Have Your Say On Who Should Be AFL's Player Of The Decade

AFL PLAYER OF THE DECADE?

The AFL are about to announce a shortlist of ten players whom they consider to be the best players in the 2000's. Well here is my shortlist and my reasons why:

1. 
   
   Michael Voss: Look no further then the triple premiership winning captain. He was the rock in the Lions team which guided them to the three premierships(2001-2003). A stand out peformance of Vossys career was against Collingwood in the 2002 grandfinal. Don't get me wrong he had a gun team, a few of the players will feature in my top ten, but I feel he has done more than enough to be the AFL player of the decade. Voss will be remembered for his skill, courage and leadership. He captained the All Australian team from 2002-2003.
   PHOTO: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ffximage/2007/07/11/voss,0.jpg
   
   
   
   

2. Chris Judd: Judd would have to be my second best of the decade. He is one of the most talented footballers I've ever seen play. An absolute magician with the ball and so hard to bring down. I've never seen a guy break so many tackles, keep upright and put the ball on a dime for a forward like Judd does. At only 26 years of age it is fair to say Judd has some of his best years ahead of him. Which is very scary for opposing defenders. In 2005 Judd won the Norm Smith medal in the loss to Sydney. A year later Judd was captain of the 2006 West Coast premiership team. Chris won the Brownlow medal in 2004 and was runner up this year. He has been named an All Australian four times in his career, captaining the 2008 team. What a star! He is going to be hard to push off the top spot when they announce the player.
   PHOTO: http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/03/20/footy13_gallery__600x397.jpg
   

3. Adam Goodes: This man is a legend in Sydney, he has been for the last decade which makes him such a strong candidate to take this out. Goodes holds a place in AFL History by being a dual Brownlow medallist 2003 and 2006, a premiership player and a member of the Indigenous Team of the Century. He always polls strongly in the Brownlow voting and is by far one of the main reasons Sydney wins games. A player of his calibre does not come around every year let alone a decade. The duels he and Judd have had over the years has been what fans pay to see, and boy do they get their moneys worth.
   PHOTO: http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5251838,00.jpg
   

4. Simon Black: I really don't think there has been a more consistent player of this decade than Simon Black. How many years has Black been right up there in the Brownlow voting? He is one of the most hardworking and skillful football players the AFL has seen in years. In 2002 he was rewarded with his hard work by winning the Brownlow Medal. A year later Black was named the Norm Smith Medallist. At the age of 24 Simon Black was a star in the making. After an injury in 2005 Black was back to his usual self and was so close in 2007 and 2008 when he polled second in the Brownlow voting. Can his consistency over the last 10 years make him the player of the decade? I can't see why not!
   PHOTO: http://images.triplem.com.au/2009/05/12/183514/afl-feature-lead-simon-black.jpg
   

5. Gary Ablett: Has there been a bigger star than Gary Ablett Jnr over the last few years. People may say he wasn't dominant over the whole decade, but noone really has been. Many of the players that will be named have had great patches over a five or six year period. This can be said for Ablett Jnr, however his five year period is one that will be remembered for many many years. Gary is a dual premiership winner (2007-2009), much to his relief he was finally named Brownlow Medallist in 2009, he has set a record by winning the Leigh Matthews trophy as the AFL Player Associations MVP three times (2007-2009), and has been named in the All Australian Team three times. Gary Ablett Jnr has been living in his fathers shadow for years, it is safe to say he has stepped out of that and created his own. At only 25 years of age, what is left for Ablett Jnr to accomplish? Player of the decade, maybe?
   PHOTO: http://halfbackflanker.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/ablett_ga.jpg
   

These five players are my favourites for the position and one of them I feel thourougly deserves it. However there are others that could push them off the pedestal. Players such as:

• Matthew Lloyd
• Johnathan Brown
• James Hird
• Nathan Buckley
• Ben Cousins
• Jason Akermanis
• Dean Cox
• Matthew Pavlich
• Nick Riewoldt