AFL legends Tim Watson and Garry Lyon have outlined their top 10 most marketable players in the AFL today, following the NRL's decision to earmark a list of players to pay outside the salary cap to help promote the game.
The criteria for the list was based around the players image on and off the field and with that, the SEN Breakfast duo discussed their list choices.
Tim Watson's list:
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
Dustin Martin (Richmond)
Lance Franklin (Sydney)
Nat Fyfe (Fremantle)
Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
Joe Daniher (Essendon)
Max Gawn (Melbourne)
Eddie Betts (Adelaide)
Luke Hodge (Brisbane)
Garry Lyon’s list:
Max Gawn (Melbourne)
Dustin Martin (Richmond)
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong)
Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
Lance Franklin (Sydney)
Rory Sloane (Adelaide)
Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn)
Jeremy Howe (Collingwood)
Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
James Sicily (Hawthorn)
Other names thrown up, particularly by callers, were Gary Ablett, Josh Kelly, Lin Jong and Ben Brown.
Watson added that he believed the AFL didn't do enough to sell the superstars of the game to the broader community, saying that the team aspect of the sport took away from the game's icons.
"There's a team focus in AFL to the detriment to the individuals and stars," Watson said, from a marketing perspective.
