Wreck It Ralph: Every AFL club’s most influential figure of the 21st century
Max Gawn arrived to the Dees when they were a mess and since, he’s lifted them to heights not seen for decades. JON RALPH lists the most influential people at every AFL club since 2000.
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Max Gawn and Tom McDonald were witness to one of the darkest moments in Melbourne history given their unique status as not-quite-good-enough to play senior football in 2011.
The young Demons’ pair drove down the highway to Kardinia Park as emergencies with Melbourne in crisis once again.
The players were desperate to keep coach Dean Bailey amid speculation about the future of chief executive Cameron Schwab as senior leaders met with the hierarchy to assess their views.
Against that backdrop, Melbourne reached rock bottom as the senior team lost by 186 points to Geelong. It was a bloodbath.
As McDonald told the Herald Sun on Anzac Day eve this year: “The teams who are struggling at the moment, we were still going much worse. Me and Max were both carry-over emergencies (for that Cats loss), we didn’t play in the VFL, which got beaten by 130. It was a 300-plus point loss that day.”
In the grand traditions of Melbourne ineptitude, Bailey was sacked as coach the next day, with Schwab also effectively sacked before the club handed him a new contract in an attempt to create a mirage of stability.
Board president Jim Stynes admitted in his autobiography that the club simultaneously handed Schwab his three months’ notice while extending his contract by a year, hopeful he might improve his weaknesses.
The Demons were truly at rock bottom.
It is a history lesson worth revisiting after Gawn’s latest ruck masterclass, which surely has him on the brink of a seventh All Australian nod as he also chases a second flag.
Why? Because it illustrates how extraordinary Gawn’s job has been, lifting this laughing stock to respectability and more. He has done it despite tanking scandals, despite the loss of so many Melbourne identities – from Jim Stynes to Sean White to Bailey to Robbie Flower – and despite their off-season issues with Clayton Oliver.
He will be an Australian Football Hall of Famer – and potentially a Legend – as a player, and yet his impact off the field has been just as profound.
From the cheeky rascal who teammate Kyle Cheney caught smoking a cigarette on the way to training at Casey Fields to a towering leadership figure at the Demons.
Gawn is in his fifth season of captaincy, but early on he empowered this group to be a little bit different. A little bit quirky. Work your arse off, do the work and yet celebrate your differences.
And above all else, value the team, even when you have kicked five goals in the 2021 preliminary final, but are happy to allow Luke Jackson more ruck time to change the course of the Grand Final a week later.
It is hard to consider anyone else at Melbourne has had a greater influence on the club this century. Gawn has changed how this club thinks about itself and if he can jag that elusive second premiership – in front of the Demons’ faithful this time – he will be a Melbourne immortal.
So across the 21st century, which figure has been the most consequential person at your club given football deeds, leadership and sheer influence?
ADELAIDE
Mark Ricciuto played the last seven seasons of his career in the 21st century, which begins on January 21, 2001. Has been a board member, commentator, club icon and more. It just puts him above Andrew McLeod, who won two of his best and fairests in this century. One reflection – where would Phil Walsh be on this list if not for his tragic passing in July 2015?
BRISBANE LIONS
Michael Voss was the triple premiership captain and senior coach for 109 games.
Jonathon Brown won all of his flags, two All Australians and three best-and-fairests in this era. But Leigh Matthews was the triple premiership coach, remains a current board member and has shaped the direction of so many current AFL coaches and football identities that his influence remains as strong as ever as a Brisbane identity.
CARLTON
Chris Judd only played 145 games for the Blues and yet won four of his All Australian trophies, three John Nicholls Medals and a Brownlow at the Blues. Who could forget him inspiring the Blues on one leg in that magical 2013 elimination final against Richmond on a sun-drenched, heaving MCG? It is an illustration of the club’s lack of finals success that it probably pushes him above the likes of Eddie Betts, who played 11 of his 17 seasons at the Blues and kicked 330 goals across two stints. Marc Murphy played an even 300 games and was captain for six years across that stint.
COLLINGWOOD
It has to be Scott Pendlebury. Nathan Buckley played seven seasons at the club this century and coached the Pies for 218 games with a Norm Smith Medal, Brownlow Medal and six Copeland Trophies. But Pendlebury is in his 19th season, has rarely finished out of the top three in the Copeland, has a 2010 Norm Smith in a winning side and orchestrated the Grand Final heroics last September. A true Pies legend. Eddie McGuire deserves plenty of plaudits for dragging Collingwood kicking and screaming into the modern era across 23 years.
ESSENDON
Kevin Sheedy coached Essendon until 2007 (his 2000 premiership doesn’t technically count in this century), returned as a board member and helped create the Dreamtime at the ‘G concept, which grows by the year. Yet it is hard to go past James Hird for his impact across this century as a football champion – seven of his seasons in this century, two of his best and fairests, two All Australians. He was a teen heart-throb, footy megastar, media identity and then a brilliant young coach who was unwittingly dragged into the ASADA scandal by other parties. What could have been for Hird if those influences had not arrived at the club? He was keen to coach Essendon as recently as 18 months ago, but now seems lost to coaching forever.
FREMANTLE
Ross Lyon elevated the Dockers into a Grand Final through iron will, but it is Matthew Pavlich who towers over this football club with his rare combination of grace, skill and statesmanship. Pavlich played 353 games after debuting in 2000, won all six of his Doig Medals in this century, captained the club from 2007-2015 and remains a strong media presence, covering the Dockers in their new incarnation.
GEELONG
Gary Ablett Jr was more decorated, playing 12 of his seasons at Geelong for two flags, four of his All Australian jumpers and one of his Brownlows. No one was more resolute than the great president Frank Costa, who believed Geelong could go from good to great, or chief executive Brian Cook. No one has played more games than Tom Hawkins. But no one has shaped the era of greatness more than Joel Selwood, who helped turn a flaky, nearly there club mocked as the Handbaggers into a respected premiership force. He was captain for 11 years, won four flags, six All Australian jumpers and four Robert Rose awards as footy’s most courageous player. He made his teammates walk taller, changing the Cats’ course of history.
GOLD COAST
With a revolving door of coaches and a history of failure, it was Ablett Jr who dragged the Suns closest to respectability. You can argue he should not have been the Suns’ captain, but you cannot quibble about securing the best player in football at the peak of his powers. He was All Australian four years straight, won a Brownlow and was club champion four times on the coast. No one else has come close.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
Sheedy’s vision towers over this club as its inaugural coach, who along with hard-arse assistant Mark Williams, imprinted the take-no-prisoners DNA on the group. And yet those who know at the Giants believe Callan Ward has had as great an influence on this club as anyone. A long-time co-captain, a hard-as-nails onballer whose example trickled down across this group. He won the inaugural best-and-fairest, is coming up on 250 games as a Giant and perfectly illustrates this club’s identity. As one Giants staffer said: “Ward’s identity has become the club’s identity”. What might have been after he was concussed in the second term of the 2016 preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs.
HAWTHORN
Luke Hodge was a warrior who won two Norm Smiths, four flags and was a three-time premiership captain. Lance Franklin took our breaths away with some of footy’s most iconic moments. Sam Mitchell played at the club for 15 years and is now its current senior coach. However, no one has had more influence this century than Alastair Clarkson as a four-time premiership coach who shaped modern tactics with innovation, flair and at times brutality.
He was a lightning rod for criticism given his old-fashioned manners and determination to defend his players at any costs but he is a true football influencer.
MELBOURNE
It just has to be Gawn, for the reasons described above.
PORT ADELAIDE
Recency bias will suggest Travis Boak and Robbie Gray and yet, for the first decade of this century, Mark Williams towered above all others at Port Adelaide. He helped win their inaugural AFL premiership after years of heartbreak, he turned the premiership celebrations into high farce (mock-choking himself with his tie) and a revenge narrative (“Allan Scott you were wrong”). Then he did what Ken Hinkley has not been able to do across 11 completed seasons and got them back into another grand final, albeit a 119-point massacre against Geelong.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Wayne Carey only played 14 games in the 21st century for the Kangaroos, but his celebrity, his sheer aura and the fallout from his downfall at Arden St means he remained a strong presence as a Roos identity. Brent Harvey played 16 of his seasons in this century and was part of the preliminary final charge that represented the most successful period under Brad Scott. Then, after breaking the AFL games record, Harvey was incredibly sacked as part of a broom sweeping through the club. That 2016 decision remains baffling, with his exit a symbolic full stop on the club’s period of success. They haven’t played finals since and have only finished above 12th once.
RICHMOND
It has to be Dusty. Brendon Gale’s vast vision set up the period of success and coach Damien Hardwick orchestrated it from the coaches box. In the background, Trent Cotchin was masterfully keeping this group together despite the behind-the-scenes friction that occasionally reared its head. Yet Martin single-handedly changed the course of Grand Finals as a three-time Norm Smith Medallist. And he did it with a ridiculously consistent career that is the equal of Scott Pendlebury and Sydney’s Josh Kennedy for high best-and-fairest finishes after exploding from the blocks to finish fourth in his debut 21-game season in 2010.
ST KILDA
Robert Harvey played his last eight seasons in this decade, is a current assistant coach and was even caretaker coach at one stage (without coaching a game). Ross Lyon dragged the Saints to respectability and near Grand Final triumph before returning for a second stint.
And yet it is hard to go past Nick Riewoldt for influence, playing all 336 of his games this century as a six-time Trevor Barker Award winner, five-time All Australian, long-time captain.
What might have been had Riewoldt not hit those Grand Finals injured instead of at the peak of their powers?
SYDNEY
Adam Goodes played 15 of his 17 seasons across this century and what an impact he made in that time. A dual Brownlow Medallist, a dual premiership player who performed stunning feats despite a severe knee injury in the 2012 decider, a four-time All Australian, a three-time club best-and-fairest winner. And then the 2014 Australian of the Year, tragically lost to the game given a booing controversy, with the AFL’s early inaction one of Gillon McLachlan’s great regrets of his tenure. John Longmire runs a close second with 294 games coached and four Grand Finals for one victory.
WEST COAST
No, it’s not Harley Reid … Ben Cousins won a flag, a Brownlow, won six All Australian trophies and then was sacked in disgrace across this decade. Chris Judd won one of his Brownlows, a Norm Smith Medal and was the 2006 premiership captain in his six years at the club before the Eagles nailed the trade to secure Josh Kennedy and co. in exchange. But John Worsfold coached this club for 12 years across a period where the Eagles were a defiant, stubborn AFL superpower ignoring critics on the eastern seaboard and as the dual AFL Coaches Association coach of the year. It is easy to argue no one had more influence with West Coast’s attitude and success across this decade than Worsfold.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Administrators David Smorgon and Peter Gordon did the hard yards to allow a financial minnow to stay afloat across the early years of this century. They allowed this club a platform for Luke Beveridge and Marcus Bontempelli to break the premiership drought in 2016, before contending again in 2021. Beveridge might be polarising, but you cannot argue he has taken the Dogs to finals in five of nine completed seasons for a premiership and a Grand Final finish. Bontempelli has played 227 games and been the long-time captain, played the perfect 2016 Grand Final in which he could have won the Norm Smith and was arguably best-afield in the 2021 decider before the Dees took over. He is a five-time Charlie Sutton Medallist and five-time All Australian and runner-up in a pair of Brownlow Medallists. He is the popular face of the club, but in a nod of the head, it’s Beveridge for his influence as coach.
Originally published as Wreck It Ralph: Every AFL club’s most influential figure of the 21st century
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