Robert Walls Rates The Great 8

The Age

Saturday March 24, 2007

Robert Walls

1 GLENN ARCHER

The "Shinboner Of the century" has the most outstanding career of the "Great 8". He doesn't have the individual honours of his peers, but that's not what Archer is about.

He has the total admiration and respect of the football world for the fearless, selfless way in which he has played the game. For Archer, the game is simple. The team comes first, second and third. Whatever sacrifices had to be made to ensure victory for his team, Archer was prepared to pay. He leaves little doubt he would die for his teammates. For years, he played as an undersized key defender. He mentally and physically intimidated most of his bigger opponents with his aggression and courage. Archer could also turn a game when moved forward and his sacrificial acts set the standard for his awestruck teammates to follow. Modest and unassuming throughout his career, there's no doubt he would cite sharing premierships with his teammates in 1996 and '99 as being the highlights of his career. With 21 finals to his credit, Archer has seen more September action than the likes of Buckley and Crawford.

2 JAMES HIRD

An absolute star of the game, Hird will bow out with a Brownlow Medal, four best-and-fairest awards, five All-Australian jumpers, two premiership medals and a Norm Smith Medal. He was captain for eight years, handing over to Matthew Lloyd in 2006. Hird is about touch and poise. I doubt whether anyone in the modern game can read the play better than James.

Do yourself a favour and keep your eye on him for a full 10 minutes. He will glide over the field effortlessly, accelerate with ease, use the angles to intercept and, in a split second, dispose of the ball by hand and foot to advantage. And the bigger the occasion - he has played in 20 finals - the more he rises to the challenge.

3 NATHAN BUCKLEY

Another star of the game: a Brownlow medallist, seventime All-Australian, six-time best and fairest and captain going into his ninth year. Supremely talented like Hird, yet very different. Buckley has had an insatiable appetite to be the best. He is driven. In the early days, possessions, votes, awards and honours meant plenty as that was his way of measuring himself against the best. With maturity, the focus became the team and, over the past five years, he has been a fine captain. A lasting memory of Buckley will be the image of him at full flight turning onto his right side with his powerful leg driving a hard, low, deep punt to a teammate's advantage. What separates Hird and Buckley is premiership medallions. Hird has two, Buckley none.

4 ROBERT HARVEY

The modest Saint has dedicated more than half his life to being the best footballer he can be to the St Kilda Football Club. With eight All-Australian honours, four club best and fairests and two Brownlow Medals, Harvey is the most decorated player in the game. And he is still playing quality football. Last year, he ran fourth in the Saints' best and fairest and his ability to play with and recover from injury is legendary. His 340 games is the most of any Saint and placed him 10th on the AFL's games list.

In his prime, there was no one fitter, and he took pride in running the legs off different opponents in the one game. No one sold the dummy and sidestepped better then the man they call "Banger".

5 CHRIS GRANT

The games' record-holder for the Bulldogs began his career as a skinny centre half-forward. To play as a key forward for a decade and more, and to play several seasons at centre half-back, means your body has to get pummelled.

Grant has never shirked an issue, never whinged and never resorted to unfair tactics when he has been treated badly.

On and off the field, Grant has been a class act who has remained loyal to the Bulldogs' cause, even though no one would have blamed him had he sought greener pastures.

Quick and strong on the lead with clean hands, Grant could also hold his own in heavy traffic. In latter years, as the body has slowed, he has been more than useful plugging holes in an undersized Bulldogs back line.

6 DAVID NEITZ

Now into his eighth year as captain, the ultimate clubman has been the mainstay of his team's forward line for more than a decade. Seven times he has been the team's leading goalkicker and, of course, its main physical presence. Unlike others, Neitz wasn't born with an athletic build and sublime skills. He has had to bulldoze his way to become the fiercely determined footballer he has become, and he knows only one way to attack the ball, and that is flat out.

7 ANTHONY KOUTOUFIDES

Plenty at Carlton still marvel at the purple patch of absolutely brilliant football that "Kouta" delivered some seven years ago. They say that for about 30 games, no one has dominated the game as Kouta did. With his confidence sky high and in perfect physical condition, Kouta did it all. He took screamers, plucked the ball with one hand in tight situations and accelerated away; kicked goals on the run and tackled hard. A popular and loyal servant of his club, Kouta took a long while to learn the game and played his best when given freedom as a midfielder. My only criticism is that with his size, there were times when he needed to stand up in the key defensive and forward posts.

8 SHANE CRAWFORD

Born too late to be part of the Hawks' golden era, Crawford has played only seven finals and no grand finals in his 15 years at the club. As a result, he hasn't been able to test himself on football's greatest stage. What he has been able to do is deliver sterling service to his team. His Brownlow Medal, four best and fairests and another three top-three placings mean he has consistently produced the goods. He has probably set the standard for what hard running is all about in modern football.

© 2007 The Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home