Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League’s top 30 players since 2000
From modern-day marvels to all-time greats, we’ve named the top 30 players to grace the Mornington Peninsula league since 2000. Did we get it right?
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There’s brilliance on display every week in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean league.
It’s long been regarded as one of the strongest leagues in the state.
But who have been the best of the best to have played in the MPNFL since 2000?
We’ve revisited our top 20 from two years ago and expanded it to a top 30, with 10 new names entering, shaking up the pecking order.
Here’s what we came up with:
30. Jonah Siversen
A fearless defender known for his intercept marking, he’s been an integral member of the Hillmen’s rise over the past decade and now captains the club.
29. Billy Geurts, Dromana
A dominant ruckman who wins hit outs, racks up possessions and impacts games. He was best-afield in the Tigers’ 2019 grand final win and is again having an outstanding 2022 season. An out-and-out star with his best ahead.
28. Paul Rogasch, Hastings
Captained the Blues to their drought-breaking 2016 premiership and was named best-on-ground after a dominant display in the backline. Was a mighty player for the Blues.
27. Craig Nankervis, Frankston YCW
Played in a record eight Stonecats premierships. A nuts and bolts defender, who played without fear, he was an integral member of the powerful YC sides performing his role to a tee.
26. Daniel Smith, Bonbeach
A one-club, 300-game champion, who stayed loyal despite plenty of offers from rival clubs. A classy wingman for the Sharks and rarely played a bad one.
25. Billy Quigley, Dromana
Super consistent. Quigley has played a stack of finals footy since embarking on his senior career seven years ago and is now captaining the Tigers, and setting high standards.
24. Greg Bentley, Rosebud
The former Port Adelaide and Carlton midfielder has been an outstanding player for the Buds since 2010, dominating games, winning a league medal and helping them win the 2015 flag.
23. Jackson Casey, Bonbeach
Not only a great player but one of the best leaders the MPNFL has seen. When he does eventually hang up the boots you’d think he’d make an excellent coach.
22. James Clayton, Mt Eliza
The senior games record holder at Mt Eliza was a key member of the Redlegs’ 2005 flag win as a pacy wingman-defender. He also captained the club.
21. Kyle Hutchison, Frankston YCW
The powerful midfielder has been collecting tattoos and premierships for years. He’s also won a league medal and is known for his attack on the footy and goal sense.
20. Luke Van Raay, Karingal
Made his senior debut with the Bulls in 2000 and kicked a goal with his first touch. A warrior in the backline and fiercely loyal to the red and white, LVR played his 300th game before retiring in 2019. Longevity and consistency were his hallmarks.
19. Tim Mannix, Edi-Asp
A brilliant player with speed and skills, he was a major player in the Eagles’ stunning come-from-behind grand final win in 2013, with gut-running and clean skills. Always brought huge tackle pressure. Won a league best and fairest. A gun.
18. Rikki Johnston, Dromana, Langwarrin
A former professional baseball player in the USA, Johnston had little football experience when he joined Dromana in 2003. But he was a natural — tall and athletic, with a raking left-foot kick — who could play forward or back and a born leader. Johnston was a key figure in Dromana’s rise, later coaching the Tigers to back-to-back flags.
17. George Gorozidis, Bonbeach, Tyabb, Berwick
Gorozidis was a goalkicking, entertainment sensation and his feats at Bonbeach were spectacular. He booted just under 600 goals in about 70 games for Bonny, at an average of eight per game. His 182-goal haul in 2001 broke John Coleman’s longstanding MPNFL record. After kicking his fourth successive century for Bonbeach, Gorozidis surprisingly departed the club, joining Tyabb for a season where he duly slotted another hundred. Then it was onto Berwick and the goals kept continued.
16. Adam Hunter, Mornington, Dromana
A brilliant player with pace and skill, Hunter won successive league medals in 2006-07 and was named in the All-Australian country side in 2008 — but all he wanted was a premiership.
He got it years later when he captained Dromana to the 2013 flag. Soon after, Hunter battled bowel cancer but made a comeback in an emotion-charged day at Dromana in 2014.
16. Greg Doyle, Rye
The former St Kilda and Melbourne big man was a colossus at Rye in the 2000s, pivotal in the Demons’ 2006 flag. He rarely lost a tap out or dropped a mark. Doyle won five Rye B&Fs as well as two league B&Fs.
15. Grant Johnson, Sorrento
The highly decorated Johnson won the Sharks’ best-and-fairest seven times and the league award twice. He also was captain of Sorrento’s 2004 premiership and later was an important member of more Sharks flags. A genuine star.
14. Leigh Poholke, Sorrento, Karingal
A goal-kicking machine. Although not big, Poholke plays as a key forward — he’s strong and competitive — and has nearly 600 goals to be the Sharks’ all-time record holder. Been pivotal in a string of premierships for Sorrento.
13. Chris Irving, Seaford, Red Hill
Irving announced himself as a star of the MPNFL in 2007, his explosive pace, fierce tackling and high-marking propelling the Tigers to the premiership, their first of a three-peat.
Irving was made for Frankston Park in September. He loved the big moment.
He also won two league best and fairests and made his mark in the VFL before two knee reconstructions halted his career. Irving made a comeback in 2017 with Red Hill and has proven himself to still be a jet, playing a starring role in the Hillmen’s premiership in 2019.
12. Aaron Edwards, Pines
The former AFL star was an outstanding player for the Pythons, kicking almost 300 goals in five seasons and playing an integral part in their memorable 2018 flag win.
11. Troy Schwarze, Sorrento
It was Sorrento’s lucky day when Schwarze agreed to join the club prior to Christmas in 2006. Fresh out of the AFL, the former Saint helped mould the Sharks into a winning machine, playing in and coaching six Sorrento premierships. With dash and power, Schwarze delivered in many big games.
10. Brendan Long, Frankston YCW
With a bit more persistence, Long may have played in the AFL. It’s an opinion held by many who watched the skilful left-footer dominate MPNFL ranks for nearly two decades. As a teenager, Long carried the same boom as his John Paul College schoolmate Robert Harvey.
In 1989, Long followed Harvey to Moorabbin and played in the Saints’ Under 19s and reserves, impressing, but within months was back at Frankston YCW … in time to play in the first of five premierships. Long’s career at YCW was littered with highlights. As well as five premierships and 300 games he won a record eight best-and-fairest awards.
He was also a regular and outstanding interleague player.
9. Marc Holt, Cranboune, Karingal
One of the great full-forwards in country football, Holt kicked 1000 goals in a decade of dominance with the Eagles. His vice-like grip of the football, sure kicking and desperation to win made him a champion.
8. Michael Collins, Narre Warren
Respected and admired by teammates and opponents alike for his sublime skills and inspirational deeds, Collins is a Narre Warren legend. His record speaks for itself — seven best and fairests and seven premierships. Collins was hard as a cats head and could play anywhere — in the ruck, ruck rover, centre half forward. And he was unstintingly loyal to the Magpies.
7. Guy Stringer, Sorrento, Pines, Edi-Asp, Hastings
This Guy just kept on going. A seven-time premiership player, Vic Country representative, four-time club best and fairest winner and MPNFL games record holder with over 420 games … Stringer achieved it all in a long, decorated career. Underlining his longevity, he won Sorrento’s senior club best and fairest award twice — 18 years apart.
6. Chris Fortnam, Seaford, Pearcedale
Through Seaford’s dominant five-year period from ‘07, Fortnam was the best player in the competition. He would regularly get 40 possessions a week, kick goals, lay a bunch of tackles and hardly fumble the ball. He got tagged most weeks but was rarely contained. Fortnam was also a premiership coach and interleague captain. He was a Rolls Royce footballer.
5. Byron Barry, Frankston YCW
It’s no coincidence Frankston YCW started winning flag after flag after Barry joined them in 2010. He’s a general in the backline — much like Brendan Long before him — controls things and is an unbelievable intercept mark. Barry has also represented the state and the MPNFL interleague side with distinction.
4. Shane McDonald, Bonbeach
Mercurial “Macca’’ has been turning in jaw-dropping performances for years.
Like the day as a teenager in 2006 when he fired off five goals in the final quarter to win a game, prompting then Bonny coach Damian Carroll to describe it as one of the best solo efforts he’d witnessed. A dynamic matchwinner, McDonald is a dual league medallist and one of the MPNFL’s finest interleague players, so often shining brightly among the biggest stars.
3. Ash Eames, Frankston YCW
The 199cm ruckman was a giant of Peninsula football in every sense. Eames was an integral part of YCW’s domination over the past decade, playing in seven premierships in nine seasons after joining the Stonecats from the VFL in 2010. And he was important in every grand final.
2. Michael Burke, Karingal
He sparkled in the Bulls’ senior premiership-winning side in 1999 as a 17yo, kicking five goals. From that point, anyone lucky enough to see Burke play, and even luckier to play alongside him, marvelled at his silky skills and dedication. His loyalty to Karingal club was nearly unrivalled. Year after year he would knock back big cash offers to play at other clubs, sticking true to the club he calls home, and the many people who call him a mate.
Burke is a five-time club best and fairest winner, a league best and fairest winner, senior premiership player, multiple team of the year representative, multiple interleague representative, 350-game player, one club player — and a Karingal and MPNFL legend.
1. Simon Goosey, Mornington, Dromana
What a showman. What a champion. Goosey’s goal kicking feats were legendary.
Once referred to as the Coleman of the Bush, Goosey kicked a century of goals 11 seasons in a row, and 12 times overall. He tallied over 1800 goals for Mornington at an average of over six per game. And there were four premierships. In three years at Dromana, he kicked 256 goals at an average of 5.22 goals per game (and he was 38 years of age when he made his debut for Dromana in 2006). Goosey was a master aerialist who could out-mark the best defenders. And his kicking for goal was unerringly accurate. And he’d always celebrate a goal with arms raised.
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