BEST SANFL players

RIG, correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it 1974 when Robran had his knee injury?
I know he made a comeback over a few years. But how long do you think he would have played if unencumbered? And would we have seen maybe a couple more medals?

Hindsight is wonderful, but imagine what his career might have finished with if he had played until about 1980.

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:RIG, correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it 1974 when Robran had his knee injury?
I know he made a comeback over a few years. But how long do you think he would have played if unencumbered? And would we have seen maybe a couple more medals?

Hindsight is wonderful, but imagine what his career might have finished with if he had played until about 1980.

He did his knee on June 1st 1974. He did in fact play again after about 8 weeks but he was only a shadow of his former self. I think that it is safe to say he would have won the 1974 Magarey Medal if he stayed sound. He still ran third in that medal.

He tried to play up until 1980 but he never could reproduce his best. He had a great game agaist Port in 1976 where he kicked 6 goals. In 1978 at Richmond he played a good game in a team that were thrashed. The next day on World Of Sport the West coach Fos Williams said "Barrie I wish you would tell everyone out there the pain you are suffering today." Barrie just replied "I'm not too bad thanks Fos?"

He played 50 games in the 6 years after his injury.

Given his lean build you would have expected him to have played until he was 35 or so as his contemporaries Cornes, Blight and Ebert did, if not for the injury.

Sturt team of the century

WAYE..........MORTON.........BARON
GRAHAM......HALBERT........GOODCHILD
BURGAN......RICHARDSON..SCRUTTON
SHEARMAN...FITZGERALD...SCHOFF
ADCOCK.......GOLDING.......RILEY

DAVIES........BAGSHAW......LANGLEY

INTERCHANGE
CUMBERLAND
MAYMAN
MOTLEY
RENFREY

COACH
J OATEY

Of the ones Ive seen from the late 60s onwards
My top ten , but easily might have missed some good uns
1 RICK JUMBO DAVIES
2 PAUL BAGGY MR MAGIC BAGSHAW
3 PETER  MOTLEY
4 MICHAEL FLASH GRAHAM
5 BOB SHEARMAN
6 ROBERT KLOMP
7 KENNY WHELAN
8 MICK NUNAN
9 TODD VINEY
10 DAMIEN SQUIRE

Before my time was the career of John Halbert
If you look at how well he polled in medal counts, he must have been one heck of a footballer

If I could watch a Sturt player at a very best on day , I would want to see Kenny Whelan
He was Tony Modraesque

Yeah Kenny was a freak with his high marks. Met him about 5 or 6 years ago at Adelaide Oval. Had a grip like a python. Sadly passed away a few years ago.

I didn't really see Halbert either. But have met him a few times in the last 10 years at the footy. Considering he played Half forward he is only about 180cm.

Nunan would have been in my top 5, but I still haven't forgiven him for 1978!

Scrappy wrote:Sturt team of the century

WAYE..........MORTON.........BARON
GRAHAM......HALBERT........GOODCHILD
BURGAN......RICHARDSON..SCRUTTON
SHEARMAN...FITZGERALD...SCHOFF
ADCOCK.......GOLDING.......RILEY

DAVIES........BAGSHAW......LANGLEY

INTERCHANGE
CUMBERLAND
MAYMAN
MOTLEY
RENFREY

COACH
J OATEY

Of the ones Ive seen from the late 60s onwards
My top ten , but easily might have missed some good uns
1 RICK JUMBO DAVIES
2 PAUL BAGGY MR MAGIC BAGSHAW
3 PETER  MOTLEY
4 MICHAEL FLASH GRAHAM
5 BOB SHEARMAN
6 ROBERT KLOMP
7 KENNY WHELAN
8 MICK NUNAN
9 TODD VINEY
10 DAMIEN SQUIRE

Before my time was the career of John Halbert
If you look at how well he polled in medal counts, he must have been one heck of a footballer

If I could watch a Sturt player at a very best on day , I would want to see Kenny Whelan
He was Tony Modraesque

Given that Schoff, Burgan and Adcock all made Sturt's team of the century, I think that they should all be in your list Scrappy. I would have thought John Murphy, Brenton Miels and Sandy Nelson would all have just about been in your list. They were all much better players than a couple of the blokes you have named.

Diamond Jim Tilbrook hasn't got a mention yet. My memory of him is of a very dangerous half forward but too often had long quiet patches. But he was one of very few who went over and played in the VFL in those days, so he must have been highly talented?

Flag No.10 wrote:Diamond Jim Tilbrook hasn't got a mention yet. My memory of him is of a very dangerous half forward but too often had long quiet patches. But he was one of very few who went over and played in the VFL in those days, so he must have been highly talented?

Fantastic player in finals for Sturt but never really made it in Melbourne.

Not that his lifestyle was like a couple of players mentioned in this post before but let's just say he enjoyed the high life. He could get away with it at Sturt but not in Melbourne.

On his Sturt form certainly a player worthy of beong in any top 10 liat of players of "our era" at Sturt.

From Port Adelaide, Craig Bradley, Scott Hodges, Tim Evans and Greg Phillips all stand very close behind the greatest of all, R Ebert.

Port Team of the Century

F Scott Hodges, Tim Evans, Bob Quinn
HF Dave Boyd, "Bro" Dayman, Harold Oliver
C Craig Bradley, Russell Ebert, John Cahill
HB Neville Hayes, Greg Phillips, Geof Motley
FB Dick Russell, John Abley, Ted Whelan

Foll Russell Johnston, "Bull" Reval, Fos Williams
Int Harry Phillips, Jeff Potter, Peter Woite, Lloyd Zucker

Coach Fos Williams

Booney wrote:Your best ever Westies player, Lee?

And please take into account post and pre-AFL era.

From the pre-1920's (and not counting players who played just as much for other teams).

H R 'Dick' Head clearly.  J J McCarthy.

1920's - Bruce McGregor.  Can't fairly rate Snell, Barnes, etc.

then Jack Broadstock.

Late 40's to 60's:  Bernie Smith, Brian Faehse, Neil Kerley, Ken Eustice, Robert Day. Colin Smith, Jack Lynch, Stan Costello.

70's to 80's: Bruce Lindner, Grantley Fielke, Peter Meuret, Roger Luders, Craig Williams, Mark Mickan, Geoff Morris, Ian Borchard (and several 83 players), Bob Loveday.

Last 20 years or so: Ryan Ferguson, Jono Beech (yes, I think he's that good).

Haven't counted Rehn, Modra, Edwards, Ricciuto, Rutten, Cooney, etc.

So:

For all-round, consistent ability:

Head
McGregor
Kerley
Eustice
Faehse
Day
Ferguson

For sheer brilliance:

Broadstock
Lindner
Meuret
Luders

That's off the top of my head, so I've probably left out some really obvious ones.

Oh, I agree with Flaggy about bernie Smith.

I might soon select a best overall side of West AFL players. It would be pretty formidable.

PS: I forgot a goalkicker from the 1930's (Hamilton?) who was terrific, but got disqualified when in his prime. An interesting story, I'll look it up.

From the archives, by CK a while back:


This was an article I wrote for the 2010 SANFL Season Guide, and thought it worth reprinting here as a point of debate.

This was one of the toughest tasks I've ever undertaken in all my time in SANFL media, so feel free to debate, argue, point out obvious missing players etc.

Criteria applied as follows:

- No player with less than 50 SANFL games (hence no Nathan Buckley, among many others)

- Sustained performance over a reasonable time period - so there will be a number of Magarey Medallists who had one or two exceptional seasons, but otherwise, not sustained form, not included.

- Players who polled well in the Medal over a number of years; won multiple best and fairests/Medals for Best Afield in State games; sustained State selection were closely considered.

- Players from all eras were considered equally with no conscious decision for a "quota" from any era or club. Playing ONLY was looked at, not coaching records.

The other intangible to look at, is that I, and many of us, have not seen some of these players play, either live or in archival footage, so it relies upon playing records/anecdotal evidence/press coverage at the time.


1. BARRIE RORBAN (North Adelaide): Hard to argue against the number one selection. Simply put, Robran was near incomparable at his peak before a devastating knee injury dramatically slowed his prodigious output. Wonderful hands, fantastic disposal and three Magarey Medals says it all.

2. KEN FARMER (North Adelaide): Set amazing goalkicking benchmarks that, simply, will never be broken in senior football. To kick 100 goals in a season on eleven consecutive occasions, often double or triple teamed, is testament to his incredible abilities and consistency in rewarding his teammates.

3. RUSSELL EBERT (Port Adelaide): The only four time Magarey Medallist – a record never likely to be broken – and maintained a high standard throughout a decorated career. Classy disposal and able to work out of trouble very well, he was a pivotal reason for Port’s success throughout the 70’s.

4. LINDSAY HEAD (West Torrens): One of the best of his era, Head’s creativity for West Torrens gave him the title or arguably the best player to pull on the blue and gold. Also able to play a number of positions, his clearance work and pinpoint disposal had some of the best evasive skills to keep winning the ball.

5. PAUL BAGSHAW (Sturt): Arguably the best player never to win a Medal, Bagshaw’s sublime output through Sturt’s golden era of the 60’s and 70’s was a prime reason for their success. Able to play up forward in the twilight of his career, he rarely wasted a possession and was able to play a variety of roles.

6. MALCOLM BLIGHT (Woodville): While VFL interrupted his SANFL career for some time, the performance on either side was breathtaking. To kick 126 goals in a bottom team at the age of 35 in 1986 was testament to his quick mind, evasive skills and pure skills on both sides of the body. His output prior to leaving for the VFL was enough alone to list him as Woodville’s greatest ever.

7. IAN MCKAY (North Adelaide): One of the all time great full backs, his containing roles on John Coleman in state football remain legend. He was very rarely beaten at any level and his high leaping and athleticism forced opposition forwards to work on containing his output. Also an exceptional leader, one of the best defenders produced by South Australia.

8. LEN FITZGERALD (Sturt): To win three Magarey Medals from only 125 games indicates his huge impact, fairness and ability to continually win one-on-one contests. Averaging 1.6 goals a match, his leadership skills were exceptional and despite standing out of football for three years, he was able to return in peak form.

9. PETER CAREY (Glenelg): It may be argued that there were better ruckmen who played considerably less games, but for sheer consistency over an South Australian record 448 matches, his record is impossible to ignore. Still playing great football at the end, his bodywork, clever tapwork and ability to match it with all comers brings him high on the list.

10. TOM LEAHY (West Adelaide/North Adelaide): One of the pre-eminent ruckmen in SANFL, his bodywork, athleticism and ability to cope with all different styles of ruckwork set the bar for all future big men to meet. Playing with great distinction for both West and North, he remains one of the most capped State players of all time in SA.

11. Rick Davies (Sturt)
12. Bob Hank (West Torrens)
13. Dan Moriarty (South Adelaide)
14. Bob Quinn (Port Adelaide)
15. Walter “Wacka” Scott (Norwood)
16. Tim Evans (Port Adelaide)
17. Tom Mackenzie (West Torrens/North Adelaide)
18. Jim Deane (South Adelaide)
19. Garry McIntosh (Norwood)
20. Graham Cornes (Glenelg)
21. John Abley (Port Adelaide)
22. John C. (Dinny) Reedman (South Adelaide/North Adelaide)
23. Stephen Kernahan (Glenelg)
24. Brenton Adcock (Sturt)
25. D.K (Fred) Phillis (Glenelg)
26. Ken Eustice (West Adelaide/Central District/Glenelg)
27. John Halbert (Sturt)
28. John Cahill (Port Adelaide)
29. Bruce Schulz (Norwood)
30. Neil Kerley (West Adelaide/Glenelg)
31. Peter Darley (South Adelaide)
32. Jack Owens (Glenelg)
33. Jack Tredrea (Port Adelaide)
34. Fos Williams (Port Adelaide)
35. John Platten (Central District)
36. Bruce McGregor (West Adelaide)
37. Andrew Jarman (North Adelaide/Norwood)
38. Michael Graham (Sturt)
39. Anthony “Bos” Daly (Norwood/South Adelaide/West Torrens/West Adel/North Adel)
40. Michael Taylor (Norwood)
41. Frank Golding (Sturt)
42. “Shine” Hosking (Port Adelaide)
43. Don Lindner (North Adelaide)
44. Chris and James Gowans (Central District)
45. Ron Phillips (North Adelaide)
46. Michael Aish (Norwood)
47. Scott Hodges (Port Adelaide)
48. Gary Window (Central District)
49. Bill Wedding (Norwood)
50. H.R Head (West Adelaide/Glenelg)

The list has 51 players.
I never like when the Gowans are simply thrown together as interchangeable.
I bet they don't like it much either.

Just a pet gripe!

With all due respect to CK's SANFL knowledge, I can't have the Gowans' ahead of both Hodges and M Aish.

Lee wrote:

Booney wrote:Your best ever Westies player, Lee?

And please take into account post and pre-AFL era.

From the pre-1920's (and not counting players who played just as much for other teams).

H R 'Dick' Head clearly.  J J McCarthy.

1920's - Bruce McGregor.  Can't fairly rate Snell, Barnes, etc.

then Jack Broadstock.

Late 40's to 60's:  Bernie Smith, Brian Faehse, Neil Kerley, Ken Eustice, Robert Day. Colin Smith, Jack Lynch, Stan Costello.

70's to 80's: Bruce Lindner, Grantley Fielke, Peter Meuret, Roger Luders, Craig Williams, Mark Mickan, Geoff Morris, Ian Borchard (and several 83 players), Bob Loveday.

Last 20 years or so: Ryan Ferguson, Jono Beech (yes, I think he's that good).

Haven't counted Rehn, Modra, Edwards, Ricciuto, Rutten, Cooney, etc.

So:

For all-round, consistent ability:

Head
McGregor
Kerley
Eustice
Faehse
Day
Ferguson

For sheer brilliance:

Broadstock
Lindner
Meuret
Luders

That's off the top of my head, so I've probably left out some really obvious ones.

Oh, I agree with Flaggy about bernie Smith.

I might soon select a best overall side of West AFL players. It would be pretty formidable.

PS: I forgot a goalkicker from the 1930's (Hamilton?) who was terrific, but got disqualified when in his prime.  An interesting story, I'll look it up.

The forward you forgot about from the early 1930s was Dickie Bennetts. He was a relative of Jeff Bennetts and Jeff's son, is it Craig Bennetts.

I don't believe that West did a team of the 20th century, but I have always thought that Port, North and West would have had the strongest "teams of the century" quite easily.

Booney wrote:With all due respect to CK's SANFL knowledge, I can't have the Gowans' ahead of both Hodges and M Aish.

Totally agree, I would have had Aish higher.

Lee wrote:From the archives, by CK a while back:


This was an article I wrote for the 2010 SANFL Season Guide, and thought it worth reprinting here as a point of debate.

This was one of the toughest tasks I've ever undertaken in all my time in SANFL media, so feel free to debate, argue, point out obvious missing players etc.

Criteria applied as follows:

- No player with less than 50 SANFL games (hence no Nathan Buckley, among many others)

- Sustained performance over a reasonable time period - so there will be a number of Magarey Medallists who had one or two exceptional seasons, but otherwise, not sustained form, not included.

- Players who polled well in the Medal over a number of years; won multiple best and fairests/Medals for Best Afield in State games; sustained State selection were closely considered.

- Players from all eras were considered equally with no conscious decision for a "quota" from any era or club. Playing ONLY was looked at, not coaching records.

The other intangible to look at, is that I, and many of us, have not seen some of these players play, either live or in archival footage, so it relies upon playing records/anecdotal evidence/press coverage at the time.


1. BARRIE RORBAN (North Adelaide): Hard to argue against the number one selection. Simply put, Robran was near incomparable at his peak before a devastating knee injury dramatically slowed his prodigious output. Wonderful hands, fantastic disposal and three Magarey Medals says it all.

2. KEN FARMER (North Adelaide): Set amazing goalkicking benchmarks that, simply, will never be broken in senior football. To kick 100 goals in a season on eleven consecutive occasions, often double or triple teamed, is testament to his incredible abilities and consistency in rewarding his teammates.

3. RUSSELL EBERT (Port Adelaide): The only four time Magarey Medallist – a record never likely to be broken – and maintained a high standard throughout a decorated career. Classy disposal and able to work out of trouble very well, he was a pivotal reason for Port’s success throughout the 70’s.

4. LINDSAY HEAD (West Torrens): One of the best of his era, Head’s creativity for West Torrens gave him the title or arguably the best player to pull on the blue and gold. Also able to play a number of positions, his clearance work and pinpoint disposal had some of the best evasive skills to keep winning the ball.

5. PAUL BAGSHAW (Sturt): Arguably the best player never to win a Medal, Bagshaw’s sublime output through Sturt’s golden era of the 60’s and 70’s was a prime reason for their success. Able to play up forward in the twilight of his career, he rarely wasted a possession and was able to play a variety of roles.

6. MALCOLM BLIGHT (Woodville): While VFL interrupted his SANFL career for some time, the performance on either side was breathtaking. To kick 126 goals in a bottom team at the age of 35 in 1986 was testament to his quick mind, evasive skills and pure skills on both sides of the body. His output prior to leaving for the VFL was enough alone to list him as Woodville’s greatest ever.

7. IAN MCKAY (North Adelaide): One of the all time great full backs, his containing roles on John Coleman in state football remain legend. He was very rarely beaten at any level and his high leaping and athleticism forced opposition forwards to work on containing his output. Also an exceptional leader, one of the best defenders produced by South Australia.

8. LEN FITZGERALD (Sturt): To win three Magarey Medals from only 125 games indicates his huge impact, fairness and ability to continually win one-on-one contests. Averaging 1.6 goals a match, his leadership skills were exceptional and despite standing out of football for three years, he was able to return in peak form.

9. PETER CAREY (Glenelg): It may be argued that there were better ruckmen who played considerably less games, but for sheer consistency over an South Australian record 448 matches, his record is impossible to ignore. Still playing great football at the end, his bodywork, clever tapwork and ability to match it with all comers brings him high on the list.

10. TOM LEAHY (West Adelaide/North Adelaide): One of the pre-eminent ruckmen in SANFL, his bodywork, athleticism and ability to cope with all different styles of ruckwork set the bar for all future big men to meet. Playing with great distinction for both West and North, he remains one of the most capped State players of all time in SA.

11. Rick Davies (Sturt)
12. Bob Hank (West Torrens)
13. Dan Moriarty (South Adelaide)
14. Bob Quinn (Port Adelaide)
15. Walter “Wacka” Scott (Norwood)
16. Tim Evans (Port Adelaide)
17. Tom Mackenzie (West Torrens/North Adelaide)
18. Jim Deane (South Adelaide)
19. Garry McIntosh (Norwood)
20. Graham Cornes (Glenelg)
21. John Abley (Port Adelaide)
22. John C. (Dinny) Reedman (South Adelaide/North Adelaide)
23. Stephen Kernahan (Glenelg)
24. Brenton Adcock (Sturt)
25. D.K (Fred) Phillis (Glenelg)
26. Ken Eustice (West Adelaide/Central District/Glenelg)
27. John Halbert (Sturt)
28. John Cahill (Port Adelaide)
29. Bruce Schulz (Norwood)
30. Neil Kerley (West Adelaide/Glenelg)
31. Peter Darley (South Adelaide)
32. Jack Owens (Glenelg)
33. Jack Tredrea (Port Adelaide)
34. Fos Williams (Port Adelaide)
35. John Platten (Central District)
36. Bruce McGregor (West Adelaide)
37. Andrew Jarman (North Adelaide/Norwood)
38. Michael Graham (Sturt)
39. Anthony “Bos” Daly (Norwood/South Adelaide/West Torrens/West Adel/North Adel)
40. Michael Taylor (Norwood)
41. Frank Golding (Sturt)
42. “Shine” Hosking (Port Adelaide)
43. Don Lindner (North Adelaide)
44. Chris and James Gowans (Central District)
45. Ron Phillips (North Adelaide)
46. Michael Aish (Norwood)
47. Scott Hodges (Port Adelaide)
48. Gary Window (Central District)
49. Bill Wedding (Norwood)
50. H.R Head (West Adelaide/Glenelg)

I have never spoken to an old time West Torrens supporter or player from them or other clubs from that era who had Lindsay Head ahead of Bob Hank.

Gary Window was by no means the worst footballer to win a Magarey medal, but he wouldn't be in the top 150 players that I have seen, let alone in the top 50 of all time.

Despite the Adcock selection, I think that Kingston and Coward, professional journalists both, got much closer to the truth.

From a North Adelaide perspective how CK could have had Don Lindner as low as 43 is mind blowing. Kingston and Coward had Bagshaw at 29 and Lindner at 30, CK has Bagshaw at 5 and Lindner at 43, much too big a disparity there. Lindner was definitely a better player than Cornes also.

"Bos" Daly, 5 clubs, what was his story?

Booney wrote:"Bos" Daly, 5 clubs, what was his story?

From 1899 onwards club boundaries came into full operation and players had to play for the district in which they resided.

Daly must have shifted houses a lot. Even though he had previously played at Norwood, in 1899 he must have resided in South's area before short stints in Torrens and West's area before finally moving into a property in North's area. The famous test cricketer, Ernie Jones was another from that time who seemed to move around a lot. I have never been able to work out how he managed to captain North's first premiership in his only year at the club.

In terms of Port's Team of the Century, was Lloyd Zucker really a better footballer than Ron Elleway?

robranisgod wrote:

Scrappy wrote:Sturt team of the century

WAYE..........MORTON.........BARON
GRAHAM......HALBERT........GOODCHILD
BURGAN......RICHARDSON..SCRUTTON
SHEARMAN...FITZGERALD...SCHOFF
ADCOCK.......GOLDING.......RILEY

DAVIES........BAGSHAW......LANGLEY

INTERCHANGE
CUMBERLAND
MAYMAN
MOTLEY
RENFREY

COACH
J OATEY

Of the ones Ive seen from the late 60s onwards
My top ten , but easily might have missed some good uns
1 RICK JUMBO DAVIES
2 PAUL BAGGY MR MAGIC BAGSHAW
3 PETER  MOTLEY
4 MICHAEL FLASH GRAHAM
5 BOB SHEARMAN
6 ROBERT KLOMP
7 KENNY WHELAN
8 MICK NUNAN
9 TODD VINEY
10 DAMIEN SQUIRE

Before my time was the career of John Halbert
If you look at how well he polled in medal counts, he must have been one heck of a footballer

If I could watch a Sturt player at a very best on day , I would want to see Kenny Whelan
He was Tony Modraesque

Given that Schoff, Burgan  and Adcock all made Sturt's team of the century, I think that they should all be in your list Scrappy. I would have thought John Murphy, Brenton Miels and Sandy Nelson would all have just about been in your list. They were all much better players than a couple of the blokes you have named.

RIG
Ive based my assessments on the players I have seen enough of
Schoff and Adcock I saw at the tail end of their careers , so I cant give a concise opinion
Burgan was a good enough player to consider

I can't quite come to grips with CK's selection of Tim Evans as the 16th greatest SANFL player. Dozens of places too high, IMO, although CK researches very well.

Brenton Adcock way, way, way too high and Bob Hank by all reports was better than Lindsay Head. I saw Head - very skilled, but an umpires' pet and well looked after, not taking anything away from his brilliance. Certainly nowhere near the 4th best player ever.

I know it's a highly unpopular view, but I don't rate Paul Bagshaw quite as highly as some. Let me qualify that - he was a wonderful player and certainly well up the list, but not top 6 or 8 of all time, IMO. Malcolm Blight was better than several higher than him.

Interesting that Gary McIntosh is much higher than Neil Kerley. I'm a big Macca fan, but I know who I'd pick first, even allowing for West bias.

I applaud CK for daring to have Ken Farmer higher than Russell Ebert. This is splitting hairs, but I agree with him.

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:Here are my top 4 based only players I have seen at Sturt for their length of career at the club. IE from about 1969 onwards.

Davies
Bagshaw
Graham
Motley

The fifth spot could go to any of Sandy Nelson (7 premierships in 12 years ain't a bad return), Colin Casey, Brendan Howard or Robbert Klomp. I didn't see a lot of Adcock.

I was only thinking last night, that for all greatness of Sturt's glory years, from 1970 - late 1980's there must be a sense of underachievement given you had so many great players in that timeframe, and were regularly around the mark. I know there were flags in 74' and 76', and 78' is well documented, but that Golden period at Unley really could have stretched on a bit longer, because you had some absolute champions. I guess given it was such a great period for the SANFL, there were plenty of great players across all clubs.

Here's John Halbert's thoughts on the greatest Sturt players:

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/local-footy-sa/sanfl/sturt/sturt-has-had-many-superstars-but-who-is-the-best-of-them-all/news-story/7ab52399667b2ccf2460ea82c651e49f

Interesting that Peter Motley isn't in his best 5. I agree with him on that.

I don't think Motley played enough footy to be in the best 5 .. He may well have ended up there because he was such a star, but he still had a lot of years of great football to play, to leapfrog several from his club.

Fitzgerald and Davies certainly above Bagshaw.

Baggy certainly had his great games. But I think I remember more of the flashiness of what he did, rather than the amount of it.

In terms of overall taking games apart the other 2 would have been better.

Interestingly, Davies 7 club champs, Bagshaw 5 and Fitzgerald 3.

I think number 5 on the list is flattering to Baggy.
Unfortunately from a Magarey perspective, in the period he was at his peak (1966-1976), 2 blokes by the names of Robran and Ebert kept dominating more.
I don't think he would trade any of his 7 premierships in this period for a medal somehow!

I bet Halbert is quietly spewing he retired half way through the 5 premiership era!