Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane list the AFL’s 12 most decorated players of the century

There’s only one major award missing from Patrick Dangerfield’s trophy cabinet, but his place among the best is secure. Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane rank footy’s most decorated players this century.

In the showbiz world it is the equivalent of a sporting GOAT.

Only the very best have won an EGOT.

An Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award as a bona-fide star of stage, screen and Broadway.

As Patrick Dangerfield prepares to strut out for his 350th AFL game, his list of towering achievements has been given a full workover this week.

But he ain’t got football’s version of an EGOT.

As in Brownlow Medal, All-Australian, Norm Smith Medal and premiership.

Bloody Isaac Smith denied him the Norm Smith Medal with 14 votes to Dangerfield’s 10 in the 2022 premiership with daylight second.

Gary Ablett Jr was also denied.

The precious few with footy’s version of the EGOT are Dustin Martin, Chris Judd, Simon Black and Jimmy Bartel.

So when it comes to this century’s champions, who is the most decorated AFL player?

Not necessarily the best – it’s hard to go past Lance Franklin as per our best players list of the past 25 years.

Patrick Dangerfield sits comfortably among footy’s best players this century. Picture: Nigel Hallett

And the unfortunate reality is that in a cutthroat sport where the winner takes it all, only premiership players need apply.

It is an impossible decision given you are weighing different factors including Norm Smith Medals and Brownlows.

How do you judge the lack of a Brownlow Medal or Norm Smith Medal for Marcus Bontempelli when he could so easily have won multiple Brownlows and might have been the best man on the field in the 2016 decider?

How do you rate Martin’s career when many of his achievements came in that burst from 2017-2020 yet he was still extraordinarily consistent in his early seasons?

Franklin might have stayed at the Hawks and won four flags, while his four Coleman Medals doesn’t do justice to a player who led his club’s goalkicking 13 times as a player who broke the 1000-goal barrier.

In the end, the weight of numbers matters.

Multiple premierships, five or more All Australians, Norm Smith Medals as a Grand Final game-changer.

Originally published as Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane list the AFL’s 12 most decorated players of the century