1982 Premiers vs 2012 Also Rans

[Monkey King]

Doull wouldn't take Hansen though. He'd take Petrie, would cartons 1982 second and third tall defenders able to beat tarant and Hansen?

Nope. Out of that team, Val Perovic would most likely take Petrie. But let's not forget, if you're talking about defenders second to Doull and we're discussing seasons rather than games, that Geoff Southby was part of the 1982 team, playing until injured in the finals series; and he is one of the best fullbacks to have ever played. So here we'd have Val Perovic taking Petrie, Doull moving out to the HB line to take Hansen and Southby likely on Tarrant. I tell you what, I really like those match-ups.

 

[Debris]

Fair call, but then it depends on how much you rate footy smarts. Hunter, Doull and Maclure were all very very smart players.

Let's just look at Doull for a minute. I don't know about his beep test scores or how much he could bench press, but what I do know is that even without the level of fitness training today, he was (and still would be) an amazingly fit athlete who could go all day, had a yard of pace, deceptively strong and knew how to use his physical gifts to their best advantage.

But he had things that cannot be taught, things that no matter how fit or strong the opposition is, you can still use them to consistently beat that kind of opposition. Aside from having genuine class, his balance, judgement and anticipation both in the air and on the ground have been unsurpassed.

So while someone like Petrie would have him covered in size and strength, Doull would still have the pace to stay with him, and enough strength, agility and judgement to beat Petrie one on one consistently, and once the ball hit the ground, it wouldn't be a contest, Doull would abuse him.

And there's the other thing. Doull also had vision, awareness and skill to punish any player he felt like running off all day long.

The problem I have with this whole debate is that it has entirely been based on the fitness of players then and now.

If we were talking about the Olympics then I'd 100% agree, but footy is a team thing, and more things come into play than just fitness. The elements of the argument that would have a bigger say as far as i'm concerned is whether this match up is occurring with 1982 rules and 2012 rules.

Exactly. It should be pretty obvious to everyone that with a much larger population to pick from and better talent identification, the talent level of the players these days absolutely crushes that available in 1982. This is before you include other factors such as improvements in coaching, better equipment, better social support structures, better injury management and, of course, better fitness/strength. The rules are not going to matter if you have such a mismatch.

 

[CharlieMortdecai]

You know, I'm going to back the 1982 premiers in against the Dees. Assuming they go through a hole in the fabric of time and space. If it's Carlton's 1982 premiership side today I want a 2 goal start.