THE SEMI-FINAL stage of The Deadliest is hotting up with two of the game's all-time greats going head to head.
Graham 'Polly' Farmer
West Perth/East Perth/Geelong
Noongar
356 games, 277 goals, Australian Football Hall of Fame – Legend Status, five-time WAFL Premiership player, 1963 VFL Premiership, three-time Sandover medallist, AFL Team of the Century, Indigenous Team of the Century (captain), Western Australian Team of the Century, Geelong Team of the Century (vice-captain), West Perth Team of the Century, East Perth Post-War Team of the Century, three-time All-Australian, 1959 Simpson Medal
The argument for Farmer to win this match-up revolves around how he revolutionised the handball and how he was a 'player ahead of his time'.
The ruckmen that have stood out from their counterparts, no matter their era, share one common trait – their abilities to impact the game away from the ruck contests.
The final point for Farmer would be the fact he is captain of the Indigenous Team of the Century, an honour that no other player can match.
Peter Matera
West Coast
Collard
253 games, 217 goals, Australian Football Hall of Fame, Indigenous Team of the Century, VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century, two-time premiership player, 1992 Norm Smith medallist, five-time All-Australian
Matera was a big-game player, with the 1992 Norm Smith Medal his crowning achievement in West Coast's most successful era.
In just his second season, Matera finished fourth in the Brownlow Medal and secured the first of his five All-Australian appearances.
Matera's pace and goalkicking flair made him one of the most watchable players of the 1990s, and he'll always have a special place in West Coast folklore after becoming the first Eagle inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
