Do former greats Peter Matera, Michael Long or Peter Riccardi ring any bells?
If they do, and even if they were before your time, get set for this weekend's preliminary finals because the wing position has made a sensational comeback.
And football is the better for it.
Brad Hill, Sam Gibson, Isaac Smith, Jared Polec, Matt White and a series of Sydney Swans midfielders are putting the position back in vogue.
Those athletic types who fill the position need above average endurance to sweep up and down the ground constantly in long running patterns.
Gibson is one-paced but never stops. Hill can burst out of the blocks and then, importantly, maintain top speed. So can Smith. Polec is building his tank. White is explosive, and now his disposal is effective too.
Hill was devastating in the first half against Geelong in the qualifying final, gaining 583m for the game and working off five opponents. He had 11 more uncontested possessions than his direct opponent.
He owned his wing, ending the game with 27 disposals – the same number as Smith – and burning off the opposition (see heat map below).
Hill's sweeping runs and great balance were reminiscent of Matera at his best.
Hawthorn's Smith and Hill work hard, swapping roles constantly to keep the opposition guessing. Generally their first job is work back into defence, win the ground ball when the defenders spoil and kick-start the team's rebound.
West Coast's Andrew Gaff was reborn this season playing the wing role under former Hawthorn assistant Adam Simpson.
Occasionally the Hawks throw others through that role, with Grant Birchall and Taylor Duryea having stints as wingmen in the qualifying final.
It was Hill who dominated, gathering 59 per cent of his disposals in the qualifying final behind centre, yet having eight score involvements.
As Alastair Clarkson said post-game: "He was really important. His first half was critical for us."
Both brilliant linkmen, the Hawks' dynamic duo are able to handball then run into space. Smith sits fifth in the AFL for running bounces with 59 this season and has kicked 22 goals.
Hawthorn is the master at utilising Hill and Smith in a quick offensive transition as they lurk in space waiting for the switch kick.
WHERE BRAD HILL WON HIS POSSESSIONS AGAINST GEELONG
Gibson had seven disposals for North Melbourne after four minutes and eight seconds of playing time on Friday night. When the opening siren went Geelong's Steven Motlop stood next to Gibson. He did not smell his breath again.
Gibson had nine disposals to Motlop's one in that opening burst.
Gibson sways either way at a centre bounce, initially sitting back ready to receive the get-out handball from his midfield, then being prepared to chase the ball back or forward depending on which team wins the clearance.
If there is a second stoppage, Gibson acts as a sweeper standing on the defensive side. Normally a half-forward would roll up on to him, but on Friday night he was left alone in the first quarter.
Twenty-two of Gibson's 36 disposals (61 per cent) against Geelong were gathered behind centre and he was involved in seven score involvements. He sits 12th in the competition for disposals but has had just six running bounces for the season (see heat map below).
He is not explosive, but he has endurance and he makes the right decisions when he hasn't got the ball.
WHERE SAM GIBSON WON HIS POSSESSIONS AGAINST GEELONG
Port Adelaide unleashed Jared Polec and Matt White this season on either wing.
Polec had 10 bounces in the first final against Richmond (seventh in the competition for that stat with 53 bounces for the season) and looks every bit the classic left-footed wingman, whereas White has improved his running and is now more controlled at the point of delivery.
At half-time in the semi-final Chad Wingard went to the wing and kept driving the ball forward.
In the end his two-bounce, two-possession goal late in the last quarter when he outsprinted a seemingly exhausted Fremantle's Danyle Pearce, who appeared to give up the chase, sealed the game for Port Adelaide.
The Sydney Swans tend to rotate midfielders through the wing position, with Craig Bird, Lewis Jetta, Harry Cunningham and Jake Lloyd all capable of filling the once famous position that became swallowed up in the amorphous mass of midfielders five years ago.
Congestion gets the headlines, but it has allowed the rebounding, athletic, running wingman to re-emerge.
It's another piece of evidence for those wanting to let the game evolve.
That previously endangered species, the wing, is flying.
Stats, graphics provided by Champion Data
