The AFL midfielder's championship belt

As much as my wife will try to deny it and deny me, at heart there is a closet wrestling fan trapped inside.

If there is one thing that wrestling fans like that does not include the words tables, ladders, chairs or money in the bank, then it is the championship belt.

Any good fantasy booker knows that the titles matter. So if titles mean so much to one group of sports fans, why wouldn’t another group of sports fans like to know who holds and who has held their favourite championship belt?

Over my next few pieces the AFL championship belts for midfielders, forwards, defenders and ruckmen will have their chronology traced back to the start of the AFL in 1990.

Today, let’s look at the midfielder’s championship belt, which considers all-round midfield play, consistency over the period, team performance and individual accolades.

2014 – ? Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
This is not even a reactive move to Gary Ablett’s injury in Round 16. In his last five games before his shoulder injury, Gold Coast had won just one game and Ablett only had one big possession match, which came in a heavy loss.

In the past 12 weeks Sydney have won 12 straight with Kennedy the undisputed midfield leader, and he has not dipped below 20 possessions in that time. Kennedy had himself in a race against Ablett since Round 10, and won in a landslide when Ablett went down in Round 16.

Kennedy is actually a prototype of the next generation of AFL midfielders. He is big, strong, he wins the ball in tight, he tackles hard, uses the ball well, works back defensively and he hits the scoreboard. That is the definition of complete midfielder.

Consider the next big thing is Nathan Fyfe and the next biggest thing is Marcus Bontempelli and you understand that size matters in an AFL midfielder, and Kennedy may be the beginning of a new breed of dominant midfielders.

2012 – 2014 Gary Ablett (Gold Coast)
The time at which you believe Ablett wrestled back the championship belt from Swan really depends how much weight you put on winning. If winning has limited importance than perhaps Ablett won it back in 2011 when he was single-handedly leading the Suns while Swan had a number of mates helping at Collingwood.

However, conservatively you would say when Collingwood’s threat as a premier was removed, Ablett’s importance at the Suns tipped it in his favour. Long title runs were uncommon through AFL history, yet Ablett has been the one generational player of the current millennium. His two three-year long title reigns are testament to that.

2010 – 2012 Dane Swan (Collingwood)
Dane Swan’s 2010 season may be one of the most underrated by a premiership player in a premiership season. Consider that he led possessions, was number two in contested possessions, number two in uncontested possessions, number one in inside 50 entries and number one in clearances. He dipped below 20 possessions just once in 2010 and 2011, highlighting a model of consistency rarely seen during the AFL era.

2007 – 2010 Gary Ablett (Geelong)
The magic that was Gary Ablett junior showed life in 2006 and early 2007, but it was Round 12 when Ablett entrenched himself as the most dangerous and dynamic midfielder in the game. Again, Brisbane was the side on the receiving end as Ablett collected 35 possessions, laid eight tackles and kicked a goal.

Over the next three years no one could match Ablett for both dynamic play and sheer weight of possession through work rate. His more than three-year run holding the championship was unprecedented in the AFL to this point.

2006 – 2007 Chris Judd (West Coast)
A second run with the belt for Judd and surprisingly only the second two-time holder of the midfielder championship belt. Like Simon Black before him, Judd was the main ingredient in one of the all time great midfields.

His explosiveness was still exceptional and his consistency was at its highest in West Coast colours during 2006 and 2007. Factor in his leadership of a club in the midst of multiple off-field crises and Judd showed enormous character with his second title reign.

2005 – 2006 Scott West (Western)
Like Robert Harvey in the decade previous, West was also a ball magnet who just needed his team to improve to be considered the championship belt holder. That came in 2005 as Western rose from bottom four to ninth and then a year later made the finals.

West at this stage of his career was considered a veteran to a young list and his big game performances were simply outstanding. When Western needed a win in this two-year span, it was West that most often delivered it.

2003 – 2005 Chris Judd (West Coast)
Judd’s first stint with the championship belt was won with a five-goal performance against Brisbane that showed the mark of greatness. While he was a surprise Brownlow winner in 2004, statistically it ended up being one of his better years as he saw a jump in his clearances, inside 50s, tackles and possessions.

2002 – 2003 Nathan Buckley (Collingwood)
Buckley took the mantle ironically on his way to one of the toughest losses of his career. The 2002 grand final was Buckley versus Michael Voss and Black. That Buckley beat two hall of famers in that grand final effort is an afterthought in a Brisbane premiership. Buckley’s greatest season was 2003, as clearly the hurt of 2002 spurred him to new heights as a player, a captain and a midfielder.

2000 – 2002 Simon Black (Brisbane)
As Leigh Matthews was talking about killing what bleeds, it was Black that was unassumingly becoming the midfield general and barometre on one of the great midfielders of all time. Voss may have been the leader of the group, Jason Akermanis may have been the x-factor and Matthew Lappin the consistency, but it was Black who was all of these things rolled into one.

Brisbane had such a good midfield in part because of what Black was able to set up. Take any of those other three out and Brisbane were likely still three-peat. Take Black out and there was no chance that they would have won three consecutive flags.

1999 – 2000 Brett Ratten (Carlton)
Ratten’s 1999 season is another one of the truly underrated seasons in a team that went on to play off in the grand final while a team from outside the top eight had the Brownlow medallist. Ratten was the engine room in a Carlton team that in back-to-back seasons really over performed.

Ratten was testament to getting everything he could from his body and his game. His 265 clearances in a season in 1999 is a record that will likely never be broken.

1996 – 1998 Robert Harvey (St Kilda)
After threatening to be the AFL’s premier midfielder throughout the early years of the ’90s, Harvey was able to take the mantle from Paul Kelly as St Kilda showed improvement as a team, and hence made Harvey’s influence more profound.

A 40-possession game at the end of the 1996 season in a memorable win was the starting point for a more than two-year run of dominance from Harvey, who would claim back-to-back premierships in a two-year block, averaging more than 30 possessions a game.

1995 – 1996 Paul Kelly (Sydney)
With Williams suspended, the call was on for the next midfield champion to claim a vacated title, and Kelly within a fortnight of the Greg Williams suspension went about collecting Brownlow votes.

He polled in nine of the last 15 games of 1995 and then cemented his standing as the game’s best midfielder in 1996 with a powerful performance on a team that surprised many to make the grand final.

1993 – 1995 Greg Williams (Carlton)
While injury crippled his 1991 and 1992 seasons, Williams was back to his brilliant best in 1993 and 1994 capped off with Brownlow success for a second time in 1994. Over these two seasons Williams averaged near 30 possessions a game, but it was also his ability to set up a quality cast of teammates around him that helped make Carlton a good side in the mid ’90s.

Cruelly he had his run as champion cut short by suspension for umpire contact in 1995 but did have a 17-0 record in 1995 as Carlton won the flag.

1992 Tony Liberatore (Footscray)
It is arguable that there was never a greater ruck-rover combination then in 1992 when Scott Wynd and Liberatore were both playing at the peak of their powers. Liberatore was in the process of becoming the first great inside midfielder of the AFL era, with his ability to win clearances, lay tackles and set play up from contests at that point in time unchallenged.

1991 Paul Couch (Geelong)
Playing hot potato with the championship belt Couch won the belt back from Tony Shaw, who struggled to back up his role in the 1990 premiership year. Couch, though not as prolific in the umpire’s eyes in 1991, had a near identical statistical year to his Brownlow success of 1989. In an era that was dominated by forwards it was Couch’s consistency that saw him standout as the outstanding midfielder.

1990 Tony Shaw (Collingwood)
With Couch and his Cats struggling in 1990, the second half of the season became about Collingwood, and skipper Shaw helping to overcome the Collywobbles and end a 32-year premiership drought. Shaw averaged near 30 possessions in 1990 and saved a number of his best games for Essendon and West Coast, who were the Magpies biggest challengers that year.

1990 Paul Couch (Geelong)
After winning the 1989 Brownlow medal Couch has to be considered the first AFL midfielder championship belt holder. At this point in time Couch was averaging near 30 possessions a contest and was part of a key one-two punch with Mark Bairstow at a Geelong team that was good, but just could not get passed the final hurdle.