MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Damien Hardwick, Senior Coach of the Tigers and Trent Cotchin of the Tigers hold up the premiership cup during the 2017 Toyota AFL Grand Final match between the Adelaide Crows and the Richmond Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 30, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Part two of this series will look at the greatest teams in the modern era of AFL football.
While the AFL has only established in 1990, there are still numerous teams who can promote their argument for being the greatest team of all time.
Some of these teams dominated for a substantial period of time, without achieving the amount of success they ultimately deserved, while others can lay claim to winning consecutive premierships.
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Record books will show North Melbourne have had two great decades of success. While the 1970’s was the decade when the Kangaroos broke their premiership drought, the 1990’s will be remembered for the individual brilliance of Wayne Carey and the pioneering of Friday night football.
From 1994 to 1999, North Melbourne made three Grand Finals, winning two (1996 & 1999) and losing one to Adelaide in 1998, in a match they could have won if they had kicked accurately (North kicked 8.22 in the match).
The lowest North finished at the end of the home and away season in those six years was seventh, but come finals North always managed to make at least the Preliminary final.
North Melbourne pioneered Friday night football in 1985 and by the 90's it had become the spotlight timeslot. North continued to predominately hold the prestigious timeslot and a lot of this had to do with their on-field success and the marketing machine that was Wayne Carey.
Similar to Michael Jordan in a promotional sense, Carey was the face of the AFL because of his ability to carry his team to victory.
Along with the two premierships, Carey’s individual success included 2x Leigh Matthew’s trophy, 7x All-Australian, 4x North Melbourne Best & Fairest and 5x North Melbourne leading goal kicker.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Australian football, highly acclaimed AFL journalist Mike Sheehan comprised a list of the 50 greatest players of all time and had Carey as the greatest to play the game.
The Essendon team from 1999 to 2001 had an opportunity to become one of the most successful teams in AFL football.
In the three-year period, the Bombers won 61 of 66 home and away games.
2000 will be the year the Bombers are most remembered for as they won all possible silverware a team could win. The Bombers started the season by winning the pre-season competition, then won 21 home and away games to claim the minor premiership, before they ran away with the flag by defeating Melbourne by 60 points.
1999 and 2001 will be remembered as years the Bombers let slip of the premiership flag. In 1999 the Bombers were by far the best team in the competition and after comfortably beating Sydney in the Qualifying final, some Essendon fans purchased Grand Final tickets, assuming their side would easily account for Carlton in the preliminary final.
However, the Blues shocked the football world by beating the Bombers by one-point.
In 2001 Essendon again finished the regular season as minor premiers and went into Grand Final day as premiership favourites.
The Bombers led by 14 points at half time in the Grand Final but were unable to stop a Brisbane surge in the second half and lost by 26 points.
When the final siren sounded at the end of the 2003 Grand Final, people were asking “have we ever seen a side as good as this?”
Brisbane had just won its third consecutive premiership and with the likes of Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Simon Black, Nigel Lappin, Alastair Lynch, Mal Michael, and Jonathon Brown, the Lions had the right mix of skill and aggression to frighten every team in the competition.
The 2001 premiership may have come as a surprise as Essendon were clear favourites heading into the match, but by 2003 everyone was wondering how long the dynasty would last.
Under the guidance of Leigh Matthews the Lions never finished higher than second during the regular season between 2001-2003. But they only lost one final in that period to cement themselves as finals specialist.
Individual success was also a hallmark for the Lions, as Jason Akermanis and Simon Black won Brownlow medals in 2001 and 2002.
Brisbane looked set to equal Collingwood’s four consecutive premierships in 2004, but with aging legs, the Lions could not compete with the determined Port Adelaide side.
The Lions brought great enjoyment for long-suffering Brisbane and Fitzroy fans who had to wait 57 years to see their team win a premiership.
It took one game to kick-start the Geelong dynasty.
In early 2007, Geelong coach Mark Thompson was under pressure to keep his job. The Cats sat sixth on the ladder and were going up against a winless Richmond. Anything other than a massive win would be seen as a failure for the Cats.
But what transpired in the Round 6 clash would have to be seen to be believed. Geelong kicked 20 goals in the opening half to lead by 107 points at half time. There was no end to the torture in the second half as Geelong ran away with a 157-point demolition.
The victory sparked a string of wins for the Cats, who lost only one more game for the season and went on to win the premiership by a record margin of 119 points against Port Adelaide.
It may have been hard to top, but somehow Geelong became even better in 2008. The Cats only lost one game during the home and away season and ended the campaign with an average winning margin of 53 points.
But inaccuracy in front of goal cost the Cats on Grand Final day and gave Hawthorn an underdog victory.
Redemption came a year later as the Cats beat St Kilda in a Grand Final classic.
Geelong’s success between 2007 to 2009 was largely due to the unique style of play. Teams of that area worked tirelessly on defence, but the Cats focussed on their attack and their rapid transition which allowed them to kick large scores.
Superstars Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Joel Selwood, Steve Johnson, Cameron Ling and Matthew Scarlett also helped the Cats achieve success.
At the end of 2010, Mark Thompson and Gary Ablett left the Cats, leaving many to assume the dynasty was over.
But a rejuvenated Geelong under the guidance of Chris Scott returned to the pinnacle of football by beating Collingwood in the 2011 Grand Final.
Hawthorn shocked the footballing world by beating Geelong in the 2008 Grand Final. With an average age of only 24, the Hawks were expected to win multiple premierships in the upcoming years.
But sport doesn’t always go to plan and the Hawks missed out on the top eight in 2009.
It took four years for the Hawks to play in another Grand Final but this time they were second best to Sydney.
Redemption occurred a year later as the Hawks beat Fremantle in the 2013 Grand Final.
At the end of 2013, Lance Franklin left for Sydney, but his departure did little to dent the Hawks' premiership dominance as they won the 2014 and 2015 flags.
Under the senior heads of Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Jarryd Roughead the Hawks bullied their opponents with their ruthless style of play.
They were no match for their opponents on Grand Final day either, winning the three premierships by an average of 42 points.
No Richmond supporter in the wildest dreams would have expected the Tigers to be on this list in Round 23, 2016.
As the final siren sounded at the SCG, the Tigers walked off the field 113 points in the rear of the Swans.
Nothing was expected of Richmond in 2017 despite the inclusions of Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy and Toby Nankervis in the trade period.
But fresh off the back of the Western Bulldog's fairytale premiership in 2016, the Tigers ended a 37-year premiership drought by beating Adelaide on Grand Final day.
Richmond could have made it back to back premierships in 2018 had it not been for a Mason Cox demolition in the preliminary final.
But instead of letting the result deter their resolute, the Tigers brought Tom Lynch to the club as a free agent.
Lynch's contribution to the Tigers in 2019 can not be downplayed given the number of injuries they faced that season, which made the 89-point win over GWS in the Grand Final even more special.
Then came the premiership against all odds in 2020. Rival supporters and football identities, including David Koch spoke out about the unfair advantage Richmond had by playing the Grand Final at the MCG.
By relocating to Queensland due to the global pandemic, the Tigers were against the odds to win the premiership. Added to this, their reputation also took a hit after some highly publicised issues on and off-the-field.
Richmond's resilience was no more telling than in their six-point against Port Adelaide in the preliminary final.
Against the minor premiers on their home patch, the Tigers put in a performance for the ages to silence noisy Power fans and their President who questioned their ability to play away from home.
Grand Final night again highlighted their resilience as they came from 15 points down at half-time to run away with a 31-point win against Geelong and a third flag in four years.
No talk of this Richmond team would be complete without mentioning Dustin Martin.
The unlikely protagonist has cemented his place as arguably the greatest Tiger of all time by winning the 2017 Brownlow Medal and three Norm Smith Medals.