Western Bulldogs Team of the Century (So Far)

[Axe Man]

The AFL website have attempted to list every clubs team of the century (or quarter century if you will).

Below is what they came up with for us. Who would you like to see in the side and who would they replace? Of course there will always be some unlucky players miss out and arguments over whether players whose careers spanned the 90s into the early 2000s should make the cut.

B: Easton Wood, Brian Lake, Matthew Boyd
HB: Bob Murphy, Dale Morris, Rohan Smith
C: Jack Macrae, Scott West, Ryan Griffen
HF: Daniel Giansiracusa, Chris Grant, Adam Cooney
F: Jake Stringer, Brad Johnson, Nathan Brown
Foll: Luke Darcy, Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore
I/C: Lindsay Gilbee, Daniel Cross, Caleb Daniel, Tim English
Sub: Liam Picken

Bontempelli moved one behind West's record of seven Charles Sutton Medals last year. Both are locks in the midfield, while Liberatore also secures a starting spot after finishing top three in the best and fairest six times. The backline is stacked full of damaging ball users, including Murphy, Gilbee and Smith. The Bulldogs haven't been stacked with elite key position players since the turn of the century, with Barry Hall and Tom Boyd only featuring for a short time, while Aaron Naughton is building towards being in this team. Grant could have been picked at either end but feels more of a need forward, while Lake was a two-time All-Australian and best and fairest winner at the Dogs before moving to Hawthorn. Darcy gets the nod as No.1 ruckman ahead of English and Will Minson after winning a best and fairest, MVP and All-Australian nod at the start of the 2000s. Picken and Cross got everything out of their careers playing in a manner that epitomises Footscray. - Josh Gabelich

Link

[GVGjr]

What is the cut off numbers for selection? Akermanis played more than 70 for us.

[jazzadogs]

I tried to search and can't find it...but BT has a rolling thread with the best Bulldogs side since our last team of the century was announced. It would be interesting to see how this compares.

[Axe Man]

What is the cut off numbers for selection? Akermanis played more than 70 for us.

Seemingly no set criteria:

IT IS a roll call of stars and champions.

As we reach the start of 2025, AFL.com.au has undertaken the task of selecting each club's Team of This Century (so far).

In each team there are 23 players – 18 on the field, four on the interchange and a substitute, to be in line with the modern game – and the criteria is simple: starting from round one, 2000, through to the end of the 2024 season, our reporters have picked who they believe to be each club's Team of This Century.

How did we do it? Put simply, it was about career impact within the time period. Some gun players who did most of their best work in the 1990s and had only limited games in this century have been overlooked for players with longer stints. Others have been rewarded for smaller sample sizes but bigger influence.

[GVGjr]

Seemingly no set criteria:

Thanks, it seems strange that Boyd and Hall weren't deemed to have played enough which is probably right. Akermanis not even listed as being close.

[jeemak]

Thanks, it seems strange that Boyd and Hall weren't deemed to have played enough which is probably right. Akermanis not even listed as being close.

Akermanis only played 1.5 seasons of good football for us.

[jazzadogs]

It's shuffling deck chairs but I think I'd have Matt Boyd in midfield, Libba on the bench and Gilbee in the back pocket.

Is there a discussion about Naughton (143 games, 225 goals) matching Chris Grant 2000-2007 (128 games, 161 goals)? You've got to be pretty good to match half of the GOATs career, so I stick with Grant.

Is Nathan Brown 98 games, 160 goals really in our best team? Scrap him for Tory Dickson 114 games, 141 goals, 1 premiership.

I think Bailey Dale is getting close to the second half of Rohan Smith's career, and Ryan Hargrave shades it. Bubba out, Shaggy in.

Minson in over English, but Tim will have him by the end of his career.

Eagleton in the mix but I can't find a spot for him.

Stringer only 89 games, and one outstanding season - Mitch Hahn goes close for that spot.

[Bornadog]

Stringer only 89 games, and one outstanding season - Mitch Hahn goes close for that spot.

I would prefer Tory Dickson over Stringer

[FrediKanoute]

B: Easton Wood, Brian Lake, Lindsay Gilbee
HB: Bob Murphy, Dale Morris, Bailey Dale
C: Jack Macrae, Scott West, Ryan Griffen
HF: Daniel Giansiracusa, Chris Grant, Tory Dickson
F: Liam Picken, Brad Johnson, Nathan Brown
Foll: Luke Darcy, Marcus Bontempelli, Adam Cooney
I/C: , Tom Liberatore, Rohan Smith, Tim English, Liam Jones
Sub: Matthew Boyd

This is my go. Apologies to a host of guys, Daniel, Crossy, Hargrave, Naughton, Cody, Clay, Tom Boyd, Hahn, The Eagle.

[jeemak]

Arguing over Stringer vs. Dickson when you've got Johnson at full forward pretty much sums up our forward malaise for the majority of the century to date - outside recent years.

Nathan Brown averaging roughly two goals a game at almost twenty touches a game makes him elite over the four seasons he played for us this century. So glad they put Gia in the side, **** he was a good player.

[jazzadogs]

B: Easton Wood, Brian Lake, Lindsay Gilbee
HB: Bob Murphy, Dale Morris, Bailey Dale
C: Jack Macrae, Scott West, Ryan Griffen
HF: Daniel Giansiracusa, Chris Grant, Tory Dickson
F: Liam Picken, Brad Johnson, Nathan Brown
Foll: Luke Darcy, Marcus Bontempelli, Adam Cooney
I/C: , Tom Liberatore, Rohan Smith, Tim English, Liam Jones
Sub: Matthew Boyd

This is my go. Apologies to a host of guys, Daniel, Crossy, Hargrave, Naughton, Cody, Clay, Tom Boyd, Hahn, The Eagle.

Matt Boyd is in our top 5 or so players of the 2000s. I regard his longevity, leadership and flexibility really highly. 3x B&F
3x AA
292 games
Captain for 3 (pretty bleak) seasons
1x premiership

I have him ahead of Libba on field.

Liam Jones is interesting...are you overrating his years as a forward?

[FrediKanoute]

I think Jones for us on his return has been vital and a major reason we have improved without a significant rebuild. If we had seen his potential much much earlier we would never have let him go and it may have been our threepeat!

The ones I agonised over were Macrae and Griffin on the wing. neither are wingers so it is wrong to have them in that position, but are they better than Eagle and Hunter? Probably.

It's a hard task picking 23 guys over a 25 year period.

[Happy Days]

I honestly think they forgot about Boyd. Not even mentioning him is wild.

[Axe Man]

I honestly think they forgot about Boyd. Not even mentioning him is wild.

Matthew was named in the back pocket and Tom was mentioned?

[Happy Days]

Matthew was named in the back pocket and Tom was mentioned?

My fault - if this is the thing from the AFL site I swear I read an earlier version where Matthew wasn’t mentioned at all.