Eagles the greatest?

[Dan26]

Mate it’s a name change.

It started in 1987.

Mate it's a name change.

It started in 1897.

 

[Jacob1996]

The state team shit has been debunked so many times.

How wasn’t it a state team

 

[kranky al]

Nah - id happily claim second best but hawthorn have won more and beaten us twice in grannies as well as beating us on our own dunghill in the season and in finals going a way to offsetting the mcg hga claim.

 

[Rod Stroker]

There's 4 clubs that stand above the rest of the comp.
Consistently all make finals and have numerous GF's and flags since the late 80s.

You're dismissing one of either Sydney or Brisbane or WC. Which is silly.

 

[Eagleboy68]

Definitely best since 1990 when the AFL started.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

4 flags since 1987 when the national comp really began.

Winning four - having to come across the country to do it - is surely the most successful club?

I know Hawthorn has won seven, but West Coast having come from the west to do it?

Some people will say “state team” but it’s not as though Adelaide have done the same.

Even without today, for me they've been the club of the AFL era, today just puts them further in front.

 

[Eagleboy68]

How wasn’t it a state team

Many didn't return

The wafl was raided by the vfl before west coast got their picks.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

You're dismissing one of either Sydney or Brisbane or WC. Which is silly.

Nope. Brisbane are overlooked.

Hawthorn, Sydney, Eagles and Cats have a bit in common.

- Make finals regularly
- Make lots of GF’s
- All have more than 1 premiership
- All have strong, stable off field leadership.
- Don’t sack coaches, don’t experience much upheaval.

Brisbane fail purely on finals appearances. Only the 10.
Those 4 clubs have featured in 20 Grand Finals since 1987, and have a combined 30 GF appearances among them in that time.

 

[SBYM]

They dont come close to the hawks. Not even close! 92, 94 state team win. 06 drug scum. This is their 1st legit flag.

If you actually believe this rot I reckon you must be smoking those shards.

 

[noodle]

They dont come close to the hawks. Not even close! 92, 94 state team win. 06 drug scum. This is their 1st legit flag.

Sounds like your going to have a tough month. Don't worry there's always aflx to look forward to.

 

[juss]

a few of the hawks' premierships would have an * beside them as they got a home ground advantage they didn't deserve

You can't * something if no rules were broken. Hawks played and won within the rules that every flag has been won by.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

hawthorn have been impressive in the last 31 years

however wce has been good

spare a thought for geelong and sydney particularly in the last 2 decades. remarkable records as well.

wce wont be taken seriously as a great team until they do a two or three peat

 

[kaiserchief13]

Depends what you classify as greatest. Eagles clearly up there. Routine does factor in, however routine eventually catches up with everyone

 

[Bluey_McKenna]

They dont come close to the hawks. Not even close! 92, 94 state team win. 06 drug scum. This is their 1st legit flag.

Don't insult the hawks with this comparison.

Pass the salt!!

 

[Coaster2012]

Today is one of the great wins purely because it blows every stat out of the water. They rebuilt from 15, won at the G with no concessions (in fact, they never lost in Victoria in 2018. Amazing effort) and came from behind.

Excuses are no longer allowed. If you are good enough. You will win.

Now excuse me while i watch the replay.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Nope. Brisbane are overlooked.

Hawthorn, Sydney, Eagles and Cats have a bit in common.

- Make finals regularly
- Make lots of GF’s
- All have more than 1 premiership
- All have strong, stable off field leadership.
- Don’t sack coaches, don’t experience much upheaval.

Brisbane fail purely on finals appearances. Only the 10.
Those 4 clubs have featured in 20 Grand Finals since 1987, and have a combined 30 GF appearances among them in that time.

Brisbane have won flags than Sydney in the last 30 years, from less finals appearances. So you could argue that for all the finals series that the Swans have played in, they don't have enough silverware to show for it. Lions have been more efficient.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Today is one of the great wins purely because it blows every stat out of the water. They rebuilt from 15, won at the G with no concessions (in fact, they never lost in Victoria in 2018. Amazing effort) and came from behind.

Excuses are no longer allowed. If you are good enough. You will win.

Now excuse me while i watch the replay.

Yes that is true, however WC had to beat Collingwood, MCG and umpires. Not many teams can do that

 

[hk89]

AFL era:

Top 3
Hawthorn - 6 grand finals, 5 premierships
West Coast - 7 grand finals, 4 premierships
Geelong - 7 grand finals, 3 premierships

Next tier
Collingwood - 6 grand finals, 2 premierships
Sydney - 6 grand finals, 2 premierships
Brisbane - 4 grand finals, 3 premierships

Which team from the next tier would you have in 4th behind Hawthorn, West Coast and Geelong?

Collingwood over Sydney due to their off-field stability as a tie break for their equal number of flags and GF appearances. Sydney have been more consistent in terms of finals appearances, but that is partly due to their status as being critical to the TV rights pricing, and the measures that flow from that. A basket case before COLA started flowing. Pies are massive off field compared to Sydney.

In fact if you balance on field with off field, Pies are also ahead of Geelong, making the big 3 WC, Pies, Hawks.

 

[hk89]

a few of the hawks' premierships would have an * beside them as they got a home ground advantage they didn't deserve

If you mean we finished lower on the ladder than our opponents a few times, then consider how many of those years we'd have finished top of the ladder if we had a proper home ground advantage where we don't have to play a bunch of our home games against teams playing with a very large crowd of their own supporters.

It is a massive advantage for all but one of your home games to be on a ground where nearly 100% of the crowd is for you, and some years that has lead weaker teams to finish higher up the ladder. The emphatic GF day results in 2014 and 2015 showed who the best team really was when you take home crowd advantage out of it (and the MCG on GF day still does that for Vic teams, the neutrals+travellers from interstate together far outweigh barrackers for the local Vic side, which is why the prelims have much better atmosphere, leaving ground familiarity as the only advantage).

 

[MrPenguin]

Up the eagles

 

[Back One Out]

Why 1990? This never makes sense to me. It's either 1987 or 1991.

Yep.

It's historical revisionism at its finest to draw a line after 1989 and mark 1990 as the "beginning" of the AFL.
- The league had 12 teams from 1925 to 1986.
- The VFL/AFL became the national comp and expanded to 14 teams in 1987

The only thing which changed from 1989 to 1990 was the logo & name of the comp. EVERYTHING else was the same.
Nobody cared about the name change. It was a non-issue.


AFL era (1987-2018 inclusive)

Premierships
7 Hawthorn
4 West Coast
3 Geelong, Brisbane
2 Sydney, North Melb, Adelaide, Essendon, Collingwood, Carlton
1 Richmond, W.Bulldogs, Port Adelaide

Grand Finals
9 Hawthorn
8 Geelong
7 West Coast
6 Sydney, Collingwood
4 Brisbane, Essendon, Carlton
3 Adelaide, St Kilda, North Melbourne
2 Port Adelaide, Melbourne 2
1 Fremantle, Richmond, W.Bulldogs 1

Finals victories
28 Hawthorn
27 Geelong
25 West Coast
22 Sydney
19 Collingwood, North Melbourne
18 Melbourne, Adelaide
17 Brisbane
16 Essendon
14 Carlton
11 Port Adelaide, W.Bulldogs
10 St Kilda 10
6 Richmond, Fremantle
3 G.W.Sydney

Finals Series
22 West Coast
21 Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney
17 Essendon, North Melbourne
16 Collingwood
15 Adelaide
13 Carlton, Melbourne, Western Bulldogs
11 St Kilda
10 Brisbane, Port Adelaide
7 Richmond, Fremantle
3 G.W.Sydney

 

[plays tall 1]

Eagles are up with the best of the AFL era no doubt. And it shouldn’t be forgotten that, to win flags, they usually have to beat Vic clubs on their home ground.

 

[JayJ20]

Very strong case for now being the best team of the AFL era.

Have won flags in three separate periods of success and have also made the most grand finals, won the most finals, and made finals the most times.

AFL era (1990-2018 inclusive)

Premierships
Hawthorn 5
West Coast 4
Geelong 3
Brisbane 3
Sydney 2
North Melbourne 2
Essendon 2
Collingwood 2
Adelaide 2
Western Bulldogs 1
Richmond 1
Port Adelaide 1
Carlton 1

Grand Finals
Geelong 7
West Coast 7
Hawthorn 6
Sydney 6
Collingwood 6
Brisbane 4
Essendon 4
Adelaide 3
Carlton 3
North Melbourne 3
St Kilda 3
Port Adelaide 2
Fremantle 1
Melbourne 1
Richmond 1
Western Bulldogs 1

Finals Won
Geelong 25
West Coast 25
Hawthorn 22
Sydney 22
North Melbourne 19
Collingwood 19
Adelaide 18
Brisbane 17
Essendon 15
Melbourne 12
Carlton 11
Port Adelaide 11
Western Bulldogs 11
St Kilda 10
Fremantle 6
Richmond 6
GWS 3

Finals Series
West Coast 21
Geelong 20
Sydney 20
Hawthorn 18
Essendon 16
North Melbourne 16
Adelaide 15
Collingwood 14
Western Bulldogs 13
Carlton 11
St Kilda 11
Brisbane 10
Port Adelaide 10
Melbourne 10
Fremantle 7
Richmond 7
GWS 3

How are we still mid to top half having done absolutely nothing for 14 years?

 

[Monkey King]

Because that's when the VFL officially became the AFL.

Brian Lake wasn’t born the day he changed his name.

Best way to sort a league table out here is how many years divided by how many flags.

 

[Trucker Tiger]

Essendon supporters can only count to five.

If it is injections, they can’t count to one.