Wayne Carey, Gary Ablett Sr among contenders for next Legend in AFL Hall of Fame
JUST who should be the next Legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame? MARK ROBINSON writes there are some huge names in the running. VOTE
Mark Robinson
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THE list seeps with richness and accomplishment.
There’s Carey, Dunstall, Ablett, Williams, Blight, Rose and Silvagni. One of them, or maybe someone from early last century, such as Collingwood great Dick Lee, will become the next Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
It is always said the Hall of Fame ceremony is the best night on the footy calendar and especially so when a legend is inducted.
This is one of those years.
Could it be the Year of the Duck?
Wayne Carey is acknowledged by many as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, player the game has known.
Or could it be Gary Ablett Sr, the man probably blessed with more skill than another player? In fact, he had skill, speed and power that set him apart on many levels.
What about Greg Williams? “Diesel” did it all despite some limitations, and “legend” would sit comfortably beside his name.
His bio is star-studded: Two Brownlow Medals, twice AFLPA MVP winner, twice All-Australian, Norm Smith medallist and AFL Team of the Century member.
AFL Legend now beckons.
Malcolm Blight surely has to be in the discussions.
Former chief football writer of the Herald Sun Mike Sheahan wrote of Blight in 2011: “As Blighty likes to remind us, he was a player of rare quality. In my view, no one from South Australia, including Legend Barrie Robran, has made a more significant contribution to Australian football. The fact he coached Adelaide to two premierships can’t hurt, either, particularly since the Legend category was expanded to include coaches. Blight simply should be a Legend.’’
Since then, the AFL has inducted Tony Lockett (2015), Barry Cable (2012) and Royce Hart (2013).
Legend status is perhaps the only accolade that has eluded Blight.
He played 341 games with Woodville and North Melbourne from 1968-85. He won the Coleman, Magarey and Brownlow Medals, coached the Crows to two premierships and played in two at North Melbourne. He will be elevated this time or next.
It would be logical if the Hall of Fame selectors followed Lockett with Hawthorn’s Jason Dunstall.
The two are first and third on the all-time goalkicking table, so if Lockett is in, then why shouldn’t Dunstall join him?
The Collingwood clan has been pushing Bobby Rose’s name for the past 20 years. Rose was said by many to be Collingwood’s greatest ever player until Nathan Buckley played out his career in the famous black and white. Many now regard them as Collingwood’s equal best players.
Legend status for a player is about playing ability, but I dare say if Rose had won the three flags he lost as a coach he would be a legend by now.
Six players will be inducted, and a legend elevated, this year.
The Hall of Fame charter says at least two players who were “recently retired’’ must be chosen each year, and that puts names like Barry Hall, Cameron Ling, Darren Milburn, Tyson Edwards, Simon Goodwin and Brad Ottens in the frame.
They are the toughest of decisions for selectors.
So, too, are the discussions which players of yesteryear should be finally acknowledged.
Last year, colleague Jon Anderson considered the contenders for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.
There will be players inducted this year who played 60, 70, maybe 80 years back and Anderson listed Collingwood’s Thorold Merrett and North Melbourne’s John Dugdale as stand-up candidates. Melbourne’s Don Williams was another, a man Ron Barassi described as the best footballer with whom he played at the Demons.
There are others such as St Kilda’s favourite son Trevor Barker and Carlton’s Ken Hunter. There’s Geoff Raines, Ron Todd, Nicky Winmar, Gary Buckenara, Roger Merrett and Brent Crosswell.
Then there’s Carlton’s Brownlow medallist John James. It’s an elite group, the Hall of Fame, but isn’t it odd that a player named the best player in the competition for one season — in James’ case 1961 — is not among the elite?
And there are two others who surely have to be strong contenders.
They are Wayne Johnston and Terry Wallace.
“The Dominator’’, who is a member of Carlton’s Hall of Fame, is described by the Blues as “a brilliant, hard-running, aggressive midfielder in four Carlton premiership teams. He was a player ahead of his time. Years before athletic endurance and absolute intensity became prime requirements of a league footballer, Johnston carved his name with capitals into the history of the Carlton Football Club’’.
Johnston was a finals beast and narrowly missed winning multiple Norm Smith Medals.
Wallace played 254 games for Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs (plus one year at Richmond) and won two best-and-fairests at the Hawks and Dogs. Significantly, he was a best-and-fairest winner in a premiership team (1983), one of three flags he played in with the Hawks.
I have a feeling Wallace, because he played at three clubs, is too easily overlooked when it must be remembered he was the best player in a team many considered one of the greatest of all time.
mark.robinson@news.com.au
Originally published as Wayne Carey, Gary Ablett Sr among contenders for next Legend in AFL Hall of Fame
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