Star Geelong defender Harry Taylor announced his retirement following the 2020 season.
Taylor played 280 career games for the Cats, including two premierships in 2009 and 2011 and has played on the great key forwards of the game since entering the league in 2008.
With his wealth of knowledge, Taylor named the two young key forwards across the league he rates highly.
“I think Eric Hipwood is going to be a really good player. He’s young at the moment, but certainly has a lot of tricks,” he told Sportsday WA.
“With a little more development he’s going to be a really tough player to play on.
“Aaron Naughton, whether he stays forward or back I’m not too sure, but he’s just got something a little bit different about him when I played on him a couple of times.
“You just get a sense that this guy is going to be something pretty special.
“There’s quite a few of them out there and I’m a little thankful I don’t have to play on them anymore.”
Hipwood has played 94 games for Brisbane and kicked 137 goals, while Naughton has played 53 for the Bulldogs and kicked 49 after starting his career in defence.
The 34-year-old was also full of praise for long-time opponent Josh Kennedy and his game.
“In more modern times, I think Josh Kennedy is one of the more outstanding forwards more from a selfless point of view and what he does for his teammates,” Taylor said.
Taylor is confident he left Geelong’s backline in a strong position going forward and is confident they can fill his void.
“I walk away, specifically when I think about the backline, I came into a very, very strong backline when I started and I leave a very, very good backline in 2020, which is really satisfying,” he said.
“It probably made the decision a little bit easier as well. I didn’t feel like I was letting the team down by retiring.
“I felt like the boys, particularly in the backline, are ready to go and will certainly be fine without me there.”
Taylor has signed with Northampton in the Great Northern Football League in WA for 2021.