BACKS
Stephen Carey
Tough Essendon premiership player from Launceston. I recently met him on the way down to an AFL Tasmania function. He was off to his Essendon premiership reunion the next night, so he was due to have a very big weekend on the grog.

Alastair Lynch
Triple premiership player with Brisbane. He made his name as a forward up there kicking a lot of goals, but in his days at Fitzroy was an awesome full-back. I remember him playing full-back for Tassie when they beat Victoria at North Hobart Oval.

Colin Robertson
Hawthorn premiership player from Wynyard on the north-west coast. Won the 1983 Norm Smith Medal.

HALF-BACKS
Robbie Neal
Hard as nails and just another in a long line of redheads at Geelong Football Club – a la Cameron Ling and Tim McGrath. But 'Scratcher' Neal was one of the first.

Jade Rawlings
Married to my sister, Samantha, and current coach of Richmond. A great mark in his day and didn’t mind kicking a couple of goals either. Vying to have the biggest nose in the team.

David Grant
A classy half-back flanker. Very courageous, a great mark overhead and probably the bloke that would lead the team into the nightclubs: a good-looking rooster.

CENTRES
Matthew Febey
I know the Febey boys very well, coming from the same town in Devonport. I saw him take just about the best mark I’ve ever seen live, in the 1993 State of Origin match at Bellerive. I was sitting on the bench with his brother Steve when he took it.

Simon Atkins
A great exponent of the handball in his days at Footscray and Fitzroy. I played against his twin brother, Paul, who played for the Burnie Hawks when I played for Devonport back in 1992.

Graham Wright
Brownlow Medal runner-up and a Collingwood premiership player. A hero of mine as a kid as he played for East Devonport, which was the team that I followed. I spent many a Saturday afternoon at Girdlestone Park in East Devonport watching him play before he became a Magpie.

HALF-FORWARDS
Michael Gale
Known as 'Butchey', idolised by all of his teammates in Tasmania and when he played for Fitzroy. Now into his early 40s, is still bragging that he’s got the best six-pack in Melbourne.

Russell Robertson
High-flying Melbourne forward who has taken some of the best marks over the last 15 years and currently rates himself as a singer and guitarist. I’ll let you be the judge.

Stephen Febey
Twin brother of Matthew and former holder of the games record at Melbourne. Used to rate himself very highly when he came back over to Devonport on holidays, bringing over his flash car on the boat and driving around, just showing off to all the people in Devonport who would take any notice of him.

FORWARDS
Ben Harrison
A Carlton, Richmond and Bulldogs player. Best mate of mine growing up at school and we played football together at Richmond. Along with Jade Rawlings and brother Brady, has a very big nose. Hard to split him and Brady Rawlings for the biggest.

Michael Roach
Richmond legend. Came from a small town called Longford in northern Tasmania. My hero as a kid – I had his number on my back and used to emulate him in the front yard with all my mates.

Doug Barwick
Out of the Launceston Football Club, I’m pretty sure he was a Collingwood premiership player. One of the best exponents of the torpedo I’ve ever seen.

FOLLOWERS
Brendon Gale
Huge-hearted ruckman/forward from the Burnie Hawks Football Club. Played for many years at Richmond – one of my best mates and teammates over the years. Used to be a very down-to-earth guy but has got way ahead of himself now as chief executive officer of the AFL Players’ Association and has pretty much forgotten his roots on the north-west coast of Tasmania.

Chris Bond
Another former Richmond teammate. One of the hardest at-the-ball players I ever played with. Making a name for himself as an assistant coach, and now football manager at the Fremantle Football Club.

Brady Rawlings
Two-time best-and-fairest winner at the North Melbourne Football Club. Has a huge nose that stands out like a beacon; he just pips Harrison as the captain of the big nose brigade.

INTERCHANGE
Craig Davis
Just scrapes into the team. Probably played his best football in the '70s but did play for Sydney in the mid- to late '80s. Father of former Magpie and Swan, Nick. Was a great goalkicker and currently does a lot of work in developing football up in NSW.

Mark ‘Bill’ Williams
Another that’s not a household name in AFL circles but had a huge career on the north-west coast for Devonport and East Devonport. I used to go and watch him play all the time at East Devonport as well. He was the best shot for goal that I’ve seen. Depending on what side of the ground he was on, he’d kick with either his left or right foot, which I’ve never seen before – even at AFL level.

Stephen Beaumont
Probably not known as an AFL/VFL player. Played 30 or 40 games with Essendon in the late '70s and early '80s, but was an absolute legend of football on the north-west coast of Tasmania. Legend has it that when he was coaching Cooee, the cordial cups used to come out and there were 19 cordials for the players and one pot of beer for Beauy. Also loved a cigarette at quarter time and three-quarter time.

Grant Birchall
The youngest member of the team. A Hawthorn premiership player last year who hails from the same club as myself, Devonport, on the north-west coast.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.