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Where does Dustin Martin sit on the eve of his 300th game?


The lead-up to Dustin Martin’s 300th game has begged the question: where does he sit in the pantheon of modern AFL greats?

Below are my top ten players that have debuted from 2000 and beyond. Each one had or has something special that defines them, and none can be argued with as a champion of the game.

1. Gary Ablett Jr (Geelong / Gold Coast)
Games: 357 (Geel 247, GC 110)
Goals: 445 (Geel 321, GC 124)

It can be easy to forget just how far ahead of the pack “The Little Master” was as the best player in the game during his peak years from 2007 until 2014, when his season was ruined with an injured shoulder in Round 16. The fact that some of his dominance happened off-Broadway due to joining the Gold Coast for its inception will always be something of a shame.

He was the first one picked in eight consecutive All-Australian teams through the middle stages of his career, combining surety of ball-handling, impeccable balance and supreme skills, matched by the ability to get mountains of disposals and kick multiple goals whether playing for the best team in the league or the worst.

2. Lance Franklin (Hawthorn / Sydney)
Games: 354 (Haw 182, Syd 172)
Goals: 1066 (Haw 580, Syd 486)

There has probably never been a better pure athlete play AFL than “Buddy”, although there might be plenty of “Kouta” fans from the 90s that disagree. He had the speed of a rover, agility of a flanker and skills of a wingman, all in a package of a hulking centre-half-forward or even a ruckman in the not-too-distant past.

Franklin remains the last player to kick 100 goals in a season, and may well be the last to ever kick over 1000 in his career. Certain players are unstoppable when they are “on”, and Buddy was the epitome of that – when he was up and the crowd was roaring, and he was streaming through half-forward and having a shot from 55m, we all knew what was coming.

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3. Chris Judd (West Coast / Carlton)
Games: 279 (WC 134, Carl 145)
Goals: 228 (WC 138, Carl 90)

Most people remember Chris Judd as the sizzling talent that burst on the scene in the early 2000s, blitzing out of clearances from his first game, beating the powerhouse Brisbane Lions off his own boot in a half at the age of 19, and winning a Brownlow Medal at 20. Every now and then a player comes along and takes your breath away immediately. That was Judd.

While he may not have been as explosive at Carlton for the second half of his career, he was still plenty unstoppable, genuinely tough, and an absolute bull with two or more opponents often hanging off him. The only player on this list not to reach 300 games due to a battered body, his aura is no less diminished because of it.

4. Dustin Martin (Richmond)
Games: 299
Goals: 337

While possessing enough glittering “everyday” credentials, like a Brownlow Medal, four All-Australian selections and multiple best and fairests, more than any other player on this list, Dusty was defined by the big stage and the big moments. Famously, his three Norm Smith Medals speak to that, but the AFL Record has Martin named in the best players for each of the ten finals Richmond played in their three premiership years – six times as No.1.

Dustin Martin celebrates with Damien Hardwick after Richmond won the 2020 AFL Grand Final. (Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

A measure of his greatness is an overlooked statistic – during Richmond’s back-to-back flags in 2019-20, Martin kicked 19 goals with only two behinds across those finals series. At the time when pressure was at its fiercest, he was at his calmest. Poise, vision, skill, and that unstoppable “don’t argue”, he redefined what it meant to be a power midfielder-forward.

5. Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)
Games: 353
Goals: 700

Pavlich could be the most uncelebrated champion on this list, but none boast a more varied array of accomplishments as a player – among his six All-Australian jackets, he was good enough to be named full-back, full-forward and centre half-forward; being named in key position posts at either end is unmatched in the AFL era.

Pavlich could do it all: repel opposition attacks from defence, get 30 touches and ten clearances as a midfielder, or kick bags as a power forward. A beautiful kick, he once kicked 21 goals without a miss in a three-game period.

6. Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide / Geelong)
Games: 325 (Adel 154, Geel 171)
Goals: 329 (Adel 163, Geel 166)

While some say Dustin Martin had the greatest individual season of all time in 2017, there’s a decent case to say that Dangerfield was better himself in that year! He averaged 30 touches and kicked 45 goals, polling 33 Brownlow votes (after winning the previous year with 35).

Every player on this list has a unique trait that separates them from the others, and defined them in their period of peak greatness. For “Danger”, it was his ability to crash through a brick wall at a ferocious pace to win the ball – when he wanted it, no one could stop him. Many times, he was going so fast that his kicking suffered as a result, but his explosiveness was unmatched.

7. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
Games: 394
Goals: 198

If Dangerfield is the wrecking ball, Scott Pendlebury is death by a thousand beautiful cuts. Whereas players like Dangerfield, Judd and even Franklin sped the game up to match their electricity, “Pendles” slowed it right down, a trait that continues to this day as he edges closer to game 400.

Scott Pendlebury of the Magpies celebrates a goal.

(Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

He’s got his All Australians and a Norm Smith Medal, but fancy having the longevity and quality to finish top three in a best and fairest 14 times. The first half of his career saw him behind Ablett and Franklin as players of that generation, before probably being overtaken by Dusty, Danger and Fyfe as the more explosive power player came to the fore, but none have spent longer as a top-five calibre player in the competition.

8. Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
Games: 336
Goals: 718

In terms of consistency and longevity, Nick Riewoldt was the Scott Pendlebury of key forwards. Riewoldt’s work ethic and running power were legendary, working up and down the ground from his centre half-forward post, six times taking more than 200 marks in a season, forever manned by the opposition’s best defender.

Riewoldt revolutionized the key forward position, at least until Franklin came onto the scene four or five years later, and while his St Kilda teams may not have tasted the ultimate success that he craved, nor would they have got as close as they did through 2008-10 without him.

9. Luke Hodge (Hawthorn / Brisbane)
Games: 346 (Haw 305, Bris 41)
Goals: 194 (Haw 193, Bris 1)

There are many great captains on this list, but Luke Hodge (and Joel Selwood below for that matter) is the captain’s captain. Good enough to be named All-Australian in both his renowned half-back position (2005, 2008) and in a star-studded midfield in 2010 alongside Ablett, Swan, Selwood and ahead of Judd and Pendlebury (both named on the AA bench that year), Hodge was symbolic of strength, toughness and strong leadership across his career.

A three-time premiership captain and two-time Norm Smith medallist, Hodge followed on the great traditions of fellow Hawks like Robert DiPierdomenico and Dermott Brereton, and always found another level of influence in September, be it through his raking left foot or putting his body on the line.

Luke Hodge

Luke Hodge. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

10. Joel Selwood (Geelong)
Games: 355
Goals: 175

Joel Selwood and Scott Pendlebury are the two highest career Brownlow vote pollers not to win the actual medal. Selwood started his career winning the Rising Star and a premiership, and ended it standing on the dais as a flag-winning captain, a match in which he had 26 touches and kicked a goal – influential from his first game to his last.

Selwood had a special aura about him when a big game got tight – it was truly incredible how often he would be the player to win a big clearance, draw a free kick, get the hard ball, a smother here or a mark there. Time and time again he was the man for the moment, another player on this list that can’t be defined by just statistics or accolades.

The unlucky 11th player would have to be Nat Fyfe, and it’s fair to say injuries and his body robbed us of more football in his absolute prime. None have been stronger in the contest, but his kicking was always a weakness. Honourable cases to Max Gawn and Marcus Bontempelli of the modern player with still a few years left in them, perhaps Jeremy Cameron too. Jonathan Brown would have some sort of case, as well as other power forwards like Tom Hawkins, Jack Riewoldt and Josh Kennedy.

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