The third in our four-part series of championship belts for the best player in their position throughout the 25-year history of the AFL looks at defenders.
While with midfielders, ruckmen and forwards it has always been fairly clear cut what style of player dominated at what given time, defenders are a different breed.
As the game has evolved over the past 25 years, the role of a backman has possibly evolved the most.
No longer are defenders about lockdown players judged on restricting an opponent forward. Defenders must now be able to lockdown, rebound from the back, drive forward of the ball and all in the unassuming way that only a fellow defender can appreciate.
Current Champion
2012 -? Ted Richards
As the leader of a defence that has won a premiership and made a preliminary final in the past two years, Richards is the head of an under-appreciated group of Sydney players.
Richards saved and then revitalised his career as a defender. He has finished in the top three in both contested marks and one percenters for defenders over the past two years and is again poised to replicate those results in 2014.
Any forward who sees Richards coming their way knows a tough afternoon is in store.
2011 – 2012 Ben Reid
Following Collingwood’s grand final success in 2010, Reid became the player that no forward wanted to play on. Importantly for Collingwood though, Reid could shut down a key forward while also having an impact in attack.
His ability to read the game and know when to attack and when to defend was an outstanding feature for a young player. Sadly saw his title reign come to the end as he was shifted forward for stints and injuries started to build.
2010 – 2011 Brian Lake
As Western went to the tip of a grand final appearance it was on the back of key book-ends forward and back. Most would agree though that Lake was more influential because of his ability to see the game in a different way to most other defenders.
It is sometimes lost just how good Lake is when he doesn’t have the ball and how strong his defensive fundamentals are.
2007 – 2009 Matthew Scarlett
A second run for Scarlett at the top of the defensive mountain with this run highlighted by two premierships. Infamous for his toe-poke in the 2009 grand final, it was his defensive prowess in 2007 through 2009 that saw Geelong build one of the most miserly defences in league history.
On top of Scarlett’s uncanny ability to win one-on-one contests was the ability to go forward, the 2009 grand final a case in point.
2005 – 2007 Darren Glass
While it can be argued the work Glass did after 2007 was more important for West Coast, on-field his peak years were in the West Coast grand final years. Glass epitomised coach John Worsfold’s desire for defenders. They needed to win one-on-one and the game plan was to back defenders to win. Glass usually did.
Never was it more apparent how much West Coast needed Glass on-field than the 2007 semi-final, when West Coast lost their season with Glass on the pine.
That seems a reasonable point that he too lost his defensive number one mantle, with Scarlett going on to win a premiership as a defensive general two weeks later.
2003 – 2005 Matthew Scarlett
Scarlett’s first reign as number one defender was mainly due to his ability to shutdown an opposition key forward. Scarlett would always take the opposition’s number one and in this time, despite still being young in terms of a key defender, he rarely was beaten.
As Geelong grew a young core through the mid 2000s, Scarlett was the one reliable commodity they had to lean on down back.
2002 – 2003 Justin Leppitsch
With Brisbane in the midst of a premiership dynasty, toss up whether it was Leppitsch or fellow Lion back Mal Michael who was the best in the league. Michael may have been the tougher match-up for forwards, but it was Leppitsch’s ability to affect the play forward of the ball that tips it in his favour.
A leader on-field and always a presence, Leppitsch was a key reason behind the Brisbane three-peat.
2000 – 2001 Darren Gaspar
Almost a flash in the pan, Gaspar rose to prominence in 2000, dominated the 2001 season and then never really had success following.
However for that brief period over 2000 and 2001, Gaspar was regarded as the one player that key forwards did not want to play on. A big reason behind the Tiger resurgence of 2001, Gaspar was an outstanding one-on-one defender and unbeatable at that time.
1999 – 2000 Byron Pickett
The Kangaroos had the best performance of club history in the late ’90s and at the end of the decade it was not a key defender but Pickett, a medium-sized player, who was the barometer of the
defence. Had an ability to rebound the ball, did the little things for the team and never shied away from a contest. Though there were some limitations on his game, he played within himself and was the most talked about defender of the time.
His style of play made opposition sides have to change the way they approached attacking their forward line – very few defenders can do that and it was one of the reasons Pickett was so valuable.
1997 – 1998 Andrew McLeod
Champion’s rules apply to McLeod. His performance on the big stage at the 1997 grand final rebounding from behind won him the belt. He backed it up a year later with a similarly stunning grand final performance.
That he may have lost it straight after that second grand final is moot when you factor just how good McLeod was in the book end between those grand final successes.
1994 – 1997 Steven Silvagni
The longest title reign of a defender was by Silvagni, who was an outstanding competitor. There were occasions where he was beaten but he would bounce back the next quarter or the next week.
He had an uncanny reach and deceptive closing speed, which meant he was never out of a one-on-one contest. Was a good reader of the play and was an exponent of the opposition mark before that was a recorded statistic.
1993 Gavin Wanganeen
As the last defender to win a Brownlow medal, Wanganeen deserves recognition as the best defender in the 1993 season. Indeed that was a season where key forwards completely dominated, meaning no key defender could really hold their head high.
Wanganeen read the game well and was used in a revolutionary way at the time as a player that was able to get free and almost play opponent, knowing he would be able to hurt opposition sides going on the counter attack.
1991 – 1992 Ken Hinkley
In an era where key forwards continued to dominate the landscape it just does not feel right to include a key defender as the best of the time.
Instead it was Hinkley and Guy McKenna who were playing similar roles for premiership contenders. Hinkley was a strong man defender, but it was his reading of the play that was sublime.
1990 – 1991 Guy McKenna
Before there was the term quarterback, there was McKenna. A lynchpin of a strong West Coast defensive core, there may have been better man on man defenders like Ashley McIntosh or Glen Jackovich, but neither of those two had the all round game that McKenna had.
For a team that built from their defence first, McKenna was crucial in West Coast becoming a dual premiership side in the 1990s.
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