Across 325 games, 16 seasons, four Grand Finals and nine preliminary finals, it is safe to say I played in some very good teams. Across those teams I also played with some extremely good players. Many teammates in those teams are in the AFL Hall of Fame.
So naming the best 10 players I've played with across those years, at the Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs, is damn tough.
The last spot, in my mind, was down to a choice of Scotty West, Brad Johnson, Barry Hall, Darryl White, Gilbert McAdam, Craig McRae, Jonathan Brown and Dale Morris.
Yes, the squeeze for spots was a lot harder than I initially thought.
For the record, my closest friends when I played the Bears/Lions was Craig "Fly" McRae and at the Bulldogs it was Dale Morris and Mitch Hahn.
These days I see Mitch most weeks, with either helping at the Lions L3 Development program he runs or at our daughters' football training and games.
My teammates I see now the most outside of Mitch, is Simon Black and Clark "Mr September" or "Crackers" Keating. It's mostly Clark actually.
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He and I played in the Queensland under 12s team in Darwin back in 1988. We have been mates ever since. We both have three daughters and are always entwined with football work and other business. Football is an interesting place to play and be even after all these years.
So who is in my top 10, in order from 10 to 1, starting with that very tight final spot? Here we go!
5Nigel Lappin (Brisbane Lions)
"Nige", "Jughead" or just "Lappo" was a teammate who just kept going.
It's a shame he unfortunately was allergic to nearly everything. Once he worked that out, he could eat plain chicken, rice and a blue Powerade or Gatorade and he became a different player.
His running power courage in games was what we loved. It wasn't like he was top five (top seven though!) in our running tests, but in a game and on a field, he was a different man.
Being from such a line of football royalty in the Lappins from Chiltern he had plenty to live up to. At 188cm he was tall for a midfielder in that era.
It is scary to think that up till his last couple of games he never believed in himself as much as he should have. One missed handball and "Nige" could brood on it till the Thursday after a Saturday night game.
I knew never to bother "Nige" before a game and if he ever spoke it was worth listening to. A ball magnet who could kick flat out on the run to a teammate or the goals. He is the glue that keeps teams and teammates together. That is just the way he is.
Having played in the 2003 Grand Final with three broken ribs and a punctured lung will tell you what type of courage he possessed.
While no one saw it much, when he got angry it was scary. I can honestly say that Chris Scott is scared on no man ... except "Nige". I am not sure what Chris did one day when Chris and "Nige" lived together as young bucks in Brisbane's east side, but Chris will tell you "Nige" was terrifying and it scared the living s.... out of Chris. Whatever happened, Chris never did anything like that again to "Nige". They have been inseparable ever since.
