Throughout the final years of the 1990s,ย AFLย clubs across the land looked backward rather than forward, with selectors, historians and superstars converging to name their Teams of the 20th Century.
So, as we near the quarter-time mark of the 21st century, what better time to run the rule on which players are likely to feature when the selectors of tomorrow get together in several decades' time?
While every club has an array of deadset legends that can be called on, we here at Zero Hanger have employed the following rules of selection:
- Only statistics recorded and achievements accrued since the start of the 2000ย AFLย season will be acknowledged.
- All statistics and awards must have been accrued while playing for the club in question.
- Any player selected must have played at least 100 senior games for their respective club since the start of the 2000ย AFLย season.
Next up, we head to the Harbour City to separate the Swans' wheat from their chaff.
PREVIOUS TOP TENS: CROWS,ย LIONS,ย BLUES,ย PIES,ย BOMBERS,ย DOCKERS,ย CATS,ย SUNS,ย GIANTS,ย HAWKS,DEES,ย ROOS,ย POWER, TIGERS, SAINTS
3. Josh P. Kennedy (2010-2022)
3 x best and fairest (2012, 2015 and 2016)
3 x All-Australian (2012, 2014 and 2016)
1 x premiership player (2012)
277 games, 25.8 disposals per game, 146 Brownlow votes, 0.5 votes per game
Despite growing up in Melbourne's leafy east as the latest in a long lineage of Hawthorn royalty, it would take trading Waverley for Moore Park for Kennedy to bloom fully as a footballer.
Hard-nosed, eager, straight-forward and complete without frills, the former Hawk was nigh-on the prototypical Swans footballer, with Kennedy leaving a legacy in the Harbour City just as his grandfather, John Sr., did at Hawthorn.
While the 2012 grand final would see Kennedy and his Swans salute, we're sure the result created more than just a smidgen of bitter-sweetness amongst the wider Kennedy clan that day.
