In their predictions for the 2023 season, both Hodge and Burgoyne believe Hawthorn will finish rock bottom. The Belgians piles of goals and assists have fired the Citizens to three Premier League titles, five League Cups and the FA Cup, not to mention a bag of individual awards. A combination of icy cold finishing and red-hot drive through the centre of the pitch made him utterly unstoppable at his best. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Voss played through most of the 90s, but his durability and elite consistency across the first seven years of the 2000s mustnt be forgotten. The Galacticos needed a goalkeeper as blockbuster to match. He won the 2002 World Cup winner with Brazil, earning a place in the All-Star team with his performances, and his 21st-century trophy haul also includes two Champions League and three La Liga titles with Real Madrid. Pic: Getty. The former Groningen, Celtic and Saints stoppers importance to those achievements didnt go unnoticed, as he won the UEFA Mens Player of the Year award for 2018/19 - the only defender to have done so - and finished as the Ballon dOr runner-up in 2019. Team of the Century - Melbourne Football Club It just seemed he wasnt as dynamic at Carlton compared to his West Coast days, while his ability to hit the scoreboard declined. The rock within the Lions dynamic and star-studded midfield. Modern-day forwards like him arent supposed to average 3.5 goals per game across multiple seasons. Stream them all for free on 7plus >>. The former Magpies captain and now coach won a total of seven All-Australian selections, along with a Brownlow medal and Norm Smith following the turn of the century. Not only was it the only win he played in, McGrath kicked an unreal five goals from 12 touches in the Tigers triumph against the Western Bulldogs. The Belgian was the youngest Ligue 1 Player of the Year winner ever in 2011, aged 20, after helping Lille win a league and cup double. Itsnot just players who have played in the last 20 years. That's why the likes of Wayne Carey and Robert . If you havent, do yourself a favour. More from Telstra afl.com.au womens.afl . Top 10 AFL Players: Most Popular Players of 2021 - Football Whispers And there have been moments. Here are the 25 of the greatest players to ever play the great Australian game ranked from one to 25: 1. Heres how it works. Judd 4. His 2016 campaign will go down as one of the greatest seasons in recent history, collecting a then-record 35 Brownlow votes, both AFLPA and AFLCA awards and a Carji Greeves medal to cap off a record breaking debut season with Geelong. His character and prowess was unmatched within the league, with Goodes ending his career after a club record 372 games in 2015, having spent 17 seasons in the AFL. The 'Little Master' had it all. The Pole with the goals has gone from strength to strength, with an outrageous late career peak. The 30 Greatest Sports Athletes Of The 21st Century Have Been Named And Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? AFL: The home of Australian rules football on Reddit, including the Australian Football The 100 best players of the 21st Century: 100-81 The 100 best players of the 21st Century: 80-61 The 100 best players of the 21st Century: 60-41 The 100 best players of the 21st Century: 40-26 The . He starred under the bright lights with his third and final goal of the game putting the Tigers in front with just a few minutes remaining. He played at least 21 games in each of those seven seasons. Welcome. Another Champions League crown and the La Liga title came at Real Madrid, followed by three consecutive Bundesliga triumphs at Bayern Munich. Best Performance: Chanderpaul scored five hundreds against Australia including one remarkable out-of-the-box effort - the fifth-fastest Test ton of all time, from just 69 balls as West Indies chased down a world record 418 in Antigua, 2003. With his technical ability and intelligence, he would still slot into elite teams in the modern game, many years after he left his six-Premier League title-winning career behind him. He only won the AFLPAs best captain award once which is surprising, back in 2013. He captained Geelong to the one premiership, played in four but only captained one which is probably what held him back from giving him the number one or two title.. 15-11: Four Brownlow Medallists and the fifth deserves one, 10-6: Four game-changing freaks and a controversial legend. Since that year it has been a freefall down the ladder. The four selectors picked their separate teams, from which the final team was named. The level of talent in this tournament -- especially among the top few teams -- is unprecedented. Last season the Hawks finished thirteenth (or sixth last) which was, in fact, a slight improvement on their previous seasons. Ferdinand was a ball-playing defender of the European school, rather than the bruising centre-halves more associated with the English school of thought. Stay tuned, and check out the other runners and riders. He got awarded the AFLPA best captain four times that just shows what his peers thought about him. Alastair Clarkson defends temper after clash with reporter at North Western Bulldogs acknowledge that we reside on traditional lands of the Kulin Nation. Dirk Nowitzki (basketball) 19. Its hard to make a case against Barlows game as the best AFL debut since the start of the century and he didnt slow up recording 34 disposals the very next week against Essendon. Available now! Every now and then, you get caught on YouTube watching freakish Judd highlights from the mid-2000s. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. The Brownlows, All-Australians, best and fairests and flags flowed, even after he sensationally walked away from the Cats at the end of 2010 to become new club Gold Coasts marquee player. 11. Franklins sensational switch to Sydney, after two flags with the Hawks, was bold on many fronts. Make sure you keep up to date with the latestAFLand AFL Fantasy articles andfollow my fan pages onFacebook,TwitterandInstagramto never miss a minute of the action! 245 games as captain, the most games as captain, the most wins as captain. They (will) have a lot of youth and enthusiasm, Tuck said. The Chelsea legend established a reputation as one of the Premier Leagues greatest-ever defenders during 19 years at Stamford Bridge. Naming the 10 best AFL players of all-time is a thankless task when you consider the talent the competition has had in its long history. No player has won more MVP awards. The midfield wizard behind Manchester Citys recent successes, De Bruyne has developed into one of the worlds most complete midfielders under Pep Guardiola. Birthdate: June 24, 1987. THE NUMBERS: 30 disposals, 7 clearances, 1 goal Best AFL players in the 21st century #shorts - YouTube 22. Vincent Kompany joined Manchester City the same month as the Abu Dhabi United Group. Black also sits in exclusive company as one of only six players to win a Brownlow, Premiership and Norm Smith, joining the likes of Bartel, Williams, Hird, Judd and Martin. AFL 2020: Top 20 AFL players of past 20 years list, 1-5, Fox Footy The wingers scorching pace, mind-bending trickery and ability to win games single-handedly make him a joy to watch, and a future Ballon dOr seems all-but inevitable already. FourFourTwo is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 10 greatest AFL players of all time - Betting Site Walker nearly took a Mark of the Year contender on Andrew Embleys shoulders in that game too, highlighting every exciting aspect of his game from the moment he stepped onto the field. Chris Judd was on a different level during the mid-2000s at the West Coast Eagles. At the very start of the 21st Century, Luis Figo committed the most controversial transfer that football had ever seen. Where Robben was direct, obvious, powerful and bold, Ribery was deft, thoughtful and capable of the unexpected. All players have been selected and ranked based on their 21st century performances only, so any seasons prior to 2000 havent been considered. Debuting as a skinny 17-year-old in 1992, Voss went on to play 289 games for Brisbane, and is arguably their greatest ever player. They put him in there because they knew he was a cool head, a calm head and could get the best out of his team and I think he is a massive reason as to why Geelong has had sustained success for such a massive period of time.. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). A key component for Real Madrid's early 00s triumphs, the Portuguese was the statesman on home soil in 2004. During Collingwoods stint at the bottom of the ladder in the late 1990s, Buckley was a rare shining light. Dane Swan (Collingwood) Now we present the top five ranked players in foxfooty.com.au's Top 20 of the Past 20. Cam Mackenzie was a standout for the Hawks during the practice against Collingwood in Tasmania. And while the no.10 broke through in the 90s, the 21st Century was paved in gold for him. Picking then ranking the 20 best AFL players of the past 20 years has been a painstaking and hair-tearing task thats consumed many hours of isolation life. 10 Best AFL Grand Final Moments Of The 21st Century The game's all-time leader for marks was the focal point for the Saints for over a decade, claiming five All-Australian selections, six best and fairests and four leading goal-kicker awards across 336 games for St Kilda. Enjoy! Australia's #1 independent AFL news source, Eddie McGuire tips Collingwood-Richmond blockbuster to reopen season, Jordan Lewis reveals he nearly went to Carlton after Hawks departure, Richmond confirm Jack Ross sidelined with injury, Forward or back? (Mackenzie) is a great kid. Champions League and La Liga titles with barcelona are also on his honours list, while he captained the Ivory Coast to long-awaited Africa Cup of Nations glory in 2015 after twice finishing as a runner-up. Team of the Century | Collingwood Forever Judd . It has been a drastic reset under former premiership hero Sam Mitchell, who took the coaching reins from Clarkson at the end of the 2021 season in what was a messy handover. Hes one that if you ran out there beside him, you know what youd get from him every single time.. AFL: This century's best midfielders - North Melbourne Football Club NRL: We pick the best rugby league team of the 21st century - Yahoo! As a 21-year-old, Franklins 2008 season was the stuff of legend. 1 pick Sam Walsh with the Blues confirming he's a certain starter against Richmond. If you like what you read be sure to check out more SportsbyFry articles by hitting this link. Team of the Century | Western Bulldogs Menu . Toni Kroos can do both. So many moments. As we are now a fifth of the way through the new millennium and the babies born in the first few years of the 2000s are beginning to make a name for themselves on the players lists at all 18 AFL clubs. Contents 1 Top 10 AFL Players Right Now 1.1 Dustin Martin - Richmond 1.2 Christian Petracca - Melbourne 1.3 Max Gawn - Melbourne 1.4 Jack Steele - St. Kilda 1.5 Toby Greene - GWS 1.6 Lachie Neale - Brisbane 1.7 Marcus Bontempelli - Bulldogs 1.8 Jack Macrae - Bulldogs 1.9 Nic Naitanui - West Coast 1.10 Zach Merrett - Essendon Whatever way you slice and dice the numbers, weve never seen a player like Ablett and that includes his father Gary Sr, who might still be the greatest player in VFL/AFL history yet had nothing on his sons insane, unprecedented ball-winning ability. 'Dusty' brings a level of aggression to the game like nobody before him. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. Franck Ribery more than lived up to the billing. This devalues names like Robert Harvey, Scott West and Stephen Silvagni. The greatest player of the last 20 years. The club also lost its much-loved captain and No.1 ruck Ben McEvoy, who decided to hang up the boots, and 255-game veteran Liam Shiels also retired (but then found his way to North Melbourne). Hes a player you just wanted to play for. He was irreplaceable when he left, too. In fact he probably became a wiser and more-rounded player at the Blues. There was a problem. Become a member to join in Australia's biggest sporting debate, submit articles, receive updates straight to your inbox and keep up with your favourite teams and authors. While. THERE aren't many players that can claim they were the best player on the field in their first AFL game. Some notable examples in this regard would be Gianluigi Buffon, Carles Puyol, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luis Figo, and more recently Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Robert. Trent Cotchin captained Richmond to nearly 200 games and in that time they won two thirds of those games, 130 of those 200 they won. Random. Lining up in attack Rutten is part of a unique club having managed to kick three goals with the first three kicks of his career. And fair to say there is some big names on this one! Sign up to all of Foxtel Now with a 10-day free trial. Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. Plus tips on how to play better and interviews with the biggest names. Who is your club's best ruck of the 21st century? And hes a Buddy legend. Francesco Totti retired with 307 goals in 786 Roma appearances. The surrounding blur and rush did not disrupt his tempo, nor impair his vision. All rights reserved. 25 of the best 'utility players' of the 21st century: Milner, Young Best 20 AFL players of past 20 years list, Top 20 of 20: Rankings 10 to That he's managed to force himself into conversations alongside the great Gerd Muller is testament to what a phenomenon he's become: that he's managed to break records Der Bomber set is scarcely believable. Commentators also will have fun with pronouncing or making fun of Mosquito, Tsapatolis, Lukosius, Oea, Bosenavulagi and Uosis. Unfortunate to miss out on a premiership medallion, Riewoldt will forever go down as one of the game's greatest centre-half forwards. Thank you for signing up to Four Four Two. THE NUMBERS:28 disposals, 6 marks, 3 goals, 3 Brownlow votes Robert Lewandowski netted 344 goals in 375 Bayern Munich games. Menzel played under Cameron Ling and Joel Selwood at the Cats, while the Swans were led by Josh Kennedy, Dane Rampe and Luke Parker in his time at the club. (Feel free to leave aratingand reviewto help me move up the charts ). He had an incredible blend of physical power, velvet touch and positional intelligence: the Gunners yearned for him for a decade after he departed. Ranking every No. 1 AFL draft pick since 2000 - ESPN James Horncastles reflections on Andrea Pirlo remain unmatched: Many thought the regista was a relic consigned to the past. Rounding off the top five are Brazilian icon Ronaldinho and Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta. A star midfielder, an unstoppable forward and overall legend for the Bombers. Cristiano Ronaldo named best player of the 21st century at - MARCA