Richmond great Matthew Richardson has taken on the enormous task of re-drafting the 2001 Super Draft.
The goal kicking star had to decide between Luke Hodge, Gary Ablett and Chris Judd at the top, while also separating the likes of Sam Mitchell, Dane Swan, Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson and Nick Dal Santo.
To highlight how deep this draft is, Luke Ball did not make the top 10, with Richardson stating on Sportsday that Ball was the most unlucky to miss.
Other big name players taken in that year include Leigh Montagna, Aaron Sandilands, Ben Rutten, Matthew Boyd, Andrew Welsh, Jarrad Waite, Campbell Brown, Ashley Sampi, Jason Gram, Quinten Lynch, Andrew Carrazzo and David Hale among others.
See Richardson’s top 10 re-draft below:
10. Brian Lake (Western Bulldogs/Hawthorn)
“He’s a key position player, he played in three premierships, won a Norm Smith and is a best and fairest winner,” Richardson told Sportsday.
9. James Kelly (Geelong/Essendon)
“He played 313 games and was just mister consistency down at Geelong.”
8. Nick Dal Santo (St Kilda/North Melbourne)
“As silky as they come, three All-Australians and 300 games.”
7. Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn/West Coast)
“This top seven you can probably shuffle them around a little bit.”
6. Jimmy Bartel (Geelong)
“The ultimate big-game player, just whenever you needed him to do something in a big game he did it. One of the best midfield marks I’ve ever seen.”
5. Steve Johnson (Geelong/GWS)
“When you kick 500 goals as a medium sized forward, you’re in the top five of any draft. He’s a match-winner, freaky and could do anything in that forward 50.”
4. Dane Swan (Collingwood)
“This guy was pick 58 originally, what a bargain for Collingwood. He’s a five-time All-Australian, but always played well in big games. He always played well on Anzac Day. He’s super consistent.”
3. Chris Judd (West Coast/Carlton)
“I’ve gone Judd at three which will get a lot of people arguing over this and I understand why, he’s done everything in the game and won two Brownlow Medals.”
2. Luke Hodge (Hawthorn/Brisbane)
“I just love Luke Hodge and his leadership. People play better around him, he makes his teammates better and look what he did up there at Brisbane in a short amount of time. (He won) four premierships and two Norm Smith Medals.
1. Gary Ablett (Geelong/Gold Coast)
“He’s clearly the number one pick in that draft. He was a father-son selection, but some people have him in the conversation as the greatest player of all-time so he’s the number one pick.”
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