BEST SANFL players

The Advertiser has recently complied a dossier of the best SANFL players
Titled the best Of The Best
Heres who they have listed as the best from each club

CD... JOHN PLATTEN
GL... PETER CAREY
NA... BARRIE ROBRAN
NW... GARY MCINTOSH
PA... RUSSELL EBERT
SA... JIMMY DEANE
ST... RICK DAVIES
WA... GRANTLEY FIELKE
WWT. BOB HANK

Of that list here are my players in order , and bear in mind I have not seen Hank and Deane play

1 ROBRAN
2 DAVIES
3 EBERT
4 HANK
5 PLATTEN
6 DEANE
7 MCINTOSH
8 CAREY
9 FIELKE

There is an abundance of great players not on that top list
Malcolm Blight must have been close to being listed in front of Bob Hank

I don't think Hank and Blight need to compete for the same spot- they played for two different teams. WWT should be represented in that list by someone like Pav, Campo, Rogers, McKenzie, Cicollella (someone who still lives in the state will have a better idea than me).

Since it's now the off-season, I've been getting my footy fix from watching the old SANFL videos on Youtube - and I'm absolutely loving it. Being a West Australian, we never got to see the SANFL back during its golden period in the 70s and 80s. We enjoyed the WAFL and we got the VFL on "The Winners" once a week, but the only time we got to see SA's best was from the odd state game.

The footy back then was a fantastic spectacle - because the game was less evolved, the tackling and defensive structures weren't as good, which meant the game was more open and free-flowing with more goals kicked.

The SANFL had so many great players back then - Blight, Kernahan, Cornes, Bradley, Davies, the Jarmans, Ebert, Motley, Fielke, Lindner, Platten, Aish, Macca, the list goes on - and it's just a delight to be able to see them all play now that the world has Youtube.

Those were the glory days of big SANFL crowds and Escort sponsorship - before the stupid Crows came along.

Anyway, I'm loving it, and just wanted to share that.

I think you could mount an argument for all those players being the best their club has produced, except for Fielke. Yes he's the games record holder and was a really good player but he would be a long way down the list of the best players we've had in my view.

Carey > Kernahan?

Fielke > Luders/Modra/Rehn?

McIntosh > Aish/Roberts?

Most on that list stand out albeit with one or two possible alternatives.

I think you should add Woodville to it and Blight would be the obvious choice there.

I agree Fielke probably wasn't the out and out 1st choice for Westies.
But for the life of me I can't really find to many clear alternatives.
What about Trevor Hughes, Ian Borchard, Big Dex or even Loveday?

As for the others,

A few possibles for Norwood. Aish being one mentioned.
Maybe a few others going back pre-1970.

Would Lindsay Head challenge Hank at Torrens?

Fairly happy with all the others.

It's also a very modern list. Dan Moriarty would probably give it a nudge for South.

Scrappy wrote:The Advertiser has recently complied a dossier of the best SANFL players
Titled the best Of The Best
Heres who they have listed as the best from each club

CD... JOHN PLATTEN
GL... PETER CAREY
NA... BARRIE ROBRAN
NW... GARY MCINTOSH
PA... RUSSELL EBERT
SA... JIMMY DEANE
ST... RICK DAVIES
WA... GRANTLEY FIELKE
WWT. BOB HANK

Of that list here are my players in order , and bear in mind I have not seen Hank and Deane play

1 ROBRAN
2 DAVIES
3 EBERT
4 HANK
5 PLATTEN
6 DEANE
7 MCINTOSH
8 CAREY
9 FIELKE

There is an abundance of great players not on that top list
Malcolm Blight must have been close to being listed in front of Bob Hank

Woodville should be in here as its own and west torrens then woodville west torrens
Blight for woodville hank for torrens and cica for wwt

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:Most on that list stand out albeit with one or two possible alternatives.

I think you should add Woodville to it and Blight would be the obvious choice there.

I agree Fielke probably wasn't the out and out 1st choice for Westies.
But for the life of me I can't really find to many clear alternatives.
What about Trevor Hughes, Ian Borchard, Big Dex or even Loveday?

As for the others,

A few possibles for Norwood. Aish being one mentioned.
Maybe a few others going back pre-1970.

Would Lindsay Head challenge Hank at Torrens?

Fairly happy with all the others.

Trevor Hughes and Ian Borchard never even played state footy.

The standout West Adelaide player in my time of watching the game is easily Robert Day. Interestingly Barrie Robran brackets Day with Ebert and Marker as the best centremen of his time. He refers to Day as a magnificent footballer.

Ken Eustice would be just as clearly West second best player since I have been watching the game.

Head, of course, was past his prime by the time Robran was playing.

The general consensus was that as good as Head was, Hank was that little bit better.

Thanks for that RIG.
Head and Hank were just a tad before my earliest recollections of footy.
Forgot about Eustice and Day too.

In 1976 to celebrate the 100th year of league footy in SA the Advertiser published Footy’s Fabulous Forty as compiled by Geoff Kingston and Mike Coward. Of course these lists are subjective but I can't think of a better guide for the older players at least.

1 – Barrie Robran (North) 1967
2 – Russell Ebert (Port) 1968
3 – Len Fitzgerald (Sturt) 1951
4 – Dan Moriarty (South) early 1900s
5 – Tom Leahy (West, North) 1904
6 – Ken Farmer (North) 1929
7 – Bob Quinn (Port) 1933
8 – Bob Hank (Torrens) 1944
9 – Ian McKay (North) 1946
10 - Lindsay Head (Torrens) 1952
11 – Jim Deane (South, Richmond) 1945
12 – Hugh Cumberland (St Kilda, Melb:, Sturt,) early 1900s
13 – Snowy Hamilton (North, West) 1919
14 – Brenton Adcock (Sturt) 1962
15 – Wacka Scott (Norwood) 1920
16 – Jack Broadstock (West, Richmond, Torrens) 1938
17 – John Cahill (Port) 1958
18 – Dlck Russell (Port) 1947
19 – Alec Lill (Norwood) 1923
20 – Frank Golding (Sturt) 1909
21 – Ken Eustice (West , Central, Glenelg) 1957
22 – Bruce McGregor (West) 1923
23 – Tom McKenzie (Torrens, North) early 1900s
24 – Jack Tredrea (South) 1903
25 – John Abley (Port) from 1950
26 – John Marriot (Norwood) 1947
27 – Blue Johnston (Glenelg) 1927
28 – Bob Barnes (West) 1921
29 – Paul Bagshaw (Sturt) 1964
30 – Don Lindner (North) 1954
31 – Harold Oliver (Port) 1910
32 – Horrie Riley (Sturt) 1922
33 – Jack Owens (Glenelg) 1924
34 – Jack Oatey (Norwood) 1940
35 – Vic Richardson (Sturt) 1920s
36 – Fos Williams (West, Port) 1946
37 – Neil Kerley (West, South, Glenelg) 1955
38 – Laurie Cahill (South) 1933
39 – Dlck Head (West) 1907
40 – Bill Mayman (Sturt) 1913

One would have to suggest as good as Davies and Bagshaw was Fitzgerald may have had them covered. Jimmy Deane was 11th in the list which is no mean feat but Moriarty at 4th probably would just get the nod.

If Tom Leahy is considered a West player he would still remain their greatest ever player. He won his Magarey Medal at North but he played in West's Champions of Australia side and was considered Australia's premier ruckman during his time at West.

I find it interesting that at this stage none of Blight, Davies, Day or Marker make the top 40.

Thanks rig, it does make The Advertiser's list look pretty pathetic.
Bernie Smith is another one to add to the West list - I think the only SA player to make the AFL Team of the Century.

Flag No.10 wrote:Thanks rig, it does make The Advertiser's list look pretty pathetic.
Bernie Smith is another one to add to the West list - I think the only SA player to make the AFL Team of the Century.

Great point about Bernie Smith. Of course he is before my time, but listening to my parents and their friends they spoke glowingly of him as a footballer and also the spirit in which he played the game. Brownlow Medallist, as you said, AFL team of the century and if they had retrospective Jack Oatey and Norm Smith medals he probably would have had one each of them. Best and Fairest at West and twice at Geelong when they also had other champs playing for them such as Bobby Davis, Fred Flanagan, Peter Pianto and Geoff Williams.

Once again I was surprised that Kingston and Coward left him off their list. Perhaps 55 games in three seasons for West wasn't enough to qualify him for the list.

yeah there must have been criteria of a certain amount of games or i'm sure Glenelgs' Royce Hart would have made that list too

rig, I guess with North the more interesting question is who is the 2nd best player to have played for the Roosters?

Flag No.10 wrote:rig, I guess with North the more interesting question is who is the 2nd best player to have played for the Roosters?

There are a number of possibilities all of whom should be in the AFL Hall of Fame.

Is it Tom Leahy, fourth in Kingston and Coward's list, but originally from West? Is it Ken Farmer? Is it Ian McKay, ninth in Kingston and Coward's list and the first full back to win a Magarey Medal, is it Triple Magarey Medallist Tom MacKenzie, but originally from West Torrens, is it the greatest high mark I have ever seen, Don Lindner or is it one of the two Jarman brothers? Or is it Snowy Hamilton, who also played at West and Subiaco, the player Dan Moriarty considered the greatest player he ever saw. Until Robran came along Ken Farmer was of that opinion too.

And then there is a player no one now would know of Norman "Hackenschmidt" Clark. Clark won the 1899 Stawell Gift before playing in North's 1900 and 1902 premierships sides. He moved to Carlton in 1905 and played in their first 3 premierships. He later coached Carlton to two more premierships.

If I had to choose I would say Leahy, a whisker in front of Farmer, with Don Lindner and Ian McKay just behind them and the Jarman brothers not far behind.

Given my previous post it makes me realise that despite having won 13 flags North have underachieved as a footy club given the champions who have donned the red and white. I guess West and in the last 50 years Glenelg could probably make similar claims to underachievement with 9 and 4 flags respectively.

Yeah and it underlines how important all the other elements are that go into making a Premiership side.

It's interesting that you say Don Lindner is the best high mark you've seen - I can just remember seeing him at the end of his career and he was spectacular; it's just such a shame that all games weren't covered on TV back then. West were not a popular TV team so we weren't covered all that much, and so many of Roger Luders best marks were never captured on film. But those of us who saw him week in week out were generally flabbergasted by him at least once a week. He was astonishing at it. I guess you had a similar experience with Lindner.

RIG, I think you are probably right re Fitzgerald, who was way before my time.
However, there is no way Adcock would be above Bagshaw and Davies.
Although, I guess this list was published not even half way through Davies career.

Most older pundits would probably plug Bagshaw as being No2.
But I would still have Davies higher. He is the best Sturt player I ever saw.

As you say always subjective these things.

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:RIG, I think you are probably right re Fitzgerald, who was way before my time.
However, there is no way Adcock would be above Bagshaw and Davies.
Although, I guess this list was published not even half way through Davies career.

Most older pundits would probably plug Bagshaw as being No2.
But I would still have Davies higher. He is the best Sturt player I ever saw.

As you say always subjective these things.

As good as Adcock was his position on the list was the most controversial.

I, too would have Davies just ahead of Bagshaw but I wouldn't argue  with anyone who rated them the other way around.

Interestingly I have a friend, an old West Torrens supporter who is adamant that Peter Motley is the second best SANFL footballer he has ever seen, second only to Robran.

I can just remember Fitzy playing but I was too young to appreciate him.

I saw a fair bit of Don Lindner and he was certainly a great mark and player. I always thought his brother Hank was a bit under-rated due to Don being so good.

Agree about Adcock - he was very good, but I'd always have davies best abd then Bagshaw (excluding Fitzgerald, who i didn't really see).

Similar with Peter Motley. Great player, but IMO well below Davies & Bagshaw, just on disclosed form with Sturt.

Interesting when you talk to people about players of the past. So many West old-timers used to swear that Jack Broadstock was the best player they'd ever seen I took that as the usual rose coloured glasses view of the past, until I thought I read that 'Captain Blood' Jack Dyer also said the same.

I'll look it up, as perhaps I'm confused and it was someone else.

For West, 'Dick' Head looks far too low. 4 premierships playing in the centre in each one and a Magarey should have him much higher.

I know he's very high on the list, but for sheer impact and brilliance, Ken Farmer has to be regarded higher than we seem to?

Your best ever Westies player, Lee?

And please take into account post and pre-AFL era.

robranisgod wrote:

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:RIG, I think you are probably right re Fitzgerald, who was way before my time.
However, there is no way Adcock would be above Bagshaw and Davies.
Although, I guess this list was published not even half way through Davies career.

Most older pundits would probably plug Bagshaw as being No2.
But I would still have Davies higher. He is the best Sturt player I ever saw.

As you say always subjective these things.

As good as Adcock was his position on the list was the most controversial.

I, too would have Davies just ahead of Bagshaw but I wouldn't argue  with anyone who rated them the other way around.

Interestingly I have a friend, an old West Torrens supporter who is adamant that Peter Motley is the second best SANFL footballer he has ever seen, second only to Robran.

I can just remember Fitzy playing but I was too young to appreciate him.

We never really saw the best of Motley. Even though what we did see was very good. He even managed to get in the Sturt Team of the Century from about 3 or 4 years of service. I think he was only about 22 when his accident cut his career to an end, so most would say he hadn't yet reached the peak of his powers.

A relative of one of my in-laws was a Carlton Board member when the Kernahan, Bradley, Motley, Naley quartet went to Carlton.
He said to me that he thought of the 4, Motley was the one that would take the competition by storm.

Lee wrote:Interesting when you talk to people about players of the past.  So many West old-timers used to swear that Jack Broadstock was the best player they'd ever seen  I took that as the usual rose coloured glasses view of the past, until I thought I read that 'Captain Blood' Jack Dyer also said the same.

I'll look it up, as perhaps I'm confused and it was someone else.

I think that you are probably right about Jack Dyer's comments about Broady. I can remember reading where Jack Dyer said Broady was the only footballer he knew who could run away from you bouncing the ball with one hand whilst giving you rude hand signals with the other.

Unfortunately apparently Broady's lifestyle interfered with his football.

The other player that I didn't see whose lifestyle probably stopped him from achieving what he otherwise should have was Ray Whitaker of Port Adelaide. I once heard Bob Hank say that Whit could do things on the field Bob could only dream of doing.

You mention supporters with rose coloured glasses. I rarely encounter "old timers", the type who saw Broady as anything other than fair and balanced in their view. It is more the young "know alls" who accuse us old timers of that.

The biggest insult I have ever got on any website is when a young "know all" who didn't even know that Robran was in the AFL Hall of Fame let alone the only Legend of the Hall of Fame not to have played VFL/AFL once accused me of looking at Robran through rose coloured glasses. If I do so do 90% of reasonable judges over 50 years of age who rate Robran number one here.

Here are my top 4 based only players I have seen at Sturt for their length of career at the club. IE from about 1969 onwards.

Davies
Bagshaw
Graham
Motley

The fifth spot could go to any of Sandy Nelson (7 premierships in 12 years ain't a bad return), Colin Casey, Brendan Howard or Robbert Klomp. I didn't see a lot of Adcock.