Former umpire Dean Margetts has named the top 11 players he loved umpiring.
Margetts umpired 377 AFL games, spending most of his time in his home state of Western Australia overseeing West Coast and Fremantle games.
But he did tip his hat to a number of non-Eagles and Dockers in his list of players he enjoyed officiating because of their friendly nature.
See Margetts’ list below:
1. Josh Kennedy (Carlton and West Coast)
“You’re going to say you just picked it because it happened on the weekend,” Margetts said on SEN WA Breakfast.
“But Josh Kennedy, West Coast Eagles champion, is the nicest guy to have played, umpired, interacted with.
“What you see is what you get.”
Note: Kennedy is set to play a game with Mark LeCras and Harry Taylor for Northampton that Margetts has committed to umpiring.
2. Shanon Hurn (West Coast)
“‘Bunga’ is a great bloke.
“Interactions at their club visits, he’d always ask these curly questions like, ‘What would happen if I do this?’. I’d say, ‘If you do that on the weekend I’ll shoot ya because it’s going to be too hard for us to work out’.
“Good guy.”
3. Harry Taylor (Geelong)
“I’d always feel guilty giving him a free kick because he would come up with, ‘Deano, what was that for?’.
“I’d always question whether I got it right or wrong because he would ask in such a nice way, I’d just want to give him a cuddle.
“He’s a really good fella.”
4. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
“Highly respected on and off the field.
“If he had a message it would be strong with questioning but respectful and he would always use your name.”
5. Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
“A larrikin, but a fun larrikin.
“Would always have a bit of fun with you. Always Deano this and Deano that.”
6. Simon Black (Brisbane)
“Champion player, admired him for what he could do in close.
“He won a Brownlow for his on-field deeds, but certainly his interaction with umpires was a big tick.
“A good guy. He’d get whacked in the head and always just go, ‘Really?’.
“Just a nice bloke.”
7. Rory Sloane (Adelaide)
“Hard nut, always approached me in a really respectful way.
“I didn’t umpire him a lot really but certainly he’s up there.”
8. Dyson Heppell (Essendon)
“What you see is what you get.
“Genuine bloke. People have a crack at him for not being animated and all serious.
“That’s just him, he’s just a nice, decent bloke. Always approaches you in the right way, a laidback unit who just enjoys his footy.
“A big tick for him.”
9. Caleb Serong (Fremantle)
“As a young guy coming through I see there’s leadership stuff there for him.
“We had some interactions, some quite strong conversations, then he’d come around and say, ‘Deano, sorry about that mate, I’m just passionate’.
“And I like that. He can check himself and I think that’s a big tick.”
10. Phil Davis (Adelaide and GWS)
11. Griffin Logue (Fremantle)
Listen to Margetts below: