Best I have seen in my time (Admittedly limited in the number of Premier games I've seen) are as follows:
Grant Bartholomaeus - Hard and skilful.
Sean Fitzpatrick - Talents Center Half Forward at Premier level and later in Div one as a player coach.
Jason Philp - Would have loved to have seen him in the Premier Division.
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That season Dane Rampe had a couple of years ago was something special - I've never seen one player dominate the league like he did that year.
But for a best player award, I'd be looking at someone who's the first picked in club and rep games, year in year out. I've been around for about 10 years, and the likes of Ron Wason and Declan Donohue fall into that category. If Barnaby Howarth hadn't been struck down in his prime, I'm sure he'd have been in that category as well.
Like Justabaraker mentioned, Gus Seebeck certainly had an imposing presence; especially the year he kicked the ton.
And a special mention for Luffy. Even after a long AFL career, when most former players would have been happy to give it away, he's had a very long stint in Sydney footy - 2 Phelan Medals, plenty of games, just about every accolade except a premiership medal.Leave a comment:
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Only seen Jamie Vlatko a couple of times and he's worthy of a mention as a champion Baulko forward. But I was interested in FOOTY BARISTA's mention of big Gus Seebeck - couldn't run and couldn't even bend down to pick up the ball but wow, what a presence !
He just stands there in the ruck duel, or in the square, and dominates...opponents must sh+t themselves if they find that they are lined up against him.Leave a comment:
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I can only comment on the last 7-8 years of Sydney football but there have been many in my time.
Brad "Superboot" Abbott was an amazing footballer and almost always kicked big bags. Didn't look like much but had hands like a vice and rarely missed a shot
Ronnie Wason at North Shore is in the elite category of Sydney footballers in my opinion. Was a very difficult match up and no forward liked seeing him walk towards them. I remember speaking to Pete Dugmore about him and he said he was his toughest opponent by a mile
Matty Withers is in a similar category to Wason. In his prime he was very good and his work ethic as a forward was second to none. It took a very good player to stop him
Dane Rampe - its funny however I think that when he left he was just a "good" player that was better than average but nothing to plan against. When he returned he was a very different footballer and was elite. His time in the VFL certainly developed his all around game and he was a clear standout of the competition.
Mike Beardsley was an outstanding footballer. An absolute professional who just accumulated possessions at will. A great stoppage player. We planned a lot against him when he was at the dogs for that year and actually used 2 players on him for the 2009 GF to nullify him. We were lucky enough to get him across for the 10-11 season where he played in those flags.
In terms of East Coast - we had some very good players through that period. But Jamie Vlatko was the best forward I have seen play in Sydney by an absolute street. No one comes close to him in my biased opinion. He came straight from SANFL and just dominated the competition. You will never meet a more competitive person in sport. His brother Jon is pretty handy as well....Leave a comment:
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