Gary Ablett headlines KFC SuperCoach’s inaugural hall of fame
Gary Ablett has taken his rightful place in the KFC SuperCoach hall of fame. But who has joined the ever-reliable and record-setting Geelong champ? Find out the other three inductees in the class of 2020.
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Through a rigorous voting process, KFC SuperCoach community has narrowed down 64 of the best picks to our four hall of fame inductees.
The quartet is headlined by perennial SuperCoach king Gary Ablett, overcoming champion Chris Judd in a landslide.
That says more about GAJ’s status in SuperCoach than anything, though.
The tightest match-up of the four was between supremos Brendon Goddard and Jimmy Bartel, with the Saints defender narrowly edging out the classy Cat.
Collingwood fans who had to choose between Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan in the round of 16 were faced with another trying decision splitting Pendlebury and Brodie Grundy. The ever-consistent Pendlebury won out convincingly, but expect the generational ruckman to be in the reckoning for a spot later in his career.
In a similar vein to Pendlebury, voters favoured experience in the final match-up, locking in key position powerhouse Nick Riewoldt over dual Norm Smith medallist Dusitn Martin.
The remaining rounds will decide which player is inducted as a legend.
Gary Ablett v Chris Judd
AL PATON: Let’s take a moment to reflect on what a SuperCoach juggernaut Chris Judd was. He just hit his prime as the game opened in 2005, averaging 114.5 that year and 131.8 the next season, kickstarting a run of eight straight years of at least 104 averages. He was still dominating in 2010 (118.5) and 2011 (115.5) but his scores were on the way down. I salute you Juddy, because I have a feeling you won’t be in the next round. Stiff to come up against the best SuperCoach of all time.
VERDICT: Ablett
THE PHANTOM: If KFC SuperCoach as we now know it was around during Chris Judd’s time at the Eagles, this head-to-head may have been closer. Judd was still a fantasy star during his time at Carlton, recording consecutive 110-point averages in his first four years as a Blue, but he’s just not Gary Ablett, the man who averaged 127 points or more in every season between 2008 and 2014. In fact, no one is.
VERDICT: Ablett
TIM MICHELL: You can’t spell Gary Ablett Junior without GOAT. Ablett has been short odds to earn a spot in the SuperCoach Hall of Fame since nominations opened and has dominated voting in each of his match-ups. Ablett has averaged 132 or better four times including a ridiculous 140.1 across 19 games in 2009. He averaged 138.4 in 2012, scoring 21 tons, in a Gold Coast team which won three matches. Legend status beckons. Judd averaged 114.5 in his debut season and hit his peak of 131.8. From there he was a reliable premium, but not in GOAT territory.
VERDICT: Ablett
DAN BATTEN: Is there anyone more deserving of a Hall of Fame spot than the SuperCoach king himself? Gary Ablett was priced above $700,000 year after year but made those who overlooked him pay, averaging above 135 points in three seasons across his career. Not even a champion like Chris Judd can compete with those numbers, despite his own brilliance.
VERDICT: Ablett
RESULT:
Gary Ablett 92 per cent
Chris Judd 8 per cent
Scott Pendlebury v Brodie Grundy
AL PATON: The classic SuperCoach conundrum – monster ceiling versus uber consistency. Actually, that sells both players short – Grundy is also extremely dependable, while Pendlebury has been more than capable of wearing the captain’s armband over his stellar career. In the end Grundy has been at the top for two seasons, while Pendles averaged Grundy-like numbers himself from 2011-14 (season averages of 129, 125, 127, 124) and he’s still going strong six years later.
VERDICT: Pendlebury
THE PHANTOM: Brodie Grundy is on the charge, knocking off Max Gawn and Dean Cox in the first two rounds. And his past two seasons, 38 SuperCoach tons in 44 home-and-away matches and two No. 1 rankings, suggests Scott Pendlebury could be his next scalp. But his current skipper has done it for the past 12 seasons, averaging 103 points or more every year since 2007. Grundy’s time will come.
VERDICT: Pendlebury
TIM MICHELL: Sustained excellence or the greatest SuperCoach ruckman of all time? Pendlebury hasn’t averaged less than 103.5 since 2008, peaking at 129.2 in 2011 when he had a season-best score of 162 and 17 scores of 120 or higher, including finals. Grundy took six seasons to average 100 but has posted 130.5 and 130 in the past two years. By the end of his career he’ll be a certainty for the Hall of Fame, but are two years of brilliance enough to oust his skipper? It’s a lineball call.
VERDICT: Pendlebury … just.
DAN BATTEN: While Grundy has been top of the charts the past two seasons, “DePendlebury” has been a SuperCoach colossus for the best part of a decade. Pendlebury’s lowest season average from 2011-16 was 118, and even his poor games were better than most. Ask me this question again in five years’ time, and it may be a different response.
VERDICT: Pendlebury
RESULT:
Scott Pendlebury 75 per cent
Brodie Grundy 25 per cent
Brendon Goddard v Jimmy Bartel
AL PATON: Talk about clutch. Two players I loved having in my team that you could always rely on when you needed something extra. I’m giving the nod to BJ because he produced one of the best ever SuperCoach seasons in 2010 — 12 scores over 130 and that doesn’t count his 162 in the Grand Final, and another 162 in the replay. Insane.
VERDICT: Goddard
THE PHANTOM: Dual-position. High ceiling. Durability. All three traits are rare even in the biggest SuperCoach names. But they are three words you can associate with Brendon Goddard and Jimmy Bartel over their careers. The Saint-turned-Bomber’s 131-point average as a defender in 2010, however, gets him over the line here.
VERDICT: Goddard
TIM MICHELL: Tough to split these two, so it comes down to career averages for me. If you divide Goddard’s 13 seasons by his overall totals, he averaged 102.6. Cats champ Bartel averaged 103.4 in 12 seasons. Goddard had a career-best high of 130.2 in 2010 and only averaged below 80 once (78.5 in 2018, his last season). Bartel’s worst season was 87.2 in 2015, which just tips the scales in his favour. But seriously, flip a coin. Both would be worthy inductees.
VERDICT: Bartel
DAN BATTEN: Flip a coin. Bartel and Goddard have pumped out very similar numbers across their careers, but I have gone with Bartel because of his sustained SuperCoach relevance in every position. Bartel was a popular pick first in the midfield, then defence and later in his career was among the top scorers as a forward. After crossing to Essendon, Goddard’s midfield role denied him his valuable DEF status, and his scoring dipped.
VERDICT: Bartel
RESULT:
Brendon Goddard 51 per cent
Jimmy Bartel 49 per cent
Dustin Martin v Nick Riewoldt
AL PATON: Am I voting with my head or my heart here? My love for Dusty is well documented but I’ve also been a huge Riewoldt fan over the years. Having said that, I don’t remember picking him too often in SuperCoach over the past decade, which is the focus of our attention here. He has one more 100-plus season in the bank over his career but I get the feeling Martin will overtake him on that score very soon. Dusty edges him on versatility with a few dual-position years, including 2020, when he scored 126 for me in Round 1.
VERDICT: Martin
THE PHANTOM: Martin’s 2017 season, which saw him post seven scores of 140 or more and finish as the second-ranked player in the competition, was a thing of beauty. But it’s the only time in his 10-year career he’s averaged more than 108 points. Riewoldt did it three times under the current scoring system, five times if you include the two years prior to the change.
VERDICT: Riewoldt
TIM MICHELL: I expect the recency factor will get Martin home here, but for me Riewoldt is a clear winner. Saint Nick averaged 113.1 or higher in four consecutive years from 2006-2009 and 106.6 or better in his first six campaigns. Martin has only bettered that figure twice. As good as Dusty was in 2017, there should only be one victor here. Don’t let Richmond diehards Al Paton and Dan Batten sway you. Riewoldt deserves the forward spot in the SuperCoach Hall of Fame.
VERDICT: Riewoldt
DAN BATTEN: I’ll put my hand up and declare my Richmond allegiance, but Riewoldt can’t be overlooked. In the grand scheme, Dustin Martin has recorded just one 110-plus season, while Roo has had several. As a key forward Riewoldt’s exploits are even more remarkable, and he did it right to the end, averaging 101 in his penultimate season. Will we ever see another tall produce such consistent scoring?
VERDICT: Riewoldt
RESULT:
Nick Riewoldt 69 per cent
Dustin Martin 31 per cent
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