Gavin Wanganeen
When I was around 10 years old, I used to have the old No.4 on my back for Essendon. He was described as ‘the rubber man’ at times. He’d spoil the ball and fall over and bounce straight back up. When he won the Brownlow and premiership and All-Australian in ’93 – that was when I really noticed Wanganeen.
Stephen Silvagni
Full-back of the century. Him tearing his hamstring off the bone is my most vivid memory of SOS! He would always get a hand in. He could take a good mark forward and kick goals as well.
Glenn Archer
I remember watching videos at under-16 level, playing for Vic Country. Every highlights video you’d see, you’d see Archer doing some inspirational thing. To get named shinboner of the century is a fair pump-up.
HALF-BACKS
Anthony Koutoufides
He was probably one of the first tall, running midfielders. He could just run all day and take pack marks. I’ll never forget Kouta dominating the last quarter of the 1999 preliminary final to help get the Blues over the line to beat Essendon by one point.
Glen Jakovich
Man mountain, huge. His duals with Wayne Carey were massive and I think he had the best record against Carey out of all people during that era.
James Hird
Being Essendon growing up, I watched a fair bit of him. He was almost a graceful footballer, like he was in slow motion. He just saw the game at a different speed and could read it at a different speed.
CENTRES
Peter Matera
He was super quick, used to kick some great running goals from outside 50. It was during that really successful West Coast era, and he was really exciting. I really enjoyed watching him play.
Nathan Buckley
I’ve just finished reading Bucks’s book, which was really interesting, reading about his drive to succeed and for his own perfection. In terms of those long, penetrating kicks, I’ve never seen anyone kick like Buckley.
Craig Bradley
A powerful, gut-running midfielder who ended up playing 350 games or something, and a lot of South Australian senior footy as well. That boomerang goal he kicked right on the corner of the 50 and the boundary line – everyone in the schoolyard was trying that for a while.
HALF-FORWARDS
Gary Ablett Sr
Probably the best player I’ve ever seen. Me and Dad used to go and watch Geelong play when they were at home. Whenever the ball came down everyone would just stand up, seeing what he was going to do.
Wayne Carey
The best ever (some say, anyway). He was one of those players that could just change a game by himself. He made captain so many times in the All-Australian teams and he was incredibly powerful.
Mark Ricciuto
He was tough and hard at the contest. A real strong body and could win a heap of the ball and also kick a bag of goals. He was that real strong, tall midfielder that could turn a game.
FORWARDS
Jason Dunstall
I remember that song when I was growing up – ‘Lead out, chest mark, kick a goal’ – which is what he did on the way to 1254 career goals. Apparently he had explosive pace. Everyone always said he was hard to defend because of how quick he was.
Tony Lockett
My greatest memory of Plugger would be that bloke (Sydney Swan Peter Caven) he cleaned up, who ended up with a compound fracture of the nose. He was unbelievably intimidating in the forward line. I think he’d make all backmen pretty nervous.
Darren Jarman
He was all class. He could find targets anywhere. He’d hang that ball in the air for a little bit and then drill it in somewhere. They say good players step up in big games and those two grand finals, kicking six and five goals, was unbelievable.
FOLLOWERS
Jim Stynes
Two All-Australians, a Brownlow and 244 games straight was a great effort. He was a really mobile ruckman who could pick up a lot of possessions as well as do the tap work.
Michael Voss
From when I was around 16 and really starting to concentrate on football, he was one of my favourite players. He was so tough and hard at the ball and he could really turn a game. In the 2002 grand final he got cleaned up by Scott Burns and then handballed to Black and they got a goal, and that was massive.
Robert Harvey
The running machine. His running ability’s incredible, I’d say nearly the best ever. You used to hear stories about him running 10 km after every training session. He just took elite endurance in the AFL to another level.
INTERCHANGE
Greg Williams
His lightning quick hands, especially with his lack of pace – how he found the ball, how often he found the ball, just shows how well he could read the game. His fight to get onto an AFL list and succeed with a number of setbacks is a great story.
Scott West
He had quick hands and could dish it out in an instant to someone in a better position. When I got to Richmond, he was the player I looked at, such a good in-close player, which is what I was trying to become.
Michael Long
His running goal in the ‘93 grand final is probably the first thing I remember of Long. He was just exciting, the way he used to take the game on. As a young kid it was always exciting when he got the ball.
Shane Crawford
Someone I’ve watched really closely, trying to play like him for a long time. His running capacity is incredible. It was a great end for him to get that premiership with the final game. He’s done it so well for a number of years.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
