As a decade concludes there is always a new candidate for the greatest team of all time.
As is the case, the latest team is always the forerunner for the title of being the best.
But while we recall the achievements of the latest team, we forget the accomplishments of the teams from yesteryear.
In the AFL there is always the argument of who is the best team of all time.
But after 120 years of VFL/AFL football how can we possibly have a clear winner in the discussion of the greatest team in history?
How can anyone compare to the modern Richmond team to 'The Machine' that was the Collingwood team that won four flags between 1927-1930 when modern footballers are fully professional athletes who spend their lives focussed on fitness and have facilities that are second to none?
An easier way to determine football's greatest teams is by splitting the VFL and AFL era’s.
This two-part series will look at the teams that dominated the VFL era (1896-1989) and then the AFL era (1990–present). This series will not determine who is the best team in each era, instead, it will reflect on the feats of the teams and provide the reader insight into what these teams achieved in their heyday.
No other team from the early 20th century receives as much attention in modern analogy as the Collingwood team in the late 1920s and early 1930s. ‘The Machine’ as the football public referred to them won four consecutive premierships between 1927–30, albeit with the help of the Argus system.
The Argus system allowed the team who finished as minor premiers the right to challenge a result in the finals.
In 1929, Collingwood finished the home and away season undefeated but was beaten by Richmond by 62 points in the second semi-final. Under the Argus system, Collingwood had the opportunity to challenge the winner of Richmond vs Carlton in the Grand Final.
As fate would have it, Collingwood met Richmond in the Grand Final and avenged their semi-final defeat by beating the Tigers by 29 points.
The Magpies would do the same in 1930, losing to Geelong in the preliminary final, but challenged the result and beat the Cats in the Grand Final.
Though the Magpies were aided by a ludicrous system, the facts are that 'The Machine' will still go down as one of the best sides ever assembled.
Of the 82 games played between 1927–1930, the Magpies won 70.
Five players from that generation are in Collingwood's Team of the Century, including Gordon Coventry, who was the first player to play 300 games and kicked 1299 goals, a record which stood until Tony Lockett broke it in 1999.
When a team plays in six consecutive Grand Finals, has two players win five Brownlow medals and a player who has a goal-kicking award named after him, it’s safe to say the team is in fairly good shape.
Coached by the legendary Dick Reynold’s, the Bombers were the superior team in the competition for six seasons, winning 79% of their home-and-away games.
The Bombers won premierships in 1946, 49 and 50 but came up short in 1947, 48 and 51.
However, the team will be most remembered for the grace of John Coleman, who lit up the competition in a way never seen before.
In his first match Coleman kicked 12 goals and from then on was a football sensation. Coleman kicked 537 goals in 98 games in a career that was cruelly cut short by a serious knee injury. Ill-fate would be a constant occurrence in Coleman’s life as he was unjustly suspended for the 1951 Grand final, a decision that most people believe cost the Bombers the flag.
Coleman later coached Essendon between 1961 to 1967 and guided the club to premierships in 1962 and 1965.
In April 1973, aged just 44, Coleman died suddenly from coronary atheroma, ending the life of football's first real superstar.
No team has ever been as dominant as the Melbourne team from the mid-fifties to the early sixties.
The Demons had everything required to be a great team - a super coach in Norm Smith, a superstar in Ron Barassi and home games at the MCG, which made them the envy of the league.
When Melbourne appointed Smith as coach in 1952, they knew they were getting someone with the skill to be a success.
The Demons went on to win premierships in 1955, 56, 57, 59 and 60. They made the 1958 Grand Final and would have equaled Collingwood's record of four consecutive premierships had they won the match, but as fate would have it, Collingwood prevented the Demons from equalling their record by recording an upset 18-point win.
Melbourne won another premiership in 1964 but by 1965 the dynasty was over. Barassi left to become captain-coach at Carlton, while Norm Smith was sensationally sacked and then reappointed in mid-1965.
But by then the Norm Smith curse had already taken hold.
The Demons have not won a premiership since 1964, which makes this dynasty even more special for their faithful supporters.
For the first 40 years of their existence in the VFL, North Melbourne failed to win a premiership. Awarded a VFL licence after 29 years of applying, the Kangaroos entered the VFL along with Hawthorn and Footscray in 1925. While Footscray and Hawthorn won their first premierships in 1954 and 1961, North had to wait 50 years to taste success.
The turnaround began when Allen Aylett was appointed president in 1971. A forward thinker, Aylett set his sights on making North the best team in the league.
To do this, Aylett got together numerous powerbrokers to attain the litter of money to entice the best players in the VFL and around Australia.
The VFL had just established the 10-year rule, which allowed players who had served 10 years at a club the chance to move to any team of their choice.
North took advantage of this rule by recruiting Essendon captain, Barry Davis, Geelong superstar Doug Wade, John Rantall (South Melbourne) and Barry Cable (Perth).
The biggest acquisition, however, was the appointment of Ron Barassi as coach. After a year away from the game, Aylett was able to entice Barassi to return to the coaching arena for the 1973 season.
With the likes of Malcolm Blight, David Dench and dual Brownlow medallist Keith Gregg playing alongside the new recruits, North’s fortunes began to turn and the club made the Grand final in Barassi’s second season at the helm.
North was no match for a strong Richmond side in the 1974 Grand Final, but their luck was about to change a year later when they beat Hawthorn by 55-points to win their first premiership.
Hawthorn revenged their Grand Final defeat a year later, but the Kangaroos again tasted premiership success in 1977 against Collingwood.
After the first Grand Final ended as a draw, an easy week of training gave North players enough recovery to run away with victory in the replay.
North would again make the Grand Final in 1978 but were no match for Hawthorn.
North played in five consecutive Grand Finals between 1974 to 1978, winning two and losing three. Had they won one or two more flags their success would be even sweeter. But there is no denying that they were a force during a period when the football landscape was changing.
The Hawks were the visual definition of the 1980s. Off-the-field, Hawthorn players were partygoers, with a great sense of fashion (or so they thought back in the day). On-field, the Hawks played with exuberant style and flair that guided them to seven consecutive Grand Finals, in the decade that shaped the course of Australian football history.
The 1983 premiership was one for the older generation in the Hawthorn side. Leigh Matthews and Peter Knights were ever-present and added to their premiership medallions, which already included the 1971, 76 and 78 triumphs.
After falling short to Essendon in 1984 and 85, the transition to the new generation began. The likes of Dermot Brereton, Garry Ayres, John Plattern and Jason Dunstall became stars in the Hawthorn team.
Hawthorn would go on to win premierships in 1986, 88 and 89, while Robert DiPierdomenico and John Plattern would win Brownlow medals and Jason Dunstall kicked 134 and 138 goals in consecutive years to be crowned the Coleman medallist.
During the seven-year stretch, the Hawks won 120 of a possible 154 home-and-away games. They also won three night Grand Finals in a decade when the pre-season competition was relevant. Allan Jeans was coach for most of the decade, but illness prevented him from coaching in 1988 and responsibilities fell to Alan Joyce.
The clear indication of how prolific the Hawks were in the 1980s can be seen the modern state of the club.
Today, the Hawks have over 80,000 members, state-of-the art facilities at Waverly and recent premiership success that has them just behind Carlton, Essendon and Collingwood for most premierships.
Had the Hawks not had the success they did in the 80's it is safe to say that children of that decade would not have supported the team and the Hawks would have potentially merged with Melbourne in 1996.