In Hindsight...

[1eyedog]

Done to death inside my head. Who would you choose now?

I dunno. Macrae was in key spots at key moments, JJ constantly found the ball at HB, Hamling blanketed Buddy for large parts of it, Tommy kicked goals but was also pivotal for us around the ground and Picko was an unstoppable force.

FWIW I thought Kennedy was very close to BOG. He was massive and nearly got them across the line.

[Doggy]

I had $20 on Boyd at 80 to 1.
If he had of nailed that last shot at goal in the last 5 minutes he would have finished with 4 and the medal.

[1eyedog]

Tend to agree that the 4th would have tipped the balance in his favour. I'm trying not to pick him based on the fact that a bigger than 6'4 bloke for us kicked 3 and dominated around the ground for us in a GF. We've has such a wretched run with talls for soooo long I mean, how the hell do you not pick Boyd?

[Dry Rot]

FWIW I thought Kennedy was very close to BOG. He was massive and nearly got them across the line.

Agreed, Kennedy was fantastic and would have been a deserved winner from their side. Honourable mention to Grundy.

Voted in this poll for Boyd - how I saw it on the day.

[EasternWest]

Boyd. Then Morris.

[josie]

Boyd, then Bonti then Morris.

[bornadog]

I also picked Boyd. Some telling marks, especially in the 3rd quarter, a big goal when it counted and around the ground work. There were alot of even performances on the day, by players who didn't star, and just did their job, like Morris, Hunter, Daniel, Dickson, Wood, Biggs etc and a couple of shockers like Stringer who couldn't get his hands on the ball.

I would go with Picken as next best.

[jeemak]

The standout performer on the day was Kennedy by a stretch, unfortunately for him as his influence diminished after half time and a close marking effort by our mids the Swans did as well.

Honestly, in my view Kennedy influenced the game more than anyone else but he didn't win so...…

It was a distance game and JJ secured a lot of distance, however, it was misdirected a lot of the time. Jacko was excellent in close and Bont never wasted a touch. But for all round awesome I have to go with Boyd, followed by Picken. Just one or two touches that went our way resulted in the latter scoring goals, if they went the other way the day could have been completely different for us.

[soupman]

Boyd, Picken then Bont for us. Kennedy probably bog but losing side penalty means he slides out of contention. Bont should be a poll option imo.

[Twodogs]

Boyd foe mine.

[Ozza]

Its such a difficult question. I feel like I have a different opinion every time I watch it.
At the ground, at the time, I expected JJ to get it - because he was the one player who had a noticeable impact in all four quarters, and in a game crying out for run and carry - he had 800+ metres. The replay obviously isn't as kind to him. When he kicked the later-overturned goal, I thought he'd sealed the game and the medal.

I'd backed JJ at 34-1, however, I was hoping Boyd would win it for the story and the humble pie the journo's and opposition supporters would have to eat.

Watching the game back, the quality of Picken, Macrae and Bont's games comes through.

When I caught up with my (non-bulldogs) best mate on the night of the GF and asked who he thought was best "JJ or Tom Boyd" - he just scoffed and said "Morris was best on ground, when you watch it again you'll see how amazing he was".

Its probably quite fitting that our GF performance was one of an even contribution, and not one or two individuals dragging us over the line.

[AndrewP6]

Boyd easily, I thought it then and haven’t changed my mind.

[Mofra]

I still say Boyd, he was the real difference. 6 contested marks on the biggest stage in football is rare air. Consider the combined $2.1m twin towers at the other end combined for one goal and zero influence in the ruck like Boyd was.

[comrade]

Should have been Boyd.

From a Dogs perspective, votes should have been:

3. Boyd
2. Picken
1. Bont

JJ probably scrapes into top 5.

[dadsgirl16]

watched it again on Wednesday arvo..still reckon it's Tommy's all day and twice on Sundays!

[Sedat]

The standout performer on the day was Kennedy by a stretch, unfortunately for him as his influence diminished after half time and a close marking effort by our mids the Swans did as well.

Honestly, in my view Kennedy influenced the game more than anyone else but he didn't win so...…
Kennedy was BOG at half time but he had virtually zero impact in the 2nd half. He was in the top 5 on the ground but definitely not BOG for mine. I reckon his overall game was a tad overrated - he was absolutely white-hot for about 10 minutes in the 2nd qtr but just ok for the rest of the 1st half (and very quiet in the 2nd half)

Watching the replay as often as I have, the inside clearance work of Libba in the 2nd half is something to behold. He not only completely blanketed Kennedy but he consistently got first hands to the ball and won a number of crucial clearances that gave us such a territorial advantage in the 2nd half. Libba's game was underrated - very much akin to Bartel's game in the 2009 GF when he went onto Lenny Hayes at 1/4 time, who was absolutely carving the Cats up, and doing a complete blanket job on him thereafter.

Agree with previous comments that Boyd would have won the Norm Smith had he nailed that 4th goal. His game was pretty massive - 6 contested marks in a GF is the epitome of delivering on the big stage, and he contributed in all 4 quarters. Morris was pretty flawless and miserly all game, JJ gave great rebound drive (he missed a number of targets to be fair), Picken was a constant threat in the forward half, Macrae was involved all game (he loses points for missing an absolute sitter from point blank range in the 3rd qtr).

After several replays (at least 50) the standout BOG for mine was Bont. Every time he touched the ball it benefited the team - he had zero clangers in a high pressure game and set up so many opportunities for us in general play. A couple of examples being the Stringer goal being created from a stoppage with Bont going 3rd man up and expertly finding Macrae (whose quick hands were also brilliant, as was Stringer's gather and snap in half a nanosecond), and the Boyd goal near the boundary in the 2nd qtr which was the result of a precision 50m pass from Bont under pressure near the boundary and delivering on Boyd's chest with virtually no room for error.

The reason we won the GF was our even spread of contributions from all 22 players. We were so much more even than the Swans, who had a number of passengers on the day.

[mjp]

Boyd. Then Morris.

I thought Morris was our best player but Boyd should have won the medal. I also thought JJ completely butchered the footy...of the others, Liber was the most influential simply because he challenged Kennedy at the stoppages and turned a deficit into at least a 50-50.