AFL greatest team of the decade: You decide the best team since 2010
Voting has now closed for the preliminary final match-ups in the greatest team of the decade fan vote. Who will face off in the hotly anticipated grand final? See the results here.
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Eight teams has become four and is soon to become two as our search for the greatest AFL team of the decade reaches what is set to be hotly-debated final stages.
Collingwood premiership hero Mick McGuane looks at who will win the two semi-final matches.
After hours of pouring through match-ups and past results, McGuane was convinced on the result of Hawthorn’s 2014 team against Collingwood’s 2010 team.
However, he had a lot more difficulty splitting the two teams in the other semi-final between Hawthorn’s 2013 team and Richmond’s 2019 team.
Don’t forget to cast your vote for the winner before we reveal later this week who you have chosen as the grand finalists.
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PRELIMINARY FINAL 1: HAWTHORN 2014 V COLLINGWOOD 2010
No.1 HAWTHORN 2014
Coach: Alastair Clarkson (Brendon Bolton acting)
Captain: Luke Hodge
Won: 20. Lost: 5.
Premiers.
CHAMPION DATA: Ranked No. 1 for points scored, points from turnovers, points from stoppages and goals per inside 50.
Ranked No. 1 for disposal differential and uncontested possession differential.
Ranked No. 2 for kicking efficiency differential and No. 3 for disposal efficiency differential.
STRENGTH
One of the great premiership campaigns, achieved despite the off-season defection of Lance Franklin to Sydney, a spate of injuries to big-name stars including Cyril Rioli, Sam Mitchell, Josh Gibson, Brian Lake and Luke Hodge and the shock mid-season absence of master coach Alastair Clarkson, struck down by a rare health condition, Guillain-Barré syndrome. Just three Hawks made the All-Australian team in 2014 (Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis and Luke Breust), a testament to the depth and game plan that kept the team ticking over through the winter before the Hawks hit their stride when it counted in September. Finished second on the ladder after the home-and-away season. Then accounted for nemesis Geelong by six goals in the qualifying final, hung on by just three points in the prelim against a fast-finishing Port Adelaide and thumped Buddy’s Swans by 63 points in the big one. Roughead, Breust and Jack Gunston covered comfortably for Franklin’s departure, booting 190 majors between them in a high-scoring team that averaged 112 points per game.
WEAKNESS
None of their own making. Clarkson had been planning for life without Franklin, but few clubs could have endured such a wretched run of luck on top of the loss of their superstar player and still brought home the bacon. Such was their impenetrable system, Brendon Bolton registered wins in all five matches he filled in for Clarkson.
No. 4 COLLINGWOOD 2010
Coach: Mick Malthouse
Captain: Nick Maxwell
Won: 20. Lost: 4. Draws: 2.
Premiers in GF replay against St Kilda, winning by 56 points.
CHAMPION DATA: Ranked No. 2 for both points scored and points against.
Ranked No. 1 for points from turnovers, points against from turnovers and points differential from turnovers.
Recorded a time in forward half differential of +15min 58 sec per game — the highest ever recorded.
STRENGTH
This was a dominant Collingwood outfit from wire to wire. It was in the back-end of the season that the Magpies truly flexed their muscle as they dropped just one game in the final 10 home-and-away rounds to close out their most successful regular season in 80 years. Forward pressure was a key asset for this balanced team. Dane Swan proved a particular standout and was considered by many to be unlucky not to take out the Brownlow Medal after he averaged almost 32 touches per game and collected a swag of individual awards.
WEAKNESS
How do you find a weakness in a team that lost just four games? If anything, inaccuracy was a shortfall for Collingwood and plagued the team for most of the year. It almost cost it the drawn Grand Final — Collingwood kicked 9.14 to St Kilda’s 10.8. Malthouse stayed the course and maintained that he was unfazed by the statistic, but conceded he didn’t “want it to bite us”. The Pies relied heavily on midfield and forward pressure — which was a particular strength — but was often difficult to maintain.
McGUANE’S VERDICT
A far less experienced Hawthorn side went 1-1 against Collingwood in 2010 and the Hawks won six-straight games against the Magpies from 2012-2014. But even against Collingwood at its peak in 2010, I’d be backing in the Hawks of 2014. Both teams had outstanding forward talent. Collingwood had Travis Cloke, Chris Dawes, Leigh Brown, Alan Didak, as well as pressure forwards in Tyson Goldsack, Jarryd Blair and Brent Macaffer. But through the likes of Brian Lake, Josh Gibson, Luke Hodge and Ben Stratton, the Hawks had the ability to limit those threats. Hawthorn had lost Lance Franklin at the end of 2013, but developed a more diverse forward line in 2014 through Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston, Luke Breust, Cyril Rioli, Paul Puopolo and a resting ruckman of David Hale or Ben McEvoy. This showed, with the Hawks kicking 21 goals from 11 individual goalkickers in the 2014 Grand Final. Those options, as well as an ability to keep the ball off Collingwood around the ground, would likely give the Hawks an edge.
WINNER: Hawthorn 2014
RESULTS:
HAWTHORN 2014 - 78 per cent
COLLINGWOOD 2010 - 22 per cent
PRELIMINARY FINAL 2: HAWTHORN 2013 V RICHMOND 2019
No. 10 HAWTHORN, 2013
Coach: Alastair Clarkson
Captain: Luke Hodge
Won: 22. Lost: 3.
Premiers.
CHAMPION DATA: Ranked No. 1 for points scored and points from stoppages, and No. 2 for goals per inside 50.
Ranked No. 3 for points scored from turnovers and No. 2 for points differential from turnovers.
Ranked No. 2 for disposal differential, uncontested possession differential and inside 50 differential.
STRENGTH
The pain of the previous year’s Grand Final loss, the recruitment of a key defender and the blending of one-time premiership heroes with a group of younger players made the 2013 Hawks a powerful force. Brian Lake won the Norm Smith Medal and also released the shackles on best-and-fairest winner Josh Gibson. Jarryd Roughead won the Coleman Medal, Sam Mitchell was unstoppable and the leadership of Luke Hodge and Alastair Clarkson was invaluable. Clarkson anticipated the impending departure of Lance Franklin at season’s end by making the club less reliant on him as an avenue to goal. After losing to Geelong (again) in Round 1, the Hawks reeled off 12 consecutive wins (equal to the club record in 1961) before the Cats struck again in Round 15.
WEAKNESS
The spectre of Geelong hung over Hawthorn in the years after the 2008 premiership, thanks to the “Kennett Curse”. Break it and the Hawks might unlock the chains that bound them. A seven-point loss and a 10-point loss to their nemesis in the 2011 regular season only added to the pain. Then a loss to Richmond by 41 points in Round 19 made the Hawks look vulnerable. As it turned out, those would be the only losses the Hawks had in a season that started the flag three-peat. A nail-bitter ensued in the preliminary final. A late miss from Geelong’s Travis Varcoe helped send the Hawks into the Grand Final and ultimately a trophy-clinching win over Fremantle.
No. 2 RICHMOND 2019
Coach: Damien Hardwick
Captain: Trent Cotchin
Won: 19. Lost: 6.
Premiers.
CHAMPION DATA: Ranked No. 2 for points scored and No. 3 for points against.
Ranked No. 1 for points scored from turnovers, No. 3 points against from turnovers and No. 1 points differential from turnovers.
Ranked No. 2 for inside 50 differential and No. 3 for time in forward half differential.
STRENGTH
The final three months of the season were, in a word, perfect. The 89-point Grand Final annihilation of Greater Western Sydney exemplified the gap Richmond had on the rest of the league. Dominant in all phases of the game and yet they had the chutzpah to hand Marlion Pickett a debut in the biggest game of all. The Tigers celebrated the VFL premiership a week before the AFL one and also signed up 100,000 members. Norm Smith Medal winner Dustin Martin booted four goals in the Grand Final and six majors as the Tigers stormed the Gabba in the qualifying final. But his season went unnoticed by All-Australian selectors. Defenders Bachar Houli and Dylan Grimes were the only Tigers in the team of the year, highlighting their squad mentality.
WEAKNESS
Lost Alex Rance to a season-ending knee injury in Round 1 as the superstars fell like dominoes. Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin, Martin and Grimes also missed early games and the Tigers were 7-6 when they turned after the bye. Those challenges only hastened the development of its next crop as Sydney Stack, Jack Ross and Shai Bolton emerged as serious prospects. They trailed minor premier Geelong by 21 points at halftime in the preliminary final and then kicked eight goals to two in their only really challenge deep in the year.
McGUANE’S VERDICT
Hawthorn still had an emerging Lance Franklin in 2013, but I doubt that would have worried Richmond of 2019 too much. Franklin was more of an aerobic beast back then and I’m comfortable the Tigers’ team defence and pressure up the ground would help limit his impact. David Astbury would likely get the job on him, and Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin would provide roll off support closer to goal as they both do so well. Given the Hawks were very Franklin-centric at this stage, shutting down Buddy would be a big factor in this game. The midfield battle would also be pivotal. Both sides had great midfields but the Tigers would need to stop Sam Mitchell and the Hawks would have to do the same with Dustin Martin. Brian Lake and Josh Gibson would have big roles down back for Hawthorn against Richmond power forwards Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch and their manic small forwards. A game like this will come down to conversion and I’m willing to back the Tigers on that.
WINNER: Richmond 2019
RESULTS:
HAWTHORN 2013 - 56%
RICHMOND 2019 - 44%
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