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AFL football is a game of fine margins and technical abilities and mental strength. Some players are calmer, cooler and more confident than others when the stakes are highest and they are more likely to succeed in those situations.
From scoring goals, marks to disposals, different situations call for different responses. At the highest level, the pressure to perform is multiplied based on the expectations of the fans and administration. This articles list five of the most clutch players the AFL has seen.
5 most clutch players in AFL history ft. Marcus Bontempelli
#5 Marcus Bontempelli
According to aflplayers.com.au, young Western Bulldogs teammate, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who Bontempelli has taken under his wing, paid tribute to his mentor after his outstanding 2023 season when he won the Leigh Matthews trophy and the best captain award.
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“His ability to impact games and lead from the front is what separates him from others,” Ugle-Hagan said.
“He senses big moments and, at times, carries us on his shoulders. Bont’s had a massive impact on me. He’s been like a big brother across the journey and is helping me improve every game I play. I look up to him and the footballer and person he is.”
Bont was drafted in the 2013 AFL draft. Immediately he made his debut for the Western Bulldogs, he showed himself as a high pressure player. In round 15, he kicked last quarter goal to give the dogs the win over Melbourne. He was awarded the Chris Grant best first-year player in 2014 and the AFL Players Association best first-year player award. He finished second in the AFL Rising Star behind Lewis Taylor.
In 2015, Bontempelli came third in the Charles Sutton Medal but led the club for total Brownlow votes that season after picking up 13 votes at just the age of 19.
His best year yet was 2016 when he played all games for the Dogs and then won the premiership with them. He captained the Western Bulldogs against West Coast and became the youngest player in history to captain a VFL/AFL side to victory at 20 years and 194 days of age.
Bontempelli was named to the 22 under 22 team for the fifth consecutive year in 2018, setting the record as the first player to be named in the 22 under 22 team for five consecutive years.
He has made the All-Australian team five times: 2016, 2019, 2020 ,2021 and 2023. He has also won the Charles Sutton Medal five times: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
#4 Gary Ablett Snr
He scored 82 and 65 goals respectively for Geelong in the 1985 and 1986 season. In the 1988 season, after 11 games, he already scored 59 goals and finished the season with 82 goals again.
He became one the sport's biggest stars and was phenomenal in the 1989 grand final title charge for Geelong. Although they lost that grand final, he scored nine goals in that game and had arguably the greatest quarter performance by an individual in the AFL’s history.
His performance earned him the Norm Smith medal that year. He joined a very short list of players who received the award even though they lost the grand final.
He was selected in the All-Australian team in 1992,1995 and 1996. He was also awarded the Coleman Medal three times. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
#3 Wayne Carey
Carey nicknamed “The King” has been named by many as the greatest player to ever kick a ball in the AFL. Leigh Matthews, who was voted the best player of the 20th century, said he was the best player he had ever seen.
His speed and quick decision making skill set him apart as an aggressive, big-marking and goal-kicking forward.
In 1993, he became the second youngest club captain in VFL/AFL history with the Kangaroos. He led North Melbourne to eight consecutive finals. He made the Australian team seven times. He won North Melbourne’s Best and Fairest in 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1998. He was also the club’s leading goal-kicker five times, from 1995-1996 and 1998-2000.
After a scandal forced him away from North Melbourne in 2002, he joined Adelaide. He retired in 2004. He played 272 games and scored 727 goals
#2 Darren Jarman
Jarman is largely remembered for his heroics in the 1997 grand final for Adelaide against St Kilda. A tactical change in the last quarter moved him from midfield to the forward line. He kicked five more goals in that last quarter to bring his total that day to six. This was the last time till 2021 when Bayley Fritsch also scored that a player would score six or more goals in a grand final.
The following year, 1998, Jarman again scored five goals for the Crows in the win to lift their second consecutive premiership.
Ron Connolly rated him in the same sphere as American golfer Jordan Spieth, who also has a reputation for producing great shots in big tournaments.
"I suppose I tend to think of goal kicking because that is the equivalent of putting,” said Connolly on SEN radio.
“There’s plenty of contenders, I mean Plugger is certainly up there, but the name I thought of immediately was Darren Jarman.
“The evidence for that, we all know he was a beautiful kick, but he did it in those clutch situations.”
Jarman retired in 2001 was awarded Life Membership of the Adelaide Football Club in March 2008.
#1 Tony Lockett
He made history in 1987 by becoming the first full-forward to win a Brownlow Medal. He also holds the record for most career goals with 1,360 in total.
He also won the Coleman Medal four times, and kicked more than 100 goals in a season on six occasions (an AFL record he shares with Jason Dunstall of Hawthorn).
His arrival at St Kilda kickstarted a change in the club fortune away from their struggling form. He scored with his first kick on his debut against Geelong. He finished that season with 19 goals in 12 games.
In the 1984 season, he showed a glimpse of his abilities when he kicked three goals under four minutes in the third quarter against Essendon in the opening round.
Lockett returned from injury after round six of the 1991 season to face Adelaide. Before the match, St Kilda were ninth on the table. By halftime, Lockett had scored nine goals and finished the game with 12.
The Saints won by 131 points and broke the club record for greatest winning margin. This win moved St Kilda to the fifth spot on the ladder. The next week, he scored 10 against the Brisbane Bears. He followed that up with another 12 against Sydney the next week.
In the elimination final that season, he scored nine goals and kicked five behinds but St Kilda were eliminated by Geelong.
In 1992, he scored 132 goals and after missing many games due to injury and suspension, he scored 56 goals in his final season with the Saints before moving to Sydney.
When he moved to Sydney in 1995, he was also responsible for the resurgence they experienced.
Even though he struggled with injury and his weight fluctuating, he was not afraid to take on players. His best goal scoring game was the round 19 match against Fitzroy where he scored 16 goals.
In 1999, he broke Gordon Coventry's record for most goals and retired. He came back in 2002 and scored three goals in three games.
