- Jun 23, 2004
- 13,506
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- AFL Club
- Adelaide
One way to gauge the strength of a premership side is by looking at what they were up against. The genuinely good sides since 1997 (when the competition commenced in its current form), you'd say, were:
1997: St Kilda, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide, Geelong, North Melbourne (who admittedly battled for much of the year with injuries to Carey and Corey).
1998: North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, Adelaide, St Kilda.
1999: Essendon, Kangaroos, Brisbane, West Coast. Many tend to forget how electrifying the Lions were in 1999, whilst WCE were top of the table fodder for the first 15 or so weeks.
2000: Essendon, Carlton.
2001: Brisbane, Essendon, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn.
2002: Brisbane, Port Adelaide. Collingwood and Adelaide were good for much of the year without being awesome, and Essendon had the names, but they didn't match their talent. Didn't mind the Dees that year, either.
2003: Port Adelaide, Collingwood, Brisbane. Sydney were good, but not brilliant, as were Adelaide.
2004: St Kilda, Port Adelaide, Brisbane.
2005: West Coast, Adelaide, Sydney.
2006: West Coast, Adelaide, Sydney, Fremantle.
2007: Geelong, West Coast. Collingwood were consistent, Port flashy but hardly awesome (again, just IMO).
2008: Geelong, Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs.
On that basis alone, I'd say that 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2006 had the best fields (if we were talking Melbourne Cups), perhaps giving greater value to the flags won in those seasons. Then again, maybe not.
1997: St Kilda, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide, Geelong, North Melbourne (who admittedly battled for much of the year with injuries to Carey and Corey).
1998: North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, Adelaide, St Kilda.
1999: Essendon, Kangaroos, Brisbane, West Coast. Many tend to forget how electrifying the Lions were in 1999, whilst WCE were top of the table fodder for the first 15 or so weeks.
2000: Essendon, Carlton.
2001: Brisbane, Essendon, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn.
2002: Brisbane, Port Adelaide. Collingwood and Adelaide were good for much of the year without being awesome, and Essendon had the names, but they didn't match their talent. Didn't mind the Dees that year, either.
2003: Port Adelaide, Collingwood, Brisbane. Sydney were good, but not brilliant, as were Adelaide.
2004: St Kilda, Port Adelaide, Brisbane.
2005: West Coast, Adelaide, Sydney.
2006: West Coast, Adelaide, Sydney, Fremantle.
2007: Geelong, West Coast. Collingwood were consistent, Port flashy but hardly awesome (again, just IMO).
2008: Geelong, Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs.
On that basis alone, I'd say that 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2006 had the best fields (if we were talking Melbourne Cups), perhaps giving greater value to the flags won in those seasons. Then again, maybe not.
