Mark Robinson: Should Saverio Rocca and Alastair Lynch be in the Australian Football Hall of Fame?

Of the top 30 goalkickers in VFL/AFL history, only two players eligible for selection are missing from the Australian Football Hall of Fame. MARK ROBINSON looks at both their cases for inclusion.

Of the top 30 goalkickers in the history of the VFL/AFL, only two players eligible for selection are not in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Saverio Rocca is 16th on the list with 748 goals, while Alastair Lynch is 30th with 633 goals.

The 31st player on the goalkicking list is Melbourne spearhead David Neitz (631 goals) and he was included in the Hall of Fame in 2018.

Neitz was a star, a dashing backman who became a powerhouse forward – just like Lynch. There’s one major difference: Lynch was a pivotal player in Brisbane’s wonderful three-peat premiership teams and Neitz lost in his only Grand Final appearance for the Demons.

That’s not a slight on Neitz; it’s a curiosity that Lynch is not a Hall of Famer.

“Sav’’ Rocca is a different curiosity.

Saverio Rocca is not yet in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

He has no premiership flags, no All-Australians, no Coleman Medals and only one best-and-fairest at Collingwood (1995). But here’s the kicker – 10 times he was leading the goalkicker at the Pies and North Melbourne combined.

Roughly 13,000 players have played in the VFL/AFL and Rocca sits 16th.

It’s a superb, if not surprising achievement.

The argument against Rocca’s inclusion is that the Hall of Fame, it needs to be stressed, is for all Australian footballers, and not just VFL/AFL players.

In 2022, West Perth’s Ted Tyson was elevated into the HoF. Standing 177cm, give or take, he was the goalkicking phenom in Western Australia from 1930-1945. He played 232 games and kicked 1203 goals at an average of 5.25 a game.

The AFL noted, Tyson finished six seasons having kicked 100 goals or more, was an 11-time leading goalkicker for West Perth and headed the WAFL goalkicking four times.

“His most remarkable game might have been on September 10, 1938 – in an eight-point loss to Swan Districts – when he kicked 17 out of West Perth’s 18 goals,’’ the AFL wrote.

In that regard, the argument for Sav is hollow.

The older, more cynical Victorian footy fan, however, would argue that the VFL was the premier competition. It’s an argument you take on trust because, really, who would know if the VFL was better than the WAFL in the 1930s?

Rocca kicked 514 goals for Collingwood and 234 for North Melbourne.

The fact is, Tyson had to be an out-and-out champion.

His selection meant, the AFL wrote, that “10 of the 12 players to have kicked more than 1000 career goals in the AFL/VFL, SANFL or WAFL have now made it into the Hall of Fame’’.

Only Port Adelaide’s Tim Evans and last year’s retiree Lance Franklin have yet to make it.

Rocca’s coach at Collingwood, Leigh Matthews, described Rocca as “underrated’’.

“Sav was the big Tony Lockett-like forward,’’ he said. “He didn’t kick the numbers like Lockett did, but he was a big, powerful leader and could kick the ball a long way.’’

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said Rocca was a “modest champion’’.

“In those dark times, he was one of the few players who kept the Collingwood flag flying because he’d take a big mark, or he’d go back and kick a big bomb,’’ McGuire said.

“There’s statistics – and then there’s impact on the competition. I think Sav was a modest champion who went about his work. He was fair, but he was brilliant.

“He kicked a lot of goals at two clubs and then he went over and played in the NFL, for Philadelphia … it’s an amazing story.

“Sav probably misses out because of marketing reasons rather than anything else, even though he was such a big name at Collingwood. It was a period of time when Collingwood wasn’t going as well as it has other stages and as a result of that, he gets marked down accordingly.’’

Lynch’s name has been pushed for several seasons, led by former Herald Sun chief football writer Mike Sheahan.

Alastair Lynch was vital in Brisbane’s dynasty.

Matthews, a HoF Legend, also coached Lynch when the Lions’ premierships were won. “There’s no doubt he was significant in them,’’ Matthews said.

“Lynch was an incredible athlete and he played fullback early in his career and then got chronic fatigue in ’95 and that just debilitated him from then on.

“He was still able to play as a Tom Hawkins-type – big, strong full-forward in the premierships era (aged) in his 30s.’’

The two players eligible for the first time in 2024 – players who retired at the end of the 2018 season – and who have some appeal for inclusion are Cyril Rioli and Brendon Goddard.

Rioli is the more likely out of that pair. The bedazzling Hawks small forward played 189 games, kicked 275 goals, was a four-time premiership player (2008, 2013-15), a Norm Smith medallist (2015) and a three-time All Australian (2012, 2015-16).

Goddard played 334 games for St Kilda and Essendon, kicked 160 goals, was a two-time All Australian (2009-10) and a best and fairest winner at the Bombers (2013).

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt was nominated for selection in 2023, but was unable to attend the event because he was living in the United States. At the time of last year’s announcement, AFL chairman Richard Goyder said Riewoldt would be “formally inducted’’ in 2024.

Goddard impresses with longevity, Rioli glitters with impact.

Cyril Rioli can now be included in the Hall of Fame. Picture: Getty Images

Former Herald Sun colleague Geoff Poulter, who covered footy for 41 years in newspapers, believes Brent Crosswell, Geoff Raines, John Dugdale, David McKay and Thorold Merrett are possible inclusions.

Other Victorian-based players in contention in 2024 include Dustin Fletcher, Don Williams, Kelvin Templeton and Gary Buckenara, who played for Subiaco and Hawthorn.

The possible legends’ list is even more complex. That list includes Wayne Carey, Gary Ablett Snr, Laurie Nash, Simon Madden, Doug Wade, Michael Tuck, Greg Williams and Bob Rose.

Matthews didn’t push Lynch or Rocca for HoF selection and said being a selector would be an incredibly difficult position.

“I think it would be terribly demanding and challenging; you’ve got to make decisions on splitting hairs between players,” he said.

“I’ve never been asked to be on it (the selection panel), but if I was, I think I would decline. That’s too hard.’’

Note: The Hall of Fame committee can select and enshrine up to eight Hall of Fame members each year. Of those, at least two must have retired within 10 years of each induction ceremony. There must be at least one inductee selected from the category of administrator/umpire/media every two years.