Still think Merrett will be better than Misiti and I lovvveed, Smokinnn Joeeeee Missiti
You could easily have both. Misiti is probably more in competition with Heppell (and Misiti is winning), where Zerrett would probably be competing with Blumfield / Heff, maybe Rama.
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Lot of people who didnât understand Wallis as a footballer across his career, and only really know him from media reports of him being a thug in 2 GFsâŚ
Was he a great footballer? No. But he was a lot better footballer, and a lot less of a thug, than heâs being painted here. He had a sh*t load of injuries (hammies etc) over the years that impacted his ability to get continuity. 1999 and 2000 were the only years that he played more than 15 games in a season, but a lot of that was because of injuries.
Nyway, he was 190, but played taller, because he had presence. The players around him played better when he was in the side. But he was also a better footballer than given credit for. He was well balanced and generally a good user. He was not a superstar, but a truck load better than being some sniper who only got a game when Sheedy wanted an opponent knocked out.
For comparison with Paddy Ambrose (who I rate as a stopper, and role player in the team), pretty sure thereâs no danger of Ambrose getting a 3-vote Brownlow game at any stage. Wallis had one of those, and has more career Brownlow votes than plenty of players who seem rated here.
And Iâm not saying you wouldnât select Hurley before him. Hookerâs a different role, but Hurley could easily be the same role that Wallis played, and would quite possibly do it better.
And if you need to find a spot for Zac Merrett, look at Moorcroft. People looking at Blumfield as a part of the 2000 side that could just be swapped out are wrong. Blumfield was absolutely crucial. And his marking could not be replaced by any of our current crop. (And pretty sure no one that anyone is suggesting is going to replace his 27 goals (and 20 behinds) for the yearâŚhow many mids do we have taking 50 shots at goal in a season???)
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Blumfield was very, very good overhead.
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Very.
Would you move him to moorcroftâs spot to fit in a more midfieldery midfielder, like Zerett?
As I said, 
Iâd be leaving the 2000 backline alone.
Iâd swap Daniher for Ces.
Moorcroft, Heffernan and Ramanauskas would be on the chopping block for mine.
All fine players.
Fantasia seems a good swap for Moorcroft (although if we were going like-for-like it would be Tippa).
Zerrett for Heffernan, Smith for Rama.
Iâd love to fit Stringer in there, but canât see where.
Shiel, Heppell, Saad unlucky.
Blumfield was a midfieldy midfielder. He wasnât a forward pocket. It just wouldnât work.
Our team now could do with some good sized mids who can take a contested mark.
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not a chance zerrett gets a game over anyone in that 2000 midfield
Wallis played on David Schwarz and did very well. Just look at how Wallis got around Mark Johnson when he turnover cost us a goal in the first qtr. Wallis straight over calming him down and backing him up against the melbourne players who were trying to rough him up. He brought real leadership. Hurley wouldnât come close to offering that sort of impact/presence in a GF.
Hurley plays by the rules, Wallis plays to win by any means possible
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20 years is a long time, I should go and watch the 2000 year again
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2000 team was the greatest ever; no-one else would get a game.
That is way more goals than I thought heâd kicked, and he was very close to Norm Smith in the GF.
So yeah, in hindsight Blumfield does have to stay.
Also, while we are trying to fit all the talent into the forward line, keep in mind that one D Rioli was injured at the time.
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Boy, lucky he was there. That Melbourne forward line were notoriously tough.
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Lol
Maybe not, but when a young player makes an error early in a game like that it can really rock them. Wallis calmed him down straight away. And Johnson went on to do a very good job on Jeff Farmer for the rest of the game
I would take the presence of Wallis in 2000 over anyone in our backline at the moment
Thatâs like arguing that because 2000 was the best team, that they were also the best 22 individual players ever
Ambrose vs Wallis is a very odd argument.
If you can choose 3 KPD between Fletch, Wellman, Hooker and Hurley how is there even a spot left for the other two?
Nope, not at all.
Take Wallis out and maybe the 2000 team lose some of their edge?
I reckon you could slot a heap of our current best 22 into the 93 side.
Iâd still back the 93 team as a unit if the teams went head to head.
This is the most appropriate thread that I could find for most post but having re-watched the 2000 Grand Final the other day, I donât think Dean Wallis gets enough credit for his performance that game.
After kind of costing us the game in the 1999 prelim you can tell that he was a man on a mission in the GF and wasnât going to let us lose.
He was intercepting everything and wasnât going to leave any stone un-turned that day.