It is fascinating to think that every game of AFL football every week is adding to the rich history of a league that will have been around for 122 seasons when the first game for 2018 gets underway in 39 days.
In total 15,568 players have played at the 21 clubs that have been part of the league at various times during those 122 seasons.
Every club has produced champions over that time, and the 18 current clubs will add new players to that list each week and as some existing players add to their already impressive records of games played and goals scored.
Two useful measures of a player’s contribution to his club are his standing on the list of number of games played and number of goals scored at the club.
To achieve top 100 status in either of these categories – particularly at an overall all-time AFL level and at the ten clubs where the list represents 10 per cent or less of the number of players ever to represent the club – is a significant achievement and should be celebrated.
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That’s what we intend to do this year with regular updates on the movements in top 100 lists at the AFL and all the clubs.
Fortunately all clubs have at least one player in this category in both games played and goals scored, so every team selection will have interest for the statistically minded fan.
In earlier times, when games were played only on the weekend, it was possible to see all teams selected on a Thursday night and therefore spend little time in seeing who would achieve a games milestone over the weekend. Now, with the first game being on a Thursday Night (Richmond vs Carlton) we will be drip fed the teams from Wednesday night onwards and a number of visits to our favourite sports website will be required.
Let me take you through the machinations of a statistical fan enjoying the 2018 AFL season.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
On Wednesday, 21 March, the teams for the first game of the year will be announced. The first thing to check is whether the two competing teams have any current day players on the AFL all-time top 100 lists. Neither does, but if Kade Simpson is playing, this game will take him to one game behind Peter Riccardi (Geelong), who is in 100th position.
On the goal-kicking front, is Jack Riewoldt playing for Richmond? If so, on Friday we will need to check how many goals he scored, as he is currently equal 48th on the all-time goal-scoring list with Essendon legend John Coleman, so even one goal will improve his position.
From a club viewpoint we will look in this article at Carlton’s team and cover Richmond’s next time. While Kade Simpson’s selection for this game has significance on the AFL all-time top 100 list it is even more significant from a club viewpoint because this game will see him draw level with Justin Madden at number five on the club’s all-time game player’s list. The two other players on the club’s all-time list – Marc Murphy and Matthew Kreuzer – will also advance.
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
Thanks Harsh Truth. I take it from your comments that you don't expect Carlton's three Top 100 goal kickers Murphy, Simpson and Casboult to add many goals to their totals?
Harsh Truth Harry
Roar Rookie
yep. With Bolton coaching to try and make it a Nil all game too. The worst coach in the league given 6 Friday night games! Richmond to open their season with a 90 point plus win.
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
Good luck with that! At least the extra games would help Kade, Marc and Matthew move up the "charts"!
Party Pooper
Guest
Carlton premiers 2018 fait accompli.
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
Any player who can be counted in the Top 100 out of the 15,000+ who have played the game should be recognised. Because of their recent success the Tigers have a number of current players who make the Top 100 Tigers of all time, and they have Jack Riewoldt on the AFL list about to pass the great John Coleman as a goal kicker, but being "chased" by Eddie Betts, Jarryd Roughead and Josh Kennedy.
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
Maybe Carlton will be fired up and Richmond hungover? Anyway, if you can't enjoy the game, enjoy some individual players' achievements.
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
I think they have some strong possibilities if certain players remain at the clubs for a few more seasons: Lynch, Cameron, etc. Anyway, because these clubs have played so few games, these players automatically make it into the club's Top 100 list!
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
What about the prospect of Chris Judd and Chris Yarram dropping off the Carlton list of Top 100 goal kickers!? It could happen in the next 2-4 years if Jack Silvangi gets his act together!
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
As I have just said, it is not the 100 games I am celebrating as your comments are correct. It is the Top 100 players who have contributed to your club or the league. For example, Ray Shaw - a former Collingwood captain - is in danger of dropping out of the Collingwood Top 100 game players although he played at the club for 8 years!
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
I take your point too, Walter but it is not 100 games that I am concentrating on, it's the most games for the AFL (or a club) down to number 100 on the list! The number of seasons required to even break into this list is well above the number of seasons required to play 100 games! As I said in my earlier reply, we all have our "favourite" champions but - at the end of the day - it comes down to how well the player served his club and for how long. I was disappointed when players I consider champions (Maurice Rioli, John Northey and Fred Burge) were replaced on the Richmond Top 100 list by Ty Vickery in his last game in 2016! Vickery was subsequently replaced by Brandon Ellis in his remarkable run of consecutive games in 2017 but that is what the statistics disclose and we all admire Brent Harvey and Michael Tuck, etc.
Aransan
Guest
Good to hear from you Walter, Graham Gilchrist played 114 games and I am sure would have played over 200 games in the professional modern era -- I think he would have been in Carlton's top 100 players. I wouldn't knock any player who played 100 games in any era including the present.
Stephen Shortis
Roar Guru
Thanks for you comments, Aransan. You are right, there is now greater opportunity for players to break into the Top 100 of all time, but I still believe these stats are the most appropriate to use to judge the "worth" of players to the various teams. To even make the list in 100th position at the foundation clubs requires at least 7 years of injury free form, opportunity and loyalty. We all have different opinions of what makes a champion and to compare players in different eras is a minefield, and it is interesting to note that only one player at 10 of the clubs is even close enough to achieve Top 100 status in 2018!. The measure I use is fair. Sure, the longer seasons and better injury management give current day players a greater opportunity to make the list, but list sizes, starting age limits and draft trading all reduce this opportunity.
Walter
Guest
Thank you, Aransan – and in connection with your thought about champions who played around, or fewer than, 100 games, and whose worth cannot be measured by statistics alone – as a Carlton fan, I immediately think of Bert Deacon (106 games, Brownlow Medalist), Gordon Collis (95 games, Brownlow Medalist), Peter Bosustow (65 games, brilliant), his father Bob in the 1950s (20 games, dynamic), and others who missed the country life and family (George Ilsley, Des Lyons, Tom Carroll and others) and went home. Memorable players, all. Just as Coleman and Burgess and many others from other teams are.
kelly
Guest
The last person anyone will be interested in round 1 is Kade Simpson Richmond vs Carlton, seriously, this top 100 list holds no relevance to any excitement the games hold, as stated above many ordinary players reach game/goal milestones so I doubt wether checking that list will be the first thing I do. I think most round 1 will be interested in how Dusty and the premiers will go and how the upcoming blues will fair against them.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Sheesh - Carlton v Richmond to open the season. What a blockbuster that will be!
I ate pies
Guest
Neither Gold Coast nor GWS have produced any champions.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
A title including top 100 and a picture of Carlton players is just teasing Macca.
phil.osopher
Guest
Many quite ordinary players get well past the hundred games milestone.
Aransan
Guest
For a good part of VFL/AFL history the game was largely amateur and there were outstanding players who did not play much more than a hundred games, in addition there were fewer games in a season. Two names come to my mind as an Essendon supporter -- John Coleman who played 98 games and Reg Burgess who played 124 games, both club champions. At the time Coleman retired it was believed to be due to a knee injury but there is now doubt about that and a belief that he could have continued playing. There were also non-Victorian players who played in the VFL who only had limited careers as they had strong incentives to play in their home states. There were players from the country who retired early to resume playing in the country. South Australia and Western Australia have strong Australian football traditions but it is difficult to link past players to the Eagles, Dockers and Crows. We can't just use games played to compare players from different eras, Lou Richards would have played over 300 games with the number of games played in a season now.