2015 is the year of the Goat on the Chinese calendar and there's no better time to find out who the AFL's Greatest of all time is (aka GoAT).
NMFC.com.au has narrowed the list to three players whose accomplishments are enough to dwarf almost every single player in the AFL’s history.
By most measurements, Wayne Carey, Leigh Matthews and Gary Ablett Senior are regarded are three of the best.
But who is number one?
We want you to decide once and for all and if you're a little bit biased, that's fine with us!
Wayne Carey
272 games, 727 goals
• 2x AFL Premiership: 1996, 1999
• 2x AFLPA MVP (Leigh Matthews Trophy): 1995, 1998
• 7x All-Australian Team: 1993-1996, 1998, 1999-2000
• 4x All-Australian Team Captain: 1993, 1998, 1999-2000
• 4x North Melbourne Best & Fairest: 1992-1993, 1996, 1998
• 5x North Melbourne leading Goal Kicker: 1995-1996, 1998-2000
• North Melbourne Captain: 1993-2001
• North Melbourne Team of the Century: (Centre Half Forward)
• North Melbourne Hall of Fame
• North Melbourne Team of the Century Captain
• Michael Tuck Medal: 1998
• Australian International rules team Captain: 1998
• Vice-Captain of the ACT & Southern NSW Team of the Century
• Captain of the New South Wales/ACT State of Origin Team: 1993
• AFL Pre-Season Competition Premiers: 1995, 1998, 2003
• VFL: U-19 Premiership: 1988
Very few people would argue Carey’s undisputed status as the best Kangaroo of all time, and how he provided a decade of entertainment while captaining two premiership sides.
A common thread throughout the three nominees was their ability to take a game away from the opposition in rapid time.
Countless North victories can be attributed to bursts from Carey; key goals at crucial moments lifting the side to another level.
Removing an injury-interrupted 1997 from the equation, Carey kicked more than 60 goals every season from 1993 to 2000. Considering he was often playing as a centre half forward, with occasional spells elsewhere on the ground, it shows just how crucial he was to a side that won two premierships.
The case for Carey was strengthened with his naming as the greatest ever player in the 2008 book; The Australian Game of Football.
Leigh Matthews
332 games, 915 goals
• 4x VFL Premiership: 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983 (Captain)
• 8x Hawthorn Best & Fairest: 1971-1972, 1974, 1976-1978, 1980, 1982
• VFLPA MVP Award (Leigh Matthews Trophy): 1982
• Award renamed in 2002 in Matthews honour
• All-Australian: 1972
• Coleman Medal: 1975
• 6x Hawthorn leading goal kicker: 1973, 1975, 1981-1984
• Captain of the Victorian State side
• Player of the 20th century
• Hawthorn Captain: 1981-1985
• AFL Team of the Century (Forward pocket)
• Australian Football Hall of Fame
• Legend Status: (1996, inaugural)
• Hawthorn Team of the Century (rover)
• Hawthorn Football Club Hall of Fame: Legend Status
• Championship of Australia Championship: 1971
• NFL Night Series Championship: 1976
• VFL Night Series Premiership: 1977, 1985
• Hawthorn best first year player 1969
Matthews made his senior debut at just 16 years of age in 1969 and quickly became a regular in what would become a strong Hawthorn line-up.
While playing in the midfield during the prime of career, Matthews put up statistics that are difficult to comprehend, such was his dominance.
Between 1975 and 1978, Matthews kicked at least 68 goals in each season while averaging more than 22 disposals a game. As a point of comparison, no-one has managed to kick 68 goals in each of the last four seasons, let alone tally the same disposals numbers.
Matthews won four VFL premierships for the Hawks, taking part in most of their era of dominance.
Gary Ablett Senior
248 games, 1030 goals
• AFL Team of the Century
• Australian Football Hall of Fame
• Leigh Matthews Trophy (AFLPA MVP Award): 1993
• 3x Coleman Medal: 1993, 1994, 1995
• 4x All-Australian Team: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995-Captain
• 3x VFL/AFL Team of the Year: 1984, 1989, 1990
• Geelong Best & Fairest: 1984
• Norm Smith Medal: 1989
• 9x Geelong Leading Goal Kicker: 1985-1986, 1988-1990, 1993-1996
• Geelong Football Club Greatest Ever Player Award
• Victorian Team of The 20th Century
• Geelong Team of the Century
• Captain of the Victorian State team: 1995
• Captain of the Geelong F.C.: 1995, 1996
• Mark of the Century Award: 1994
• 2x Mark of the Year: 1985, 1994
• Geelong Football Club Hall of Fame
• Geelong F.C. Player of the National Era Award: 1984-1996
• Australian Sports Medal: 2000
• Centenary Medal: 2001
Gary Ablett is the only player to kick more than 100 goals and win the Coleman Medal in three consecutive seasons, an incredible mark that seems unlikely to be challenged any time in the near future.
Spending most of his career as a roaming forward, it was after he moved closer to goals that Ablett hit the scoreboard with a rush. Between 1993 and 1995 he kicked an astonishing 375 goals in just 64 games.
Ablett is the all-time leading goal kicker for Geelong (1,021) and in a demonstration of his longevity, remains the oldest player to have kicked 100 goals in a season, at age 33.
