Top 50 SANFL Players Of All Time

[CK]

When deciding on a topic for the 2010 Season Guide, I thought it was time to finally put the proverbials on the line and do one that had been niggling in the back of my mind for years. While the complete prose is published in the Guide, the criteria applied were:

- No player with less than 50 SANFL games (hence no Nathan Buckley, among many others)

- Sustained performance over a reasonable time period - so there will be a number of Magarey Medallists who had one or two exceptional seasons, but otherwise, not sustained form, not included.

- Players who polled well in the Medal over a number of years; won multiple best and fairests/Medals for Best Afield in State games; sustained State selection were closely considered.

- Players from all eras were considered equally with no conscious decision for a "quota" from any era or club. Playing ONLY was looked at, not coaching records.

The other intangible to look at, is that I, and many of us, have not seen some of these players play, either live or in archival footage, so it relies upon playing records/anecdotal evidence/press coverage at the time.

There will be players missing that some will feel are essentials. There will be inclusions that may raise eyebrows. This was the culimination of a LOT - and I mean a lot of research, study, observations over time and for contemporary players, seeing them play. While the final list was my decision alone, a couple of well respected football observers, whose opinions I respect greatly, did look over it prior to submission to make sure there were no factual errors, or howlers. I expect people to disagree with some but one of the main points of the article was to get some sensible discussion flowing among the diehards among us. There were two I could not split - and I challenge anyone who would have them in the list, to split them.

Let the debate begin:

[CK]

1. BARRIE RORBAN (North Adelaide): Hard to argue against the number one selection. Simply put, Robran was near incomparable at his peak before a devastating knee injury dramatically slowed his prodigious output. Wonderful hands, fantastic disposal and three Magarey Medals says it all.

2. KEN FARMER (North Adelaide): Set amazing goalkicking benchmarks that, simply, will never be broken in senior football. To kick 100 goals in a season on eleven consecutive occasions, often double or triple teamed, is testament to his incredible abilities and consistency in rewarding his teammates.

3. RUSSELL EBERT (Port Adelaide): The only four time Magarey Medallist – a record never likely to be broken – and maintained a high standard throughout a decorated career. Classy disposal and able to work out of trouble very well, he was a pivotal reason for Port’s success throughout the 70’s.

4. LINDSAY HEAD (West Torrens): One of the best of his era, Head’s creativity for West Torrens gave him the title or arguably the best player to pull on the blue and gold. Also able to play a number of positions, his clearance work and pinpoint disposal had some of the best evasive skills to keep winning the ball.

5. PAUL BAGSHAW (Sturt): Arguably the best player never to win a Medal, Bagshaw’s sublime output through Sturt’s golden era of the 60’s and 70’s was a prime reason for their success. Able to play up forward in the twilight of his career, he rarely wasted a possession and was able to play a variety of roles.

6. MALCOLM BLIGHT (Woodville): While VFL interrupted his SANFL career for some time, the performance on either side was breathtaking. To kick 126 goals in a bottom team at the age of 35 in 1986 was testament to his quick mind, evasive skills and pure skills on both sides of the body. His output prior to leaving for the VFL was enough alone to list him as Woodville’s greatest ever.

7. IAN MCKAY (North Adelaide): One of the all time great full backs, his containing roles on John Coleman in state football remain legend. He was very rarely beaten at any level and his high leaping and athleticism forced opposition forwards to work on containing his output. Also an exceptional leader, one of the best defenders produced by South Australia.

8. LEN FITZGERALD (Sturt): To win three Magarey Medals from only 125 games indicates his huge impact, fairness and ability to continually win one-on-one contests. Averaging 1.6 goals a match, his leadership skills were exceptional and despite standing out of football for three years, he was able to return in peak form.

9. PETER CAREY (Glenelg): It may be argued that there were better ruckmen who played considerably less games, but for sheer consistency over an South Australian record 448 matches, his record is impossible to ignore. Still playing great football at the end, his bodywork, clever tapwork and ability to match it with all comers brings him high on the list.

10. TOM LEAHY (West Adelaide/North Adelaide): One of the pre-eminent ruckmen in SANFL, his bodywork, athleticism and ability to cope with all different styles of ruckwork set the bar for all future big men to meet. Playing with great distinction for both West and North, he remains one of the most capped State players of all time in SA.

11. Rick Davies (Sturt)
12. Bob Hank (West Torrens)
13. Dan Moriarty (South Adelaide)
14. Bob Quinn (Port Adelaide)
15. Walter “Wacka” Scott (Norwood)
16. Tim Evans (Port Adelaide)
17. Tom Mackenzie (West Torrens/North Adelaide)
18. Jim Deane (South Adelaide)
19. Garry McIntosh (Norwood)
20. Graham Cornes (Glenelg)
21. John Abley (Port Adelaide)
22. John C. (Dinny) Reedman (South Adelaide/North Adelaide)
23. Stephen Kernahan (Glenelg)
24. Brenton Adcock (Sturt)
25. D.K (Fred) Phillis (Glenelg)
26. Ken Eustice (West Adelaide/Central District/Glenelg)
27. John Halbert (Sturt)
28. John Cahill (Port Adelaide)
29. Bruce Schulz (Norwood)
30. Neil Kerley (West Adelaide/Glenelg)
31. Peter Darley (South Adelaide)
32. Jack Owens (Glenelg)
33. Jack Tredrea (Port Adelaide)
34. Fos Williams (Port Adelaide)
35. John Platten (Central District)
36. Bruce McGregor (West Adelaide)
37. Andrew Jarman (North Adelaide/Norwood)
38. Michael Graham (Sturt)
39. Anthony “Bos” Daly (Norwood/South Adelaide/West Torrens/West Adel/North Adel)
40. Michael Taylor (Norwood)
41. Frank Golding (Sturt)
42. “Shine” Hosking (Port Adelaide)
43. Don Lindner (North Adelaide)
44. Chris and James Gowans (Central District)
45. Ron Phillips (North Adelaide)
46. Michael Aish (Norwood)
47. Scott Hodges (Port Adelaide)
48. Gary Window (Central District)
49. Bill Wedding (Norwood)
50. H.R Head (West Adelaide/Glenelg)

[GWW]

Great topic, i think no 44 is out of place however. Greg Phillips' record compares quite favourably with quite a few in the list too.

[whufc]

Great topic, i think no 44 is out of place however. Greg Phillips' record compares quite favourably with quite a few in the list too.

what 16 premierships between them not good enough for you.

[McAlmanac]

6. MALCOLM BLIGHT (Woodville): .... His output prior to leaving for the VFL was enough alone to list him as Woodville’s greatest ever.

Ray Huppatz left for the VFL at the same time. At that point in time, Huppatz had 4 best and fairests, was club captain and State vice captain. Blighty had his Magarey, All Australian jumper and one best and fairest - all from a stellar 1972. Ray Huppatz, arguably SA's best rover of the early 70's who also earned a State jumper for Victoria, is often overlooked as a great of the game.

[GWW]

Great topic, i think no 44 is out of place however. Greg Phillips' record compares quite favourably with quite a few in the list too.

what 16 premierships between them not good enough for you.

I think CK has done a great job with his list, and i don't want to get into a big debate over it, but personally the Gowans don't belong on that list before players like Greg Phillips, Bruce Lindsay, Mark Naley, Keith Thomas, Geof Motley, Kym Hodgeman, Neil Craig, Chris McDermott, Bruce Abernethy, Bob Hammond, Mick Redden and Tony McGuinness. If we average those 16 premierships out to 8 a piece, then we'd be putting players like Matthew Slade and Tim Ginever in there.

[redandblack]

Great list and a great topic, CK.

We'll all have different opinions, but I think it's a well researched and credible list.

My thoughts are as follows:

Too high:

Lindsay Head

Paul Bagshaw (wait for the screams)

Tim Evans

Graham Cornes

Brenton Adcock (good, but definitely not in the best 24 players ever)

Michael Graham

Bill Wedding

Too low:

H R Head - should be in the top half at a minimum.

Scott Hodges

Apart from my strong thoughts on H R Head, it's debatable opinion only and thanks to CK for a great effort.

Other posters will disagree, so I'm happy to defend the above, or be persuaded otherwise by posters who know more than me.

One advantage I do have i9s that I've seen more of them actually play than most.

(No, I didn't see Tom McKenzie )

[GWW]

Personally, i did think Bagshaw, Cornes and Adcock did look to be rated a fraction too high as well.

Who's the best West Adelaide footballer you've seen in your time following the Bloods r & b?

[rogernumber10]

Credit to CK for putting it out there. Had the benefit of a pre-posting debate with him (Roger Woodcock aside of course), and thought it's a pretty good job. I still maintain the Gowans' can't be a pair, and should be split, but he argued his reasons why he had them as a group.

the big challenge for people is trying to ratify the careers of guys like Kernahan, Bradley, Platten who were stars in the strong SANFL, but played super footy in the AFL. Their SANFL time limits obviously cost each of them a likely top 10 spot, and we're never going to resolve that debate.

[JK]

As others have said, these things are a very subjective topic, but to not only put your cahonies on the line, but also give it a VERY fair shake, is a fantastic effort mate!!

Im far from a history buff, but have always been interested in following previous era's to a degree, and the list looks (to me) to be a very very reasonable and valid attempt mate.

Will be interesting to run it past my old man to see what his thoughts are.

[nickname]

It's an almost impossible thing to do and an easy thing to criticise, but I agree with r&b that Adcock and Evans are way too high. I don't think the Gowans are in the best 50 to have played in the SANFL either, and they're certainly not better footballers than Michael Aish was. Ken Eustice was a much better footballer than Adcock IMO.
I'd try to squeeze Robert Day in there I think ahead of some.

[Wedgie]

Interesting comment about Cornes r&b, I know that Barrie Robran rates Cornes as one of the best he's seen and has him in his top 3 of players he's seen, possibly no 1.
The Gowens ahead of Ron Phillips, Michael Aish and Scott Hodges and one behind Don Lindner? They would have been playing reserves whilst those players were dominating the league, but well done CK as that was the only standout shocker IMHO, a very good list besides that one joke.

[Booney]

Sorry CK, have to agree with the comments about the Gowans'.

'Rocky' Roberts? From my childhood memories of having to go to The Parade I always recall him kicking a bag against us.

Craig Bradley?

Good effort though mate, not an easy taks and well doen for spending the time to compile it. Cant fit them all in.

[CK]

Thanks for the feedback gents (I'm presuming there are no ladies among the posters here!).

One selection that I expected would cause a bit of discussion is the Gowans twins. I'd look at their records here:

James: 202 games, Jack Oatey Medallist in 2000, Bob Quinn Medal in 2002, 2003 Best and Fairest, 8 premiership medals

Chris: 199 games, the only player to win two Jack Oatey Medals, Bob Quinn Medal in 2007, leading goalkicker in a premiership team in 2003 (for a non key forward). 8 premiership medals.

Met the criteria for sustained performance over a long time period and I struggle to think of two players who have had a greater impact on our competition in the last ten years (notwithstanding there was no conscious decision to pick any designated number of players from any era), for that entire period.


Booney - Rocky Roberts made a long short list, but having seen nearly all of his career fairly closely, I couldn't make a case for him as top 50 of all time, despite recognising his impact.

Roger hit a very good point with the players he mentioned, in terms of their actual time spent in our competition. Feats in other leagues were ignored - only SANFL time and achievements - making some exceptional players who proved their class in the VFL/AFL lower down the list.

R&B - H. Head was one that I looked long and hard at, and concede he may possibly have been higher. Interestingly, I've had a few suggestions Wedding should have been much higher (his record at Norwood is incomparable to any ruckman there before or since, but I had to look overall here). Would be interested to hear other's thoughts on Hodges v Evans and who should/could have been higher here, looking at relative competition strength when both were playing.

[nickname]

Met the criteria for sustained performance over a long time period and I struggle to think of two players who have had a greater impact on our competition in the last ten years (notwithstanding there was no conscious decision to pick any designated number of players from any era), for that entire period.

I'd argue that the fact (if we accept it as such) that the Gowans have had the greatest impact in the last ten years, doesn't make them better footballers than Bradley and Aish. And premiership medals are no measurement of the relative strengths of footballers, otherwise Aaron Keating would be rated as a better footballer than Bob Skilton.
Bob Simunsen and Ralph Sewer are two more who would be closer to the top 50 than the Gowans for mine, particularly Simunsen.

[Adelaide Hawk]

CK is to be congratulated for attempting a very difficult, nigh impossible task. To me there are far too many X factors in trying to compare players. I have enough difficulty trying to determine the best player at my club, let alone the best ever.

So many things to take into account such as differing eras, styles of play, rules of the day, positions played, etc. And how do we determine "best ever"? Individual skill levels, what they managed to squeeze out of their god given talent, individual and team achievements? It can also depend upon which games we've seen, or missed.

Added to that the biggest X factor of them all, the fact none of us have seen every player in the history of SA football. My judgement of players such as Tom Leahy and Wacca Scott is based purely on reputation which may or may not have been embelished over time.

My thoughts are a little controversial perhaps, but over the first 100 years of SA football, we have had many players considered to be among the very best players in Australia. They never needed to venture to the big bad VFL/AFL, they proved themselves in state matches and interstate carnivals.

Since the advent of the Crows, every player in the SANFL (except for Garry McIntosh) have aspired to play AFL. Many of the better players in SA since 1991 have been players who weren't able to cut the mustard in the AFL and have found their niche in a less competitive SANFL.

For this reason, I find it impossible to ever consider post-1991 players as worthy of a place in the 50 best ever SANFL players.

[whufc]

I guess the Gowans would be better suited to a "50 All time most influential SANFL players" rather than a best 50 of all time.

[robranisgod]

One glaring omission is Snowy Hamilton, Ken Farmer always maintained that until Robran came along Hamilton was the state's best ever footballer.

Also having grown up surrounded by ex West Torrens players and supporters, I never met one who rated Head higher than Hank. Hank won nine Best and fairests for Torrens when they were a consistent finals performer. Like Robran his own high standards stopped him from winning more medals. When Kingston and Coward did SA's greatest ever footballers they had Hank well above Head.

Also they had Don Lindner much higher than Neil Kerley, Lindner could turn a match like few others, he even did it often in state matches. Kerley was a great leader but not in the same class as a footballer. Is it too harsh to say that he has improved as a footballer since he retired.

Window is well out of his depth. He did win a Magarey Medal, but only polled 16 votes to win it. A number of medallists who aren't included in the list were much better players.

I think that John Cahill is much too low, but I also can't fathom how Barrie Barbary isn't in the top 50. He played more state football than any other North Adelaide player and he was best on the ground in the 1963 win at the MCG. At the time, Barbary and Cahill, who were incidentally first cousins, were considered South Australia's greatest ever combination of wingmen. When you consider that Eustice was always played at half back whilst always playing as a wingman at the time in the SANFL is testimony to their ability and performance.

I would also have somehow got Robert Oatey into the list. A great rover who was a much, much better footballer than Window for example.

[Adelaide Hawk]

6. MALCOLM BLIGHT (Woodville): .... His output prior to leaving for the VFL was enough alone to list him as Woodville’s greatest ever.

Ray Huppatz left for the VFL at the same time. At that point in time, Huppatz had 4 best and fairests, was club captain and State vice captain. Blighty had his Magarey, All Australian jumper and one best and fairest - all from a stellar 1972. Ray Huppatz, arguably SA's best rover of the early 70's who also earned a State jumper for Victoria, is often overlooked as a great of the game.

This is the danger of rating players by Magarey Medals. Huppatz is a classic example of a great player who never won a medal, but certainly would rate amongst the very best rovers in SA history.

IMHO, Peter Marker is another who seems to escape discussions about great players.

[Wedgie]

I guess the Gowans would be better suited to a "50 All time most influential SANFL players" rather than a best 50 of all time.

Good call, I would definately have no issue with that.
That would be a very interesting job putting those together, we should all try it!
I agree with what others have said though, things like this are to promote discussion and CK has done a sensational job with his list IMHO.
Whilst not a big a history buff as some on here I have read a lot of SANFL books and if my only criticism is for one spot it goes to show how good a job he has done so well done again CK!
I love discussions like this.