Brisbane Lions v Geelong v....Sydney?

[cripple]

Greatest teams going purely by records IMO.

Melbourne under Norm Smith late 50's early 60's 6 Grand Finals = 5 premierships
Hawthorn 7 consecutive Grand Finals in the 80's + last hurrah in 1991
Collingwood 4 in a row
Brisbane 3 in a row
Geelong 3 in 5
Then those have gone back to back
Those like Nth Melbourne and West Coast in the 90's with consistent prelim finals appearances but not as many flags as they would've/ should've got.

As well as this you have teams like Essendon in 2000 who dominated for three years but only managed the one flag (99,2000,01)

This will be a never ending discussion as to who was great and why but very hard to figure out

[Gingernuts]

Can't they all just be great? Why do they have to be compared?

I'll be telling my kids and grandkids about the great sides of Brisbane & Geelong in the 00's. Who was better is of no real consequence IMO.

Regarding Sydney, success is measured by premierships unfortunately. They were a good side, but in 30 years people will remember only Brisbane & Geelong for their early 21st century dominance.

[best on hill]

maybe geelong are the greatest team of all, after all they have it in there club song

[Wedgie]

All good points, best thing is it always makes for interesting discussion and reminiscing about history on safooty.net

I'm just still over the moon that I get to talk about my Cats in this sort of discussion as following them for over 25 years we certainly went through some times when it didn't look like we'd win a flag in my lifetime let alone 3 in 5 years!

[Gingernuts]

All good points, best thing is it always makes for interesting discussion and reminiscing about history on safooty.net

I'm just still over the moon that I get to talk about my Cats in this sort of discussion as following them for over 25 years we certainly went through some times when it didn't look like we'd win a flag in my lifetime let alone 3 in 5 years!

I was thinking that, it must be a great feeling to have the side you support being talked about as one of the greats.

[Booney]

Tough to describe any one "team" as the greatest is very tough because even Brisbane's three-peat included some 28 or more players so not one "team" won them the three premierships.

Greatest era is something to consider and I think Brisbanes 3 wins and then loss in a GF gives them mantle just in front of Geelongs current run. Just.

Greatest team is another whole discussion. Essendon 2000, Geelong 2007, Hawthorn 1989....etc etc.

[Baron Greenback]

Tough to describe any one "team" as the greatest is very tough because even Brisbane's three-peat included some 28 or more players so not one "team" won them the three premierships.

Greatest era is something to consider and I think Brisbanes 3 wins and then loss in a GF gives them mantle just in front of Geelongs current run. Just.

Greatest team is another whole discussion. Essendon 2000, Geelong 2007, Hawthorn 1989....etc etc.

Essendon 2000, Carlton 1995, Brisbane Lions 2001, Geelong 2007 (in that order) would be the 4 I rate the highest of what I've seen.

[gossipgirl]

pretty simple the only afl team to win 3 in a row BRISBANE

[valleys07]

Essendon 2000, Cats 2007, Carlton 1995, Hawthorn 1989, Brisbane 2001 Top 5 best seasons for mine.

[Rik E Boy]

Don't forget Melbourne. Topped the ladder every year from 1955-60 and played in seven straight Grand Finals winning five of them. Managed to snag a sixth in 1964 as well.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Essendon 2000, Cats 2007, Carlton 1995, Hawthorn 1989, Brisbane 2001 Top 5 best seasons for mine.

Out of all those teams I reckon Hawthorn 1989 were probably the best. What an awesome side they were in those days.

Brisbane got the runs on the board but with an extended salary cap they took advantage of the situation. The AFL took away that particular security blanket and they haven't been back. Geelong had a good run with father/sons so the AFL changed the rules and we've won another premiership.

Geelong>Brisbane.....because we have Brisbane blokes in the box who make it so.

regards,

REB

[valleys07]

Essendon 2000, Cats 2007, Carlton 1995, Hawthorn 1989, Brisbane 2001 Top 5 best seasons for mine.

Out of all those teams I reckon Hawthorn 1989 were probably the best. What an awesome side they were in those days.

Brisbane got the runs on the board but with an extended salary cap they took advantage of the situation. The AFL took away that particular security blanket and they haven't been back. Geelong had a good run with father/sons so the AFL changed the rules and we've won another premiership.

Geelong>Brisbane.....because we have Brisbane blokes in the box who make it so.

regards,

REB

Yeah i wasn't old enough to really understand just how dominant hawthorn were, just saw the granny in 89 through replay and thought it was a mighty effort to win a flag with virtually no bench after half time.

Essendon and the cats the 2 best sides ive seen and paid attention to over the course of a season, brisbane on the back of 16 straight wins cant be ignored and carlton in 95 i can remember parts, but losing 2 games and a 10 goal gf win deserves recognition (also a 16 game winning streak IIRC).

[Booney]

Essendon 2000, Cats 2007, Carlton 1995, Hawthorn 1989, Brisbane 2001 Top 5 best seasons for mine.

Out of all those teams I reckon Hawthorn 1989 were probably the best. What an awesome side they were in those days.

Brisbane got the runs on the board but with an extended salary cap they took advantage of the situation. The AFL took away that particular security blanket and they haven't been back. Geelong had a good run with father/sons so the AFL changed the rules and we've won another premiership.

Geelong>Brisbane.....because we have Brisbane blokes in the box who make it so.

regards,

REB

Salary cap changes impact upon clubs immediately, father-son rule changes have not.

[Bum Crack]

Essendon 2000, Cats 2007, Carlton 1995, Hawthorn 1989, Brisbane 2001 Top 5 best seasons for mine.

Out of all those teams I reckon Hawthorn 1989 were probably the best. What an awesome side they were in those days.

Brisbane got the runs on the board but with an extended salary cap they took advantage of the situation. The AFL took away that particular security blanket and they haven't been back. Geelong had a good run with father/sons so the AFL changed the rules and we've won another premiership.

Geelong>Brisbane.....because we have Brisbane blokes in the box who make it so.

regards,

REB

Salary cap changes impact upon clubs immediately, father-son rule changes have not.

You'd be getting a bit excited I reckon Booney. Another 10 years and Ian Downsborough's son will be ready to pick up under the father/son rule

[Booney]

Sure I'd be excited...you have every right to be.

As for any non-Victorian clubs getting any value out of father-son picks, dont hold your breathe.

[the milky bar kid]

Interesting discussion.
I’d personally go with Brisbane from the most dominate team of the AFL era.
Not discrediting Geelong’s achievements, they have been amazing. However I feel that Brisbane’s 3 flag’s (4 granny’s) in a row is a greater especially given the strength of the sides they were against. Essendon, Port Adelaide, Collingwood & others had fantastic, legitament flag winning chances, but the Lions beat them all again & again & again…
This would be different if the Cat’s didn’t lose to the Hawks.

[Media Park]

Brisbane in their heyday (which extends to 2004 when they lost to Pt Adelaide) were simply the bench mark, and you simply had to look at the quality of players "relegated" to flanks and pockets (where most clubs have lesser players) to understand how amazing that side was.
Voss, Black, Power, Akermanis, Shaun Hart, Nigel Lappin, Leppitsch, Mal Michael, Lynch, Brown and Bradshaw (in a pocket!).

Geelong of the current vintage did not have the mammoth amount of superstar players of the Lions, with only Ablett (07 and 09), Bartel, Stevie J, Chapman and Selwood in what one would consider the elite pantheon, however their second tier players in Kelly, Enright, Wojcinski, Mackie, Milburn and Corey just grew an extra leg when the big games came.

I would love to say that the current Geelong crew is the more superior, but it is just not true.
Even if they go around again and win in 2012, I would still consider the Lions the better team, just maybe thinking Geelong could edge the points on longevity.

However in a quality over quantity argument, Brisbane Lions win.

(Hawthorn's late 80's side gets third)

[Jim05]

A lot of people probably dont know but Essendon played in 6 GF's in a row from 1946-51.
Although they only won 3 they had a tied GF and lost the following week and their other 2 losses were by 11 and 1 point.
Geelong has been incredible and I still think they have a few more years at the top remaining. Can see them winning another 1 or 2 in next 2-3 years

[ORDoubleBlues]

I'll say this current Geelong side because if we're going to go back as far as the mid '90's it's still Geelong as they've played in more Grand Finals since 1989 than any other side and they've played a brand of football that you actually want to watch.

[Dutchy]

Brisbane are still the best team Ive seen, awesome.

Lets not forget the best team of the 90's either, 7 straight Prelim Finals, should have got at least one more flag sadly