Part two of this series will look at the greatest teams in the modern era of AFL football.
While the AFL has only established in 1990, there are still numerous teams who can promote their argument for being the greatest team of all time.
Some of these teams dominated for a substantial period of time, without achieving the amount of success they ultimately deserved, while others can lay claim to winning consecutive premierships.
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1. North Melbourne 1994-1999
Record books will show North Melbourne have had two great decades of success. While the 1970’s was the decade when the Kangaroos broke their premiership drought, the 1990’s will be remembered for the individual brilliance of Wayne Carey and the pioneering of Friday night football.
From 1994 to 1999, North Melbourne made three Grand Finals, winning two (1996 & 1999) and losing one to Adelaide in 1998, in a match they could have won if they had kicked accurately (North kicked 8.22 in the match).
The lowest North finished at the end of the home and away season in those six years was seventh, but come finals North always managed to make at least the Preliminary final.
North Melbourne pioneered Friday night football in 1985 and by the 90's it had become the spotlight timeslot. North continued to predominately hold the prestigious timeslot and a lot of this had to do with their on-field success and the marketing machine that was Wayne Carey.
Similar to Michael Jordan in a promotional sense, Carey was the face of the AFL because of his ability to carry his team to victory.
Along with the two premierships, Carey’s individual success included 2x Leigh Matthew’s trophy, 7x All-Australian, 4x North Melbourne Best & Fairest and 5x North Melbourne leading goal kicker.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Australian football, highly acclaimed AFL journalist Mike Sheehan comprised a list of the 50 greatest players of all time and had Carey as the greatest to play the game.
