Who of the current side would get in a revised "Team of the Century"

[Hello Kitty]

This is one of things I love about sport; its history and lore. Gawd I would love to watch a game from the early 20th century. Greatest players can only be compared from who they were playing with and against. I've said it before, but Aussie rules needs a Ken Burns style docu to do it justice. I don't think the ones I've seen so far do a good enough job of showing the old time players.

Geelong was the second VFL team, with its beginnings in 1859, so that's 159 years now!

I've always had this dream of making it to Heaven (hopefully) + watching all our former greats play games. We could choose teams to play against oppo teams' angels lol

 

[steady2]

Geelong was the second VFL team, with its beginnings in 1859, so that's 159 years now!

I've always had this dream of making it to Heaven (hopefully) + watching all our former greats play games. We could choose teams to play against oppo teams' angels lol

Yeah I had that dream too until I realised I'll probably end up with Lucifer, reduced to watching Jacko and Sam Newman; might be ok as long as Jacko doesn't sing and Newman doesn't speak.

 

[Hello Kitty]

Yeah I had that dream too until I realised I'll probably end up with Lucifer, reduced to watching Jacko and Sam Newman; might be ok as long as Jacko doesn't sing and Newman doesn't speak.

Hell might the place to be lol With Hodge, the Midget +++

But no, I reckon you'll be sitting between Bobby Davis + Carji Greaves

While I'll be sitting on GASr's lap

 

[BUSTER29]

My second favourite non AFL sports person of all time.

Absolute champion.
Still my all time favourite cricketer.
Made the trek across to the SCG from Perth for his last Test v India.
Have enjoyed the footage on Fox and Ch 9 over the last few days of his last ball 100 v England at SCG in 2003.

 

[Vdubs]

Mine too! Was a fantastic all rounder, terrific captain + gives a lot of his time to charity, since retiring.

GASr my all time fave AFL player.

Who is your favourite, Vdubs?

Senior -AFL

*GOAT- Roger Federer

*#2 Stephen Rodger Waugh

 

[Pollywaffle]

Peter Walker was a star CHB, slightly undersized even back then at barely 6 foot (the same height as Marshall, but considerably lighter). He was the country's best CHB of his era and was one of the very few players who could (most times) keep players as different as Baldock and Hart under control. He also starred on occasions in the Centre, but was not needed there very often because of, eg, Lord, Marshall and Closter.
When our TOTC was announced, some of his team-mates were reportedly upset at his omission; his premiership captain Fred Wooller said publicly that it was a travesty. At the time of his death in 2010, Doug Wade said that he was the club's best-ever CHB. These comments are significant because both Wooller and Wade would have been well aware of the legend of Reg Hickey.
Darren Milburn was a favourite of mine as well, but Peter Walker was simply in a different class to Milburn as a footballer.

Always a problem comparing past players ( in any game ) with those from more recent times.
Who was the better pilot ? The guy in the F18, or the guy who flew a spitfire in WW2.

 

[catscratchfever]

Yeah Couch did play well in the 94' Prelim, however he played 4 Grand Finals and 4 poor games, I went with the Norm Smith Medalist Bartel instead.
Which finals did Mooney play well in that wasnt a thrashing?
The '09 Grand Final for a start, I also stated that Mooney was a big game player not just in finals.

I picked Hawkins instead of Brownless, Hawkins was a major reason why we not only won the '11 GF but also played well in every final that year. I didn't say anything about Brownless, yes he was a great player and performed well in many finals.
I already said Stoneham was superior in talent, he just didn't perform when we really needed him. He played finals in 89, 91, 92, 96 and 97, only missed 94 and 95.

I always thought Stoneham was never any good again after he broke his leg. I'd almost swear that in his last 5 seasons he used to average about 3 marks and four handballs a game (with 1 or 2 big games a year), or at least it seemed that way to me - he was useless!

 

[Partridge]

Senior -AFL

*GOAT- Roger Federer
*#2 Stephen Roger Waugh

I think most would agree would your football pick, it’s certainly mine.

For other sports I wouldn’t have those two in mind, but obviously there are plenty to choose from.

 

[Deep]

Senior -AFL

*GOAT- Roger Federer
*#2 Stephen Roger Waugh

AFL - Gary Ablett Jr
Tennis - Roger Federer
Soccer - Cristiano Ronaldo

 

[Vdubs]

I think most would agree would your football pick, it’s certainly mine.

For other sports I wouldn’t have those two in mind, but obviously there are plenty to choose from.

Interested in your choices .

Federer for me because of his artistry. He makes the impossible look effortless.
He is not the fastest serve, nor the best volleyer, BH, FH, or baseline player, but the overall package is amazing. He'd be right up there in all facets on all courts, hence having won all 4 slams, a feat Sampras could not achieve. I will add that Nadal was beaten early in the French Open that Fed did win, but....
And he is reputed to be a genuinely great bloke

Steve Waugh because at his peak, you almost could back your house on him to save the team. But moreover, I saw a doco on him, and he won me over moreso. His charity work for India is genuine, as is other work he's currently doing. I loved his captaincy, thought he was a true Aussie statesman, nothing like the buffoon Shane Warne would have been. And to back it up, the former Test dietitian , who is a friend, affirmed that he is a genuinely really considerate and tactful, thoughtful bloke.

It's not purely about the sport for these 2, but with Gary Ablett snr, it sure is.

 

[Partridge]

Interested in your choices .

Footy: Gary Ablett senior (huge surprise there).
Boxing: Muhammad Ali.
Cricket: Viv Richards.
Soccer: Marco Van Basten.
Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Tennis: N/A. Don’t really have anyone.

 

[steady2]

Footy: Gary Ablett senior (huge surprise there).
Boxing: Muhammad Ali.
Cricket: Viv Richards.
Soccer: Marco Van Basten.
Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Tennis: N/A. Don’t really have anyone.

Loved your first three. I saw Viv play quite a few times, still my favorite batter of all. Loved the way he would swagger on to the ground, chewing gum, no helmet, looking round as if he was thinking; 'yeah I've hit a couple of double centuries here before, might just do another one today'. Lillee is still my favorite bowler, I remember he and Viv had quite a few battles. Jan 82 (I think) Lillee came at him with bouncer after deadly bouncer and bowled him cheaply late in the day one of the most exciting duels ever.

 

[dazbroncos]

Loved your first three. I saw Viv play quite a few times, still my favorite batter of all. Loved the way he would swagger on to the ground, chewing gum, no helmet, looking round as if he was thinking; 'yeah I've hit a couple of double centuries here before, might just do another one today'. Lillee is still my favorite bowler, I remember he and Viv had quite a few battles. Jan 82 (I think) Lillee came at him with bouncer after deadly bouncer and bowled him cheaply late in the day one of the most exciting duels ever.

DKL....

Unparalleled to this day IMO..
if you adjust for the times etc.. again IMO.. he’s still the best.


With fully acknowledgment to all the WI greats of the same time.

We are getting a little OT as well..

Go Catters

 

[winty]

Cricket: Viv Richards.

My favourite cricket sledge was attributed to the great Viv Richards. He was playing an English county side in a warm-up match and was facing a young bowler. After playing and missing at the first couple of deliveries, the bowler said "Hey Viv, it's small, round and red. See if you can hit it!" Next ball Viv unloads with a massive six over the bowler's head and out of the ground. Viv walks halfway down the pitch and says to the bowler "You know what it looks like. Now go and find it!"

 

[Art Vandelay_]

My favourite cricket sledge was attributed to the great Viv Richards. He was playing an English county side in a warm-up match and was facing a young bowler. After playing and missing at the first couple of deliveries, the bowler said "Hey Viv, it's small, round and red. See if you can hit it!" Next ball Viv unloads with a massive six over the bowler's head and out of the ground. Viv walks halfway down the pitch and says to the bowler "You know what it looks like. Now go and find it!"

During a form slump Sunil Gavaskar decided to come lower down the order to try and ease some pressure off himself, and bat at No 4.
Malcolm Marshall then proceeded to bowl out Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar for two ducks, setting the stage for Gavaskar to walk in at 0/2.

Viv Richards said “Man, it don’t matter where you come in to bat, the score is still zero.”

Gavaskar went on to score 236.

 

[FredLeDeux]

During a form slump Sunil Gavaskar decided to come lower down the order to try and ease some pressure off himself, and bat at No 4.
Malcolm Marshall then proceeded to bowl out Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar for two ducks, setting the stage for Gavaskar to walk in at 0/2.

Viv Richards said “Man, it don’t matter where you come in to bat, the score is still zero.”

Gavaskar went on to score 236.

I saw Gavaskar in his first match in Melbourne in 1972, playing for the Rest of the World Team they cobbled together to replace the South Africans. He'd had a fantastic debut series v the Windies, and obviously decided to continue the same way.
The very first ball of the match he hooked Lillee for 6 into the old concrete scoreboard stand.

 

[Gimp69]

Easy. Sam Blease.

 

[David the Cat]

Rod Marsh to Botham........"Hows your wife and my kids?

Botham.........."Wife's fine but the kids are intellectually limited."





Swear filter wont let me use the synonym for "intellectually limited"? Really?

Anyway........


Nice anecdotes but probably belong in the Cricket thread rather than in this one.

 

[MacStradbroke]

Footy: Gary Ablett senior (huge surprise there).
Boxing: Muhammad Ali.
Cricket: Viv Richards.
Soccer: Marco Van Basten.
Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Tennis: N/A. Don’t really have anyone.

Gazza
Mark Waugh
Daylight
Ronnie O'Sullivan/John Higgins on par.

 

[Seeds]

Footy Geelong: Ablett

Footy Non Geelong: D Jarman and A Mcleod.

Cricket batting: was Jones as a kid but now Gilchrist.

Cricket bowling: Warne. Some of his spells over the years were utter domination and his 2000 World Cup is one of the great sport stories. Curtly Ambrose for the pace bowler.

Basketball: Jordan. Enough said.

Swimming: Perkins. Ok Thorpe was better but Perkins 1996 swim was unbelievable given how much he was written off.

Athletics: Bolt.

 

[Seeds]

Footy Geelong: Ablett

Footy Non Geelong: D Jarman and A Mcleod.

Cricket batting: was Jones as a kid but now Gilchrist.

Cricket bowling: Warne. Some of his spells over the years were utter domination and his 2000 World Cup is one of the great sport stories. Curtly Ambrose for the pace bowler.

Basketball: Jordan. Enough said.

Swimming: Perkins. Ok Thorpe was better but Perkins 1996 swim was unbelievable given how much he was written off.

Athletics: Bolt.

 

[SJ]

This is one of things I love about sport; its history and lore. Gawd I would love to watch a game from the early 20th century. Greatest players can only be compared from who they were playing with and against. I've said it before, but Aussie rules needs a Ken Burns style docu to do it justice. I don't think the ones I've seen so far do a good enough job of showing the old time players.

The earliest surviving footage of Australian football comes from 1909 - a full 50 years after its invention:



For another half-century, there was limited footage recorded and even scarcer remaining.

Only about the previous 60 years of the sport (out of 160) has been captured adequately enough to show a documentary full of footage.