Only other candidates would be Paul Weston, a 2 time premiership full back and perhaps Gary O'Donnell in place of Thompson. Otherwise I believe this is the definitive Full Back line
Half Back Line
Wellman Daniher T. Harvey
Probably the toughest line to pick as the Dons have never had a truly great Centre Half Back during Sheedy's time. I have put TD in there with Harves and Wellman supporting off the half back flanks. I dont rate Kevin Walsh high enough to replce any of these guys. At his peak, Adam McPheed could have threatened Mark Harvey's place. Damian Hardwick can also consider himself unlucky.
Centre Line
Long Baker Neagle
This is a superbly skilled, robust and aggresive centre line. Despite only four seasons at the club, Leon Baker was the preeminent pivot in the league. A superb mover in heavy traffic with blinding footskills. Long on the wing for his dash and creativity and Merv Neagle for his bullocking head on style. Unlucky to miss out are Glen Hawker, Joe Misiti, Gary Foulds and Jason Johnson.
Half Forward Line
Hird Lucas Mercuri
Incredibly there is no place for any of the great half forwards from 84/85 era. Maybe last year Merrett or Van Der Haar may have pinched a spot but Scott Lucas has confirmed he is, in my opinion, the best CHF the club has seen during Sheedy's time. Hird speaks for himself. The greatest living Bomber and Mercuri for his sublime skills, arial ability and pitch perfect finishing skills takes the other flank.
Full Forward Line
Merrett Lloyd Bewick
Merret sits in the forward pocket as resting ruckmen but a potent tall forward and foil to Lloyd. Lloyd as the greatest FF the club has seen in 50 years and Bewick as the best goal sneak during the Sheedy era. This is a Full Forward line bristling with fire power
Followers
Madden Watson Williams
If you doubt the validity of this threesome then go and grab a copy of the 1984 GF and start watching from the first bounce of the last qtr. Simply awesome. Coupled with Baker in the centre the dream midfield we so desperately need now.
Interchange
Foulds, J Johnson, P Van Der Haar, Misiti
A flexible interchange bench providing depth to the mid-field with JJ and smoking Joe. Foulds was more of a run with type player who can take positions in the defence and up forward. Van Der just as a back up tall forward. Did play ocassionaly in the back line.
Unlucky Players - Alan Ezard, Mark Johnson, Damian Hadwick, Glen Hawker, Bill Duckworth, Ron Andrews, Paul Salmon
B: G.Wanganeen, D.Fletcher, M.Thompson
Pretty clear choice for the backline. I think easily the 3 best backine players we have had in the Sheedy era.
HB: B.Duckworth, M.Harvey, G. Foulds
That's one tough HBL. Duckworth won a Norm Smith medal and was tough as nails. Harvey had so much courage it was scary and Foulds played 300 games and didn't play to many bad ones.
C: M.Long, L.Baker, G. Hawker
We only saw the best of Long in the 93 finals series. Knees ruined him but gee he was good. Baker was born to play in the centre. Would have been an all time great of the AFL if he didn't debut when he was 27. Ask any of the players who played with him how good was Leon Baker and they just shake there heads. Hawker won a B&F and was one of the best players in the 84 grand final. Super skilled wingman.
HF: J.Hird, P.Van Der Haar, T.Daniher
Don't need to say anything about Hird. Awesome player. Van Der Haar was a freak. Could leap over packs and set the crowd alight. TD was just a leader. Hard working champion. Could play in any position.
F: M.Mercuri, M.Lloyd, P.Salmon
Mercuri could cut you to ribbons in 10 minutes. On his day he is as good as any to have ever worn the Red and Black. Lloyd has broken every goalkicking record Essendon has had and will end up with over 1000 goals. Fish took VFL football apart in 84. Would have won the Coleman, Brownlow and played in the 84 flag if his knee didn't go.
FOLL: S.Madden, D.Williams, T.Watson
Madden is the best ruckman I have seen. Geez he was good. Williams and Madden had a fantastic understanding. Little Daisy was tough as nails and was always on the bottom of packs. Watson=class.
INTER: S.Lucas, J.Johnson, D.Bewick, G. O'Donnell
Lucas has won 2 B&Fs. 1 playing CHB and one playing CHF. Never misses a game and has kicked 50+ goals in a season 3 times. Super player. JJ carried our midfield from 01 till now. Grunt and go. Bewick is a player we are still missing. A pure goal sneak. Cheeky little bugger. His 9 goals against the Cats 1st game back from a knee reco was awesome. GOD won a B&F in a premiership year. Great player.
EMERG: P. Weston, M. Neagle, N. Daniher, J. Misiti, S Wellman
Weston like Baker came over late and really added something to those early 80s sides. His joy as he kicked a last quarter goal was something to behold. Neagle was a very skilled wingman who was tough as well. Came runner up in a Brownlow in the early 80s. Great Bomber till he took the Drs cash. We never saw the best of Neale. Knees killed him. Was named Essendon captain at age 21. Misiti was a ball getting magnet. Didn't play to many bad ones and was BOG in a destruction of the Roos in the 2000 finals. Wellman retired to early. Could have gone on for another year at least. A great pick up in trade time.
CameronClayton wrote:IMHO has to be Merv over Glen Hawker every time.
Hmm, interesting. Both were terrific players. Merv was more aggressive and Hawker was more classy. Merv had a frustrating knack of giving away a plethora of (back in those days) 15 metre penalties. Hawker was more of a goalkicking wingman than Merv, but Merv would crunch oppostion players with his aggressive tackling and fierce attack on the footy (and sometimes the man). Very hard to split the two, but I'd pick Hawker ahead of Merv......just. I would however try to find a spot for both of them in the team.
B. Wanganeen, Fletcher, Thompson
HB. Wellman, Harvey, Foulds
C. Long, Baker, Neagle
HF. Hird, Lucas, TD
FF. Salmon, Lloyd, Mercuri
R. S. Madden, Watson, Williams
OK, ill have a go. Please keep in mind that im only 24, so anything before 1989 is judge on old tapes, the words of my old man and stories you hear on the radio, as well as others on this board
B: Wanganeen Fletcher M. ThompsonWanganeen was a special player, who never got to go in as good as he could have been at port. Seemed to be injured most of the time, but hated him ever since he left. Fletch is fletch and Bomber was like a general down back. Was perfect in '93 with all the young kids.
HB: Wellman TD (C) Duckworth
I was going to put in foulds but even though he played 300 games, I didnt see enough of him to say that he was better than wellman. What a pick up he was, though retired at the right time. TD was a sensational captain, that is one things we have done very well, choosing captains. In the 26 years we have had 7 captains, which shows we get the decisions right and dont have to keep mixing them up. TD could play anywhere he was that good. Billy well, I would just love to see the crazy bastard just knock a few players out. Never forget the call i the 85 GF "bustling billy the wild man from the west. The bigger he is, the toughe he is, the bigger the occassion the better he plays"
C: Long Baker Neagle
What a center line. Long was my favourite player a while back, just incredible skills. But it was his evasive skills that made him a treat to watch. The baulks, the bursts of speed, turned the 93 prelim on its head. Baker, well you want to see skill, you watch this bloke. Too cool to play footy. Had courage, vision the lot. He could be standing still and no one would tackle him. 84 GF was special
HF: Hird Merret Van Der Haar
Need an explanation? I was going to out Van ders at CHF but I thought I would give it to Merret. Both would mark anything that was within 10 feet of them and would mark it even if it was impossible to do it. Merret was strong and tough and frieghtning at times, Van Der was brilliant. Would chase hard, tackle hard, kick perfectly on either foot over 50m. All this after getting home at 7am pissed as a fart.
Hird is hird
FF: Bewick Lloyd Mercuri
No surprises there, we have all seen them. Mercs, what could have been? R: Madden Watson Williams
Greg Williams once said after a state game, it must be fantastic being an Essendon midfielder with Madden as your ruckman. Would jump into his opponents, then go up again and win the tap. And Hawthorn thought Langford had a chance? HAHA
Timmy was everything. Strong, fast built well, jumping over packs. Big game player. Williams the little terrior, never gave up at all was huge in the 84 GF INT: Lucas, Misiti, Harvey, SalmonAll great players on the bench.[/b]
He kicks on the left
He kicks on the riiiiiiiiigggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhttttttttttttt
That boy Hurley
Makes Riewoldt look shite!
Fletch and Thommo were obvious, two of the best last line defenders in the history of the club. Vanderhaar was an excitement machine who could play both forward and back, I start with hm down back as I prefer other options up forward.
Half Backs: Wanganeen, M Harvey, S Wellman
I disagree we never had a CHB. mark Harvey was a general in the position, composed, creative and reliable, he not was not only a great defender but, like fletcher, made others better around him. Wanganeen was a no brainer and I Choose Wellman on the flank as he is one of the most creative running defenders I have ever seen.
Centreline: Hawker, J Johnson, Long
Dash and Skill on the wings with Hawker and Long, both for their pace, courage and skillful delivery. Had to pick one of the toughest Centres we have ever had in JJ to be an enforcer and intimdator as well as a ball magnet.
Half Forwards: Mercuri T, Lucus, J Hird
This would have to be one of the strongest Half Forward Lines for any team at any time. Mercuri at his best was the most skillful and silky player I have seen. Lucus AA at CHF and CHB provides not only an long kicking goal scoring option, but also the flexibility of going back when needed (I could put TD or Vander at CHF). Apsalutely nothing to justify about Hird, he is a FREAK!!
Forwards: Bewick, Lloyd, T Daniher
Bewick is the type of player we need now, a cheeky and super quick player who can read the drop of the ball and knows where the goals are from anywhere in range (and like lucus will have a ping at all costs). Lloyd easy pick at FF and TD could have been placed anywhere as was his flexibility so I just slid him in the FP where he would demand as much ball as Lloyd.
Rucks: S Madden, T. Watson, G O’donell
Madden was easily top pick, as was Watson in the RR role. G'Odonell was a workhorse who ran all day and delivered the ball lace out by hand and foot so quickly you wouldnt know he had a touch.
Int: P Salmon, Misiti, Baker, McPhee
Salmon as a second ruck option and of course we could throw him in a forward line that would strech any team in any time. Misiti is another hard working midfielder who would provide quality ball to both midfield and forwards by hand and foot. Baker another superb midfielder with pinpoint accuracy by foot and McPhee, who at his best is a most flexible and dashing utility, strong overhead, very quick and a great reader of the play particularly down back.
Love to coach this side. So flexible that no opposition coach would have a clue how you would line em up. Actually, wouldnt that be Sheedy's dream?
The neagle/Hawker one is very interesting. Its almost split 50-50 with posters on here. I admit, I saw about the same of both, which wasnt all that much.
And not one person has put both of them in the starting 22.
He kicks on the left
He kicks on the riiiiiiiiigggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhttttttttttttt
That boy Hurley
Makes Riewoldt look shite!
Just on the Neagle v Hawker one. The closest current players that I can think of to use as a comparison would be Rucuitto for Merv & Campo in his prime for Hawker. Different sort of players.
Merv always played well when we were losing - it's something I always look in a player, as it showed that they led from the front with little support from others. Whereas Timmy Watson was like the barometer of the team, where if he was playing well, so was the team & we were usually winning.
The 3 best wingers in the comp in the early to mid 80's were Merv, Dipper & Doug Hawkins. Merv usually beat Douggie, Douggie usually spanked Dipper, & Dipper usually beat Merv - work that one out.
Hawker was the 1st bloke playing for us I ever saw that was just as good on both sides of his body (feet & hands). Nowadays all blokes can do it, but 25-30 years ago it wasn't very common. In fact in the late 60's/early 70's, Bob Skilton was the only player I can name who could do it. So Hawks had very silky skills, but hang out on the edges too much for my liking.
