Opinion
With the 2020 AFL season done and dusted, a review of the milestones achieved during the year can be completed for all those who share a fascination in such trivia.
Despite the shortened season, a number of significant milestones were achieved.
The eight players who were already part of the games-played elite were joined by one new member towards the end of the season, Melbourne’s Nathan Jones. Jones, who played eight games in his 15th season, moved to equal 94th position on the AFL top 100 game players with Richmond’s legendary goalscorer from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s and North Melbourne dual Brownlow medallist Keith Greig.
Jones has signed on for another year at the Demons and no doubt will be hoping to play enough games to achieve two more milestones before retirement. Currently he sits on 294 AFL games, so six more games would see him reach the coveted 300 games, and six more would see him equal David Neitz as the greatest Demon game player of all time.
Nathan Jones (Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Jones will be one of as many as six of the top-100 game players to continue playing in 2021, with only three confirmed retirements to date. Gary Ablett (Geelong), Kade Simpson (Carlton) and Heath Shaw (Greater Western Sydney) will all be hanging up their boots, while it appears two others who are yet to sign contracts (Eddie Betts and David Mundy) are likely to be offered one more year at Carlton and Fremantle respectively.
The senior member of the six in both age (38) and games played (389), Hawthorn’s Shaun Burgoyne, will be hoping to play not only enough games to reach 400 but another four beyond that to pass Kevin Bartlett and become the third greatest AFL game player of all time.
The ‘youngsters’ in the group – Scott Pendlebury, Joel Selwood and Nathan Jones, who were all born in 1988 – will all no doubt be aiming to climb up the games played ladder while helping their team to another final series.
After only one new entrant in 2020 – provided form and fitness does not desert them – there are five players on the cusp of joining the top 100 game players in 2021. Shannon Hurn (West Coast Eagles) needs only six games to become a member of this exclusive group, while Marc Murphy (Carlton), Travis Boak (Port Adelaide), Jack Riewoldt (Richmond) and Tom Hawkins (Geelong) are all likely to make the cut and raise the bar for membership to this exclusive club even closer to the 300 game mark.
An outstanding run of consecutive games, including finals, could have Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) also knocking on the door by season’s end.
Harry Taylor (Geelong) and Justin Westhoff (Port Adelaide) would have been in the mix but have already drawn the curtains on their careers.
Three new goalscorers made it onto the top-100 goalscorers list, with Jack Darling (West Coast Eagles) and Luke Breust (Hawthorn) having now scored over 400 goals and Breust’s teammate Jack Gunston sneaking into 100th position on 398 goals. Displaced from the top 100 list were Sydney’s Tony Morwood, Carlton’s Horrie Clover and Fitzroy’s Mick Conlan.
An outstanding season by Tom Lynch could possibly see him as the only new entrant in 2021, while the retired Gary Ablett will hopefully be the only one of the current 11 top-100 goalscorers – which includes Lance Franklin – to not excite fans with bags of goals during the year.
It is hoped the race through the 600s continues between Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), Josh Kennedy (West Coast Eagles), Eddie Betts (Carlton) and Tom Hawkins (Geelong) and they all advance on their current positions of 25th, 27th, 32nd and 34th respectively.
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