Your 5 Favourite Swans of all time.

[573v30]

In no particular order:

Paul Kelly
Tony Lockett
Adam Goodes
Daryn Creswell
Gerard Healy

[Bob Neil]

No order (contemporary bent);

Paul Kelly
Adam Goodes
Jarad Crouch
Ryan O'Keefe
Andrew Dunkley

[bedford]

Thanks plugger46 for this thread - I have loved reading some of the names and anecdotes that have reinforced why I am so passionate about our club. I am a lifelong supporter (40 years) and while it hasn't always been easy (to follow the Swans) this thread and the names contained show why the Swannies are such a great club to follow in spite of our many low times.

Top 5 is so hard, so I won't even try - but here goes for a rough list of the group from which my top 5 would come:

Teaser - never seen a better season of football from any player
Barry Round - pretty obvious
Kel - for being the player I always wished I could be
Gerard Healy - pure class
Plugger - there's only one
Tadhg - you just expect something special
Magic - if only he could kick straight
Tony Morwood - would have been a star in any other team that got the ball forward regularly
Dennis Carroll - see Gerard Healy (also loved Wayne's leaps)
Wade Chapman - Maxfield - Chapman - Lockett - Grand Final
Nick Davis - '05 Semi alone is enough and he was brilliant in the GF too!
Amon Buchanan - that snap in '05 and everything else up to the point of his brain fade against Marty Clark in round 21 this year
Brett Kirk - it's a cliche but he is our spiritual leader
Mark Bayes - got hit with the ugly and talent stick
Mark Browning - if only to watch him kick in after a behind
Warrick Capper - Tom Hafey rates him - that's good enough for me
John Roberts - his debut season for us was awesome won a game for us after the siren in Rnd 1 against the cats at kardinia - pity he couldn't sustain it
Adam Goodes - can't believe it has taken me this long to list him
David Ackerley - until he defected to the roos
Stewie Maxfield - can't say i fully appreciated him as a player until after he left
Daryn Creswell - tool of a bloke but forever a great swan
Andrew Dunkley - ditto
Stevie Wright - I know clubs have ruck, defensive & midfield coaches - how much could someone like schneider/phillips etc benefited from having Stevie around the club
Jarred Crouch - gotta love a bloke to have gotten so much out of the lack of ability he has
Leaping Leo - loved him as a forward, cringe now he's down back but he took that mark and that is enough for me
Craig Bolt - best non marquee player recruit ever pity his namesake can't kick the thing properly cos he'd rate pretty highly there also
Jason Ball - for being a huge part of the culture that is now the Swans
Richard Colless - never played a game for us but I don't reckon he gets enough credit for the achievements of the club under his direction

So many others: Bernie Evans, Ian Roberts, Silvio Foschini, Paul Hawke, Greg Smith, Craig O'Brien, Leon Higgins, Jamie Lawson, Max Kruse, Wayne Henwood (any other Sydney pioneer that wasn't a mercenary hack from another club ie Jim Edmund)

And I still hold hopes for the likes of Nic Fosdike, Melcho (although I reckon he's almost there already), Bevo (yes bevo), LRT and am optimistic about our new batch of recruits

So thanks Plugger46 for that indulgence, an otherwise lacklustre Friday in the off season has just become a lot more pleasant.

i could not agree more these comments are spot on.

my top 5

1 bob skilton

the greatest player ever

2 paul kelly

we love kirky but no one gets close to this guy

3 adam goodes

one day this guy will be recognised by the melbourne media as being one of the all time greats

4 peter bedford

could have played test cricket for aussie,how lucky are we that he played for us ,what a star

5 greg williams and plugger

carn't split them

special mentions:

kirk,murphy,healy,round,teasdale,bayes,carter,wrig ht and capper.

[swantastic]

I'm not sure ROK would agree.

Why would O'Keefe care?

[Justice]

Since 1984:

1. Paul Kelly - Heart & soul of the club in some very tough times. Crash throught style was very inspiring.

2. Mark Bayes - loved the way he lopped around the wing from CHB at the SCG and would then drill a 50 - 60 metre pass or shot at goal.

3. David Murphy - just loved the way he played. Think he retired too early.

4. Andrew Dunkley - Sydney have not been able to replace him at full-back and as a long marking target from the kick-in. While his kicking had great limitations (and that is why I probably like him so much) he made the most of his other abilities. Loved the way he terrified Sav Rocca.

5. Adam Goodes - Will be the most successful Sydney player ever, only behind Bobby Skilton all time for SM/SS, by the time he has finished his career.

The following were hard to leave out: Craig Bolton, Brett Kirk, Greg Williams (before he left for Carlton), Tony Lockett, Barry Hall & Ryan O'Keefe.

A similar thread was done in April this year about "the 10 best players seen". I had a look back at what I posted then and I think Craig Bolton is the most likely player to keep moving up my favourite list.

Cheers

Justice

[bigswan]

What a task. I am ranking the most recent players only.

1.Paul Kelly-was the captains' captain.

2.Brett Kirk-courageous and skilled.

3.Adam Goodes-athleticism and enthusiasm.

4.Greg Williams-probably the best Swan I have seen

5.Tony Lockett-probably the second best Swan I have seen.

6.The hundreds of other Swans who have given me so much enjoyment over the past 40+ years.

[Nordberg]

Mark Bayes
David Murphy
Greg Williams
Paul Kelly
Dale Lewis

[law78]

1) Adam Heuskes
2) Tadhg Kennelly
3) Paul Kelly
4) Tony Lockett
5) Leo Barry - because of his mark in the 2005 Grand Final

[glennb]

1. Scott Russell
2. Jason Love
3. Justin Crawford
4. Gerard Neesham
5. Michael Werner

[stellation]

2.Brett Kirk-courageous and skilled.

Wowzers!

[jenky28]

Just afew quick points i want to say!

Jared Crouch is spelt JARED not jarrad!
And the second is CROUCH has plenty of ability thats y i like him i dont go for ppl with no ability or go in them!

[Big Al]

Players I have seen.

Paul Kelly
Steve Wright
Tony Lockett
Adam Goodes
Michael O'Loughlin

Honourable mentions to Gerard Healy, Darren Cresswell, Wade Chapman, Mark Bayes, Barry Round, David Murphy,Barry Hall.

Greg Williams is one of the best Swans players I have seen but I would not call him a favourite of mine.

Obviously the records of guys like Skilton and Pratt mean they are in the top echelon of Swans players.

[royboy42]

As an old Royboy i saw Skilton tear the Roys apart too many times..in those days of little tv coverage I dont know if he saved his best days for Fitzroy, but I suspect 3 brownlows mean he did it most weeks. He was the greatest I ever saw in Red and White.
Kelly,Kirk, Williams in no particular order.
Malceski to be the best player recruited in the last few years, and GOODES to eventually be the best swan ever!

[satchmopugdog]

[

6.The hundreds of other Swans who have given me so much enjoyment over the past 40+ years.[/QUOTE]

This sums up a lot of things. No matter who they were,e.g. a cousin of mine who got 3 games back in the late 70's,Matt Laidlaw's 1 game to Mickey's 25? games, with all their idiocyncracies and brillance and foibles every single one of them has given me joy and a sense of belonging. They are "my boyz"

My daughters would disagree as regards Dale Lewis as his name has entered into the family venacular as the word you shout when you are frustrated. LEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWIIIIISSSSSS.There were times though when he was sublime.

[goswannie14]

1. Tony Morwood
2. Graham Teasdale
3. Gary Brice
4. Mark Browning
5. Adam Goodes

The problem with this list is it makes me look old.