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• Introduction to Australian Rules Football
• The Rules of Australian Football
• What is the Australian Football League?
• Other Australian Football Leagues
• Australian Football League Clubs
• Major Awards
• Significant Players in the AFL
  • Ricky Nixon's Club 10
• Miscellaneous/Trivia

7. Significant Players in the AFL

The high-scoring nature of Aussie Rules means that forwards, and especially full forwards, tend to be the more glamorous positions on a team. Spectacular players who take high/exciting marks, or who kick lots of goals or get a lot of possessions of the ball, are the most widely known players.

Space doesn't allow for an exhaustive list of stars, but players to pay attention to include:

Adelaide
Darren Jarman
Andrew McLeod
Shaun Rehn
Nigel Smart

Brisbane
Justin Leppitsch
Alistair Lynch
Michael Voss

Carlton
Craig Bradley
Stephen Silvagni
Lance Whitnall

Collingwood
Nathan Buckley
Mal Michael
Damian Monkhorst
Saverio Rocca

Essendon
Stephen Alessio
James Hird
Michael Long
Matthew Lloyd
Mark Mercuri

Fremantle
"Spider" Burton
Scott Chisholm
Tony Modra
Luke Toia

Geelong
Ronnie Burns
Ben Graham
Garry Hocking
Michael Mansfield
Liam Pickering

Hawthorn
Shane Crawford
Paul Salmon
Joel Smith

Kangaroos
Winston Abraham
Glenn Archer
Wayne Carey
Corey McKernan

Melbourne
Garry Lyon
David Neitz
David Schwarz
Jamie Shanahan
Jeff White

Port Power
Brendon Lade
Gavin Wanganeen
Michael Wilson

Richmond
Wayne Campbell
Nick Daffy
Matthew Knights
Matthew Richardson

St Kilda
Nathan Burke
Peter Everitt
Robert Harvey
Jason Heatley
Stewart Loewe

Sydney
Adam Goodes
Paul Kelly
Jason Saddington
Wayne Schwass

West Coast
Ben Cousins
Scott Cummings
Dean Kemp
Glen Jackovich
Peter Matera
Guy McKenna

Western Bulldogs
Leon Cameron
Chris Grant
Tony Liberatore
Nicky Winmar
Scott Wynd

Retirements of note
Tony Lockett, hulking full-forward from Sydney, all-time leading VFL/AFL goalkicker who finished with 1357 career goals.
Garry Lyon, from Melbourne at mid-season.

Ricky Nixon's Club 10

Ricky Nixon is a former VFL player who has become the football manager (read "agent") for many high-profile AFL players. He introduced a concept called Club 10, which featured a new marketing symbol used in product endorsements by the members. This idea had been floated for a while by the AFL, and Club 10 was formed when negotiations between the AFL and Nixon broke down. The AFL is now forming its own list of 25 up-and-coming star players for similar promotions.

The original "members" of Club 10 were:

• Gary Ablett (Geelong)
• Gavin Brown (Collingwood)
• Wayne Carey (North)
• Jason Dunstall (Hawthorn)
• Glen Jackovich (West Coast)
• Tony Lockett (Sydney)
• Stewart Loewe (St Kilda)
• Garry Lyon (Melbourne)
• Gavin Wanganeen (Port Power)
• Greg Williams (Carlton)

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