Who was our classiest player ever?

[Dry Rot]

Have read some terrific posts on the Doug Hawkins thread and thanks to all.

But one really took my eye



Ah that one handed pick up off the wet turf and his pass to Edmond in the 85 final against North. He was the classiest player we ever had

Big call. I never saw him play.

Who is/was the classiest player we ever had?

[Maddog37]

Chris Grant without a doubt for me. Poetry in motion.

[Throughandthrough]

Simon Minton Connell

[Hotdog60]

Simon Minton Connell

:) and James Cook

In my life time there has been some very, very good footballers that have played for the Dogs some of which decided to play for other clubs and do just as well. But it would be hard not to go pass the 300 club and I would have to put Hawkins at the top of the list. Too young to remember Teddy. Only migrated to Oz in 67 and gain a love of footy early 70's.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

1. Whitten. Saw him take a speccy and hit a teammate on the chest with a flickpass before his feet hit the ground etc.
2. Grant. Moved and executed like a Rolls. A champion who could lift the team. Could read the flight of the ball better than anyone and fly to meet it.
3. Hawkins. Incredibly clever and at times outrageously brilliant. As a young un at Prices Park v Carlton, the ball was kicked long, out towards him and his opponent. He was behind his opponent, turned around to look to see what was behind him and in one motion, turned his eyes back to the flight of the ball, from a standing start sprang onto the shoulders of his Carlton opponent and took the mark. He was a skinny kid then. His hand balling, his tussles with Dipper where Dipper would at times just shake his head how Hawkins had beaten him in the contest, even outbodying Dipper, his bullet like passes, his reading of the play, were sublime. Only his set shots for goal were not of the highest order. His brain got in the way.

[always right]

Never saw EJ play in his prime.

Classiest players in my time;
Chris Grant
Doug Hawkins
Robert Murphy

[Ghost Dog]

Chris Grant
Class on the field
Class off the field
Class for what he did not do - Go to Port.

[F'scary]

Only familiar with players post 1980. Doug Hawkins & Chris Grant in their prime (& they had many years, probably >10, in their prime).

[Greystache]

I would have Gilbee high up on my list, not just because he was an excellent kick but he also had the ability to make the right decision everytime, often in heavy traffic.

[ratsmac]

Great question! Still pondering this one though, my short list is...
1. Chris Grant
2. Douggie Hawkins
3. Scott West
4. Leon Cameron
5. Brian Royal
6. Tony Mcguinness
7. dare I say it Nathan "Judas" Brown
I could go on but my final answer will be of a player I've seen play.
mmmm I'll get back to you.

[ledge]

Templeton wasn't too bad either.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Great question! Still pondering this one though, my short list is...
1. Chris Grant
2. Douggie Hawkins
3. Scott West
4. Leon Cameron
5. Brian Royal
6. Tony Mcguinness
I could go on but my final answer will be of a player I've seen play.
mmmm I'll get back to you.

Some fine choices ratsmac

Grant, Hawkins, Cameron and McGuinness all would have been on my list but Gilbee would be also, Murphy deserves consideration, Darcy maybe also deserves consideration for the 10.

[gohardorgohome]

I was a kid when Gary Dempsey was playing for us. He used to take mark after mark in a poor team. I think he is up there for the most brownlow votes ever.

I'm too young to have seen Ted...

Templeton, Grant, Hawkins, Cooney and Murphy all have had that extra something.

[Remi Moses]

Doug first
Chris Grant close second.
Bit out of left field I'd have Ted Whitten Jnr

[bornadog]

Chis Grant

Dougie

Magic McClean

[always right]

Chis Grant

Dougie

Magic McClean

Good nomination with Magic McLean. Was one of my favourite players....loved the way he'd run blokes down just when they thought they had broken clear.

[ReLoad]

Dempsey
Templeton

These guys often played in amazingly poor teams, yet still were head and shoulders above everything in the entire competition, Classy smart footballers who could single handedly control games.

Others who were head and shoulders above in the class stakes.
Grant
Hawkins

Perhaps one which is still quite fresh, but Jeez Johnno was a class act. I don't know how many times saying, thank god we have Johnno.
He probably won more game by himself than any of the others above (some played in a lot of losing games) but for his size I cant remember seeing anyone with better hands than him.

[always right]

I think the key to this thread is how people define "classy". In my mind it's not simply about how talented a player was but more about their particular style of play.

I equate "classy" with players who have elite skills on both sides of their body, are perfectly balanced, seem to have more time than others with the ball in hand, are smooth movers, and have the ability to make their oponents look very average one on one.

I notice some have suggested that Dempsey was a classy player. There is no doubt that he was an out and out champion but I would not have classifed him as "classy" as he doesn't fit my above criteria.

Do others have a different definition of what makes a "classy" player on the field.

[stefoid]

The hawk.

[LostDoggy]

Hawk just did outrageous things, remember him deliberately handballing onto a players boot near the boundary and got a free, smooth mover, great to watch. Too young to see EJ.

C Grant next best.

[ratsmac]

Chris Grant gets the nod.
honourable mentions to Doug Hawkins and Scott West.

[KT31]

Chris Grant gets the nod.
honourable mentions to Doug Hawkins and Scott West.

Champion no doubt but didn't really have silky skills by foot.

[Twodogs]

Doug first
Chris Grant close second.
Bit out of left field I'd have Ted Whitten Jnr


I can see what you mean. I can still remember him streaming through the middle of the ground and hitting Templeton lace out on the lead.



5. Brian Royal
6. Tony Mcguinness
7. dare I say it Nathan "Judas" Brown.

Good noms.



Magic McClean

Mclean.;) Yep, you dont get a nickname like 'Magic' for nothing. I remember his first season with us. I was standing next to two blokes when Magic and two opposition players were chasing a loose ball. One of these blokes said to the other "That's the kid I was telling you about-watch him, watch him" Magic ran between the two opponents reached out with his hand and flicked the ball back between his own legs, turned and picked up the ball and was away before either of the opposition players knew he'd even been there. The bloke tuned around to his mate and said "Told you-that kids going to be a gun"

[Grantysghost]

Doug Hawkins pre 86.

[The Doctor]

Kelvin Templeton

[hotdog]

Doug Hawkins. Whist he had all the tricks in the book he was also such a smart footballer. One particuliar memory I have was Doug recieving a terrible handball out on his wing. Reaching for the ball before it spilled over the line he very quickly summed up his options. Realzing he was never going to beat the two opponents who were bearing down on him at pace he stopped propped and then handballed directly at the foot of one of the opponents who duly kicked it out on the full. After taking the resulting free kick he gave us adoring fans on the fence the thumbs up whilst running away for his next contest. Such a sublime talent.

I also have very fond memories of a young Leon Cameron bouncing his way down the opposite wing making football look so easy. Always had time and space and seemed to glide over whatever surface he was playing on which back in those days very often was a bog.

[westbulldog]

Whitten Quinlan Thorpe Dempsey Hawkins

[always right]

Whitten Quinlan Thorpe Dempsey Hawkins

Great player with enormous courage....but what made Dempsey "classy"? No argument with the other four by the way.

[westbulldog]

Do others have a different definition of what makes a "classy" player on the field.
Reply With Quote

yes, we have differing opinions.

[always right]

Do others have a different definition of what makes a "classy" player on the field.
Reply With Quote

yes, we have differing opinions.

That's fine:)...just interested in how you define "classy".

[wimberga]

Bob Murphy is certainly one of the Classiest players I have seen play the game.

[1eyedog]

Too young for E.J.

Doug Hawkins by a long way for mine, excelled in the wet and made all other players look second rate on the ground at times. Could do it on both sides, blind turns, selling candy, beautiful on both feet, one handed diving marks in the slop, wow, this guy was a champion and is an AFL legend. I never saw Templeton do a spinning 360 blind turn, although I never saw Hawkins kick 15 goals either:D

Others were Judas Brown and Leon Cameron, both super skilled, high class players.

[jeemak]

Chris Grant by a stretch for me, though, I only say that because I saw and took notice of his entire career. I wasn't lucky enough to do that with some of the others mentioned in this thread due to my age (so I'll take your word for it, as I respect what posters here have to say).

During the period leading up to and the few years following 1996 I've never seen a footballer completely dominate any position he was placed in the way Grant did. If he had have had that stretch of football in a high profile team, that won at least one premiership in that time he would be remembered as one of the best footballers to ever grace the field.

Sure, his goal kicking let him down from time to time, but the way he despatched the ball from each side of his body with low flat passing was the reason why I decided to base my own football career and football principals on kicking the football efficiently (and remeber his areal dominance through that time as well, not many could beat him). No other big man who leads at the ball or cuts them off at the time or since has been as good as he was in that area. You look at the hype around guys like Cloke in this day and age (who's goal kicking is worse), and you just realise how good Grant really was as a forward. But to think, if he had have played his entire career as a CHB there's absolutely no doubt he would have been the best in that position ever. He would have controlled countless matches through his ability to set up play if that was the case.

I only saw Doug post reco, but he was always silky.

From the last ten years Johnson and Murphy have been standouts, and while I can understand the reasons for Giansiracusa getting a bit of negative press from time to time class is someting he has in spades.

Think about it. Someone who is only 181cm tall, is lacking pace and physical strength really only has one or two attributes to make them competitive. For Gia, it's scoring nous and sublime ability to make opponents look silly when he has the ball in close and finish off the work of the team consistently.

Johnson when plaing in the midfield had it all, and sacrificed that aspect of his career to become a key forward, and did it extremely well. In 2004-2009 he showed exactly what class is, he made all different shapes and sizes look silly.

The elephant in the room for me is Nathan Brown. Like Grant, he had the propensity to miss shots he should have kicked. Aside from that, any time he had the ball in his hands I knew we were safe, and that we'd be dangerous. When he went to Richmond, just before he did his leg he was the best player in the competition. Nobody could stop him. What a shame for him it ended that way, and what a shame for us he didn't stick with us. He was one of the classiest players I've seen.

[LostDoggy]

Dancin Douggie. I would have loved to see him play on the sterile grounds we have now.

[LostDoggy]

Dougie & Tony McGuiness

Dont need to say anything about Dougie, its all been said.
However, one of my earliest memories at the Western oval was when I was about 8, standing on the members wing one sunny saturday lunchtime & Dougie was playing in the reserves and took an incredibly clean 1 handed speccie over a Nth Melb opponent. Pretty sure that was about 1978.

Tony McGuiness was a gun before he went back to Adelaide. I dont reckon he performed anywhere near as well for Adelaide as he did for us.

[KT31]

Grant, Templeton, Hawkins and Collins.
In that order for me.
Grant had class on the field and has so much class off the field.
KT was amazing when we were so crap.
Hawkins enough has been said.
Collins could play in any position.

[Hotdog60]

How do people rate Brad Hardy?

Wasn't with us long but left an impression.

[boydogs]

No Aker or Cooney?

[LostDoggy]

Rohan Smith off a half forward flank. Rode the flank like a butterfly and could sting like a bee. Ditto for Murph. Rumble young men rumble....

[JohnGentStand]

Dougy was number 1, Grant a close second......and for third in the classy stakes I will throw up the name Paul Hudson.

[jeemak]

Dougy was number 1, Grant a close second......and for third in the classy stakes I will throw up the name Paul Hudson.

Funnily enough, just as I opened the thread I thought of him. Good get.

I really rated him as a finisher and marker of the football. Class indeed.

[JohnGentStand]

Funnily enough, just as I opened the thread I thought of him. Good get.

I really rated him as a finisher and marker of the football. Class indeed.

I think he was the best finisher i have seen in the RW&B

[Hotdog60]

I think he was the best finisher i have seen in the RW&B

He was a good player but I anyways felt he missed shots he should have got, especially when we needed them.
In 2001 he kicked 1 - 6 and followed up the next week 1 - 4. I felt he could have been even a better player if that makes any sense.

[JohnGentStand]

He kicked them more than he missed. I recall a game at waverley vs the aints when he was sublime.
My other classy favourites would be Leon Cameron, 'SuperMac' and Bob Murphy.

[Ozza]

He kicked them more than he missed. I recall a game at waverley vs the aints when he was sublime.
My other classy favourites would be Leon Cameron, 'SuperMac' and Bob Murphy.

Yeah he was pretty deadly. Kicked 61.27 in 98' when he was All Australian.
He kicked 9.1 one day for Hawthorn against Collingwood when Dunstall was out injured.

[craigsahibee]

Yeah he was pretty deadly. Kicked 61.27 in 98' when he was All Australian.
He kicked 9.1 one day for Hawthorn against Collingwood when Dunstall was out injured.

That is a fantastic return for a small forward. Certainly had classy skills by foot and read the drop of the ball much better than most.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

That is a fantastic return for a small forward. Certainly had classy skills by foot and read the drop of the ball much better than most.

He took after his mother.

[gohardorgohome]

That is a fantastic return for a small forward. Certainly had classy skills by foot and read the drop of the ball much better than most.

I don't think small forward is the right term for a player who was 185 cm tall and 88kg.

[LostDoggy]

Leon Cameron for mine............then we drafted Adam Cooney.