Who would you rate as the strongest premiership side in the AFL era?

[Chinacats]

Cats 07 best to watch. Breathtaking and would’ve wiped lions off the park!

 

[Hawk Dork]

Either geelong in 2009 or 2011, faced and beat 2 sides that were just as good as them.

How does that explain 2008 then?

 

[PhatBoy]

Cats dynasty lasted 5 years whereas a 3 peat is 3. Hmm interesting debate but I agree 3 peat back it up.

At the end of the day we had our shot at 3 straight (though as is often pointed out, if we waltzed to back to back flags in 08 who knows if we’d have been able to match that fantastic Saints side of 09) and could have had 4 in 5 which would have ended the debate unequivocally. But yeah I mean in a historical sense I don’t look back at the Crows of 97-98 and think ‘well they must have been better than the eagles of the early 90s because they didn’t go back to back.’

 

[PhatBoy]

How does that explain 2008 then?

Well in fairness while I can see your point, the cats of 09 and 11 would have easily been minor premiers most seasons, there just happened to be a freak opponent in both those seasons who dropped only 2 home and away games.

 

[My Tilly]

Can't go past Brisbane Lions.
They had it all and to think they went to 4 straight grand finals winning 3 is absurd in the modern game.

 

[JohnnyFontane90]

Geelong 08 or hawthorn 13.

But hawthorn 14 (without franklin) in the grand final was the best 120 mins of football ever played by a team in AFL era.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Cats dynasty lasted 5 years whereas a 3 peat is 3. Hmm interesting debate but I agree 3 peat back it up.

Brisbane went to 4 Grand Finals in a row and went to a Semi Final in 2000 compared to a Prelim for Geelong in 2010. So basically no difference in terms of longevity

 

[10571z]

Hawks 3 peat.

Stars everywhere. Blokes who just stood up over and over.

Brisbane hugely overated. Home and Away did ok and 2 flags against a very ordinary pies side who would be lucky to make the 8 in some years.

Hawks 3 peat would beat 2002 Pies by 100 points IMO

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Hawks 3 peat would beat 2002 Pies by 100 points IMO

But the Brisbane 3 peat would beat the Hawks 3 peat by 25 points

 

[Cuzz09]

West Coast 92/94 always under appreciated in these threads. They were winning premierships at the same time as they were working out the travel, away grand finals etc. It’s out of them, Brisbane and Geelong, with Carlton and Essendon I’m the mix for individual seasons.

I like it. I like it.

That 94 team and particularly the backline would beat most in history.

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[10571z]

But the Brisbane 3 peat would beat the Hawks 3 peat by 25 points

They nearly got beaten by the Pies in 2002. They aren't that good. Hawks smashed every side in their 3 peat.

 

[Cuzz09]

They beat Freo by 13 points or something.

All non vic travelling sides.

Good team but no where near Brissy

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[leaper]

They nearly got beaten by the Pies in 2002. They aren't that good. Hawks smashed every side in their 3 peat.

Didn't have to travel every 2nd week for 4 years

 

[PhatBoy]

They nearly got beaten by the Pies in 2002. They aren't that good. Hawks smashed every side in their 3 peat.

They also nearly lost to a well past it Geelong in the 13 prelim and if Travis Varcoe kicked straight they probably would have.

 

[DaRick]

Cats 07 best to watch. Breathtaking and would’ve wiped lions off the park!

Depends on the time in which they played.

Brisbane were allowed to play in a certain manner during their pomp, but after their dynasty the rules were changed to no longer make that possible.

If the game was played in 2007, you'd probably favour Geelong, but in 2001 you'd have to favour Brisbane.

 

[skipper kelly]

For me it's close but I'll go with Sydney 2005 just over Sydney 2012

 

[vanders]

Hawthorn lost the best forward in the comp at the end of 2013 and still went on to win 2 more premierships in a row, one of which was against his new team.

 

[Madness101]

Geelong for me. They were so far above any other team during their peak.

 

[Captain_Bender]

Depends on the time in which they played.

Brisbane were allowed to play in a certain manner during their pomp, but after their dynasty the rules were changed to no longer make that possible.

If the game was played in 2007, you'd probably favour Geelong, but in 2001 you'd have to favour Brisbane.

Voss would've torn Ablett's arms off

 

[Donakebab]

They nearly got beaten by the Pies in 2002. They aren't that good. Hawks smashed every side in their 3 peat.

No they didn't.
2013: 5 point win in the PF against Geelong, 15 point win against Freo in the GF
2014: 3 point win over Port in the PF
2015: 32 point loss to West Coast in the QF

They got the job done, but they weren't a juggernaut that smashed every team in their path.

 

[sr36]

Brisbane were awesome. They were the team that recruiters dream of assembling. A sensational midfield. 3 excellent talls at either end (which was the fashion at the time). skillful and tough flankers. a string of brutish rucks.

 

[My Tilly]

They nearly got beaten by the Pies in 2002. They aren't that good. Hawks smashed every side in their 3 peat.

Hawthorn did not have to knock over a truly dominant team to get to the top like Brisbane did.
Essendon between 1999-2001 were beating teams on average by 40+ points weekly.

Brisbane's average finals winning margin between 01-03 was 44 points compared to Hawthorn 13-15 of 35 points.

 

[Ishmael_]

1. Brisbane
2. Geelong
3. Hawthorn
HM - West Coast 90s

Brisbane by the length of the Flemington straight. Did it in a tougher competition against quality opposition playing at their home ground or in their home state. Unlucky not to have won 4, that prelim horses**t in 2004 did them no favours.

Geelong did it against solid local competition in 2009, 2011, but 2007 was a joke. Still, a remarkable side and could have won in 2008. No back2back hurts.

Hawthorn with a threepeat, which is incredibly difficult at the best of times, which 2013-2015 were. Non-Victorian opposition at their home ground during a period of weak expansion club/free-agency fueled competition.

HM: To West Coast in the 90s, an incredibly even and dominant side at the time. Were arguably at their best in 91' but couldn't handle the pressure of a first GF and couldn't back it up in 1993.

 

[Roobs321]

I'm ignoring the dynasties, because that isn't really what this thread is about. Focusing on individual seasons.

Essendon 2000, simply because they were clearly the best side from pre-season to post-GF. Geelong 07 were scary from Round 6 on. 1995 was a reasonably strong year so Carlton still had a little competition to deal with there.

If St Kilda had won the 2009 Grand final comfortably I would probably choose them, as it was close to a perfect season save a slight dip in August. Maybe not the scariest, but a masterpiece in the making. They conceded 367 less points than the 2nd best defensive team during that H&A season.

 

[Wojcinski]

Essendon 2000 for me. They just seemed so unbeatable, and the one game they did lose required a completely new strategy.