One great finals game is all it can take see your name etched amongst the greatest to pull on the boots.
Max Gawnโs performance last Friday against Geelong is one of these performances. Honestly, I was shocked he didnโt crack the double ton on Supercoach.
19 disposals, five goals, six tackles 33 hit-outs and five clearances is a stat line any ruckman would give their left leg for.
'Big Maxyโs prelim' performance left me pondering some of the greatest acts seen over the last 50 years.
Excluding Grand Finals and brilliant quarters such as Nick Davis โCome to Savisโ and Anthony Koutoufidies' efforts in '99, I have narrowed down a top 10 of individual games that will go down in the annals of Australian rules history.
10. Leigh Matthews - 1976 Preliminary Final
33 disposals, 31 kicks, seven marks, two handballs and 7.6
Seeking revenge for the devastation of the 1975 Grand Final, Hawthorn, led by their goal-kicking rover Leigh Matthews, put to bed any doubts of their quality with a scintillating performance.
'Lethalโs game was sheer brilliance, with the mustachioed maestro kicking seven of the Hawks 14 goals, as well as picking up 14 more disposals than anyone from North Melbourne -including his opponent that day, the legendary Barry Cable.
