AFL 25: Josh Barnes names his Western Bulldogs team of the century so far
The Western Bulldogs have been flushed with midfield and small goalkicking talent over the last 25 years. But there’s only one tall forward in their team of the century so far. See it here.
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In three distinct eras this century, the Western Bulldogs have been flushed with midfield and small goalkicking talent.
At the turn of the century under Terry Wallace there were midfielders like Scott West, Rohan Smith, Tony Liberatore and goalkickers like Nathan Brown, Brad Johnson.
In Rodney Eade’s time the Dogs had Ryan Griffen, Daniel Cross, Matthew Boyd, Adam Cooney and Nathan Eagleton in the midfield, with forwards Johnson again, Daniel Giansiracusa, Shaun Higgins, Jason Akermanis and Mitch Hahn.
Then in Luke Beveridge’s time he has had Marcus Bontempelli, Adam Treloar, Tom Liberatore, Jackson Macrae, Lachie Hunter, Josh Dunkley and goalscorers in Jake Stringer, Tory Dickson, Liam Picken, Cody Weightman and Luke Dahlhaus.
How can you fit all of that into one team?
Choosing the best Bulldogs team of the 21st century was simpler when it came to the talls.
Luke Darcy remains just ahead of Tim English, Dale Morris and Brian Lake were easy picks and while Chris Grant played plenty at centre half-back in the 2000s, one Dogs champion locked him in up forward.
Barry Hall kicked bags of goals but only played 39 games for the Dogs and Aaron Naughton didn’t quite do enough, so just one tall forward it picked, allowing more smalls in the side.
Johnson deserved to come out of full-forward anyway given his champion efforts up front until 2010.
Nathan Brown played just four seasons for the Dogs in the 2000s before going to Richmond but he bagged 50 goals twice and starred.
Similarly, Jake Stringer left for Essendon after just 89 games but he won the club goalkicking three times and played in that 2016 flag.
Cooney won a Brownlow Medal and led a powerful midfield in the Eade tenure.
Picken, Caleb Daniel and Eagleton were the last picked Dogs.
No Bulldogs fan would ever leave Liam Picken out of their favourite team, Daniel won a Charles Sutton Medal and earned All-Australian honours, while Eagleton was a favourite among his peers in his days.
Treloar may be the stiffest omission, given our dearly missed colleague Sam Landsberger named him the best recruit in the modern Bulldogs era.
His 81 games in red, white and blue have been stellar, but he just couldn’t squeeze any of the other midfielders out.
Likewise, Dunkley and Hunter were very unlucky, as were Dahlhaus, Weightman and Dickson.
Jason Johannisen remains the only Dog to ever win a Norm Smith Medal, but the quality of running players in this team meant he couldn’t crack the side.
This is a powerful 23 and the depth of its midfield would take any opposition to task.
Regarded as neck-and-neck to be the best Bulldog ever, Bontempelli gets the nod as skipper.
And being likely the best coach in club history, Luke Beveridge is in charge of the magnets.
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Originally published as AFL 25: Josh Barnes names his Western Bulldogs team of the century so far
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