Former Geelong juniors at under-18 level include Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Mark Blake, Cameron Ling and Matthew Scarlett from the Cats, while the Hawthorn pair of Hodge and Jordan Lewis made their way to Waverley via the Falcons.
All seven will play pivotal roles in what shapes as one of the most anticipated AFL grand finals in years.
“There’s seven Falcons playing in the grand final … we’re proud of that,” Turner said.
“The program’s pretty much recognised by the AFL as one of leading development academy programs in Australia for producing AFL players.”
While all have made headlines in recent seasons for varying reasons, Turner says one stands out from his teenage days.
“Hodge has always been the one I rated the highest,” the former Geelong captain said.
“I’m not saying that he’s a better player than Jonathan Brown or anybody.
“But in terms of pure talent he just had the lot. He had the looks, he was aggressive, he was tough, a great left-footer with all the decision-making and everything to go with it.
“He just was outstanding, so I’ve always rated him our number one.”
Hawthorn selected Hodge with the No.1 selection in the famous 2001 draft, and while the instant prominence of Chris Judd forced some to question the Hawks’ wisdom, Turner believes those at Glenferrie got it spot-on.
“Hawthorn, when we went up to do the No.1 draft pick consultation, they obviously had his name and Luke Ball and Chris Judd’s name on the board,” Turner recalled.
“We had a lot of discussion about it and I repeat what I said then and that was ‘What do you want in a footballer?’
“They said ‘We want someone who can play in the backline, go into the midfield, give us a push through the midfield and also push him forward and kick goals’, so they got exactly what they wanted.
“As great a player as Chris Judd is, Luke Hodge is a different player but I think people basically rate him the same as Judd now … if he can win a premiership the only thing he hasn’t done is win a Brownlow and he still might do that.”
Turner nominated Cameron Ling as the biggest surprise packet of this weekend’s Falcons, with the hard-working midfielder having to prove the doubters wrong.
“He came through an era when the AFL recruiters put a high emphasis on athleticism and all that sort of stuff,” Turner said.
“As good a player as he was, I was pretty worried. I still sort of say that if Geelong didn’t draft him then I wonder whether he would have got drafted.”
Turner, who played 245 games for the Cats before retiring at the end of 1988, said he was looking forward to this weekend’s clash with “both teams full of superstars”.
“I’ve got mixed interest with seven Falcons involved but being an ex-Geelong player I’ll certainly be barracking for Geelong.”
