In 2015, The Geelong Advertiser compiled the 'Top 50 GFL players of all time' since the Geelong Football League competition had broken away from the Geelong & District Football League in 1979.
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The Experts and the Criteria
Geelong Advertiser football writer, Nick Wade, worked with some of the biggest names over the history of GFL footy, including Peter Kelly, Arthur Hodgson and John Fitzgerald, to trim the list of GFL players down from 50 to number one. The panel followed a strict criteria of 100 games with a club solely during its GFL era. This ruled out many of the greats from clubs who may have dominated prior to the 1980s during the GDFL two-division competition.
The Greatest Of Them All: Frank Fopiani
The panel of local experts decided that North Shore and St Marys onballer, Frank Fopiani, was the greatest of them all. They said Fopiani was chosen because he was "the best player in the best team of his era" which included a bevy of best and fairest awards at North Shore. This was during the club winning six premierships in succession from 1995 until 2000, while Fopiani was also voted the best player on ground in the North Shore grand final win of 1993, his first season at the Seagulls.
Fopiani was regarded to "hardly fumble below his knees, rarely missed a target with his dozens of weekly disposals and used his pace and evasiveness to break away from a contest". However, it was his successful move to St Mary’s, where he coached the club into the 2003 GFL grand final - which the Saints lost in a replay after a drawn first game - and then won the best-on-ground medal in the 2004 premiership that separated Fopiani from the rest.
Former Cats star in local return
Among the top 50 greatest GFL players, there were no less than eight former VFL/AFL players - Alan Woodman, Ray Sarcevic, Basil Flynn, John Fitzgerald, Ron Watt, Paul Corrigan, Brett Hungerford and Michael Schulze - all of which had played senior games for the Geelong Cats, though five of them had made less than 10 VFL/AFL appearances.
The Top 50 Geelong Football League Players Of All Time
1. Frank Fopiani 2. Alan Woodman 3. Tim Sheringham 4. John Albon 5. Ray Sarcevic 6. Basil Flynn 7. Alex Rizun 8. Clinton Wells 9. Tim Sherman 10. Jim Cail 11. Tom Hall 12. Glenn Keast 13. Shaun Ballans 14. Warwick Knuckey 15. Rick Wilde 16. Jake Carmody 17. Dale Amos 18. Brad Firman 19. John Fitzgerald 20. Dean Talbot 21. Dale Carson 22. Daniel Lovick 23. Paul Keating 24. Glen Wallace 25. Brad Nicholls 26. Mark Hall 27. Ian Durran 28. Leigh Crichton 29. Mal Eddy 30. Ron Watt 31. Dean Smith 32. Paul Corrigan 33. Tom Gilligan 34. Wayne Tyquin 35. Jason Armistead 36. Mark Dahlhaus 37. Brett Torney 38. Cam Wright 39. Stephen Winter 40. Adam Rodgers 41. Brett Hungerford 42. Gary Kelly 43. Mark Stewart 44. Cory Bauer 45. Glen Lyons 46. Andrew Kelly 47. Luke Buckland 48. Aaron Greaves 49. Michael Schulze 50. John Pickering 51. Lewis Hyland