Ablett would be a champion in any era, providing he could handle the professionalism and team rules they have these days. Pretty sure he kicked 14 from a wing for Geelong one day and I was there that Tuesday afternoon at Subiaco Oval when he kicked the 8 goals, wondered who the hell he was!
Which 1990s players would be even better in the current game? And which would be worse?
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That's because many of today's tackles should be penalised, but today's players don't have backs. They have mutated and have 3 sides and a front, the back has vanished.
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He kicked the 14 against Richmond. Team mates have said he kicked the first 9 from the wing and last 5 p aying forward.
There is footage of it, it has no commentary.
I think you could drop Peter Matera into today's game and he'd be totally fine.
Please don't put him in the same breath as Martin.
Carey was a contested marking beast who could play at both ends of the ground as well as play as a ruck rover around the ground whenever Pagan felt the need to let him run free.
Martin's the icing on the cake of a champion team. He is not the difference in whether or not Richmond win or lose games of football.
Wow, did you block the grand final out of your memory already?
Mate, am a massive Martin fan. Was telling Carlton supporters to settle down when they were declaring Cripps the best player in the competition only 18 months ago as Martin was still the best going around but it gets a little embarrassing when kiddies of today put him in the same sentence as Wayne Carey.
Happens far too frequently and today's game is the softest it has ever been. A star midfielder only needs to be sneezed on and he is awarded a free kick as they waltz around without a tagger accumulating 25-30 disposals a game.
I'm old enough to remember Carey and while overall across the careers he's still way ahead of dusty, what dusty has done on the big stage can't be underestimated and is better than Carey. IMO Geelong wins the 2020 gf if dusty didn't play.
Martin is the best big game performer I've ever seen
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Yep. Brett Heady, Guy McKenna, Chris Lewis and Don Pyke as well. Excellent foot skills don't go out of fashion.
Silvagni would struggle with the 'holding' rules today.
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Allen Jakovich would be dynamite these days
absolutely....and pace also which both Lewis and Matera had in spades.
Plus given the stigma around racial abuse now, you'd have to think Lewis wouldn't lose his cool so much now days from being baited by opposition players.
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haha, at his size, these days he'd be a forward pocket, he'd slay 'em, he'd make them look silly, too clever for modern robots.
Absolutely, along with Ash McIntosh!
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Kouta.
Daniel Chick was explosive, strong, fast and knew his way around goal. Was an excellent tackler also. Would be a weapon in modern footy as a pressure forward who could play small and tall.
Daniel Chick was explosive, strong, fast and knew his way around goal. Was an excellent tackler also. Would be a weapon in modern footy as a pressure forward who could play small and tall.
Freak is a word used often these days but Jarman was special. Amazing how some people just never look like athletes until they are out there in full motion. Jarman was a game breaker. Incredibly gifted footballer. Probably rarely trained or needed to work out like 90% of everyone else needed to.
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You would have to conclude that the power forwards of the late 80's/early 90's - Dunstall, Lockett, Ablett, Modra etc would not have been as effective due to the changing style of play - zoning etc.
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...and light up a ciggie.
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Ablett would play hbf, wing or hff, one of his greatest talents that would be in big demand would be his ability to kick 50+ on either foot. He run, carry and kick straight over zones.
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100%. People forget how many goals he was kicking while still spending most of his time in the ruck at St Kilda. 40 plus goals in 4 separate seasons. Found it strange he was never really a goalkicker after leaving the Saints.
But yeah, he would be the ideal forward/ruck that always gets mentioned these days.
ferrisb
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Plus with his big personality and whacky hairdos, imagine how many twitter and insta followers he'd have if he played today!
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You can clearly see some years he's having more shots than others, it's reasonable to surmise that those years he's playing more of a forward role than other years where he's having fewer shots. But even if he is playing further out than a full-forward would, that's still effectively a full forward role if a certain percentage of his disposals are shots on goal, even if it's not a true full forward position.
I think he would be very good in this era but he would mostly play as a striker, that is a mid/forward player maybe like a Fyfe or Heeney or a Stringer.
I feel that Michael Voss would be much better in this era of midfielders resting forward. He wouldn't lose any possessions, but would score a lot more.
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