Almanac Footy: Eras collide in the ultimate game of comparison

 

 

 

 

 

Eras collide in the ultimate game of comparison

 

The current crop of the AFL’s rising stars shares similarities to that of a past era.

Its predecessors climbed the mountain – both in a team and individual sense and captured the imagination of many.

The new breed may have modelled their game on greats of the past, only they will know. And remarkably, they are still butting heads with those older greats on the field today.

In this article, we embark on a fun game of comparison.

It must be said, however, that we won’t cover some past superstars such as; the Brisbane quad of Brown, Akermanis, Black and Voss, the amazing Nick Riewoldt, the impassible Matthew Scarlett, the freakish, Gavin Wanganeen and the brutal Mark Ricciuto. Champions in their own right – Nathan Buckley and James Hird are also part of that era, and there will be a Shane Crawford comparison to be made one day, too.

We also won’t include the current and recent stars in: Petracca, Franklin, Gawn, Martin, Cripps, Curnow, Bontempelli and Neale, as this article targets a specific era, an era that helped me fall in love with our great game.

 

Will Ashcroft: Leadership and Class

Fresh off a Norm Smith Medal performance in the 2024 AFL Grand Final, Will Ashcroft announced himself as one of the game’s best young players.

Will follows in the footsteps of his father, Marcus and will most likely pave the way for his brother, Levi, who has just joined the Lions.

Marcus was a great of the famous Brisbane three-peat era team – a key cog in the machine that dominated the competition. Leadership runs through the family, and every word of Will’s when speaking to the media screams future Lions captain.

Will’s leadership skills, low centre of gravity, lateral bounce out of a centre clearance, toughness and resilience reminds me of a record-breaking legend of the Geelong Cats.

Joel Selwood is one of the most admirable footballer we’ve ever seen; tough, uncompromising, durable, talented and ultra important to all the success of Geelong’s dynasty era.

The six-time All Australian and three-time Carji Greaves Trophy winner, Joel was listed at 183cm and kept around 84 kilos at a playing weight. He averaged 24.6 disposals and 5.1 clearances across his illustrious career.

Will’s 182cm and 82 kilo frame is eerily like that of Joel’s. He has some catching up to do with a current average of 22 disposals and 3.4 clearances per game, but I think he should get to Joel’s numbers. And perhaps, he would be producing better numbers if he hadn’t ruptured his ACL in 2023.

The question is, will Will break Joel’s 355 game count? It really doesn’t matter. Will is a scary prospect for the other 17 AFL teams and he will be sticking around for a while. His Norm Smith Medal will be the first of many individual accolades to come.

 

Harry Sheezel: Poise and Precision

North have found a generational talent.

Fastly growing as one of the young statesmen of the AFL competition, North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel hasn’t wasted any time stamping his mark on the League.

Entering his third season, Harry’s 44 games are as good a first 44 games as we’ve seen; averaging 28 disposals and 8 of those contested, Harry uses the footy with class on both sides of this body and leans on his amazing vision to handball into space or in close.

As he speaks so well at 20-years-old, Harry looks to be a Kangaroos captain one day.

I get the sense that Harry is a consummate professional, even at 20 years old. He reminds me a player that dons the black and white, a player that was also regarded as a young professional early on.

I always wondered if Harry modelled his game off Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury. Either way, if its Simon Black or Scott Pendlebury, North Melbourne is producing its own version.

Scott’s decorated CV includes two premierships, a Norm Smith medal, three Anzac Day medals, six All Australians, twice AFL’s Best Captain Award, five Copeland Trophies and the 2013 AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year; That is a little unfair on Harry, as his team doesn’t play on Anzac Day and he is only 20. But his trajectory looks prolific.

Harry will win multiple All-Australians, many player-voted awards, he already is a Sid Barker medallist, and he will probably win at least five more.

Not as big as Scott’s, 191cm and 90 kilos, Harry is still early in his AFL journey, but he won’t need to be as tall as Scott to reach similar feats. His vision, composure and football smarts are years above his age.

Time slows down when Harry has the footy – something that has been said about Scott. Both great in tight spaces.

And hopefully for North fans, Harry helps Arden Street get some more silverware.

 

Sam Darcy: Enigma and Devastation

Physically enigmatic, Sam Darcy is only starting to scratch the surface as to what he is capable of at AFL level.

What we’ve seen already is devastating; listed at 205cm (6’7, in the old) and 94 kilos, Sam when healthy provides a dynamic focal point for the Western Bulldogs forward line. Such a dynamic Dogs attack already, Sam has the versatility to move into the ruck. And as he continues to build muscle mass, he will prove to be one of the most dangerous wrecking balls in the competition.

Following in the footsteps of his father and Bulldogs legend, Luke Darcy, Sam’s upside is palpable.

His running gait is strange but effective – very quick steps and low cadence, which reminds me of a former West Coast champion.

Smaller in height and stronger in frame, but also enigmatic about the way he moves for such a big man. Josh Kennedy was pivotal in the West Coast Eagles’ success.

He was important especially in 2018; booting three important goals to help his team win the premiership.

The 293-gamer booted 723 goals at West Coast and early days, Carlton, where he was a part of the famous Chris Judd return home trade.

The eight-time West Coast leading goal-kicker, two-time Coleman Medallist, three-time All Australian and three-time Glendenning-Allan Medallist has practically done it all.

The only detractor from this comparison, though, is that Josh rarely went into the ruck, at least he didn’t in his latter years at the Eagles. However, if Sam continues on to improve, if keeps growing in size and competitiveness, the already prodigious talent may become the next key position superstar for his Club. A feat his Dad achieved.

 

Jason Horne-Francis: Power and Rolled-up Socks

Jason Horne-Francis’s SANFL tapes are eye-catching, as he showed power, competitiveness and aerial ability that looked un-matched at the time, in regard to his age and position.

Jason is a natural ball-winner, and his explosiveness provides a point of difference for the star-studded Port midfield.

There is an uncanny look to him. The rolled-up socks, speed out of clearance and strong build reminds me of a man that took South Australian football by storm, to then move his life back down the southwest Victorian coast, where he grew up.

The Geelong Cats captain, Patrick Dangerfield is everything you want and more in a footballer; brave, powerful and a strong leader.

The 337-game match-winner has a Brownlow and eight All Australians next to his name.

His strong 92 kilo-frame dons the long socks – a tradition his apprentice, Jason, has gone with for years.

Who knows if Jason will reach the leadership feats that Patrick has, but if Jason can continue to grow in professionalism, he may be able to achieve similar feats to that Patrick’s.

 

Chad Warner: Explosive and Dare

I’ve been wrestling with if Chad Warner reminds me of Chris Judd or Ben Cousins – Both two of some of the best players to have ever played. But I can’t go past Chad’s ability to burst out of the front of a stoppage, something natural to Chris and not as much Ben.

I wasn’t as sold on this comparison compared to the others, but I need to go all the way with it and show some conviction, so I’ve found some stats to find some validation….

Chris’s playing weight and height was larger than Chad’s, but Chad at 181cm and 80 kilos looks to be a slighter version of Chris.

Chad averages just over 13 kicks and averages 22 disposals per game – the same as Chris’s 22 disposals averaged across his decorated career.

Perhaps, the glaring discrepancy here is Chris’s lack of aerial prowess compared with Chad’s high-flying capacity; a skill trend we are noticing more of in the younger stars of the competition. And Chris was more of a contested beast, an area of Chad’s game that he needs to continue to grow in.

Chad at times, almost dares his opposition to take him on when he has the footy. This is something Chris did but with less exuberance.

The only question is, Will Chad make the move to West Coast in 2026? The place he grew up in and where Chris launched himself into footy immortality.

 

Harley Reid: Flying High and Docker Dominance

There is a new king of the west emerging out of Perth and as two-time Brownlow Medallist, Nat Fyfe eyes the twilight of his storied career, he will soon pass the baton onto the next big-bodied, long-haired superstar – Harley Reid.

There are many similarities between the two stars of the competition: they’re both tall, strong in the contest, uber-competitive, natural ball-winners and brilliant in the air.

Nat does lack speed and that has declined over the latter years of his career, but the two-time Brownlow Medallist has shown through his incredible athleticism that he can turn a game on its head very quickly.

Only 5 centimetres shorter than Nat, the 187cm Harley is not playing like a 19-year-old, as he has already produced electrifying highlights in his first season. One that comes to mind is his 2024 NAB Goal of the Year.

The quintessential surfer haircut and ability to take a contested pack mark meant it would be silly not to compare the two and frankly, this was one of the easier comparisons when putting this article together.

Harley was drafted to a Perth club – in the city where Nat Fyfe would be heralded as a king. But I anticipate the attention will now move towards Harley, as we start to say goodbye to Nat’s impressive time in the AFL.

 

Nick Daicos: Big game and Legacy

Father-son product, Nick Daicos is arguably the best young player the game has seen in a long time.

Drafted by Collingwood in 2021, via the Club’s father-son linkage, Pies fans continue to hook the incredible Daicos highlights to their veins.

Nick’s father, Peter Daicos, aptly nicknamed the ‘Macedonian Marvel’ was a super half-forward who could manipulate the ball on both sides due to his freakish skill set.

Peter was a star of the competition around the time of Gary Ablett Senior and Gary’s son, Gary Junior was one of the best to ever do it, too.

The two-time Brownlow Medallist and two-time premiership player won his first Grand Final in 2007, like Nick who his first Grand Final in his second year in 2023, at just 20 years of age.

During the Ablett “GC17” era, the ‘Little Master’, Gary dominated games and arguably carried his side with stealth ball winning and lethal disposal.

The Gold Coast’s season took a big turn in 2014, when he dislocated his shoulder during a Brent Macaffer tackle in the Round 16 clash against Collingwood.

And upon reflection, a major reason why the Suns looked likely to make the finals that year – up until his injury – was due to Gary’s dominance at the coalface.

Nick has a similar impact on Collingwood; with a few ageing champions, last season Nick kept his side in games and at times won the contest due to his sheer brilliance.

And Nick too, suffered an impactful injury in 2023, when he fractured his knee which sent Collingwood’s last quarter of the season into a spin, as they lost a handful of games leading into finals.

Both maestros in the middle, Gary and Nick stand at 6-foot-tall with a low centre of gravity, which keeps and did keep the opposition on its toes.

Despite Gary having a leaner start to his career (compared to Nick) he made an early enough impact to suggest he will become one of the greatest of all time. And he did do just that.

So, what will the future of the 21-year-old Nick hold? He was on track to win a Brownlow in 2023, until he fractured his knee. And he was famously unlucky to not win the same award in 2024, poling 38 votes, after being usurped by a 45-votes Patrick Cripps.

Peter etched his name into greatness wearing the black and white stripes, and with the help of Josh, the Daicos legacy continues to live on as Nick leads the charge to superstardom.

 

 

 

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