Jeremy Howe, Dustin Martin and Eddie Betts feature in the best trademarks of the 21st century

WHAT gets you more excited, a Jeremy Howe hanger, a Dustin Martin “don’t argue” or a Byron Pickett hip and shoulder? Check out all the best AFL trademarks here.

IT’S the ultimate tribute to 21st century footy.

Herald Sun football reporters Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane have worked through every jaw-dropping, fist-pumping moment of the past 17 seasons — from 2001 to 2017.

Today, they look at the best trademark moves since 2001.

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21ST CENTURY TRADEMARKS

1. JEREMY HOWE’S LEAP

THE AFL’s version of aerial ballet, so graceful and well-timed it seems effortless. Few have been able to replicate Jeremy Howe’s consistently brilliant high marking. He doesn’t just jump on blokes’ heads, but contorts his body to receive the ball front-on, cradling it as it drops into his hands. Plenty of big hangers have been taken over the years — by Billy Picken, Trevor Barker, Matthew Richardson to name a few — but no one has done it more regularly than Howe, likely to replicate 2012’s Mark of the Year award (over Heath Grundy) for this year’s high-flyer over Tom McDonald.

Jeremy Howe takes a hanger against Melbourne. Picture: Mark Stewart

Jeremy Howe takes a hanger against the Western Bulldog. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

2. DUSTY’S DON’T ARGUE

THERE were plenty before Dustin Martin who had the straight-armed fend-off in their defensive arsenal, but few have used it to such savage effect as an offensive tactic. It shouldn’t be called the “don’t argue”. For Martin, it is a weapon of mass destruction. Combine it with the neck tatts and the distant stare and no wonder he looks like the meanest son of a gun in the AFL. Only weeks ago, during a masterful win over Port Adelaide, Martin broke eight tackles, the most recorded in the AFL game.

3. STEVIE J’S SNAP AROUND THE CORNER

FIRST we believed it was the kind of Geelong party trick invented because the Cats were bored with being so dominant. But Johnson created a legacy with his snaps, starting his run up side-on before three quick steps and a kick across his body. He was so unerringly accurate that it was a trend that caught on. As Johnson said, he was prepared to be considered as a lair as long as he got the job done. And above all else — the tricks, the look-away handballs, the head-scratching moments — he did it because he knew it would help him win. And Johnson has always been a winner.

4. BYRON PICKETT’S HIP AND SHOULDER

FOOTBALL’S evolution moves at such a pace that we recoil in shock now at the kind of bone-jarring hits we once celebrated. But for a time there Pickett was the most feared man in football because of his propensity to dish out hits that his victims never forgot ... or sometimes didn’t remember. Watch Pickett’s hit on unsuspecting Brendan Krummel on YouTube — he ignores the ball and uncoils into the Hawk with ferocity. Hits on Brett Kirk and Rhett Biglands after Pickett moved from North Melbourne to Port Adelaide also make biffs, bumps and brawls highlights reels. To the credit of Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams, his lobbying for protection of players over the ball helped prompt the AFL to change head-high bump rules.

Rhett Biglands is taken from the field after a bump from Byron Pickett in 2005.

5. KOUTA’S ONE HAND PICK UPS

ANTHONY Koutoufides turned Princes Park into his pleasure dome at the turn of the century as he wowed crowds and dominated rivals. He had it all — the flawless physique, the aerial dominance, the kind of wizardry to turn games like the 1999 preliminary final. But one feat stands out like few others - his ability to pluck a football in a single mitt, his hand almost vacuuming the ball with his vice-like grip.

6. JOEL SELWOOD HEAD-FIRST ATTACK

SOME have called him a ducker; some say he is a serial milker of free kicks. The ultimate pragmatist and a fearless Cats leader, Selwood kept saying he would keep leading with his head — and sometimes throwing it back — while the umps kept rewarding it. The only pity of the controversy surrounding those free kicks was it ignored the fact he is as tough a player as has ever trod on a football field. The footage of him sprinting back with the flight this year to be cleaned up by Andy Otten — getting up with a big gash above his ear — was unbelievable.

Sometimes his reputation even helped others, like when his tendency to bleed with the smallest contact helped Brent Harvey escape a finals suspension. Selwood had been sent off 14 times in the previous three seasons with the blood rule. Legal counsel Jeff Gleeson QC conceded Selwood was the “league leader of bleeders”.

7. DUSTIN FLETCHER TORPEDO

AS Kevin Sheedy said, don’t ask why, ask why not? Why not give Dustin Fletcher licence to unleash steepling torpedoes from kick-ins to turn defence into attack? Fletcher’s torps might as well have come with a trademark, although he had enough footy smarts to know when to kick them for maximum effect. Every now and then he also wandered into attack. His 70m barrel goal against St Kilda in 2007 a sight to behold.

8. EDDIE’S POCKET WIZARDRY

LIKE his swimming namesake, Eddie Betts is a slippery eel who is at times is impossible to tackle. He was a star at Carlton but has made his name at Adelaide kicking brilliant goals by the week. His goal of the year last season was representative — pick-pocketing GWS defender Nick Haynes near the boundary, eluding him again for good measure, then arching his back to run past Adam Tomlinson for a sublime snap across the body. Like Richmond’s Andrew Krakouer and so many indigenous stars, Betts does his best work seemingly contained in a phone booth-sized space. As Luke Darcy says after one of the many highlight goals on YouTube: “He has done it too often in his career to be a mistake”.

Eddie Betts celebrates with Adelaide fans after kicking the goal of the year. Picture: Sarah Reed

9. MATTHEW LLOYD GRASS TOSS

HE did it to assess the wind, he did it for routine, he even did it inside a closed Etihad Stadium to calm his nerves. Matthew Lloyd’s grass toss became one of the most reliable routines of the 21st century. He retired in 2009 with 926 career goals. As the champion Bomber said, after a career of highs, lows and run-ins with Brad Sewell, Josh Thurgood and Alastair Clarkson himself, it helped his mindset. “I knew that my role in the team was to kick goals and there was a time when I was having a bad year as a youngster,” he said. “I met with a sports psychologist, and one of the routines that worked for me was to throw some grass in the air. That just became part of my routine, and it would just get me into the mindset of kicking for goal.”

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10. AKER’S HANDSTAND

HAS a mannerism meant to entertain the young fans ever been so contentious it was stopped by teammates in a peer-review session? That’s exactly what happened to Jason Akermanis in 2008 when he was told by his Western Bulldogs teammates his legendary handstand was too selfish.

The genesis of the handstand was Ronnie Burns, the Cats star who did a cartwheel after a win in 1999. Aker was thrilled and did one the next game, his party trick morphing into a handstand when he was too tired to complete the cartwheel. “I sold more cokes and more hotdogs than anyone at the Gabba because they all stuck around,” he said recently. “No one left before the game was finished so they should thank me for that one. My teammates, to their credit, were really supportive and even before one game Leigh (Matthews) came up and said, ‘I want to see a handstand today’.”