What is the common thread that ties all these champion players together? (There's a reason for putting this team together which we can discuss after someone provides the answer. Which shouldn't take long.)

FB: Nathan Burke   Paul Roos   Brad Hardie

HB: Robert Murphy   David Neitz   Kevin Murray

C:  Robert Flower   Robert Harvey   Lenny Hayes

HF: Nathan Buckley   Matthew Pavlich   Matthew Richardson

FF:  Gary Ablett Sr   Tony Lockett   Nick Reiwoldt

Foll: Len Thomson   Nathan Fyfe   Bob Skilton

Inter:  Jim Stynes   Phil Carman   Patrick Dangerfield   Brad Johnson

Sub:   Garry Lyon

 

Did they all play for the Australian national team in the compromise rules series?

15 minutes ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

Did they all play for the Australian national team in the compromise rules series?

No idea. If they did, it's not the answer I'm looking for.

Havent won a Premiership but a B&F?

Some combination of Coleman/Brownlows/hall of fame/captaincy and 250 games without winning a flag. Can’t quite get the exact thread.

As mentioned above, all the above have not won a Premiership.

The point I wanted to make is that while many people seem to claim that a player can't be considered a champion if they haven't won a Premiership (and Demonland has been littered with occasional such comments over the years), these players have all had extraordinary careers and would all be considered champions of their era.

Conversely, there are Premiership players who just happened to be lucky enough to be in a winning Grand Final team, even though their careers were not otherwise particularly notable. Mitch Morton and Stephen Armstrong come to mind. And good luck to them. Being a VFL/AFL footballer is a terrific achievement, but that won't automatically make them champions of the game.

(I'm sure someone could put such a team together.) 

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