Who would you rate as the strongest premiership side in the AFL era?

[Catsnlakers]

Goes back to at least 1963 when Cats def Hawks in their last GF win until '07. I was there, grew up in a Cats family.

...and until about 5yrs ago, I still had every story written about the win and the souvenir lift-out from the Sun the next day, also the footy record. I sold them to a collector. Got a bit over $100

Correct..... Geelong were the first team to defeat the hawks in a GF, & in doing so stopped them from winning 2 flags in 3 years.... After that win history says we buried a hawk in the turf of Kardinia Park.... Apparently after that John Kennedy hated Geelong ( and Bob Davis ) & reminded Hawthorn all the time that we thought they were no good, it was said to be a mythical reason for why so long they kept beating us at home when most other's wouldn't!....... On topic I voted for Geelong in the poll, but 3 in a row for the Hawks & Lions is a fair case.

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

Dude Cotchin > Montagna, Dal Santo and Goddard and lol Seb Ross is nowhere near Cotchin

It's safe to say Jack was better than Nick in 2010 and also played a good grand final unlike Nick in either year, and lol Clinton Jones would have no chance against Dusty and the 2 games Ablett played against St Kilda in 2009 he had 27 disposals and 2 goals and 25 Disposals and 1 goal barely kept quiet

mathew Richardson and Kevin Bartlett some how even with their tiger bias found a spot in the 2017 All Australian 40 man squad for Seb Ross yet couldnt fit Cotchin in ... so let take a guess who had a better 2017 ...

GAG in 2009 in the lead up to the game against St Kilda (Clinton Jones to take him on) had 38,30,43,29 and 36 disposals the week after playing on Clinton Jones he got 40 possessions ... considering he won the brownlow by 8 votes from his nearest competitor when only playing 19 games in 2009 says to me 27 and 25 possesion games were VERY much down games for the little champ..

yes Jack in 2017 was better than Nick in 2010 ... 2010 being the year Nick tore his hamstring off the bone missing the majority of the year ... 2009 on the other hand Jack may very well never even come close to that

 

[Craze]

hahahahhahaahah
Cotchin getting a brownlow because Jobe had his taken off him means nothing ... the softest brownlow medal ever .. even Woewodins holds more respect then Cotch's brownlow ...
yes Cousin Jack's bag of 1 goal 4 in 2009 against first choice full back Zac Dawson (Before he went full crab) was certainly memorable
he did kick 6 and 7 in 2010 in the games where the Saints were without their first choice full back out injured so yeah but that said the Saints also did have Milne kick 5 goals 5 in that first game and Kosi kicked 5 goals 1 .. but then in your premieship year your backline the as you say "has beaten better forward lines than St Kilda's" did also allow Tim Membry (who wouldnt have got a game in the 2009 Saints forward line) to kick a bag ...

but hey lets just ask the opinion of the neutral supporters who they reckon was the stronger side .. 2017 Richmond vs 2009 St Kilda ... i would say it would be 90% in favour of the 2009 Saints .. the only people who consider Richmonds 2017 team in the conversation as the strongest team in the last 25 years are deluded Richmond supporters ... i know the 2009 Saints are not the strongests but they certainly were stronger than richmond

Saints were a goal umpiring f-up away from a premiership in 2009. Really should have won the flag that year IMHO. However, I think Richmond of 2017 are far better than you're giving credit for.

 

[detox]

FF: Breust - Roughie - Puopolo
HF: Gunston - Franklin - Rioli
Ce: Hill - Lewis - Smith
HB: Birchall - Gibson - Hodge
FB: Guerra - Lake - Stratton

Ru: McEvoy
RR: Burgoyne
Ro: Mitchell

I/C: Hale, Frawley, Sewell and Shiels.

15 of those players are All Australians.

Apparently we only won because "the Comp was weak" though. My bad

On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Craze]

15 of those players are All Australians.

Apparently we only won because "the Comp was weak" though. My bad

On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app

Knobjockeys with fa understanding of the game. This year Richmond had a dominant season finishing 2 games clear on top (interstate form notwithstanding) and didn't even get into the gf. Similarly, Collingwood in 2011 dominated but lost the gf. Two in a row is incredibly hard. Three in a row is virtually impossible in an 18 team competition (has been done what four times in 115 years?)

 

[Captain_Bender]

mathew Richardson and Kevin Bartlett some how even with their tiger bias found a spot in the 2017 All Australian 40 man squad for Seb Ross yet couldnt fit Cotchin in ... so let take a guess who had a better 2017 ...

GAG in 2009 in the lead up to the game against St Kilda (Clinton Jones to take him on) had 38,30,43,29 and 36 disposals the week after playing on Clinton Jones he got 40 possessions ... considering he won the brownlow by 8 votes from his nearest competitor when only playing 19 games in 2009 says to me 27 and 25 possesion games were VERY much down games for the little champ..

yes Jack in 2017 was better than Nick in 2010 ... 2010 being the year Nick tore his hamstring off the bone missing the majority of the year ... 2009 on the other hand Jack may very well never even come close to that

Dude that vanilla midget Seb Ross is nowhere near the player Cotchin is no one on St Kilda's list is, Jack hasn't had a season like Nick did in 09 however Nick never played as good as Jack did in a grand final either no one in St Kilda's backline of 09 would be able to stop him

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

15 of those players are All Australians.

Apparently we only won because "the Comp was weak" though. My bad

On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app

Which 15?

 

[Gavin Excell]

Richmond - yawn

 

[HTT]

It was a Bradbury lol. The only thing amazing about it was Richmond won an AFL flag.

Bradbury lol

Steven Bradbury didn't exactly run rings around his opponents as we did, did he?

Anyway, as I have iterated, we are irrelevant in this discussion anyway. We were nowhere near the most dominant premier in the AFL era, else we'd have finished higher than 3rd, and that's the fairest way of looking at it.

 

[Macpotata]

Very good thread indeed. Props to the thread starter, the twisted thread starter.

All sides are great. As mentioned it's hard to measure the best as some had tremendous seasons, and some on the day just looked unstoppable. Are we comparing the strongest side head to head and for what they did during the season, AND how they PERFORMED on Grand Final day as well as calibre of the opposition they faced. Many have said about certain teams '' they had no strong opp for that year '' which could be true. On the other hand, were they just so far above everyone else they made them look second rate.

As mentioned for the single strongest premiership side for a SINGLE SEASON on how they PERFORMED and results, No one could deny the great Bombers of 2000. Only one loss, destroyed pretty much everyone and certainly destroyed every team in the finals. How would they fare for example against the Hawks side who beat the great Cats of 2008 though? A side who looked unbeatable for so much of that year after suffering it's only defeat to Collingwood earlier on. The football the Hawks played and the toughness in adversity stacks with ANY of the premiers listed. The Blues of 1995 as I've also mentioned are my pick for the best. They showed they could get at the Bombers too in 99, and missed a couple of guns in the home and away game with the dons of 2000 and didn't lose by a great deal { 23 points } Beat them in 2001 missing big stars also. Of course we're talking different seasons now, but anyway, for a rival, and a team that showed they're up for it, Carlton would have got them imo.

SOS
Williams
Sticks and his support cast of Clape, Pearce and Spalding
Kouta
Brown
A young Campo
Dean
Christou
Madden
Hanna


Blues that won 16 straight to end the year and lost only two games for the year, killing us in the GF was unreal. Hawks of 2008 as mentioned if they produced what they did in 2008 could have beat almost anybody, if not everybody. A red hot Cats of 2007 also in the convo as is WCE 1992. Roos 96, damn impressive as well when it mattered.

 

[Gethelred]

Dude Dusty is bigger than Voss

Dusty has a longer reach, certainly, but if he's stronger it isn't by much.

Recency bias, coupled with 'team I support' bias.

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

Saints were a goal umpiring f-up away from a premiership in 2009. Really should have won the flag that year IMHO. However, I think Richmond of 2017 are far better than you're giving credit for.

im not doubting that Richmond 2017 team was good but the most certainly were not the best of the last 25 years .. i would say the 2018 version of Richmond were strnonger than the 2017 version all be it they missed the g/f .. credit to Richmond they can only beat who they come up against but it remains the quality of opponent they beat along the way to win the 2017 flag compared to that of Geelong in 2009 and 2011 , Hawthorn in 2008 and Brisbane in 2001, 2002 and 2003 they are a long way off the best

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

Dude that vanilla midget Seb Ross is nowhere near the player Cotchin is no one on St Kilda's list is, Jack hasn't had a season like Nick did in 09 however Nick never played as good as Jack did in a grand final either no one in St Kilda's backline of 09 would be able to stop him

did Cotchin in 2017 make the all australian 40 man squad ?
Did Seb Ross make the 2017 All australian 40 man squad ?

im not for one second saying Seb Ross is a better player than Cotchin (im not dillusuional ) but in 2017 the All Australian selectors felt Seb Ross had the better year than Cotchin ... not me, not St Kilda fans... but the All Australian Selectors (including Mathew Richardson and Kevin Bartlett) did ...

you are prob right in 2009 not one player in the Saints backline would have been able to contain Jack on 2017 form but the strength of the 2009 St Kilda side was strangling the opportunity of forwards so Jack could have out muscled and out positioned Zac Dawson for sure but the limited times per game the ball got down that way wouldnt have really caused all that much trouble and if it did Sam Fisher or Sean Dempster would have given Dawson a chop out to help defend him ... i mean the most dominant forwards of that year in Buddy (Goaless) and Fev (2 goals) in games against the Saints team defence

as for perfoming in the Grandfinal i think Nick having to contend with very likely the strongest backline in modern history in Geelong was a little harder than Jack taking on the Crows depleated back line ... i mean just from the grand final team sheet set up Jack was positioned against Kyle Hartigan a 69 game player in 2009 Nick stood against Mathew Scarlett a 230 game 5 time All Australian... so yeah same same

 

[Captain_Bender]

did Cotchin in 2017 make the all australian 40 man squad ?
Did Seb Ross make the 2017 All australian 40 man squad ?

im not for one second saying Seb Ross is a better player than Cotchin (im not dillusuional ) but in 2017 the All Australian selectors felt Seb Ross had the better year than Cotchin ... not me, not St Kilda fans... but the All Australian Selectors (including Mathew Richardson and Kevin Bartlett) did ...

you are prob right in 2009 not one player in the Saints backline would have been able to contain Jack on 2017 form but the strength of the 2009 St Kilda side was strangling the opportunity of forwards so Jack could have out muscled and out positioned Zac Dawson for sure but the limited times per game the ball got down that way wouldnt have really caused all that much trouble and if it did Sam Fisher or Sean Dempster would have given Dawson a chop out to help defend him ... i mean the most dominant forwards of that year in Buddy (Goaless) and Fev (2 goals) in games against the Saints team defence

as for perfoming in the Grandfinal i think Nick having to contend with very likely the strongest backline in modern history in Geelong was a little harder than Jack taking on the Crows depleated back line ... i mean just from the grand final team sheet set up Jack was positioned against Kyle Hartigan a 69 game player in 2009 Nick stood against Mathew Scarlett a 230 game 5 time All Australian... so yeah same same

When Seb Ross has played a final series like Trent Cotchin did in 2017 maybe you could argue he had a better a season but he didn't, if Nick struggled against Geelong's backline and got held goalless in 2010 by a spud like Nathan Brown doubt he would be able to do much against Hartigan and that's not even going into if he had to play against a 5 time All Australian like Alex Rance who was nigh impassible in the 2017 Grand Final

 

[footyfan1978]

The Blues of 1995 as I've also mentioned are my pick for the best., Carlton would have got them imo.

SOS
Williams
Sticks and his support cast of Clape, Pearce and Spalding
Kouta
Brown
A young Campo
Dean
Christou
Madden
Hanna


Blues that won 16 straight to end the year .

How did you miss Craig Bradley and Andrew McKay out? Sexton was an elite centre half back in that period too.

 

[Macpotata]

How did you miss Craig Bradley and Andrew McKay out? Sexton was an elite centre half back in that period too.

I knew I was missing at least one big game, great player. That's the problem, and exactly what I mean re Carlton 95. Look at how many stars they had in their team.


Exceptional.

 

[footyfan1978]

I knew I was missing at least one big game, great player. That's the problem, and exactly what I mean re Carlton 95. Look at how many stars they had in their team.


Exceptional.

Shit, think you missed our best and fairest in premiership year too.... Brett Ratten.

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

When Seb Ross has played a final series like Trent Cotchin did in 2017 maybe you could argue he had a better a season but he didn't, if Nick struggled against Geelong's backline and got held goalless in 2010 by a spud like Nathan Brown doubt he would be able to do much against Hartigan and that's not even going into if he had to play against a 5 time All Australian like Alex Rance who was nigh impassible in the 2017 Grand Final

are you deliberately stupid or is it a disorder ?
the saints in 2017 didnt make finals so we could never know how Seb Ross would have gone in finals but we do know that the all australian selectors based on the afl season deemed Seb Ross had a better year ... Cotchin had a good finals but his season was not good enough for the AA 40mans squad ...
again comparing 2010 the year Nick had his hamstring torn off the bone to Nicks 2009 is chalk and cheese .. you speak of Rance being inpassable in 2017 yet a player im sure you also dont rate in Tim Membrey kicked 5 goals in the thumping the much much much much weaker 2017 saints gave richmond ...

look you guys have the 2017 flag enjoy that the fact you are not even close to the most dominant side of the last 25 years doesnt take away from the fact you won a flag .. just dont be delusional thinking Richmond of 2017 were some super power of the history of the AFL .. they were the best of 2017 only ..

 

[Macpotata]

Shit, think you missed our best and fairest in premiership year too.... Brett Ratten.

FFS. I was thinking of him, but when I put in Fraser Brown, forgot to put in Ratten. I used to associate them two together as a kid, like I did SOS and Christou { both Euro background and long hair } Ratts and Brown had long hair earlier in their career but then both cut it eventually.

In my initial post earlier in this thread I would have mentioned all these guys though. For sure.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Cotchin getting a brownlow because Jobe got busted for using performance enhancing drugs.

Fixed that for you.

 

[footyfan1978]

Where they performance enhancing for Jobe? Still not sure.

 

[footyfan1978]

supplements or drugs ?
Evidence of which one ?

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

supplements or drugs ?
Evidence of which one ?

If it happens in Russia or China we call it systematic doping.

 

[HTT]

As the old saying goes, "As a BigFooty discussion grows longer, the probability of comparison involving the Essendon Drugs Saga approaches 1"

 

[Captain_Bender]

are you deliberately stupid or is it a disorder ?
the saints in 2017 didnt make finals so we could never know how Seb Ross would have gone in finals but we do know that the all australian selectors based on the afl season deemed Seb Ross had a better year ... Cotchin had a good finals but his season was not good enough for the AA 40mans squad ...
again comparing 2010 the year Nick had his hamstring torn off the bone to Nicks 2009 is chalk and cheese .. you speak of Rance being inpassable in 2017 yet a player im sure you also dont rate in Tim Membrey kicked 5 goals in the thumping the much much much much weaker 2017 saints gave richmond ...

look you guys have the 2017 flag enjoy that the fact you are not even close to the most dominant side of the last 25 years doesnt take away from the fact you won a flag .. just dont be delusional thinking Richmond of 2017 were some super power of the history of the AFL .. they were the best of 2017 only ..

And before finals Richmond flogged St Kilda with Membrey having barely an impact on the game, and then in finals Richmond held Geelong a side with an equal forward line to St Kilda 2009 to their lowest score of the year and the far superior forward line of Adelaide to their lowest score of the year but somehow St Kilda's forwards would be able to have an effect on the elite defense of Richmond 2017