead of Rance.

Obviously they were the 2 best defenders in the league. And each had their strengths and weaknesses. Talia was more a shutdown defender, Rance more an intercepting/rebound defender.

 

[Dirty Bird]

But to the question at hand.

As much as I despised aspects of him. Adam Goodes.

He's just too versatile and a matchup nightmare.

Sure, others like Andrew McLeod

Andrew Mcleod

Age

47

Ht

181cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.8

5star

K

13.1

5star

HB

6.7

4star

M

3.1

3star

T

2.2

4star

No current season stats available

D

10.8

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

1.0

1star

T

1.6

4star

, or Gary Ablett, or Dean Cox

Dean Cox

Age

42

Ht

203cm

Wt

107kg

Pos.

F/R

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.9

4star

K

8.9

3star

HB

6.9

4star

M

5.3

5star

T

1.5

3star

G

0.6

4star

No current season stats available

D

13.0

4star

K

5.8

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.0

1star

could do aspects better. But no one put everything together like Goodes.

 

[JackOutback]

Only when duck wanted wrestle, as soon as the duck got on the move he had Jacko covered, but one on one jacko was stronger, it's also easier to punch then mark it

Yep, too often Carey’s ego would get the better of him and he’d try to beat Jako at his own game, rarely in his favour. Even the best have one player who is a thorn in their side.

 

[Strange Cat]

Falcon MK Eleven.

Wack a mole poor bastard doesn’t give up

 

[BF Tiger]

Brownlow's aren't awarded for finals though, so given he had a similar year Danger would have been equal favourite for the win.

Then there's whole 0 votes for a 32 disposal + 2 goal game thing... when Dusty played the Hawks.

EFA.

 

[speedpeck23]

HAWTHORN 5 FLAGS

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Nothing changes , Ablett Snr is still God and the best from the AFL era also.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Fyfe's injuries cost him the GOAT title or a serious convo about it. Just like Martin's very slow start to his career (GOAT level) has cost him also.

I'd have Gaz Jnr just ahead of Buddy.

The only thing that is disappointing is that neither of the two could lift their new teams to more glory. There are just too many players in an AFL side for 1 person to make a massive difference.

Fyfe can’t kick, if you are not elite at the most basic skill I have no idea how you can be in the top 500 of all time. Brownlow are about stats but they never tell you effective stats. Fyfe could not hit a barn door 10m in front of him.

 

[DGroover]

GAJ
Franklin
Carey
Dusty
Judd


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pipefitter]

Has to be Jacob Hopper

22

Jacob Hopper

Age

27

Ht

187cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.0

5star

K

9.9

4star

HB

11.1

5star

M

2.9

3star

T

4.5

5star

CL

4.3

5star

D

17.6

4star

K

8.8

4star

HB

8.9

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

4.6

5star

CL

4.0

5star

D

18.6

5star

K

8.4

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.8

5star

CL

3.4

5star

.

 

[Robroy22]

Glenn Jakovich could

Nathan Buckley did also!

 

[Schauermann]

Hard to say.

Clive Waterhouse or Kepler Bradley.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

Dangerfield is very lucky he won a flag last year cos he doesn't really have the heart for it imo.

A north fan talking about not having the heart for it
He was the best player of the finals series and unlucky to miss out on the Norm Smith. But apparently he’s lucky and doesn’t have the heart for it.

Thank you for giving me a laugh.

 

[My Tilly]

Carey peaked and came into his own by the early 1990's and pretty much dominated for an entire decade so don't think you can go past Duck.

 

[ferball]

A north fan talking about not having the heart for it
He was the best player of the finals series and unlucky to miss out on the Norm Smith. But apparently he’s lucky and doesn’t have the heart for it.

Thank you for giving me a laugh.

If he had the sort of heart Martin or any number of so called "role playing spuds" getting around in every side had then he'd have several flags by now and genuinely be in the constant threads we see on here asking "Who is the GOAT." Instead he's not even the best player of his generation.

He had to make up for hiding during the 2020 GF and the fact it took that failure to get him to pull his finger out and play to his ability is precisely what my criticism of him is based on. And you'll see, if you want to search my comments is the few times I've mentioned him I've said the same thing for years. When you look back on his career you'll see he could have done so much better.

You know who should be in these conversations from the Cats but isn't - Selwood (despite the Duckwood stuff.) Maybe not better than GAJ in terms of talent but he was a great leader and a damn fine player especially with his back to the wall. He left nothing in the tank for his entire career, unlike Dangerfield, and that's why Dangerfield was lucky to jag a flag at the end of his career while Selwood deservedly earned four across his.

He's three times the player Danger is for that reason alone.

Probably not in the GOAT conversation but he obviously is one of the greatest leaders in the VFL/AFL history and right up there for the greatest captains of the AFL era.

BTW - If North people didn't have the heart for it we wouldn't have a club right now. You might be able to say that about some of our recent players but you're wrong to say it about our supporters and members.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

If he had the sort of heart Martin or any number of so called "role playing spuds" getting around in every side had then he'd have several flags by now and genuinely be in the constant threads we see on here asking "Who is the GOAT." Instead he's not even the best player of his generation.

He had to make up for hiding during the 2020 GF and the fact it took that failure to get him to pull his finger out and play to his ability is precisely what my criticism of him is based on. And you'll see, if you want to search my comments is the few times I've mentioned him I've said the same thing for years. When you look back on his career you'll see he could have done so much better.

You know who should be in these conversations from the Cats but isn't - Selwood (despite the Duckwood stuff.) Maybe not better than GAJ in terms of talent but he was a great leader and a damn fine player especially with his back to the wall. He left nothing in the tank for his entire career, unlike Dangerfield, and that's why Dangerfield was lucky to jag a flag at the end of his career while Selwood deservedly earned four across his.

He's three times the player Danger is for that reason alone.

Probably not in the GOAT conversation but he obviously is one of the greatest leaders in the VFL/AFL history and right up there for the greatest captains of the AFL era.

BTW - If North people didn't have the heart for it we wouldn't have a club right now. You might be able to say that about some of our recent players but you're wrong to say it about our supporters and members.

I think it’s hilarious that you’re potting a Brownlow medallist and a premiership player for having no heart.
North players don’t even know what playing with heart means. They are such an embarrassing team.

He would be North Melbourne’s best player this century, and by a considerable margin. Your mob would kill for a player and role model like him.
Players don’t win flags on their own.
It’s a team game.
Dangerfield wasn’t the reason we lost the covid GF. Was he poor? Yes, but so was the whole team in the second half.

You have a hate for Danger I get it. But don’t undermine him as a player.