Cats top 10 players since 2000

[Goggin Our Best]

For me:

1. Selwood - from start to finish, he didn't just play for the club, he made the club.
2. Hawkins - He and Selwood very hard to split for me. Both legends. Hawkins brought teammates into the game in a way that you just don't see from a dominant key forward. Tom played more games but Sel gets in ahead because of the captaincy.
3. Ablett Jnr - simply a star who at his peak could not be contained. The envy of the competition. Can only judge on the years at the cats and those years were something special.
4. Enright - gets in ahead of a few others because of the longevity of his career. So super reliable. Master of defence and attack all at once.
5. Bartel - biggest of big game players. So cool under pressure. So courageous.
6. Scarlett - revolutionised the FB position at his peak when he could play on no1 key forwards and still destroy opposition with his attacking set-ups. Later became more of an interceptor and backline general.
7. Dangerfield - what can you say? The nature of Danger is.. irrepressible!
8. Taylor - the names of the key forwards he shut down week after week and in the biggest games says it all for me. Generally underrated what he did for the club.
9. Stewart - Doesn't quite knock Enright or Scarlo off their perches... yet.. If he can lead the club to another flag as VC while mastering a totally new role, I will reconsider.
10. Ling - Last spot is hard. Never a flashy player Ling. He gets my tick because of his captaincy, at a critical period for the club, and his on-field importance to the team. I love players who do the hard jobs and make those around them better players. Ling went head-to-head with the competition's best midfielders most weeks and usually won. No team gets to play the scintillating football we did without players like that.

Totally agree with your Number One , had him joint best

However there is no way known that Bartel or Enrght were better than Dangerfield , not a chance in hell

If the season was still going , you could put Dangerfield at the ripe old age of 34 into say NthMelb team ,and they are instantly a 3-4 goal better team

Look how ordinary Geel went when he missed the 5 games

 

[standupand]

Totally agree with your Number One , had him joint best

However there is no way known that Bartel or Enrght were better than Dangerfield , not a chance in hell

If the season was still going , you could put Dangerfield at the ripe old age of 34 into say NthMelb team ,and they are instantly a 3-4 goal better team

Look how ordinary Geel went when he missed the 5 games

Such a charismatic player Danger, the way he plays. The fact nearly half his career was at a rival club means it's hard for me to put him above those others. Captaining a cats premiership side would maybe change that.

 

[Mr Meow]

Such a charismatic player Danger, the way he plays. The fact nearly half his career was at a rival club means it's hard for me to put him above those others. Captaining a cats premiership side would maybe change that.

He's been the main factor along with Scott for remaining a contender long after we shouldn't have been, for almost every season 2016-2024. Dangerfield has prolonged Geelong's time as a very, very good football club and been a central figure in carrying some mediocre sides to great seasons.

 

[iameviljez]

Such a charismatic player Danger, the way he plays. The fact nearly half his career was at a rival club means it's hard for me to put him above those others. Captaining a cats premiership side would maybe change that.

I find this argument about Dangerfield to be a little old-fashioned, to be honest.

He didn't choose to be picked by Adelaide, and he basically moved at the first good opportunity once he'd served his time at Adelaide (i.e. not doing an Ollie Henry, Tanner Bruhn etc and shifting after two years). He has then had nine utterly superb seasons of high-level performance at Geelong, and will probably get one more season after this at near-elite level.

That's more seasons of excellent football than we got out of, say, Bairstow, Couch or Stoneham.

 

[standupand]

I find this argument about Dangerfield to be a little old-fashioned, to be honest.

He didn't choose to be picked by Adelaide, and he basically moved at the first good opportunity once he'd served his time at Adelaide (i.e. not doing an Ollie Henry, Tanner Bruhn etc and shifting after two years). He has then had nine utterly superb seasons of high-level performance at Geelong, and will probably get one more season after this at near-elite level.

That's more seasons of excellent football than we got out of, say, Bairstow, Couch or Stoneham.

I approached it based simply on my own personal view of the strength of each player and what they had achieved at Geelong since 2000.

Others might have different ways to approach it. But is it "old-fashioned" just to focus on the contribution to the club itself when we're talking greatest Geelong players?

I mean Enright was 6xAA for example for the cats, played 332 games and was pivotal in 3 premierships during his career at the club. Dangerfield 8x AA, but 5x at the cats and 3x at crows, 150+ games at each club and a key to the 2022 flag for us.

The approach that just looks at each player independently of what they did at Geelong, doesn't seem quite right to me. An approach like that would probably have Doug Wade in the top 10 best North Melbourne players of all time which would be weird, though it wouldn't be so weird to see Danger appear near the top of each of the Geelong and the Adelaide lists, although not quite so high on either as he would if he had played his entire career at either one of those clubs.

 

[iameviljez]

I approached it based simply on my own personal view of the strength of each player and what they had achieved at Geelong since 2000.

Others might have different ways to approach it. But is it "old-fashioned" just to focus on the contribution to the club itself when we're talking greatest Geelong players?

I mean Enright was 6xAA for example for the cats, played 332 games and was pivotal in 3 premierships during his career at the club. Dangerfield 8x AA, but 5x at the cats and 3x at crows, 150+ games at each club and a key to the 2022 flag for us.

The approach that just looks at each player independently of what they did at Geelong, doesn't seem quite right to me. An approach like that would probably have Doug Wade in the top 10 best North Melbourne players of all time which would be weird, though it wouldn't be so weird to see Danger appear near the top of each of the Geelong and the Adelaide lists, although not quite so high on either as he would if he had played his entire career at either one of those clubs.

Don't forget, though, not all games are equal - the first couple of years of a player's career are generally played at a loss to the club. It's very rare for a player to come along like Selwood, Bartel or Ling, and play well from a young age.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

Ablett should have won all three Brownlows from 07 to 09 (Swannie in 2010). Ridiculous that he didn't even win all 3 Carjis.

Guy got marked way too harshly, in retrospect.

Agree with this.... it was almost ridiculous that he didn't win the 3 Brownlows such was his domination. With the Carji's, that was Bomber Thompson's doing, didn't want Gazza to get ahead of himself. Anyway iameviljez: Little Gazza went on and showed the footy world what a out and out champion player he really was in his 'wasted' years at the Suns.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

Don't forget, though, not all games are equal - the first couple of years of a player's career are generally played at a loss to the club. It's very rare for a player to come along like Selwood, Bartel or Ling, and play well from a young age.

Sheezel in a shit side comes straight to mind. Despite how he played, Selwood was nursed through at least his first season and was allowed to be because of the rest of the team around him.

Coming to Geelong was great for him and great for the club. Great timing for both.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

Outside of Snr, I reckon Danger has been directly responsible for Geelong winning more games than any other player we've had since I've been watching from the 70s. How he was never awarded the NSM in 2022 is still a mystery to me.

He's still got his burst and that belligerent mindset, manage him well and it might be more than one more season.

 

[iameviljez]

How he was never awarded the NSM in 2022 is still a mystery to me.

Tell me about it. Smith was good, but to quote James Brayshaw, "if Dangerfield wasn't best on ground, I don't have a hole in the back of my butt".

I think the small amount of time he spent on the ground probably stopped him.

Honestly, because he wasn't "home-grown", I don't think we appreciate Dangerfield enough.

 

[iameviljez]

Swan was very good, but he wasn’t Ablett Jr good

Dane Swan was utterly incredible, but a shooting star. He was - and this hurts me to say it - legitimately better than Ablett that year.

He was a 70 metre player just about every time he got the ball - run twenty, kick 50, often to devastating effect.

Geelong's stat lines were also somewhat inflated that year, because we still played a very possession-heavy style of game.

 

[Seeds]

I approached it based simply on my own personal view of the strength of each player and what they had achieved at Geelong since 2000.

Others might have different ways to approach it. But is it "old-fashioned" just to focus on the contribution to the club itself when we're talking greatest Geelong players?

I mean Enright was 6xAA for example for the cats, played 332 games and was pivotal in 3 premierships during his career at the club. Dangerfield 8x AA, but 5x at the cats and 3x at crows, 150+ games at each club and a key to the 2022 flag for us.

The approach that just looks at each player independently of what they did at Geelong, doesn't seem quite right to me. An approach like that would probably have Doug Wade in the top 10 best North Melbourne players of all time which would be weird, though it wouldn't be so weird to see Danger appear near the top of each of the Geelong and the Adelaide lists, although not quite so high on either as he would if he had played his entire career at either one of those clubs.

Enright has only been in the top 3 players from geelong (not overall but just from geelong) in a final in one final in his whole career. He was our third best player in the qualifying final in 2009 against the dogs. Thats it.

Dangerfield probably has been in our top 3 in a final atleast 8 times in his career and our best in probably 4 of them.

Its not even close. Enright is not even in the same ball park as dangerfield. Its silly to argue it. Half back all australians are not the same as midfielder all australians. All the best players play midfield.

 

[Seeds]

I find this argument about Dangerfield to be a little old-fashioned, to be honest.

He didn't choose to be picked by Adelaide, and he basically moved at the first good opportunity once he'd served his time at Adelaide (i.e. not doing an Ollie Henry, Tanner Bruhn etc and shifting after two years). He has then had nine utterly superb seasons of high-level performance at Geelong, and will probably get one more season after this at near-elite level.

That's more seasons of excellent football than we got out of, say, Bairstow, Couch or Stoneham.

Dangerfield has played 180 games at geelong.

Polly farmer played 90. No one questions polly farmer for making our team of the century for lack of games.

 

[iameviljez]

Dangerfield probably has been in our top 3 in a final atleast 8 times in his career and our best in probably 4 of them.

Its not even close. Enright is not even in the same ball park as dangerfield. Its silly to argue it. Half back all australians are not the same as midfielder all australians. All the best players play midfield.

Yeah, exactly. He's on another level to all the footballers who've worn the hoops since GAJ left.

 

[frggr]

SJ ceiling higher but Chapman probably produced more highly consistent games

Wasn't Chapman also (partly) responsible for driving the lift in standards?

 

[frggr]

Became incosistent? He lost his stamina? I think you're reading it wrong.

He was put where the team needed him to get the job done because he would do it better than anyone we had. His versatility is why he was moved. The coaches would have kept him as a starting rover if they didnt need to move him to fill gaps we potentially had. He sacrificed the sexy roles for the team to win.

Over the 3 grand finals he was our best performer. 2007 - 28/2g with a hard tag by Kane Cornes. 2009 shut down Hayes with 16 tackles. 2011 - 26/3g.

He was robbed of many AA's. AA's are starting mids awards. IMO he should have about 4 under his belt. Not the 2 he has.

He was called "Mr Fix It" for a reason

 

[frggr]

Sean Simpson... Sam Simpson

Michael Mansfield...

Peter Pianto.

Craig Cleave.

Damian Drum.

Russell Renfrey...

Charlie Constable

 

[Lingsface]

Tomahawk 56 finals goals sitting 4 behind the severely underrated Billy Brownless and Wayne Carey who finished on 60 goals. Doug Wade is ahead of them but he did kick about 20 for North. Tom would be our third greatest finals goal kicker behind Ablett and Brownless. Cameron has played half the amount of finals and kicked 31 (14 for the cats) so far, another few successful seasons could see him get close to the 50 mark.

 

[sleep]

He was called "Mr Fix It" for a reason

"The Professor" and "Jimmy Everywhere"

 

[Strange Cat]

Outside of Snr, I reckon Danger has been directly responsible for Geelong winning more games than any other player we've had since I've been watching from the 70s. How he was never awarded the NSM in 2022 is still a mystery to me.

He's still got his burst and that belligerent mindset, manage him well and it might be more than one more season.

If we manage to win the flag next year I would say he gets two years and will be on managed games with period of long rest imo

 

[Hinkley29]

Stewart has won 5 All Australians played in a premiership and has had his worst year this year and will probably still be in our top 3 for the best and fairest.

Cameron has had an amazing stint at the cats and is one of the best recruits of all time. I see what you are saying and on what he has done for the club it is true,but I think we have more chance of winning a premiership if Chapman was out of a side than if we had Cameron out.

Chapman was the most clinical player I have ever seen.

Not fast, not tall, but absolutely never made a mistake when it was important. When he had the ball, I have never been more confident that he would make the right decision and execute the decision. And he did this while having the ball a lot. The closest thing we have to that in this team is Stengle, and he is a long way off chapman’s level and does not get nearly as much of the ball.
Plus he was tough as nails and a leader.

I get that Stewart and Cameron have greater personal accolades, but Chapman’s game style was never going to win awards. He was also competing for attention with the greatest combination of talent the game has even seen in that Geelong side of 2007-2011.

Cameron and Stewart stand out in our recent era more because they are 2 of the few stars in a system driven game plan. Chapman was in a team full of stars.

 

[iameviljez]

Chapman was the most clinical player I have ever seen.

Not fast, not tall, but absolutely never made a mistake when it was important. When he had the ball, I have never been more confident that he would make the right decision and execute the decision.

Chappy and Ling were the two untalented blokes in a galaxy full of stars - and as a result, they had to always play the percentages, and make every post a winner.

Completely agree with you on Chappy. Didn't try the spectacular often, but was consistently outstanding. Hard as a cat's head, too. Played a quietly excellent game in the 2011 GF, too.

 

[PhatBoy]

Enright has only been in the top 3 players from geelong (not overall but just from geelong) in a final in one final in his whole career. He was our third best player in the qualifying final in 2009 against the dogs. Thats it.

Dangerfield probably has been in our top 3 in a final atleast 8 times in his career and our best in probably 4 of them.

Its not even close. Enright is not even in the same ball park as dangerfield. Its silly to argue it. Half back all australians are not the same as midfielder all australians. All the best players play midfield.

Enright literally started in grand finals - plural - as a midfielder. The fact that he was named as an all All Australian before he actually began to play permanently there in the defensive 6 is simply testament to the fact that he played a more defensive role: every single midfield in every year the AFL gets played, has 7-8 players and they can’t ALL play as attackers because if they do, their side will lose.

In the 2007-08 team he DID play midfield. The guys YOU yourself have repeatedly said you rate so highly like Milburn and Mackie: they were the defence. They were part of the back 6 along with Scarlett, Hunt, Harley, Taylor (08) and Wojcinski.
And in 08 he made the AA and was squeezed onto a half-back flank.

and yeah ok he’s not going to ‘turn’ or ‘win’ a game like a Cameron or a Dangerfield but half the time a game is won by the time he becomes a full time back-third player you aren’t going to visibly notice his impact anyway whether he’s doing his job or not.

Some of the stuff you write about our players is like listening to people complain that Ringo was shit because he was the worst musician in The Beatles

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Yeah, exactly. He's on another level to all the footballers who've worn the hoops since GAJ left.

Totally agree , and hes also got a famous number on his back ( which he personally selected ) and its got nothing to do with Paul Chapman ha ha ha

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Nails it IMO. Chappy the most unlucky but I can’t have him over any of the named 10.

Maybe the names. Doesn't nail the order imo.

Enright is top 3. Two BnF in premiership years. 6 all Australians is equal with Scarlett and Selwood for AA's at Geelong.